3 Biggest winners and losers from Spurs' exciting preseason

Loser: Malaki Branham

With more depth at guard, Malaki Branham needed to have a great preseason to improve his standing, but he didn't really have it. He shot just 21.7% on 5.8 3-point attempts per game and 39.2% from the field overall. It's only the preseason, but it doesn't suggest that he will hit the ground running during the regular season.

Other guards such as Blake Wesley and Steph Castle showed a lot more, with Wesley being a defensive pest who is blazing fast even though he didn't shoot all that well either. Still, at least he has a useful skill that Gregg Popovich values, and Castle also has defensive chops in addition to shot creation.

All of that is to say that Branham has competition, and his chances for playing time seem to be decreasing. Last season, he spent time at point guard, but with Paul and Jones holding down the fort and Wesley likely the third guard, Branham doesn't have a role there.

Vassell and Castle will play ahead of him at shooting guard once Vassell is healthy and Branham isn't big enough to play the three. When he does play, he needs to shoot better, and he looks the part, but often times his percentages don't match up. His shot didn't fall in preseason, so Branham's role is up in the air going forward.