Jordan McLaughlin's return quietly closes the door on Spurs fan favorite

Rumors of Jordan McLaughlin's demise were extremely premature, as the seven-year vet has re-signed with San Antonio on a one-year deal for $3.3 million. The Spurs' backup point guard appeared in 44 games in the regular season last year.

McLaughlin averaged two points on 42% FG and 43% 3PT per game. His presence mostly provided "break in case of emergency" depth, and as a veteran who has never started more than seven games in his career, he's not going to make noise from the bench. Those guys are typically great for a locker room.

The downside is knowing it likely closes the door on a David Jones-Garcia reunion.

The Spurs don't have enough room or money for DJG

Ja'Kobi Gillespie, Maliq Brown, and Emmanuel Miller occupy the three designated two-way contracts, so there's only one standard spot left. San Antonio could decide to leave it unoccupied.

They've already satisfied the league requirement for a minimum number of players on the team, but they've either paid most of their guys or they're high lottery picks, so the cash adds up quickly.

They'd cross the luxury tax threshold by signing anyone with 1+ years of experience. It's just not necessary.

With McLaughlin returning, the Spurs have five ball-handlers on the roster: De'Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle, Dylan Harper, Gillespie, and the newly re-signed vet himself. Jones-Garcia can play off the ball, but he's better with the ball in his hands, and San Antonio is all set on wings anyway.

As much as fans love him for how he continued to prove himself in the G League, DJG wasn't going to supplant Devin Vassell, Keldon Johnson, or any of the other main role players the Silver and Black rely on.

He did receive a qualifying offer, but it was for another two-way deal. Miller likely would have been the casualty had he accepted, but why would he? Jones-Garcia has outgrown those deals.

Jones-Garcia deserves another shot to make the NBA

The Dominican-born guard passed up the opportunity to play in the Euroleague last year for a shot to make an NBA career for himself, but I don't see the talented scorer doing that again.

He only made 11 sporadic appearances last season before getting injured. Some of them came when the Spurs put games out of reach, but whether or not that was the case, Jones-Garcia played with poise and efficiency.

In the eyes of Spurs Nation, DJG has already proven he can play this game at a high level. He just happened to be on a team that's stacked at his position, so we should probably say our goodbyes to Jones-Garcia.

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