4 Biggest Disappointments for San Antonio Spurs up to this point

Stagnating player development should raise a red flag for Spurs

The dark undercurrent of many of the San Antonio Spurs' problems is that quite a few players on the roster simply aren't panning out in the way that fans hoped they would. There's still time for them to grow; this is the youngest team in the NBA after all, but fans have seen enough to be legitimately concerned.

The biggest red flags should be raised around Keldon Johnson. After looking like a foundational piece of the Spurs' future just a couple of years ago, Johnson's role on the team has come into question this season. He's lost his spot in the starting lineup, and the fiery bulldog everyone got used to has looked checked out for stretches at a time.

The Spurs are in a tight game on the road against the Miami Heat, and Keldon inexplicably lets Jimmy Butler walk into a wide-open three. He didn't even pretend to try.

Keldon isn't the only one. After the point-Sochan experiment fell apart, the Spurs looked to second-year guard Malakai Branham as a potential solution. It didn't take long for it to become clear that Branham wasn't the answer.

Branham showed promise last year and looked like he could be one of the steals of the draft. But his scoring is down, he's turning the ball over more than he did last season, and he continues to be a liability on defense. Put all those together, and it's easy to see why some Spurs fans are calling for his minutes to be redirected to Blake Wesley.

Development isn't always linear. But with great talent comes great expectations, and the Spurs are going to start feeling the pressure to compete with Wembanyama on the roster sooner rather than later. If their guys aren't developing at the rate they need them to then maybe it's time to look to bring in some new talent.