Spurs correct last season's critical error with two bold draft night moves

The San Antonio Spurs drafted a center in the first round of the 2026 NBA Draft. Then they turned around and traded back into the first round to take a second center. They are committed to not making the same mistake as last season.

What happened to the Spurs last season was nothing short of miraculous. Their young, inexperienced roster came together to not only win 62 games in the regular season, but to knock off the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder in the playoffs and push the New York Knicks in the NBA Finals.

What was exposed against the Knicks was the team's lack of depth, specifically in the frontcourt. Victor Wembanyama played massive minutes, in large part because head coach Mitch Johnson couldn't trust Luke Kornet to step up into a larger role.

Wasn't there anyone else on the roster who could help? Perhaps, but they had a major barrier to having useful playoff players ready to go in the NBA Finals. And that is the complete and utter wasting of not one, not two, but three roster spots.

Spurs wasted roster spots last year

Kelly Olynyk has had a long NBA career as a stretch big, an underrated passer and high-volume shooter whose defense always left much to be desired. He was acquired with the hope that he could contribute, but he could not. His NBA playing days may be over.

Any team can survive one dead roster spot. The Spurs decided to double down. They added Bismack Biyombo as a sort of veteran mentor player-coach to help Victor Wembanyama. Then they picked up Mason Plumlee, persumably just to keep the other two company on the bench.

Plumlee played a grand total of 18 minutes in the playoffs, solely in blowout situations. Bismack Biyombo played just 25 minutes, while Kelly Olynyk played 35 minutes across the entire playoffs.

By point of comparison, Victor Wembanyama played 750 minutes in the playoffs, only 51 minutes shy of Devin Vassell's league-leading mark. He was gassed by the NBA Finals, and utterly wiped by the end of games.

Perhaps having usable NBA players on the roster may have had an impact on their playoff success. Perhaps not taking three whole roster spots and burning them on unplayable bigs was a no-brainer. But alas, that is the current situation.

How could the Spurs solve this problem? Perhaps by drafting some new centers.

Spurs added the big guns

The Spurs entered the night armed with the No. 20 pick, courtesy of a first-round pick swap with the Atlanta Hawks from the Dejounte Murray trade.

The board broke perfectly for them, giving them their pick of the big men on the board. They took Jayden Quaintance, a long-term project at center from Kentucky. His defensive upside and skills are incredibly tantalizing if he can get healthy, and the Spurs have one of the best medical teams in the league.

The Spurs still needed help for this season beside Luke Kornet and Wembanyama. That's where their second big move came in, as they traded back into the first round at pick No. 26 and drafted UConn center Tarris Reed Jr.

Reed and Wembanyama mirrored one another this postseason, making a run all the way to the title showdown before falling short. Reed was a monster in the NCAA Tournament, knocking opponents around and inhaling rebound after rebound.

One draft, one night, two players to try and overhaul the depth of the roster and give the Spurs more size, as they desperately need. A draft pick and a trade, no major loss of assets, and the Spurs have size in spades.

It was just what the doctor ordered. Now is the challenge of bringing them along, making everything and everyone fit together. Mitch Johnson will have his work cut out for him.

But once they are ready, this group will be defensive monsters. They have real offensive upside. And depth no longer has to be an issue.

The Spurs turned dead spots into thriving young bigs. Hopefully, the chose the right ones.

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