Tarris Reed must get regular season minutes to prepare for his inevitable Bat Signal call

The Spurs are going to need Tarris Reed Jr.'s special skill this year. Opponents tried to bully San Antonio last season, and while it didn't work very often, a few of them added size over the summer. It's going to be a double-down on controlling the paint, and the Bear is the Silver and Black's counter.

The West spent the offseason answering the Spurs with size

OKC and Houston faced off in the preseason on Thursday night. We know that the Thunder play Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein together, but Chet was out, so they had their 7'3" rookie, Aday Mara, on the court next to their starting center. Playing two bigs is a way of life for Mark Daigneault.

The Rockets will send Alperen Sengun out with Steven Adams or Clint Capela as backup. We're very familiar with their style of basketball. Ime Udoka will preach physicality and call opposing players names on the court, trying to get into their heads. Toughness is their philosophy. It didn't work against the Spurs last season, but they're healthier, so this season will be a harder battle Reed can help with.

The Spurs just stood toe-to-toe with the new-look Jazz, who put Lauri Markkanen (7'1"), Jaren Jackson Jr. (6'10"), and Jaxson Hayes (7'0") on the floor simultaneously. Utah has been named by several as a sleeper this season. The truth is that there could be a few of those. The new draft lottery rules make tanking much less attractive.

The timing works just fine for the Spurs. 29 teams with unique rosters, some big and some small, and the Silver and Black can match up with all of them. That's the beauty of the roster construction.

The preseason won't get Reed ready for April

If opponents want to switch everything and speed up the tempo, Mitch Johnson's ball club is built for that. When they play the bullying bruisers of the NBA, Coach can light the signal for the Bear to answer. Luke Kornet is still a fine backup, but he can't control the boards like the 2026 26th pick. Kornet appeared in 68 games last season and only reached double-digit rebounds six times.

Reed may reach that within his first month or two if he's out there. That's the part Mitch controls. The preseason is a great warm-up, but there's a difference between getting your work in against guys who'll be in the G League by December and holding your ground against Adams or Hartenstein in a building that's trying to rattle you.

Winning as a contender is largely about minimizing mistakes because good and bad teams will take advantage of them, and that lesson is taught during the regular season. He needs to have already learned it by the time it counts because that signal is going up at some point in the season. The Bear just needs to be ready when it does, and he'll need early minutes to do that.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow