The Spurs' most exhausting month could become their most important

The Spurs have a fairly kind schedule when it comes to rest and relaxation. They have a bunch of rest days and very few back-to-backs compared to others around the league, but not everything is sunshine and roses. San Antonio's November schedule is pretty brutal. It will feel like a non-stop grind, providing a perfect test for the newly added depth on this roster.

Fortunately, the league didn't throw the Spurs into the fire completely. This isn't exactly a gauntlet of the NBA's best. Out of 16 games, only three of them are against teams that were in the top four of their respective conferences last season. San Antonio is the big dog in all of these games.

Still, the frequency with which these games occur is grueling, and that will pose enough of a challenge. Thankfully, Brian Wright put enough pieces in play for Mitch Johnson to weather this storm with little issue.

November will be the perfect time for Mitch Johnson to experiment

San Antonio is coming off an extremely impressive season. They exceeded all expectations, and since they're bringing back all of their main pieces, Coach Johnson already has an idea of what works. But just because something works doesn't mean it can't be improved, and, as Agents of SHIELD's Daniel Whitehall once said, discovery requires experimentation.

I want to see Dylan Harper, Stephon Castle, Devin Vassell, Carter Bryant, and Victor Wembanyama on the floor together. That group only played three minutes together total for the entire 2025-26 season. That's not enough time to tell us anything.

Get Tarris Reed Jr. in there to play next to Wemby, Champagnie, Vassell, and De'Aaron Fox. Utah often plays 7'0" Lauri Markkanen at small forward because his offensive skill set allows it. Can the Spurs try that with Vic, with some combination of Luke Kornet, Reed, and, when he gets healthy, Jayden Quaintance manning the power forward and center spots?

We don't have to roll any of these lineups out to start or end a game. Nor do they need to play for long stretches, but the Spurs won't know if they have a sneaky weapon lying underneath the surface if they don't dig for one. November will be a perfect time to grab a shovel.

Mitch Johnson has been pretty consistent with his philosophy during the regular season. It's basically the same as Gregg Popovich's—it's a long season, so you don't want to wear the guys down. That means there will be lots of opportunities for young players to develop and chances for Johnson to tinker.

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