Expectations for the San Antonio Spurs’ bench for the 2024-25 season
The background players will need to step up for the Spurs to exceed expectations
A team is only as strong as its weakest subjects. The San Antonio Spurs’ background players aren’t household names, but they can become mainstays for the future with consistent, valuable production. But there will need to be noteworthy progress. The Spurs’ bench was 20th in true shooting percentage (55.8), 22nd in effective field goal percentage (52.4) and 26th in rebounding percentage (48.2) in the 2023-24 season.
The upcoming campaign has new faces and evolving talent. Stephon Castle was picked fourth in the draft and was the Big East Freshman of the Year. Tre Jones is a speedster heading into free agency after this season, and Keldon Johnson is a developing scorer going into his sixth campaign. The pieces are blooming.
The additions of Chris Paul, a proven leader and effective floor general, and Harrison Barnes, a champion who provides scoring, are gateway players that will help the aforementioned reserves make notable progress.
Let’s review the bench checklist.
Zach Collins
Collins should get around 20 minutes per game. He was sixth in minutes the previous year, playing most of his time as a reserve. His main contributions have to be enhancing his rebounding and pick-and-roll defense, as the unit underwhelmed in those categories in 2023-24.
The pick-and-roll defense is the larger concern for now because Collins was an option for opponents to target with impunity as he mainly stayed back. The issue here is that he isn’t providing a different look for rivals when Victor Wembanyama sits, and his interference is not nearly as effective as the reigning Rookie of the Year’s.
Additionally, he must be an active screener to initiate rolls so he doesn’t take as many jumpers. Last year, most of Collins’ shots (47 percent) were jumpers and he produced at a 36.6 percent clip. That will have to improve next season.
Stephon Castle
Castle will likely be the Silver and Black’s most impactful young player, aside from Wembanyama. He made a great impression at Summer League before injuring his wrist and sitting out for preventive purposes.
All rookies struggle at some point, but the Silver and Black need him to be a difference-maker on defense. It’s a realistic expectation based on his college résumé. He should turn into the squad’s best perimeter protector quickly because of his fast foot speed, 6’9 wingspan and solid instincts to excel in man coverage and a zone. That combo will make Castle the bane of screen merchants and create extra transition plays. His disruption will likely put him in lots of late-game situations.
On offense, Castle prefers to take point and should be able to get two feet in the paint easily because of his explosiveness. The Spurs will depend on this to force overhelp so others can take advantage.
He is also versatile and can play without the rock. As an understudy, he must get in where he fits in — swishing the kick-out 3-pointer, scoring on wing cuts, finishing drives set up by the handoff, making the correct reads in pick-and-roll plays, and screening often when Wemby has the ball to set up inverted sets.
Tre Jones
Jones is a smaller guard (6’1) on the last year of a two-year deal and, after starting most of the last two seasons, should be the Spurs’ most dependable backup guard. His speed is his chief asset and an important one for the group. It would help if he slightly raises his 3-point shot attempts, boosts his long-range shooting percentages and plays all 82 outings. But his top priority should be working as an adrenaline shot as soon as he’s checked in because he can create separation inside the arc and is a blur in the open court.
One of his best attributes is getting and finishing at the cup. Yet, Jones needs to add the floater to arsenal, as he only attempted 26 last year, making 12. Incorporating it is a great way to further create space going downhill and make him even more lethal, as he records 6.4 percentage points higher than league average in that zone (0-3 feet).
In 2023-24, statistically, he was the team’s best distributor while posting a high assist/turnover (4.13). Maintaining this efficiency is critical.
Furthermore, Jones’ size and wingspan (6’4) make it harder to survive on defense. Eighty-one percent of his minutes on that side were spent covering opposing guards last season, holding them to 47.4 percent accuracy. Adding some bulk on his upper and lower body, would make it harder for bigger guards to overpower him.
Keldon Johnson
Johnson’s role shifted to the reserves in 2023-24, resulting in 3.2 fewer minutes and scoring 6.3 less points per game. His true shooting percentage was slightly below average, too. The Spurs will need Johnson to be a more productive and efficient scorer with the second uni both on and off the ball.
The sixth-year Spur doesn’t cut to the basket often. His off-ball work is done from the outside, but he needs to move better without the rock. He can do so by cutting from the slot and baseline. It should be easier in 2024-25 to capitalize on those looks, as some of his minutes will get staggered with Paul and Wembanyama as they force overhelp or double teams.
He must also elevate his 3-point percentage off the catch and dribble. His accuracy on catch-and-shoot (36 percent) opportunities is ordinary, and his splits on pull-ups (28.6 percent) are in the gutter. He tries one of the latter per contest but must hoist and log more. He could find prosperity on pick-and-pop sets as many defenses rely on the low man guarding two.
To boot, Johnson creates his shot inside the arc better than the other reserves, and converted 56.2 percent of attempted layups last season. Those shots were a third of his total attempts and there’s still room for upgrading his finishing.
On defense, Johnson does well at disrupting guards, holding them to 43.4 percent shooting, but it’s essential that he bothers forwards more. More than half of his time checking opponents is on forwards, conceding 51.7 percent of shots. He has the tools for it as he continues developing grown-man strength and takes advantage of his 6-foot-9 wingspan.
