Camp Opens Soon. The Scouting Chair Is Still Empty.

The Patty Mills news out of France was a nice moment — Tony Parker, ASVEL, old Spurs family reconnecting across an ocean. Meanwhile, back in San Antonio, the front office still hasn't named anyone to replace Charlie Stevens, who left for the UConn general manager job sometime back. I've written this note four times now. The answer hasn't changed.

At some point the silence becomes the story. Training camp is close. The grassroots scouting operation — the part of the building that finds players before anyone else is looking — has been without its director through the entire offseason. Every transaction San Antonio made this summer, from the Tobias Harris signing to re-upping David Jones Garcia, happened with that chair empty.

The Spurs are a team with a real championship window. Wembanyama is locked in long-term, the backcourt is set, and the front office spent the summer addressing the clutch-game problems that cost them in June. That's the part of the offseason that got done. This part hasn't.