Spurs' Frontcourt Depth Is Thinner Than It Looks

San Antonio enters training camp with a real problem behind Wembanyama. Jayden Quaintance is out following knee surgery, no return timeline attached. Jeremy Sochan signed with Portland last week. Two frontcourt bodies, gone — one to injury, one to free agency — and the rotation flexibility the Spurs were counting on quietly evaporated before camp even opens.

As I noted Friday, the Taelon Peter signing fills a guard slot, not a frontcourt one. The names left to absorb those minutes — Harrison Barnes, Keldon Johnson, Julian Champagnie — are all capable players, but none of them is a natural backup big. Luke Kornet logged real minutes last season and can hold a spot, but asking him to carry a heavier load is a different conversation than what the Spurs planned for.

The honest read here is that Wembanyama will be fine — he averaged 23.9 points and 11.1 rebounds last season and is the kind of player who makes depth questions around him manageable. The concern is what happens when he needs rest, picks up foul trouble, or faces a physical frontcourt in a playoff series. The Spurs went 13-10 in close games last year. That number doesn't improve if the bench options behind their best player are thin and untested.

My read: this is the one roster question that still needs an answer before October. The core is locked in and the backcourt is deep. But the frontcourt depth chart, right now, has a gap in it.