Spurs projected depth chart and rotation heading into 2024-25 season
By Ian Levy
The San Antonio Spurs finished the 2023-24 NBA season with one of the five worst records in the league but optimism was high after the dominant rookie campaign of Victor Wembanyama. A rebuild can often take multiple seasons but the Spurs already had some talented young players in place before landing Wembanyama and their budding star repeatedly expressed a desire to compete right away.
That all set the stage for a relatively aggressive offseason for the Spurs, trading one of their two top-10 picks for a future first-rounder and acquiting a pair of experienced veterans in Chris Paul and Harrison Barnes. The Western Conference is stacked and, on paper, the Spurs are definitely still in the bottom half in terms of talent. But the Spurs depth chart is also much more complete and well-rounded than last season and they seem intent on challenging for a spot in the NBA Play-In Tournament.
San Antonio Spurs depth chart for 2024-25
POSITION | STARTER | BENCH | DEEP BENCH |
|---|---|---|---|
PG | Chris Paul | Tre Jones | Stephon Castle |
SG | Devin Vassell | Stephon Castle | Malaki Branham |
SF | Keldon Johnson | Malaki Branham | Harrison Ingram |
PF | Harrison Barnes | Jeremy Sochan | Charles Bassey |
C | Victor Wembanyama | Zach Collins | Sandro Mamukelashvili |
This represents our best guess at how Gregg Popovich may set up his starting lineup and bench rotations but a lot could change, both during the preseason and as the season goes along. Given their upside and already demonstrated production, Wembanyama, Keldon Johnson and Devin Vassell seem locked in as starters.
Who joins Victor Wembanyama in the Spurs' startling lineup?
Young forward Jeremy Sochan started 73 of 74 games he appeared in last season and could conceivably retain his spot as the starting 4 with Barnes coming off the bench. We see a similar situation with Chris Paul and Tre Jones, who finished the season as the Spurs' starting point guard and made a huge difference in how well their offense functioned.
Even if the Spurs new vets are starting, Sochan and Jones would likely be the first two players off the bench and see a lot of minutes. Stephon Castle, who the Spurs took with the No. 4 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, may end up as a point guard or primary ball-handler down the line. But as a rookie, his defensive versatility and off-ball contributions on offense are likely to be more grounding and he'll probably play mostly on the wing this season.
Zach Collins is the first big off the bench and should be a very important rotation piece as well. He's a strong frontcourt defender and showed dramatic growth as an offensive facilitator and elbow hub. Depending on the opponent, he may also overlap with Wembanyama at times against bigger lineups.
Malaki Branham is an intriguing young player who saw a decent amount of action last season but his role may be reduced this year as things become more crowded on the wings. In the case of injury, he and Blake Wesley could step up into larger roles. Harrison Ingram, a second-round pick, is another NBA-ready deep bench option on the wing. Going deeper in the frontcourt, Julian Champagnie, Charles Bassey and Sandro Mamukelashvili slide up if either Wembanyama or Collins are out.
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