How the Spurs’ latest COVID outbreak could affect their season
Just as they were starting to get whole after their previous COVID outbreak, the Spurs are in the middle of a new one. Devin Vassell, Thaddeus Young, Keldon Johnson and Derrick White have now entered the health and safety protocol and could miss several games.
While the health of everyone involved is the most important thing to consider, their absences will have immediate repercussions on the Spurs season. So let’s take a look at where San Antonio stands now.
The Spurs need Lonnie Walker IV and Doug McDermott back as soon as possible
Before now, the Spurs had two major COVID-related absences: Jakob Poeltl and Dejounte Murray. Those were huge blows considering how important both are to the team, but they were somewhat manageable because they happened at different times. Similarly, San Antonio had a few wings miss time recently but had others ready to take over those minutes. Now, things are different. The Spurs have lost three rotation wings before Lonnie Walker and Doug McDermott, who have missed the last three games, had a chance to return.
White sometimes mans the point guard spot, but most of the time slots at shooting guard, while Vassell and Johnson play both forward spots. Without those three, the Spurs currently have Bryn Forbes, Josh Primo, Joe Wieskamp and Keita Bates-Diop to cover three positions. Those four have played a combined 1,183 minutes out of the total 8,930 the Spurs have logged, with KBD and Forbes accounting for about 1,000 of those minutes. San Antonio has signed Tyler Johnson, who has logged 38 minutes of NBA basketball this season, and Anthony Lamb, who has not played at all in the league this year, to 10-day deals to shore up its depth, but it’s hard to imagine them having a big impact. Right now, the guard/forward rotation is mostly comprised of guys who not only haven’t played together much, but have not actually played much at all.
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