The San Antonio Spurs cleared things up fast on their first day of summer practice. Jayden Quaintance, the 20th overall pick in the 2026 draft, is not going to play in the Summer League. Summer head coach Corliss Williamson put it bluntly after the team’s first workout.
“He’s not playing.”
That might surprise some people who saw Quaintance’s name on the summer roster earlier that morning. But the rookie is still recovering from a torn ACL and meniscus, and the Spurs aren’t taking any chances. General manager Brian Wright had already given a wait-and-see answer when asked about it recently. Now there’s no ambiguity.
Williamson, a former NBA player and current assistant coach on the Spurs staff, made it sound like this was always the plan. Quaintance is around the team, sitting in on practices, staying engaged. He’s just not suiting up.
“He’s here, he’s engaged, he’s at every practice. Good young man,” Williamson said. “Like his talent and look forward to seeing him for some years.”
Quaintance will still travel with the team to Sacramento and then Las Vegas for Summer League games. So he’ll get the experience of being around his teammates and the coaching staff in that environment. Just no game action yet.
Other draft picks getting their shot
Without Quaintance on the floor, the Spurs summer squad will lean on their other first-round pick from that same draft. They grabbed Tarris Reed Jr. with the 26th pick after a trade with the Denver Nuggets. Reed came in from UConn, where he won a national championship and played two years in that system.
“Shoot, it’s been going well. I mean, I’ve been loving it out here in San Antonio,” Reed said after the first practice. “First day of practice was pretty high-end intensity, kind of like a UConn practice, you know, with I’ve been in that system for two years. But, it was really fun being able to come out here and compete and meet all the guys.”
Williamson also has second-round picks Ja’Kobi Gillespie and Maliq Brown to evaluate. The Spurs are coming off an NBA Finals run, so there aren’t many open roster spots. But Summer League is a chance to see what these young guys can do and how they fit the culture.
“These guys are anxious to be in the NBA, to play; the ones who were drafted, the ones who have been in the G League, or whether it’s just a free agent that’s here,” Williamson said. “That does give you some excitement as a coach, ’cause you get an opportunity to reteach some of the things that you’ve done throughout the year. It’s definitely a fun time for me.”
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