The San Antonio Spurs aren't short on young talent, although they opted to trade up into the first round of the 2026 NBA Draft, anyway.

Between Victor Wembanyama, Stephon Castle, Dylan Harper, and even Carter Bryant, the young core in San Antonio seems pretty well-rounded. Still, the Spurs used the 20th pick on Kentucky forward Jayden Quaintance, and then traded up to snag UConn's Tarris Reed 26th overall.

Reed had an impressive showing in Summer League, making some fans speculate that he might rival Luke Kornet for the backup center job next season. However, concerns about his versatility on both sides of the ball might hold him back. As the dog days of the summer get well underway, optimism for the season is at a fever pitch, but optimism surrounding the two rookies is at a bit of a low point.

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During his four college seasons, Reed established himself as a winning player who doesn't mind playing a smaller role in the name of team success.

Quaintance, meanwhile, is brimming with potential, although injuries have prevented him from showing much upside. He missed all of Summer League and might extend his absence. 

"Quaintance had right knee surgery, missed all of summer league and is possibly headed to a redshirt rookie season," wrote The Athletic's Law Murray, before pivoting to Reed. "Reed is a nuts-and-bolts center, but he has to be much better as a finisher, as he made only 40.9 percent of his field-goal attempts despite being mostly paint-bound. The Spurs will likely slot him in as a third-string center."

The Spurs will enter the 2026-27 NBA season as contenders, if not downright favorites, although neither of their first-round picks will even sniff the starting lineup.

In fact, one could go as far as to say that neither will even be rotation players. Despite a lackluster Finals performance, Kornet is one of the better backups in the league, and the Spurs won't be eager to pull Wemby from games.

With Reed expected to be limited to garbage time and Quaintance missing the entire season on the table, it's hard to say that the Spurs "won" the draft.

Fortunately, with the addition of Tobias Harris in free agency, the Spurs did manage to get better this summer.