San Antonio Spurs: Who Will Fill The Reserve Small Forward Position?

Can Danny Green adequately back up Kawhi Leonard? (Photo: Mark Runyon, Basketball Schedule).

With the Spurs bringing back largely the same team from last year, one would expect that the rotations would be mostly set.  However, the Spurs are faced with two gaping holes in their rotation that were never resolved last season.  The first hole is at the reserve point guard position.  HoopsHabit’s own John Lugo did an excellent job addressing that issue here.  The second hole comes at the reserve small forward position, which was created when Stephen Jackson was unexpectedly cut from the team last year right before the playoffs.  Kawhi Leonard, the Spurs starting small forward, will average about 35 minutes a game next season, lessening the need for a long-term solution at the reserve 3, as only 12 to 13 minutes a night need to be filled.  The Spurs’ front office is aware of this and that may explain why they eschewed going after a reserve small forward (outside of attempting to trade for Andrei Kirilenko).  However, because of the length of the season, matchup issues and Kawhi Leonard’s injury history, not having a legitimate back up small forward may be a bigger issue than the Spurs are hoping it will be.

Be that as it may, next season the reserve small forward position will have to be manned by committee as the Spurs will adjust rotations based on matchups and injuries.   The following are some of the possible players who will fill the San Antonio Spurs reserve small forward position.

The most likely option the Spurs will use is Danny Green backing up Kawhi Leonard.  Danny Green did yeoman’s work at the reserve 3 position during the NBA Finals, admirably checking LeBron James in spot minutes.  Danny Green should get the majority of the minutes behind Kawhi Leonard.  Look for Coach Gregg Popovich to sub Danny out midway through the first quarter for Manu Ginobili (when healthy) or Marco Belinelli (when Manu is not healthy) and then sub Danny Green back in towards the end of the first quarter to give Kawhi his first rest.  Green should do fine in limited minutes at the small forward position.  Green is 6’ 6” and should not give up too much size at the position, especially in limited minutes.  However, the issue will be if Leonard gets hurt and Green becomes the starting small forward.  While not the Indiana Pacers starting lineup, one of the unsung assets of the Spurs starting five is the size of Leonard and Green.  Their combined size gives the Spurs a huge defensive and rebounding advantage that is lost with Green playing the 3.

Just like Danny Green, Boris Diaw played spot minutes backing up Kawhi Leonard in the NBA finals.  This was mostly to throw different looks at LeBron James and Diaw actually did quite well on LeBron in those few minutes.  However, Diaw cannot guard quicker, more athletic small forwards and should only be used at the 3 position strictly based on matchups.  You will see Diaw at the 3 against teams whose small forwards are either larger (like Josh Smith, Carmelo Anthony or LeBron James) or are slow (like the Grizzlies’ Tayshaun Prince or Mike Miller).  Outside of these situations, Diaw should not be used.

Thankfully, Coach Pop has gone away from his long-time small-ball obsession, but as matchups and injuries dictate, Coach Pop will use three-guard lineups.  Many of the three guard lineups will come with Kawhi at the 4, as again, Pop will match smaller, quicker teams.  However, if Kawhi is injured and Danny Green is starting at the 3, Coach Pop may choose to use either Marco Belinelli or Manu Ginobili at the reserve small forward position.  Both guards will give up significant size and strength at the 3, making them outmatched on defense on most nights.  However, this does give the possibility of the greatest Spurs passing lineup of all time: Nando De Colo, Manu Ginobili, Marco Belinelli, Boris Diaw and Tiago Splitter.  Pop would probably go into cardiac arrest with that lineup so it is unlikely it will ever be used, but one can dream.

Most likely Danny Green will fill in the majority of the reserve minutes at the 3 behind Kawhi Leonard unless Kawhi is injured or match up preferences.  However, as the regular season is extremely long, you can also expect to see Coach Popovich experiment with lineups to see what works and what does not based on possible future playoff matchups.