The San Antonio Spurs have limped to a 21-14 start this season. Kawhi Leonard, Patty Mills, Tony Parker, and others have all missed multiple games this season leading to a less than stellar record. Parker is said to be close to returning, which leads to an interesting quandary.
Once Parker returns to his place in the starting lineup, the minutes for the backup point guard spot will be up for grabs between Mills and Cory Joseph. Who deserves to get the bulk of that playing time?
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With the injuries to Parker and Mills earlier in the season paving his way to the court, Joseph is having the best season of his career. He is playing 25.8 minutes per game, which is almost twice as much as his previous season high. In that time, Joseph is averaging 10.4 points, and 2.9 assists per game.
He’s shooting a career high 53.9 percent from the field, and 35.5 percent from three-point range.
Joseph has stepped up in San Antonio’s time of need and given them reliable minutes while their bigger names have been on the shelf with injuries. Then there’s the recently returned Patty Mills.
Mills was fantastic during the Spurs championship run last season. He shot 42.5 percent from outside during the regular season, and contributed 7.3 points per game on 40.5 percent shooting from three during the 2014 playoffs. He was the perfect “heat-check” player for San Antonio, capable of getting hot from outside and changing the game with his scoring ability.
He even scored 17 points on 5-of-8 from behind the arc in the championship-clinching victory against the Miami Heat.
Everyone’s favorite gunner went down with a shoulder injury this offseason that required surgery. He was expected to be out at least seven months (from July), but he returned early on Dec. 28. Since then, Mills has received limited minutes, averaging 10 points and two assists per game in four games played.
Saturday night against the Washington Wizards, he looked like his old self again. Mills shot 6-of-8 from the floor, scoring 15 points in only 15 minutes of action. Not to be outdone, Joseph also had a stellar game. He added 19 points, four assists, four rebounds, and two blocks on 8-of-10 shooting.
With two players clearly deserving to be in the rotation, with (seemingly) only one spot available, how will Gregg Popovich decide whom to give the majority of the minutes to? I don’t know anything for certain, but I can speculate on how Pop will figure this situation out. Never doubt his creativity when it comes to matters like this.
When Parker returns, I expect Joseph will stay on as the primary backup point guard. He has shown the ability to run the team this season, and he’s earned that role. Mills can then serve as a bench scorer without having to be a “true point guard.” With injuries always hampering the guard and wing rotations, there will be ways to find Mills playing time.
This was essentially the setup that the Spurs used during the 2013-14 season, just with Mills getting more minutes (18.9 minutes per game) than Joseph (13.8 minutes per game). With Mills still coming back from a serious injury, I expect these numbers to flip-flop, but the roles to essentially remain the same.
Regardless of how the bench rotation shakes out, this is a good problem to have. This means Tony Parker is healthy and ready to go, which is only a positive for San Antonio. Though, his time away may end up being a blessing in disguise. Yes, his absence adversely affected their win/loss record, but it also gave Cory Joseph a chance to shine.
Joseph gaining valuable experience, as a starting point guard is huge for his development and should be helpful in the future as the games gain more importance. Parker’s 16.2 points and 5.2 assists per game in the lineup may have led to more wins in December, but if Joseph is playing well during meaningful minutes in June that may be even more important.
Joseph and Mills are the latest in a long line of diamonds in the rough that the Spurs seem like they are always churning out. They will need them to keep playing at a high level if they are going to wade through this surge of injuries on their way to the organization’s first ever back-to-back championships.