Photo by Ronald Cortes/Getty Images Improvements, injuries and rotational questions loom over San Antonio’s preseason. After hours in front of cameras and microphones, the San Antonio Spurs can really get to work. The Spurs training camp begins on Tuesday, October 1st, with their first preseason game happening a week later on October 7th. San Antonio enters training camp with a load of questions after an active offseason. Here are a few storylines to watch over the next month until the regular season starts on October 24th. The development of the young core Training camp is an exciting time of year for young players. It’s their first chance to show off the hard work they’ve put in. The coaching staff gets to see the improvements they’ve made. The Spurs have no shortage of players ready to take another leap. Victor Wembanyama had an extraordinary rookie season, but even he has room to improve. Wembanyanma shot just 32.5% from deep and turned the ball over 4.4 times per game. Making more shots from range and taking care of the ball are major developments in his game. Jeremy Sochan’s jump shot and offensive development will be something to watch for in the preseason. Keldon Johnson comes into camp in tremendous shape, and Tre Jones will likely be playing a new role off the bench. The mark of rebuilding teams on the rise is the consistent development of its young players. Seeing improvements from their core will be vital to the team taking another step forward. How do the vets fit in? Chris Paul and Harrison Barnes are 10+ year veterans in the NBA and are now staples of the Spurs rotation. Both are perhaps past the primes of their careers but bring a level of experience that has been missing from San Antonio’s teams for the last two seasons. Paul is a former All-Star and played in the NBA Finals, and Barnes was an early member of the Golden State Warriors dynasty. These two know how to win, and will share that with the younger players. How exactly that manifests on the court is yet to be seen. San Antonio was near the top of the league in turnovers last year (15.1 a game), maybe they help lower the number of those mistakes. They both can help improve the defense by reducing mental errors on the floor. Overall, how the veterans gel with this young group will be one of the key stories to track over the course of the year. The starting five The Spurs starting five was seemingly set before media day. Wembanyama would lead a group with Devin Vassell, Paul, Sochan and Barnes. But with Vassell missing the start of the season, there are now questions about what the first unit will look like. Gregg Popovich doesn’t even know who is starting yet. “I don’t know who is going to start,” he told reporters on media day. “I think Victor’s gonna start... after that, who the hell knows? It’s up to them. They’ll show me.” It sounds like there will be a competition for the Spurs’ first five spots – there are plenty of players in the race. Paul, Sochan and Barnes feel like strong contenders. Johnson could reprise his role in the first five as a scoring wing. Rookie Stephon Castle could step up and Vassell’s shoes but would likely create some spacing issues in the first five. Don’t count out Julian Champagnie and Malaki Branham, who both spent time starting last season. Competition is great for training camp. “Iron sharpens iron,” as they say. We should have a good idea of who will be in the first five while Vassell is out in the preseason. The fringes of the rotation A few Spurs come into crucial seasons in their NBA careers. Sidy Cissoko, Blake Wesley and Branham are in “prove it” years. They’ve played inconsistent minutes in their first NBA seasons and now face even more competition for playing time. Popovich spoke highly of Cissoko over the summer and at media day. Barnes told reporters that Wesley had impressed him in their pick-up games. There is reason for optimism with all of these guys. If nothing else, they are good depth in case of injuries like Vassell’s. Training camp is going to be huge for them to earn their keep in a crowded rotation. The final two-way spot The Spurs come into training camp with two players signed to two-way contracts. David Duke Jr. and Harrison Ingram will split time between Austin and San Antonio this season. The Spurs can sign one more player to a two-way contract and have a few candidates on the training camp roster. Riley Minix, Malachi Flynn, Brandon Boston Jr. and Nathan Mensah are all on exhibit-10 deals. Minix and Mensah are bigs, with Minix playing more as a stretch 4. Boston Jr. is a big wing who was known as a scorer coming into the NBA. Flynn plays the point and scored 50 points in an NBA game last season. They’ll be fighting for a chance to make the NBA roster this training camp.