SAN ANTONIO, TX - OCTOBER 27: Luke Kornet #7 of the San Antonio Spurs handles the ball during the game against the Sacramento Kings on October 27, 2026 at the Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this ph otograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2026 NBAE (Photos by Michael Gonzales/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images The Spurs have rallied after losing their first two games of the season, rattling off four wins in a row. They are starting to round into form while still having room for growth, looking like the contender their talent suggests they can be, through ups and downs. Among the areas that still need improvement is the play of the second unit. And among the reserves, Luke Kornet has been getting a lot of scrutiny, as he hasn’t bounced back to the form he showed last year and now has an exciting rookie behind him who has looked productive in limited minutes. In the Spurs’ latest win against the shorthanded Timberwolves, Kornet looked good, but his solid performance won’t completely get him off the hook from those who might want to see Tarris Reed Jr. get a chance to fight for the backup center spot as soon as possible. While the rookie should get his opportunity if Kornet continues to struggle, for now, being patient with the veteran seems like the right move. The offense is terrible with Kornet on the floor, but it’s not necessarily his fault It’s always tricky to put too much stock in advanced numbers with so few minutes to go by, but they are not kind to Kornet. The Spurs score just 100.5 points per 100 possessions when he’s on the floor, a ghastly number. His limitations on that end are well-known, and it doesn’t feel like he has developed any other tools, such as a floater, to change that. His strengths, however, are also clear and are not insignificant. Kornet is a good screener. In just 14.6 minutes a game, he’s averaging 2.7 screen assists, the 18th most in the league, and those screen assists are resulting in six points per game, the 25th-best mark in the league. Now, screen assists tend to be higher for limited role-playing centers who don’t get the ball back after initially freeing their ball-handler. There’s a reason why Victor Wembanyama averages fewer despite playing over twice as many minutes as Luke: Wemby screens, then the guards find him, and Wemby scores. The Alien leads the league in plays finished as the pick-and-roll dive man, which makes sense. Luke can’t do that. Context is important. Still, the screening is good, as anyone who has watched Kornet play can attest to, and while he doesn’t finish after a pass, he has another skill that he can use after setting them: grabbing offensive rebounds. His offensive rebound percentage has dipped slightly from last year, but it’s still very good. So if Kornet is doing his job on offense, why are the Spurs struggling to score when he’s on the floor? First, he’s currently posting an uncharacteristically high turnover percentage that is bound to come down significantly. He’s been fumbling passes and losing offensive boards, and while he’ll always do that to an extent, there’s simply no way he continues to do it at the pace his done it so far. If he somehow does, he won’t only be out of the rotation but out of the league soon. Second, the Spurs are shooting very few threes per possession when he’s on the floor (in part explained by the fact that Kornet doesn’t take them) while also connecting on just 33.2 percent of them. When Kornet is off the floor, that number climbs to 35.9 on more attempts. There’s a decent chance the Spurs simply start shooting better when Kornet is on the floor, and there’s no way his turnover percentage remains as high, considering his usage. Mitch Johnson should try giving Reed Jr. some minutes whenever possible, but prematurely giving up on Kornet because of the offense’s struggles would be unwise. The defense’s big problem seems more related to lineups than whoever plays center If the offense was the only issue, there would be little reason to demote Kornet. The problem is, the Spurs have also been horrendous on defense, both by the numbers and the eye test, when Wembanyama is not on the floor. A big decline in efficiency is obviously expected when the best defender of his generation rests, but so far, it’s been precipitous. No one expects Kornet to match Wemby, but a 22-point swing in points allowed per 100 possessions is simply too big and not even close to the more reasonable seven-point swing from last season. Even though the numbers should normalize with more minutes, Kornet just hasn’t looked good out there. Still, he’s rebounding at a decent level, but the Spurs are allowing a lot of second-chance points when he’s on the floor anyway, and while his allowing a very low percentage at the rim when he’s the closest defender, other teams’ points in the paint have been high. What those numbers suggest, then, is that maybe the issue is not necessarily Kornet but the teammates he shares the floor with. Mitch Johnson explicitly said that the struggles of units featuring Kornet have to be seen as collective instead of individual, because there are four other players out there with him, and he’s right. Kornet has shared the floor very often with Keldon Johnson, a poor defender, and those minutes have been horrendous. In lineups that feature more of the starters (and once again, the numbers need to be taken with a grain of salt), the defensive rating is much lower. Most other Spurs are also used to playing a very aggressive style of perimeter defense when Wembanyama is around, and Kornet simply can’t cover as much space as Wemby does or erase or deter as many shots at the rim once the ball handler gets past the first line of defense. The new lineups developing familiarity should help. As with the offense, it seems like Kornet, while partially responsible, is not individually to blame for the bad results. He has not been as good as he was last season so far, but a combination of issues involving the lineups he’s in and some seemingly aberrant numbers that should, on paper, get back to normal with a bigger sample size are likely the biggest reasons for the poor performance of the bench units. Tarris Reed Jr. could be a better option, but it’s far from a certainty Whether Kornet can go back to being the version of himself from last season, which was a perfectly good backup in most matchups, is irrelevant if there’s a better option waiting in the wings. If Reed Jr. is simply a superior player, he should be getting Kornet’s minutes. There are two issues with any claim that he is, however. The first is that he’s untested, which can only be solved by playing him, but the second has to do with the limitations that Reed has displayed so far. The rookie has shown some touch around the rim and, perhaps more importantly, more ambition in terms of finishing plays when he gets the ball in the paint than the more passive Kornet, but they both share strengths and weaknesses. Kornet is likely the better screener while Reed Jr. is almost certainly a better offensive rebounder, but neither spaces the floor either horizontally, as both have limited range, or vertically, as they are both big but not explosive. Passing has never been Reed Jr.’s biggest strength, so he won’t likely offer another dimension to the offense in that area, at least as a rookie. Defensively, both Reed Jr. and Kornet are only suited for drop coverage, since their foot speed is limited, and both are at their best close to the rim. While the rookie might offer more energy, that could be a plus when it becomes contagious, but it can also be a negative if it results in chaos. Kornet is likely a better steadying force in that regard due to his experience, while once again Reed Jr. has an edge in rebounding. Both have similarly good cases for the non-Wemby minutes. If Kornet continues to struggle, Mitch Johnson should absolutely give the rookie some more playing time, but Reed Jr. shouldn’t be considered an automatic upgrade who will solve every issue. Especially if the coaching staff’s only change is swapping the two in the rotation instead of addressing the other problems with the non-Wembanyama units. Kornet is far from untouchable, and he might lose his spot eventually. But there’s no rush to make a change now, as the season is long and the Spurs are clearly still a work in progress, trying to figure out more important things than their backup center situation. ...read more read less