San Antonio

Spurs

After spending his first professional seasons with the G League’s South Bay Lakers, McCoy is headed to San Antonio for training camp. Since he’s on an Exhibit 10 deal, this move was likely made with the roster of the Spurs’ G League affiliate in mind. McCoy averaged 14.2 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 3.5 assists in nearly 26 minutes per game last season.

Graham’s absence won’t cause major waves in the fantasy world, but Cam Payne and Malaki Branham could each see a few more minutes for the two games Graham is out.

Johnson has been a fixture in the Spurs’ starting lineup for the last three seasons, starting 204 of the 207 games he’s appeared in. But with Victor Wembanyama in the fold and San Antonio considering him a forward as opposed to a center, someone will have to move to the bench if the first overall pick is a starter from Day 1. It could be Johnson, and as of late July, he appears to be open to doing whatever the team needs. “Yeah. I just want to win. Whatever I got to do to win, I am looking forward to that, so we’ll see how it goes,” Johnson told Tom Orsborn of the San Antonio Express-News. While Johnson entered last season with a Yahoo ADP of 70, he finished the year ranked outside the top 150 and has yet to produce a top-100 season. Devin Vassell has been a better fantasy option, and that would remain the case next season if Johnson’s asked to come off the bench.

The 44th overall pick in June’s NBA Draft, Cissoko is likely to get the majority of his minutes with the Spurs’ G League affiliate this season. The 6-foot-8 forward, who played for G League Ignite last season, defended well during Summer League but remains a work in progress offensively. His addition is unlikely to impact fantasy basketball.

After playing on a two-way contract during his rookie season, Barlow will do the same in year two. While the prospects for consistent playing time next season don’t look great, he did play very well with the Spurs in the NBA2K24 Summer League. In four appearances in Las Vegas, Barlow averaged 17.0 points, 8.3 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and 1.0 blocks in 27.9 minutes. He did much of his offensive work around the basket, shooting 62.5% from the field. Barlow’s return to San Antonio won’t impact fantasy basketball early on, but he’s a player who could be a “silly season” star if the team fails to contend for a postseason berth.

With it being reported in late June that Bediako had reached an agreement with the Spurs on a training camp deal, he’ll have the opportunity to compete for a roster spot in the fall. If he fails in that mission, the undrafted rookie out of Alabama will likely latch on with the Spurs’ G League affiliate. Sunday’s performance was a good one for Bediako, but he’s unlikely to offer fantasy value next season. Sidy Cissoko, a second-round pick in last month’s draft, put up 10 points, eight rebounds, six assists, and two blocked shots in 23 minutes.

This may have been a move to open up a roster spot for Bol Bol, but it is certainly an interesting one for the Suns. Their active point guards currently are Saben Lee and Jordan Goodwin, which reinforces the idea that Devin Booker and Bradley Beal will split playmaking duties. Payne will likely split point guard duties with Tre Jones in San Antonio, which could take away from Jones’ upside.

Barlow has been highly productive for the Spurs this summer, both in Sacramento and Las Vegas. After playing on a two-way deal as a rookie, Barlow is a restricted free agent since the Spurs extended him a qualifying offer. And his play this summer should have any NBA team needing interior depth on notice, given how well he’s played. Fantasy relevance for Barlow will be very difficult to achieve from the start of next season. However, he is someone who could be a “silly season” star if he lands with a team that isn’t in playoff contention next spring.

After getting off to an incredible start to the summer, Champagnie has cooled off a bit in Vegas. He struggled from the floor in this game, but he still stuffed the stat sheet and nearly posted a triple-double. Champagnie received a lot of hype off of his early performances this summer, but he won’t be much of a contributor in standard fantasy leagues.

After having an awful performance where he shot 1-for-18 from the floor, Branham bounced back with an incredible game on Tuesday. Branham had plenty of success as a rookie for the Spurs last season, and a game like this is more reflective of what we expected out of him this summer. He should be a solid piece for the Spurs this season, even if he plays in more of a bench role.