SAN ANTONIO — The San Antonio Spurs released their 2021 Summer League roster, headlined by rookies Joshua Primo and Joe Wieskamp along with second-year players Devin Vassell and Tre Jones.
Mitch Johnson will act as the head coach of this group as they play three games in Utah before heading to Las Vegas for at least four more. It will be the first time Spurs fans get a chance to see Primo and Wieskamp play in silver and black.
"The new guys, the younger guys, it's the kind of thing where they get to get their feet wet and play the NBA game, and play against NBA guys, and put that Spurs jersey, even though it's the Summer League jersey on for the first time," said Johnson, who went to Vegas and Salt Lake City a few times when he was an assistant coach in Austin.
When asked what he saw from those new guys in their first pro-level practice, he noted their poise.
"I think they did a great job of playing really hard and with energy, without overdoing it or being all over the place, and I think that's a really hard thing at that age and at that circumstance where they're so excited, and probably nervous and anxious and all of those things combined," he said. "I just think they did a great job of kind of fitting in, but standing out at the same time."
When asked about his first few days, Primo's first answer was that of a kid excited to get started.
"I've been thrown right into it and I love it. All the guys are good here, we've got a good solid group of hard playing, high character guys so it's been fun. We just got into it right away," he said. "It's surreal. Even though it's been three days now, so I'm just coming into it trying to put one foot in front of the other, trying to be as much of a sponge as possible, trying to soak in as much information as I can, trying to be a good listener, and being a good teammate out there."
The most surreal of those moments may have been when he saw his jersey for the first time.
"Seeing my name on the back of the jersey, seeing my number with the Spurs at the front. It's a humbling experience, knowing that I was able to put my family name on the back of an NBA jersey in a place that I really wanted to go. It's a great feeling," Primo said.
Many fans and analysts were surprised to see Primo off the board at 12, but reporting after the draft suggests that the 18-year-old combo guard would have drawn serious interest from teams later in the teens. The Spurs knew they wanted him, so they took him with the idea of getting him into their storied development program early. Primo is excited for that too, and so is Wieskamp.
"I'm super excited to be here," he said. "This coaching staff, this support staff is honestly a perfect fit for me, personality-wise, development-wise. Being in the city, I just got here a couple of days ago but I can already tell it's gonna be a great spot. I'm just super excited to get to work with these historic and great coaches, and just to be around this environment, be around the NBA game. I think that my game translates really well to this level, and I'm only gonna get better."
Both Primo and Wieskamp independently spoke to the idea of getting a little bit better every single day, and Johnson provided some insight on the Spurs philosophy when it comes to developing players.
"Part of it is to give players the ball - that's kind of what I was speaking to when I said the roles are bigger - and allow them to dictate how much further or not as far as that role should go," he said. "I think that's kind of the great thing about Summer League, is we allow them to show us as much as we tell them."
"I think that guys like Josh and Joe, and speaking to Devin and guys prior, We're trying to get guys who can do multiple things on the basketball court. Versatility is a big thing that you're seeing, where it's not the traditional point guard, shooting guard, power forward, small forward, center. We're trying to get guys that can pass dribble and shoot, that can guard multiple positions, that are comfortable setting screens, comfortable handling the ball in screens, guards that can post up, bigs that can shoot, so on and so forth," Johnson said.
"There's a lot of things that go into it, but that's what we're trying to do. We're trying to get guys that can bring value in multiple ways, and we're trying to obviously bring good people into the building that are gonna work hard and try to improve. Because it's hard, you know? Everybody is doing the same thing, it's really hard at this level, and we've had such a level of success and a standard that we're now trying to develop these young guys to the standard that people are used to, and it's hard, because it is so many young guys."
Even as Summer League rookies, Devin Vassell and Tre Jones will be looked at as more veteran members of the squad.
"Devin and Tre, our second year guys, they've gone through a whole season so it's really unique for them to be experiencing their first Summer League," Johnson said, noting that last year's rookies didn't Summer League or training camp due to coronavirus. "Probably be a little bit bigger role on the team and be a little bit of a vet in terms of some of the things that we do here, the terminology, some of the things we emphasize."
Skal Labissiere is the tallest player and biggest name on the roster. The 24-year-old played for both the Kings and the Trail Blazers after being selected 28th in 2016, but spent the 2020-21 season with the Westchester Knicks of the G League. The Spurs took Dejounte Murray at 29.
"Skal is one of those guys that's been around the league obviously and has done this," Johnson said. "When you have a couple of those guys, you always look to them to have a calming effect on the young guys."
The full game schedule can be found below.
Utah:
Tuesday, Aug. 3 – Spurs vs. Utah White – 8 p.m. CT
Wednesday, Aug. 4 – Spurs vs. Utah Blue – 6 p.m. CT
Friday, Aug. 6 – Spurs vs. Memphis – 6 p.m. CT
Las Vegas:
Monday, Aug. 9 – Spurs at Timberwolves – 6 p.m. CT
Tuesday, Aug. 10 – Spurs vs. Bulls – 7 p.m. CT
Thursday, Aug. 12 – Spurs at Hornets – 2 p.m. CT
Sunday, Aug. 15 – Spurs vs. Nets – 5 p.m. CT
Tuesday, Aug. 17 – Summer League Championship Game (TBD)