Welcome to Pounding the Rock’s 2025-26 participant critiques! The sequence will have a look at the gamers who completed the season with the San Antonio Spurs on assured contracts and who performed consequential minutes and/or a significant position (so no two-way gamers as a result of we hardly noticed them this 12 months, no gamers who had been traded away, and not one of the deep bench facilities, since they had been each irrelevant and at the moment are all gone).
2025-26 stats: 44 video games performed, 6.4 MPG, 2 factors, 0.7 rebounds, 0.9 assists, 42.5 3FG%
Contract Standing: 1 12 months, minimal contract
There’s not a lot that may be requested about journeymen on minimal contracts. They’re merely anticipated to swimsuit up when wanted, probably resulting from harm to a rotation participant, and largely mix in, serving to when doable however largely simply not hurting the workforce an excessive amount of.
The Silver and Black, who couldn’t discover a veteran large who may dwell as much as these modest expectations, largely bought that from their fourth-string level guard. Jordan McLaughlin solely performed a complete of 282 minutes within the common season, fewer than Jeremy Sochan, as a comparability level, unfold over 44 video games, so it’s arduous to think about him an affect participant. The excellent news is that he didn’t attempt to be one when his quantity was referred to as, even in his handful of playoff minutes.
At this level, McLaughlin is aware of that the explanation he’s nonetheless within the league is that he performs inside himself. The veteran guard took respectable care of the ball, performed disruptive protection, and was blissful to move to a extra gifted creator whereas recognizing up from past the arc. He introduced the identical degree of professionalism in rubbish time as he did within the Convention Finals, which is what you need out of your eleventh man.
Delving into the numbers from somebody who performed so little and so usually in low-leverage conditions isn’t actually useful, so any judgement of McLaughlin has to depend on the attention check, which is type to him. As a break-in-case-of-emergency ball handler and veteran stabilizer, he regarded the half. He by no means impressed, however he not often regarded misplaced or helpless when he was on the ground, as others within the deep bench did.
Whereas McLaughlin was nice in his position final season, he advantages from the comparability to the horrendous platoon of veteran facilities and an underwhelming Lindy Waters III, who confirmed some intriguing flashes however couldn’t crack the rotation. The expectations from everybody on the periphery of the roster had been low, so McLaughlin assembly them doesn’t really feel like a major achievement.
There was a case to be made for a change within the fourth guard spot heading into 2026/27. Realizing what you will get from somebody will be comforting, and the nonetheless youngish and supremely gifted Spurs want veterans who shall be nice with little to no minutes, however taking the lengthy view, discovering somebody with extra oomph to their recreation than McLaughlin might need been a good suggestion. In any case, in some unspecified time in the future the logjam at level guard will ultimately disappear because of the growing price of the roster, and San Antonio will want precise manufacturing from a backup.
For now, although, McLaughlin (and the two-way guards) will do. The vet gained’t complain concerning the many, many video games through which he gained’t get to see the ground and hopefully will proceed to hit open threes to enrich his stable flooring recreation and tenacious protection.
If that is, because it in all probability ought to be, J-Mack’s final season in San Antonio, he has the chance to go away an excellent impression simply by being bizarre as an alternative of a legal responsibility within the couple of minutes he will get, which looks as if one thing he ought to be capable to accomplish.
6 factors, 1 help in Sport 2 of the Western Convention Finals towards OKC. McLaughlin bought few however essential minutes in De’Aaron Fox’s absence and did properly sufficient beneath the brilliant lights.
