If the San Antonio Spurs Summer League team's biggest prospects were to be graded over NBA Summer play, they'd get an “Incomplete.” From the fourth overall pick in this draft Stephon Castle, to Sidy Cissoko – whom legendary coach Gregg Popovich praised – and this year's second round selection Harrison Ingram, the takeaways lend to themselves to Spurs Summer League overreactions.
Here is a breakdown of their most prized summer league participants.
Sidy Cissoko gives Spurs a lift
More than anything he did on the court during the NBA 2K25 Summer League in Las Vegas, Nevada or in the California Classic in Sacramento, Sidy Cissko benefited most from what the Hall of Fame coach of the Silver and Black had to say about him during a broadcast interview.
“He's the dream in the back of my head,” the winningest coach of all-time said about Cissoko during a live interview with ESPN during the Spurs first game in Vegas.
The entirety of Popovich's comments about the 44th pick of the 2023 NBA Draft lasted only about :30 but propelled the French forward into another stratosphere in terms of expectations of what may lie ahead next season.
“When I look at his body, I look at his strength, his length, his quickness, his explosiveness, he has a natural inclination to be a great passer, things that we can't really teach,” the longest tenured coach in the NBA continued. “He's really a great passer. He's got to work on his shot, obviously. The explosiveness, the foot speed he has to play D with that body at the three position. I think he's going to the a special player.”
Cissoko spent much of last season with the Spurs minor league affiliate in Austin. Only 20 years old, the organization has loved his 6-foot-6, 200-pound frame from day one. It sounds like his first day as a member of the big club's regular rotation could come soon.
Harrison Ingram lives up to draft selection
From one second round pick to another, Harrison Ingram was good through his stints in Sacramento and Sin City. His best outing came with 14 points and nine rebounds in a 96-80 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers. Otherwise, the former North Carolina Tar Heel performed well with first round pick Stephon Castle when the latter suited up.
Because he's the 48th pick in this most recent draft, anything short of looking terrible would've cleared the bar for Ingram. Had he struggled with, say, just four points in every game, folks could've chalked it up to where he was drafted. Because he wasn't on the other end either – the best cast scenario of being the breakout star of Summer League play – he's right where he should be in the eyes of many.
Both Ingram and Cissoko took a back set to the franchise's highest draft pick – outside of their fabled top overall selections – since Sean Elliott went third in 1989. Stephon Castle suited up in only one game in Nevada after missing some contests in California, but played well enough to satisfy the team and fans alike with flashes of a very good skill set.
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