Seventeen rebounds in 24 minutes, and Tarris Reed Jr. still thinks he left some on the floor. The San Antonio Spurs rookie big man feasted on the glass in Monday’s 117-107 preseason loss to the Utah Jazz, then admitted he took his foot off the gas, as first reported by ClutchPoints.
Reed, the 26th overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, had 10 rebounds by halftime, eight of them on the offensive end. Speaking to Tom Orsborn of the San Antonio Express-News, he said he “eased up a little bit in the beginning of the second half” and could have finished with 20 or 25. He even joked that his old college coach Dan Hurley would be yelling at him for it.
The IAHHM Take
You can’t teach that kind of hunger, and you definitely can’t teach a rookie being mad about a 17-board night. San Antonio rested most of its key guys, Victor Wembanyama included, so Reed got real run in the frontcourt and made the most of it.
The hard part is the depth chart. Reed sits behind Wemby and Luke Kornet at center, so regular-season minutes won’t be handed to him. But every team needs a guy who changes the energy on a flat night, and crashing the offensive glass is the quickest way for a late first-rounder to earn a coach’s trust. Big men from Hurley’s program tend to show up ready to do the dirty work, and Reed is already talking like one.
The Spurs are still looking for their first preseason win, but that’s not what anybody in San Antonio will remember from this one.
Can Reed carve out a real role behind Wemby this season? Let us know. For more NBA moves heading into the season, check out Brandin Podziemski’s $110 million extension with the Warriors.
Source: ClutchPoints
