The San Antonio Spurs are unsurprisingly one of the best teams in the NBA through nine games as they are 7-2. San Antonio's roster this season is loaded with good players and they have gotten some big contributions from a lot of different guys but on Saturday it was Kyle Anderson's turn to make a big impression and he did just that. Anderson has appeared in every game for the Spurs this season but still hasn't played much. His play on Saturday might warrant a bigger role for the second year man out of UCLA though, according to Michael C. Wright of ESPN.
Anderson got the start on Saturday night because Kawhi Leonard was out with an upper respiratory infection. Anderson played 31 minutes and scored 10 points while adding seven rebounds and three assists. Gregg Popovich had nothing but great things to say about Anderson after the game.
"I thought Kyle was really special in a lot of ways. He makes everybody on the court better. He makes great decisions. He is getting confident with his shot. He works hard on defense. He is just a fine young player," said Popovich.
Anderson is in his second year with the Spurs after they drafted him 30th overall in the 2014 NBA Draft. Last season Anderson only appeared in 33 NBA games but did get eight starts. Anderson also played in 26 D-League games and dominated there. He is an interesting player because he is 6 foot-9 but played mostly point guard in college so he has a different skillset than most small forwards.
This season Anderson is the victim of an extremely deep team. Anderson is technically the team's backup small forward behind Leonard and has appeared in every game but he is only averaging 10 minutes per game. Anderson and Rasual Butler have been splitting minutes as backups on the wings alongside Manu Ginobli but it is Anderson who may bring more to the table than Butler at this point.
Popovich understandably likes Butler because of his experience but Anderson is a stud on defense and is extremely versatile on offense so it may be time for him to have a bigger role. Butler is off to a good start this season in his limited time but on Saturday Anderson showed what kind of player he can be if he gets the opportunity so strictly from an upside perspective the former UCLA Bruin seems to be in line for some extra minutes.
