2025-26 Spurs Player Reviews: Luke Kornet

Welcome to Pounding the Rock’s 2025-26 player reviews! The series will look at the players who finished the season with the San Antonio Spurs on guaranteed contracts and who played consequential minutes and/or a vital role (so no two-way players because we hardly saw them this year, no players who were traded away, and none of the deep bench centers, since they were both irrelevant and are now all gone).

Luke Kornet

2025-26 stats: 68 games, 21 MPG, 6.5 points, 6.1 rebounds, 1 block, 64.3 FG%

Contract Status: 3 years, $29.7 million remaining (team option for 2028-29)

Age: 31

Following the 2024-25 season, the Spurs knew their biggest weakness was size and production behind Victor Wembaynama. After trading Zach Collins as part of the De’Aaron Fox trade, losing Charles Bassey to yet another knee injury and finally Wemby to deep vein thrombosis, they were left scrambling for size, resulting in the signing of Bismack Biyombo and more than enough small ball. It was fine since the postseason became a far reach without Wemby (although to the remaining players’ credit, they never stopped trying), but the Spurs would have to get better at backup center if they wanted to reach new heights this season.

They did just that with the under-the-radar signing of Luke Kornet — a veteran, championship-winning center from the Boston Celtics — on a team-friendly deal. Not much was made of it at the time, but it was soon seen as one of the best pick-ups of free agency. Not only was the Spurs’ defense drastically improved overall, but there was much less drop-off when Wemby left the court compared to previous seasons thanks in part to Kornet’s size and underrated (if unspectacular) rim protection. Players who thought they had a free lane to the basket once Wemby left the court quickly learned otherwise. (It may have been less daunting, but certainly not free.)

Kornet especially got to shine early in the season, with Wemby missing 12 straight games between November and December with a calf strain, followed by 6 coming off then bench on a minutes restriction, resulting in Kornet starting for 17 of 18 games (he missed one of his own). In those games, the Spurs went 15-2 with Kornet’s numbers remaining consistent on a per-minute basis without much drop-off as a team. One of his best performances of the season came in that time frame, with a 20-12 double-double in a win in Washington, and of course there was his best play of the regular season: a game-winning, buzzer-beating block of Franz Wagner in Orlando.

He continued to be steady and productive even back in a bench role for the rest of the regular season, with his main weakness being availability (he missed 14 games with various ailments, fortunately without too much overlap with Wemby). However, the playoffs were another story, as he (and seemingly every other bench player not named Dylan Harper) saw his production plummet as the strength of opponent rose, likely skewing his final grade here a bit.

After three straight games scorning in double figures and posting a positive plus-minus to open the playoffs against Portland, his highest scoring game the rest of the way was 7 points in a Game 5 loss to Minnesota (the Wemby ejection game), and the only time he posted a positive plus-minus in a non-blowout game was Game 7 against the Thunder, but what a big game it was. Even though it wasn’t a huge night statistically for Kornet, he provided perhaps their most important play of the postseason: a chase-down block of Isaiah Hartenstein in the fourth quarter that sucked the life out of the Thunder as they made a last ditch effort to come back while Wemby sat with foul trouble.

It’s a play that helped the Spurs win the Western Conference Finals and will go down as one of their best postseason blocks ever, etching Kornet into Spurs playoff lore. Unfortunately, that momentum didn’t carry over to the Finals — for Kornet or the Spurs.

Looking ahead

Kornet will likely play the same role next season: backing up Wemby. There won’t be much doubt in the regular season, but the Spurs will need better production from him (and again, the entire bench) in the playoffs if they hope to win a championship, especially considering exhaustion appeared to play a big role in their Finals loss. Also, it may not be immediate, but Kornet will eventually be looking over his shoulder with the Spurs going for size in the draft with Jayden Quaintance and Tarris Reed, the latter who is healthy and possibly NBA-ready if he gets hurt or his production stumbles.

Kornet’s contract makes him a very tradable asset should the Spurs see the need to shake things up at any point in the next few seasons, but it also gives them a very productive bench player on the cheap in a time when they’ll have to start making some tough financial decisions. He was arguably the best backup center in the league last season by providing exactly what they needed: solid minutes to back up and even replace Wemby at times without a massive drop in production. Expecting much more from him is a stretch, but simply hoping it carries over into the playoffs doesn’t seem like too much to ask, especially from a player who has won a championship playing the same role before.

Top Performance

14 points, 10 rebounds, 2 blocks in Round 1, Game 3 @ Portland Trail Blazers

While Kornet had games with bigger numbers early in the season when Wemby missed extensive time and more memorable moments (such as the Wagner and Hartenstein blocks), this was by far his most important performance for the Spurs, with Wemby out with a concussion and the series tied 1-1 heading out on the road. While Wemby only ended up missing one game, Kornet’s stabilizing performance was certainly reassuring in an uncertain time and helped put the Spurs back in the driver’s seat with a crucial 120-108 win.

Final Grade: B-

Up next: Dylan Harper

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