LUKE Kornet

Kornet played 68 games for the Spurs in 2025-26 and averaged 21.0 minutes. He put up 6.5 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game. He added 1.0 block and 0.5 steals. He turned it over just 0.4 times a game. His shooting was the standout. He made 64.3 percent of his field goals and posted a 68.9 true shooting percentage. He did not make a three, at 0.0 percent from deep, which tells you where he works: at the rim. He hit 82.5 percent at the line, a strong number for a center. His usage rate was 10.0, so he rarely called his own number. His plus-minus was +1.7 per game. That is the profile of a backup big who finishes plays, protects the rim and stays out of the way.

The early box scores have been thin. Kornet opened October with 6 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists in 14.7 minutes against Atlanta on October 8, a loss in which he was +5. Two days later he grabbed 10 rebounds with 4 points and 2 assists in 16.8 minutes against Phoenix. On October 12 against Utah he got his biggest workload, 22.1 minutes, but scored 0 points with 3 rebounds and 1 assist, and he was -16 in the loss. After the rest night and the Sacramento win, he scored 4 points against the Thunder. The pattern is short stints and modest numbers. The rebounding night against Phoenix shows what he can still do on the glass when the minutes are there.

Kornet's 2025-26 season ended with four games against the Knicks in June. His role shrank in that stretch. He played 7.8 minutes on June 5 with 1 point and 3 rebounds. On June 8 he had 2 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists in 9.3 minutes in a Spurs win. He played just 4.1 minutes on June 10 and 10.2 minutes on June 13, scoring 0 points in both. He was a minus in all four games. San Antonio won one of those four games against New York. The 21.0 minutes he averaged over the regular season did not carry into those games, and he has not played that many minutes in a game so far this October either.

Watch the minutes first. Kornet's value comes from efficiency, not volume, so he needs steady time to show it. Last season's 64.3 percent shooting and 6.1 rebounds came in 21.0 minutes a night, and he has not reached that in any game this October. Watch the rebounding too. The 10-board game against Phoenix was his best outing of the month. Watch how the Spurs handle rest. The October 14 day-to-day listing was a rest decision, not an injury, and he came back two days later. With 9 seasons behind him and his age at 31, a managed workload makes sense. If he keeps turnovers near last season's 0.4 and finishes at the rim, he stays a useful piece behind the starters.