The attention from Spurs fans during Summer League has rightfully been directed at figuring out what rookies Carter Bryant and Dylan Harper can do, and marveling at the scoring prowess of surprise standout David Jones-Garcia. They have been the stars of the show.
Riley Minix and Harrison Ingram have understandably taken a back seat to those three, but after spending last season on two-way contracts, this is an important summer for them. Right now, neither has a spot guaranteed, but their play might
get them one if they can continue to do what got them noticed in the first place while showing enough progress in some key areas.
Ingram and Minix are coming off their best game in Las Vegas. The 48th pick in the 2024 draft finished with 15 points, 14 rebounds and six assists while the sharpshooting wing hit a game-winner to beat the Jazz. For the competition, Ingram is averaging 8.7 points, 9.7 rebounds and 4.7 assists. Minix is averaging 12 points and five rebounds while making over 50 percent of his outside shots. Those numbers are not all that dissimilar from their G League stats and paint a good picture of who they are as players.
Minix is a certified sniper who uses his size to contribute on the boards. That’s a good base to have. The question is what else he can do at a high level and whether it’s realistic to expect him to develop a swing skill. Currently, he doesn’t have a great floor game. Can he eventually become a secondary playmaker? Considering he’s 25 years old and has never filled that role, it feels unlikely. He tries on defense, and recently received praise from Spurs’ Summer League coach Mike Noyes for his effort on that end, but is too limited physically to be above average on that end. His best bet is to become not just a good but a great cutter and movement shooter who never turns the ball over, following the Doug McDermott path. His above-average finishing at the rim in the G League is an encouraging sign, and he’s already turnover-averse, so there are reasons to be cautiously optimistic.
RIL3Y pic.twitter.com/u4yDXn6jeI
— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) July 11, 2025
While Minix is a specialist, Ingram is the opposite. He has no standout skills but does a lot at a decent level. He’s big and mobile enough to be a decent defender across a couple of positions, but not a great one. He’s a good rebounder, but his height and lack of bounce could hurt him against better competition in that area if he plays power forward in the NBA. He keeps the ball moving and is good at finding the open man, but he’s not someone who can create advantages. There is a lot about him that suggests he could be a solid role player off the bench, but there’s one weakness that will prevent him from even getting to show that: his poor outside shooting. Ingram made only 29 percent of his threes in the G League and has made just five of his 16 attempts in Summer League (three of those came against the Jazz), showing that he’s not a threat even in low volume. He needs to improve there to have a shot in the league.
off the glass pic.twitter.com/aqbltXvn31
— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) July 11, 2025
The good news is that there are clear paths for both to become NBA-caliber role players. Minix could be a movement scorer that might not create for others traditionally, but does so by commanding the attention of the defense. Ingram is a shot away from being a Grant Williams-type who offers a little bit of everything without taking anything off the table. The question is how likely it is that it will happen anytime soon, and whether the Spurs should invest in helping them get there. There is an opportunity cost in keeping them in a two-way spot that could go to someone else. Minix is 25. Ingram is 23. Definitely not too old to have upside, but already physically mature. It’s not hard to make a case for riskier but higher ceiling options.
The two have clearly done enough in their Spurs tenure for the front office to consider them worthy of another look, or they wouldn’t be on the Summer League roster. They will likely get a training camp offer as well, as both have had their good moments so far. Even if they are both retained on two-way deals, there will be a spot open on that type of contract, plus a regular roster spot available. There’s no need to part ways yet, but it’s also not too early to be thinking about their place in the franchise, as the Las Vegas tournament winds down.
The spotty track record most teams, including the Spurs, have with two-way players shows that it’s not easy to develop fringe projects into contributors. Ingram and Minix could eventually get there, as their latest performance in Summer League showed. Hopefully, they’ll reward San Antonio’s investment in them by becoming the rare success stories that provide teams with cheap depth in an era in which working on the fringes could prove more valuable than ever due to the new cap restrictions.
More from poundingtherock.com:
- Taking a look at draft prospects through Spurs-colored glasses: The Frontcourt
- Why the Jalen Duren/Mark Williams to the Spurs rumors make sense
- Building the Spurs back into a contender starts with the 2022 NBA Draft
- The benefits of the Spurs trading a pick for immediate help
- Report: The Spurs could trade up for Keegan Murray
- Open Thread: Join in Spurs NBA Draft Party
- Pounding the Rock’s 2022 NBA Draft Lottery Big Board
