Already missing a franchise mainstay after Tim Duncan's off-season retirement, the San Antonio Spurs also will be without longtime starting shooting guard Danny Green for at least the first three weeks of the season.
According to the Spurs, Green has "a left quad strain and is expected to be out approximately three weeks." Green suffered the injury during training camp, but re-aggravated it during a scrimmage on Tuesday. Despite this setback, Green is staying positive and hoping to return before the diagnosed timetable.
Danny Green: "I'm going to take it day by day, week by week and hopefully come back early...You've got to stay positive." #Spurs
— Tom Orsborn (@tom_orsborn) October 21, 2016
Green struggled shooting the ball last season. He is one of the Spurs' best 3-point shooters but connected on only 33.2 percent beyond the arc last season, far below his career mark (40.3 percent). Even with his struggles, Green remains an excellent wing defender, so the Spurs will miss his presence at that end of the floor.
Expect more minutes for Manu Ginobili, Kevin Martin and perhaps second-year guard Jonathon Simmons. San Antonio has the depth to weather Green's absence, though the Spurs definitely need Green to get healthy and start connecting from deep if they want to contend with the other elite teams in the West.
