西南区动态：哈里斯伤情、杰罗姆、火箭双向合同、独行侠与鹈鹕

Veteran forward Tobias Harris is considered questionable to play in the Spurs’ regular season opener on October 20 against Oklahoma City after sustaining a left calf strain in training camp, the team announced today, per Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News (Twitter link).

In addition to missing Sunday’s intrasquad scrimmage, Harris is expected to be unavailable for all five of San Antonio’s preseason games, as the plan is to reevaluate him at the end of the preseason, Orsborn notes.

Harris is the only newcomer who is expected to play a significant rotation role for San Antonio in 2026/27, so not having him available in the preseason will delay head coach Mitch Johnson’s ability to experiment with certain lineups, tweets Jared Weiss of The Athletic. While Harris had been considered a candidate to enter the Spurs’ starting five, that seems less likely to happen in the short term now that he won’t suit up for the team until the regular season gets underway.

We have more from around the Southwest:

• After Ja Morant served as the Grizzlies’ primary starting point guard for the past seven years, who will take his place in 2026/27? Ty Jerome looks like the early frontrunner, according to Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal, who says the veteran guard has been one of the club’s camp standouts. “He pretty much can score on anybody, any day, on any possession, out of any situation,” forward GG Jackson II said of Jerome.
• The Rockets decided to waive two-way player Rafael Castro because they feel confident about their frontcourt depth, which includes Alperen Sengun, Steven Adams, Clint Capela, and camp invitee Oscar Tshiebwe, head coach Ime Udoka told reporters, including Varun Shankar of The Houston Chronicle (Twitter link). According to Udoka, the team has four or five candidates in mind as it weighs how to fill that two-way opening. For what it’s worth, Tshiebwe and wing Julian Phillips, who are on Exhibit 10 contracts, are both eligible to have their deals converted to two-way contracts, so they could be among those candidates.
• Mavericks head coach Dusty May described the team’s trip to Macao as a “fact-finding mission,” explaining that he’ll be focused less on winning a pair of preseason games vs. Houston and more on coming away with a better understanding of his club’s strengths and weaknesses. Grant Afseth of Dallas Hoops Journal has the story.
• The Pelicans’ G League team is relocating from Birmingham to Kenner and rebranding as the Laketown Squadron for the 2026/27 season, but upgrades to the Pontchartrain Convention & Civic Center are taking longer than anticipated after contractors discovered mold growing in the ceiling earlier this year, writes Lara Nicholson of NOLA.com (subscription required). While the cost to the city – which owns the building – has exceeded initial estimates, Pelicans VP of operations Stephen Pate said renovations remain on schedule and that the arena should still be ready for the start of the Squadron’s season next month.