Billy Donovan’s arrival on the San Antonio Spurs’ staff gives Mitch Johnson a familiar guide for one of the roster’s biggest questions: how to make Dylan Harper, Stephon Castle and De’Aaron Fox work together.
Donovan has already navigated that exact kind of setup. He handled a three-guard lineup for the Oklahoma City Thunder during the 2019-2020 season, and that blueprint gives the Spurs a place to start.
But this isn’t just a copy-and-paste exercise. The Spurs’ trio brings a different kind of punch, and the ceiling looks higher because of it.
The challenge has been obvious all offseason. Harper, Castle and Fox all bring plenty on their own, but the real test is getting them on the floor together without clogging the offense or flattening their strengths. Donovan’s experience should help with that, and the Spurs can borrow from what worked in Oklahoma City while building something more dynamic around their own personnel.
That Thunder group clicked because Chris Paul, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Dennis Schroder all knew how to affect the game with and without the ball. The Spurs need the same kind of versatility from Harper, Castle and Fox.
The difference is the physical profile. Each Spurs guard has a mix of strength, size and quickness that can punish defenders in ways that Thunder trio could not.
They can slip behind defenders who lose focus, or muscle their way inside when the matchup gets tight.
The defensive side could be even more dangerous. Oklahoma City’s guards were strong on that end, but San Antonio’s group has the chance to leave a bigger imprint. Castle and Harper give the Spurs two big guards who can make life miserable for opposing scorers, while Fox brings quick hands and long arms that can bother ball handlers and create steals.
That is where the Spurs can chase the same benefits OKC got and then go a step further. Paul, Gilgeous-Alexander and Schroder were effective together, but Harper, Castle and Fox have a physical edge that could make the formula even tougher to deal with.
There is also the late-game element. The Thunder’s guard trio was especially sharp in the clutch during that 2019-2020 season, and that execution helped them reach the playoffs and push the Houston Rockets to seven games in the first round.
The Spurs are hoping for that same kind of poise from their backcourt. Their experience in the NBA Finals against the New York Knicks gave them a lesson in late-fourth-quarter composure, and that should carry into this season. Pair that with three guards who can create their own shots, and San Antonio has a chance to become one of the league’s most dangerous clutch groups.
That is the value of Donovan being in the building. The Spurs have someone who has seen this setup work before, and now they get to see whether their version can do even more.
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Spurs Rotation Shift Could Cost Julian Champagnie A Bigger Role
The Spurs frontcourt picture got a little clearer this summer with the addition of Tobias Harris, and that has naturally started to reshape the rotation around him. Harris is expected to handle the starting power forward spot once healthy, which gives San Antonio a veteran presence at a position it had to address, while also putting Julian Champagnie in a spot where his role could shift depending on how the roster settles in around the new arrival.
Champagnie is still positioned to open the season in the starting five because Harris is dealing with an injury, but the long view is less certain. His place in the lineup may not last once Harris is available, and for now the more interesting part is how he handles the change after showing an acceptance of whatever role the Spurs ask of him as they sort out the minutes. [Read more 🡒]
Rockets Suddenly Linked To A De'Aaron Fox Move That Changes Everything
The Spurs have spent this stretch leaning into their young core, with guards Dylan Harper and Stephon Castle drawing a lot of attention as the organization keeps shaping its backcourt around Victor Wembanyama. Harper in particular has flashed enough to fuel the kind of optimism that usually comes with a premium draft pick, and the teams long-term picture appears to be getting clearer by the week as San Antonio continues to prioritize development over short-term fixes.
Thats where the DeAaron Fox conversation starts to get interesting, because the Spurs have more to sort through than just playing time at guard. If Harper is going to be part of the front line moving forward, Fox becomes the name that could alter the rotation and the roster balance in a hurry, with one scenario even sending him to Houston. For a team still defining its next version, the decision could say plenty about how quickly San Antonio wants to accelerate the timeline around Wembanyama and the young guards beside him. [Read more 🡒]
Victor Wembanyama Is Entering The Season With Massive MVP Pressure
Victor Wembanyama is walking into the season with a different kind of spotlight, and it is not hard to see why. NBCSports.coms analysts all pointed to the Spurs star as the early favorite for the NBAs Most Valuable Player award, leaning on what he already showed at an MVP level last season and the sense that there is still more room for him to grow. For San Antonio, that kind of recognition is a sign of how far the franchise has come in a short time, with Wembanyama no longer viewed as a future candidate so much as the standard everyone else is chasing.
The race will still have familiar heavyweights around it, with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Nikola Jokic, Luka Doncic and Giannis Antetokounmpo all part of the conversation. But the real weight on Wembanyama is clear: this is the sort of projection that depends on him staying on the floor and the Spurs looking like one of the Wests best teams. For a player this young, the expectation is already enormous, and the season ahead could turn that buzz into something much bigger. [Read more 🡒]