The Spurs have already made their answer clear on one of the biggest early questions of the season: De’Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper are going to share the floor, and they’re going to do it often.
That was the message coming out of Sunday night’s Silver & Black Scrimmage, where the three guards logged nearly 10 minutes together even though they were only on the same side for half of the 40-minute running-clock event. It was a deliberate look, not a coincidence, and it came after a regular season in which Fox, Harper and Castle played just 25 total minutes together across the full 82 games. They added another 25 minutes together in five Finals games, when Mitch Johnson leaned hard on his best players in the push for a title.
Johnson has been talking about this since Media Day, and after the scrimmage he made it plain that the goal is simple: get the group more time, more reps and more chances to figure itself out.
“Honestly, I just like that they got more reps,” Johnson said after the scrimmage. “We have so many different guys, so many combinations of players that can play together.
Who's going to start? Who's going to finish?
Who's going to play together? If you did the math of that, I would have to go through a whole season to even probably scratch the surface of what would be valid.”
Castle has framed the fit the same way, emphasizing how much room there is for the trio to grow as a unit.
“We're three high-level guards that are pretty unselfish, that can touch the paint whenever. Being able to play off each other as much as we can, whether we have two of us on the court, three of us on the court, I think we'll figure it out and it'll continue to grow as it did last year.”
Fox, too, pointed to what the group already showed when they were together.
“Us being a talented group and continuing to learn to play together, I think that we had some success whenever us three were on the court,” Fox added.
Sunday’s scrimmage offered a first real look at the upside, but also the issues that come with stacking three drive-first guards together. Harper, Fox and Castle can all attack the paint, but when two of them are off the ball, the spacing can get cramped fast.
In one stretch, long-armed defenders like Devin Vassell helped off shooters, the lane tightened, and the result was turnovers and pull-up jumpers instead of cleaner looks. Harper knocked down some tough shots anyway, but the better version of this offense is obvious: more space, more movement, better decisions.
Johnson said the answer will come through time.
“We just have to get to it and get hours on the job training and continue to see and feel what works and complements each other and how we can best help them,” Johnson said. “But they're pretty talented and they're good guys, so I don't have too much concern.”
There were also flashes of how dangerous the trio can be when the offense doesn’t stall. Moving the ball and keeping bodies in motion changes the picture for a defense.
Ball screens, off-ball cuts and constant movement can turn three downhill scorers into a wave instead of a crowd. Transition may be the easiest way to speed that up.
Castle grabbed a rebound and pushed it ahead to Harper, and on the next play, after a Wembanyama block, Fox found Castle for a dunk.
The cleanest fix in the half court may come from the 3-point line. Castle created a triple for Harper, and on the next possession Wembanyama found Castle in the same spot. If one or more of the guards become reliable enough from deep that defenders can’t simply sag off, the whole setup opens up.
For now, the Spurs are treating this as a work in progress with real stakes attached. Johnson will keep mixing and matching a roster full of combinations, but the club is not hiding the fact that Fox, Castle and Harper are a central part of the plan. The preseason starts Thursday night, and the experimenting is set to continue from there.
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