The big question in San Antonio isn’t just who starts. It’s who finishes. And for all the buzz around Dylan Harper, there’s a real chance he’s the one watching the final minutes from the sideline.
That would not be a shock for Spurs fans who already saw De’Aaron Fox handling closing duty in the NBA Finals, with Harper sometimes stuck on the bench. Fox has already won Clutch Player of the Year, but even he had rough patches finishing games last season.
Normally, San Antonio would be happy enough to lean on Fox. Harper, though, gives them another serious option.
In fact, there were games last season where Harper probably should have been the one on the floor instead of Fox. If Mitch Johnson intends to lean into a three-guard look with Fox, Stephon Castle and Harper next season, then Harper can’t just disappear from the closing group.
The most likely crunch-time five could be Fox, Castle, Devin Vassell, Tobias Harris or Julian Champagnie, and Victor Wembanyama. That group has plenty of upside, and so does a lineup that includes Harper. Either way, the Spurs have real firepower when the game tightens.
Still, Harper may be too good to leave out for long. He could quickly become San Antonio’s third-best player next season, and that makes being left out of closing lineups feel like a tough sell.
There is a catch, though. If Fox, Castle and Harper don’t fit cleanly together, then one of them will have to sit in crunch time.
That’s where the spacing questions come in. Castle and Harper still need to prove they can shoot well enough to keep the floor open, even if both are expected to improve.
The Spurs already tested that exact three-guard setup with Fox, Castle and Harper alongside Vassell and Wembanyama in crunch time of the NBA Finals. It didn’t work - San Antonio blew four games in crunch time - but that shouldn’t be enough to kill the idea entirely.
Without Harris or Champagnie, the spacing would be tighter, but Wembanyama and Vassell both command defensive attention. If either Castle or Harper can hit 35 percent from three on high volume, that lineup starts to look very workable on offense.
The defense, at least on paper, is not the issue. Fox and Harper are both surprisingly solid on that end, and there isn’t an obvious weak link in that group.
So it all comes down to fit. If the Spurs can make the three-guard arrangement sing, Harper should be in the closing five with Fox, Vassell and Wembanyama.
If they can’t, then Harper may end up as the odd man out. That outcome is far from guaranteed, but it’s very much on the table.
In Other News...
Spurs Have A Big Question As Their Guard Trio Takes On More
Mitch Johnson is pushing the Spurs toward a bigger role for their young guard trio, with Dylan Harper, DeAaron Fox and Stephon Castle expected to share the floor more often than they did a year ago. The idea is built on what the group flashed in limited stretches last season, and San Antonio wants to see those promising moments turn into something more stable as the minutes start to rise.
For that to work, the fit has to be cleaner away from the ball. Johnson has pointed to the need for the guards to sharpen the little things that make an overloaded backcourt function, especially spacing the floor and cutting hard to the rim. It is the kind of adjustment that could unlock the lineup, and also the part of the experiment that will decide whether the Spurs can keep leaning into it. [Read more 🡒]
Wembanyama May Need One New Weapon To Protect His Future
Victor Wembanyama already stands out as one of the leagues most difficult scorers to game-plan for, thanks to a skill set that stretches defenses in almost every direction. But as the Spurs continue managing his development, there is a growing basketball case for adding another layer to his attack, one that could make him even harder to defend while also helping preserve the kind of body that has to carry a massive workload.
The idea is pretty simple: if Wembanyama can become more dependable from the middle of the floor, he may not have to absorb so much contact at the rim or rely as heavily on the same high-impact possessions every night. His current touch from that area leaves room for growth, and for a player with his long-term importance in San Antonio, the payoff would not just be about scoring. It would be about building a path that keeps his game efficient, sustainable and a little easier on his future. [Read more 🡒]
Tobias Harris Just Changed A Tough Spurs Decision
Tobias Harris arrived in San Antonio as one of the more interesting offseason additions, and the fit already feels like a live roster question for the Spurs. At media day, Harris made it clear he is focused on winning and is prepared to handle whatever role the team asks of him, which is exactly the kind of flexibility a young team wants from a veteran forward.
The complication is obvious enough: Devin Vassell and Julian Champagnie are the current starting forwards, and Harris gives the Spurs another proven option in that same mix. His place in the rotation will come down to what the team needs and how everyone performs, making this less about a simple signing and more about an early-season decision that could shape the way the Spurs line up. [Read more 🡒]