The Spurs may be heading toward a strange kind of luxury problem: too much point guard talent for one starting five, but possibly the exact right mix to solve their biggest issue.
De'Aaron Fox and Dylan Harper are the names at the center of it. San Antonio might only have room for one of them in the starting lineup, which would leave one of the NBA’s most gifted point guards coming off the bench in 2026-27. That’s not an ideal setup on its face, but it could end up serving a bigger purpose.
The real prize for the Spurs is simpler than sorting out the starting five. It’s figuring out how to win the minutes Victor Wembanyama sits. That’s been the weak spot, and it showed up more sharply in the postseason.
San Antonio went 12-6 in the 18 games Wembanyama missed in 2025-26, and the team outscored opponents by 0.6 points per 100 possessions when he was off the court. That’s better than sinking, but it’s still not enough. During the postseason, the Spurs were outscored by 2.0 points per 100 possessions when Wembanyama wasn’t on the floor.
That helps explain why San Antonio brought in veteran forward Tobias Harris. Unless he surprises and cracks the starting group, Harris should join reigning Sixth Man of the Year Keldon Johnson to give the Spurs what could be one of the best backup forward pairings in the league.
The unanswered question is who runs the second unit. Fox and Harper are both more than qualified to do it, and either one would change the look of those non-Wembanyama stretches.
Fox already showed what that can look like. The two-time All-Star helped San Antonio go 10-2 in the 12 games Wembanyama missed between November and December of the 2025-26 season. Harper brings a different kind of punch, with the ability to take over as a downhill scorer and a fearless shooter.
There is still a real wrinkle with Harper, though: his jumper. As a rookie, he hit 34.3 percent from three, which makes the idea of sidelining Fox a difficult one to sell.
Still, the fit makes sense either way. If Harper is the sixth man, he should get a larger role and another year of growth as he moves toward the star-level future he seems headed for. If Fox gets the job, San Antonio can lean on his career averages of 21.1 points and 6.1 assists per game to steady the second unit.
However it shakes out, the Spurs should be better equipped to survive Wembanyama’s rest than they were a year ago. And that may be the real payoff here: not just deciding between Fox and Harper, but making those minutes without Wembanyama something opponents can no longer bank on winning.
In Other News...
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 🡒]