The Spurs may have the league’s deepest collection of talent, but the lineup they’re expected to lean on comes with real questions attached.
San Antonio added Tobias Harris this summer and didn’t lose any major pieces, which only adds to the weight of a roster built around Victor Wembanyama, Stephon Castle, and Dylan Harper. That young core is only expected to keep improving. De’Aaron Fox gives them another All-Star-level weapon, even if he doesn’t fit cleanly with the team’s young backcourt.
Fox is expected to remain the starter for now, while Harper comes off the bench. There’s no immediate rush to flip that arrangement, even though the Spurs are expected to eventually trade Fox and open the door for Harper to move into the starting five.
For the moment, though, the bigger question is how Mitch Johnson sorts out the minutes when all three guards are healthy. Harper showed in the NBA Finals that San Antonio can trust him when the pressure rises, while Fox, to this point, fell short - though he was playing through injury.
The trio of Fox, Harper, and Castle posted a -27.5 net rating in limited minutes together last season. Still, both Harper and Castle have made strides as shooters, which makes the group more workable than it looked before.
That’s where the real possibility starts to emerge. With Wembanyama in the mix, the Spurs could roll out something that looks a lot like a new death lineup, and the easiest path might be to finish games with all three guards on the floor.
“In the short term, Fox still needs to start, but Spurs coach Mitch Johnson must find ways to increase Harper’s reps, which is tricky,” wrote The Athletic's Jared Weiss.
“The easiest way for Johnson to maximize Harper’s usage is to close games with all three guards on the floor more often,” Weiss added. “The development of Castle’s jumper is especially important to that effort.
We saw how much better Castle became in the second half of last season when he started shooting league-average from 3. Harper, in turn, took off in March when he became nearly perfect from the corners.”
Castle and Harper both shot better than 40 percent from 3 over the final 25 games of the season. That level probably won’t last, but if they can stay at least league-average from deep and work off Fox’s drive-and-kick game, the Spurs have a lot of ways to attack.
Add Wembanyama’s offensive force, and that four-man group has the look of something that could be the best in the NBA. Surround it with one shooter, and the Spurs have a five-man setup that could be awfully hard to handle.
In Other News...
Wembanyama Has One Concern Spurs Fans Cant Ignore Anymore
Victor Wembanyama spent most of his rise in San Antonio as the kind of star fans could center a franchise around without hesitation, but the tone around him shifted during the 2026 NBA Finals. The Spurs centerpiece was suddenly being viewed through a different lens after a series against the New York Knicks that changed the conversation far beyond the box score, especially as New York celebrated its first title in 53 years.
What makes the concern linger now is not just the fallout from that loss, but what it says about where Wembanyamas head is heading into the 2026-27 season. He remains the player the Spurs need to build around, yet his mindset and approach after such a public turn in sentiment are not fully clear, and for a fan base that has already invested so much in him, that uncertainty matters. [Read more 🡒]
Spurs Have A Guard Logjam That Could Shape Their Next Few Years
Dylan Harpers first taste of Spurs basketball has only sharpened the conversation around a crowded backcourt. Jared Weiss of The Athletic noted that Harper looked good coming off the bench, but San Antonio already has a clear lead guard in DeAaron Fox, whose place in the starting lineup is secure after signing a four-year maximum extension last summer. That leaves the Spurs with a rotation that is suddenly deep, young and full of overlap at the guard spots.
For now, the bigger question is not whether Harper can help, but how the Spurs sort out their long-term guard core. Scouts around the league see Harper and Stephon Castle as key pieces of the franchises future, with both expected to be part of the organizations plans for the foreseeable future. The challenge for San Antonio is the kind most teams would welcome, though it still invites plenty of debate about who gets the ball, who develops fastest and how the roster eventually settles around its emerging talent. [Read more 🡒]
Keldon Johnson May Be Entering A Make-Or-Break Spurs Season
Keldon Johnson heads toward the new season in a more uncertain spot than he has occupied in years with the Spurs. After a summer in which San Antonio extended Julian Champagnie and brought in Tobias Harris, the roster has a different shape around him, and the minutes he has long counted on at power forward may not be as secure as they once were.
For Johnson, the early part of the season could tell the story. His place in the rotation, and perhaps his standing with the franchise, may hinge on how much he plays once games start to matter, especially if the Spurs keep exploring the trade market as the deadline approaches. [Read more 🡒]