The San Antonio Spurs may look crowded on the perimeter, but De'Aaron Fox isn’t worried about the math.
The team has loaded up at guard with Fox, Stephon Castle, Dylan Harper and Devin Vassell, and that kind of depth usually sets off alarms in the NBA. There are only so many minutes to go around, and when several players do similar things, the rotation can get messy fast. But Fox sees a staff that has already handled this kind of setup before.
He pointed to assistant coach Billy Donovan’s track record with three guards in Oklahoma City as a big reason for optimism.
"It's been great. One thing we've talked about is him being able to coach three guards at the same time.
When he was head coach in OKC, he had Dennis Schroder, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Chris Paul. So, he's been able to make it work.
That team wasn't supposed to go to the playoffs at the time and then ended up playing well because they figured it out. That's one thing he's bringing to us," Fox declared.
That Thunder team became the blueprint for why Fox feels comfortable about San Antonio’s situation. In the 2019-20 season, Donovan managed that guard mix, and the Thunder won 44 games and reached the postseason before falling to the Houston Rockets in seven games in the first round.
Fox’s confidence also comes with what the Spurs have already shown under Coach Mitch Johnson. In two seasons, the organization has collected 107 wins across the regular season and NBA Playoffs, and Johnson’s career winning percentage as a head coach sits at 58.8%. He has also helped shape players into award winners, with Victor Wembanyama becoming a perennial candidate for NBA Most Valuable Player and Defensive Player of the Year, while Keldon Johnson won Sixth Man of the Year in that same year.
That background is why the pressure around the Spurs’ crowded backcourt doesn’t seem to bother Fox. The concern outside the building is simple: how do you keep Fox, Castle and Harper all involved when they play a similar brand of basketball, even if each brings different strengths?
For Fox, the answer is straightforward. He believes the coaching staff has already shown it can make it work, and he expects that same approach to help turn all three guards into stars.
With Donovan and Johnson in place, the Spurs’ guard-heavy roster suddenly looks less like a problem and more like a setup that can pay off. All three are expected to be front-runners for major NBA awards in the 2026-27 season.
In Other News...
Spurs Camp Cuts Put New Focus On A Roster Battle To Watch
The Spurs trimmed their camp roster ahead of the 2026/27 season by waiving Taelon Peter, Malik Williams and Terry Taylor, part of the usual late-preseason sorting that comes with training camp competition. It is the kind of move that rarely grabs headlines on its own, but it does sharpen the focus on who is still standing as the Spurs continue to shape the back end of the roster.
Around the league, several other teams were making similar decisions, with the Hawks signing Giorgi Bezhanishvili to an Exhibit 10 deal, the Jazz adding Chance Moore and the Cavaliers waiving Jaxson Robinson. Cole Swider, DeAndre Williams and Steven Crowl were also let go by the Lakers, Clippers and Nuggets, respectively, underscoring how active this stretch can be as teams settle on their final looks before the season begins. [Read more 🡒]
Spurs May Be Seeing An Early Answer Behind Victor Wembanyama
The Spurs have spent the preseason looking for the kind of sturdy interior presence that can take some of the burden off Victor Wembanyama, and rookie center Tarris Reed Jr. has given them a promising early look. Reed has stood out for his work on the glass and around the rim, including a 17-rebound game against Utah and another strong showing against Phoenix, where he finished with three blocks and nine rebounds.
For a young big trying to earn trust in a crowded rotation, that sort of consistency matters as much as the headline numbers. Reed said he plans to keep bringing effort and persistence, and San Antonio will be watching to see whether that carries into a steady role as the season gets closer. The Spurs could use a reliable backup behind Wembanyama, and Reed has at least made that conversation worth having. [Read more 🡒]
Spurs Already Have One Big Concern With This Wembanyama Experiment
The Spurs spent a preseason look against Phoenixs backups trying something ambitious, dropping DeAaron Fox, Stephon Castle, Dylan Harper, Devin Vassell and Victor Wembanyama into a guard-heavy lineup that was always going to be watched closely. It was the first time that group had played together, according to coach Mitch Johnson, and even in a small sample it hinted at both sides of the equation San Antonio is trying to balance: enough ballhandling and perimeter talent to pressure defenses, plus the kind of size and activity Wembanyama brings to everything around him.
What showed up quickly, though, was the downside. The group flashed defensive promise, but the spacing and shooting issues were apparent early, leaving the Spurs with a familiar preseason question as they keep sorting through rotations before the games start to count. The idea is intriguing enough to keep revisiting, but the early returns suggest there is still plenty to iron out before this kind of look can be counted on in regular-season minutes. [Read more 🡒]