The San Antonio Spurs finally used a three-guard lineup featuring De’Aaron Fox, Dylan Harper and Stephon Castle, and it helped power a 123-103 preseason win over the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday. Spurs coach Mitch Johnson described the move as part of the team’s “natural evolution that will still take time,” adding that it’s “time to push forward appropriately.”
The group got off to a choppy start. Harper and Castle combined to miss their first five shots, and Fox, making his preseason debut, subbed out with 6:57 left in the opening quarter. The trio recovered. By halftime, Fox, Harper and Castle had combined for 31 points, 12 rebounds and six assists, and San Antonio led 60-49.
Fox drilled a corner 3-pointer with one second left for the Spurs’ final points of the first half. Castle finished with 18 points, including 14 from the free throw line. Harper scored nine points and drew the loudest reaction from the Frost Bank Center crowd when he caught a Devin Vassell miss and threw down a rim-rocking tip dunk with 34.5 seconds left in the second quarter. Fox also slammed home a poster dunk in the first half.
“I’m glad they got to play some together and we got some reps out there,” Johnson said. “I thought we started the game with some very sloppy possessions, and everybody will have to have a better start to games and a better approach with that.”
Forward Victor Wembanyama saw the early struggles as a scoring issue. “I felt like we were trying to do the right things at the beginning, but we scored so few points,” he said. “When it clicked, it clicked. The biggest thing is I’ve got handlers all around me, guys that we want to put the ball in their hands and pick and roll around me. That makes things easier.”
Lineup Results and Context
Fox, Harper and Castle spent a total of 11 minutes on the court together in the first half, combining for 19 points and finishing with a net rating of plus-10. Last season, the three played just 69 minutes together, including 25 in the NBA Finals, and opponents outscored the Spurs by 47 points in those minutes.
During the regular season, the Spurs posted a plus-9.4 net rating when Fox and Castle shared the court, plus-6.2 with Fox and Harper, and plus-11.0 with Harper and Castle.
Fox said the guards discussed the possibility of starting together during the summer, when they visited Wembanyama in France. “Obviously, when we were in the Finals, and just throughout the playoffs, there were times where we all three played together, a lot more than we did throughout the regular season,” Fox said. “But we knew there was a chance that we’d all be starting or at least sharing the court together. We’re all excited for it.”
Fox’s Setback and Johnson’s Defense of the Lineup
Johnson announced before last week’s exhibition opener against the Atlanta Hawks that Fox, Harper and Castle would join Wembanyama and Vassell in the starting lineup. About 20 minutes later, Fox arrived at Frost Bank Center with general soreness, and the Spurs’ strength and conditioning staff held the veteran guard out. Fox played only the first half against the Suns, logging 18 minutes, 33 seconds.
Johnson addressed the criticism of the lineup directly. “I understand the narrative around it. I always land on the same reasoning at the very end of it,” he said. “They’re three of our better players. I know the majority of their lives, maybe their highlight tape is typically with the basketball in their hands. But De’Aaron Fox has played with other handlers and played off the ball a ton. Steph Castle won a national championship [at UConn] basically not touching the ball ever for the start of a possession. They’ve done it here. We didn’t do it a lot last year.”
He continued: “Dylan was a rookie who couldn’t play more than 20 minutes for half the season [in 2025-26] because he was going to cough up a lung because he wasn’t in shape. I think they can dribble, pass, shoot, defend, make winning plays. They’re unselfish. They have good size.”