Michael C. WrightOct 16, 2026, 09:30 PM ETCloseJoined ESPN in 2010 Previously covered Bears for ESPN.com Played college football at West Texas A&MMultiple AuthorsOpen Extended ReactionsSAN ANTONIO — Spurs coach Mitch Johnson on Friday squashed any suspense going into the season by announcing his three-guard lineup will start in Tuesday’s opener against the Oklahoma City Thunder.”We’re planning on starting that same crew [in the opener],” Johnson said.San Antonio first deployed its three-guard starting lineup featuring De’Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper alongside Devin Vassell and Victor Wembanyama in a preseason win Wednesday over the Phoenix Suns, when the Spurs finished at plus-10 in the trio’s 11 minutes together on the floor. The Suns rested most of their rotation in that outing, which started with the Spurs shooting 1-of-10 from the floor.San Antonio shot 2-of-9 on 3-pointers when Fox, Castle and Harper shared the floor against the Suns, with Vassell and Wembanyama combining to miss all six of their 3-point attempts. Despite a size disadvantage, the Spurs won the rebounding battle 13-11 when the trio played.”When it clicked, it clicked,” Wembanyama said.
“The biggest thing is I’ve got handlers all around me, guys we want to put the ball in their hands and pick and roll around me.”Wembanyama finished with the most total touches (24) while playing with the three guards and even brought the ball up the floor for five possessions, second-most when sharing the court with the trio.Fox, Castle, and Harper played just 69 minutes together all last season, including 25 in the NBA Finals, with Spurs opponents outscoring them by 47 points in those minutes. The Spurs finished with a plus-9.4 net rating when just Fox and Castle shared the floor in the regular season, plus-6.2 with Fox and Harper and plus-11.0 with Harper and Castle.Despite last year’s small sample size with the three guards on the floor, Johnson said he wanted to lean into the idea this season of starting games with the club’s best five players instead of having one come off the bench.”We have a talented group, especially in the backcourt,” Fox said. “When we’re making shots, it allows other guys to be able to get downhill. We can spread the defense out and teams know what we want to do.
There’s no secret about it. So, a lot of our season, a lot of how special that first group can be, it’s going to be predicated on how we shoot the ball.”Fox, Castle and Harper shot a combined 9-of-21 from the field in Wednesday’s win over the Suns and 3-6 from 3-point range.The trio contributed 19 points on Friday in the first quarter against the Sacramento Kings as the Spurs stormed to a 42-18 lead.”We have guys that can create for themselves and create for others,” Fox said. “So, we try to generate the easiest shot possible.”Information from ESPN Research was used in this report.
