De'Aaron Fox could ask for a trade if this training camp battle goes wrong

With training camp a month away, the Spurs have a pretty established backcourt hierarchy. Stephon Castle and De'Aaron Fox are expected to get the start again this season. While that's the right decision right now, we can't ignore the fact that a wild card remains in play.

What if Dylan Harper is significantly better than Fox?

You can make the argument either way last season depending on which game is was or what time in the season/playoffs, but that was last year. The coaches show up with an idea of how things will go, but a good staff is flexible.

Mitch Johnson will be ready to see just how much the players have improved during the summer, and if Harper is the clear-cut better option, things could get interesting in Alamo City.

Harper could give Mitch johnson a problem he might not want

The former Rutgers star already proved he can impact games at a high level on the biggest stage as a rookie. Another leap could give him a strong case to start over Fox if Swipa doesn't bring his A-game from the beginning.

Harper is hungry. You can tell by the way he played in the NBA Finals. Well-nourished individuals don't perform like that when they're so young. There's too much pressure—too much going on in their heads to calm down and let the game come to them. Dylan didn't have that problem.

Theoretically, San Antonio could experiment with the three-guard lineup more, as Coach Johnson implied he might. But those lineups posted a -26.9 rating last season, according to ESPN's Michael C. Wright. If he wants to use those units, they may be sprinkled in sparingly unless that number changes significantly.

A crazy Harper leap could force Mitch to consider putting Fox on the bench, even if he never intended things to go that way. That could create an entirely different issue.

Fox may not accept a bench role

Swipa is still in his prime. He's only 29 years old. Asking him to be a reserve a couple of years after he was the leading scorer for a team, averaging 26 points per game, is a weighty request. The Spurs' front office has likely told him that he's a major part of the team's future because that's what they've told the rest of us.

He may not feel like those words align with the role if he's asked to play the sixth man. Fox would also be ridiculed for being the highest-paid sixth man of all time. Maybe the nine-year professional would let those things roll off his back, but most athletes have large egos, so that's not a sure thing.

None of this means a trade is inevitable, but it does mean that San Antonio could have a delicate roster decision on their hands. I've said this several times before, but growth is not linear. We can't predict how much a player will elevate when we're not in the gym with them.

Sometimes, they just show up and are greater than we believed possible. That's certainly on the board for a player like Dylan Harper, who blew everyone away from start to finish last season. If that happens, Mitch Johnson will have to at least consider starting him, right? And if that happens, can Fox accept it?

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