Dylan Harper’s path to starting 5 must begin with Spurs taking leap of faith

The San Antonio Spurs have a known debate raging about who should start at point guard between De'Aaron Fox and Dylan Harper. It's a conversation that will likely persist until a final decision is made, as Fox is the All-Star who brings poise to the floor, and Harper is the generational talent with perhaps even greater potential than the incumbent.

One of the biggest hurdles that Harper will have to clear to earn his spot with the starting five is actually playing minutes alongside them in 2026-27—and that means the Spurs must take a leap of faith and actually enable him to do so.

San Antonio's five most consistent starters in 2025-26 were Stephon Castle, Julian Champagnie, Fox, Devin Vassell, and Victor Wembanyama. Wembanyama is the hub on both ends of the floor, while Castle is an electrifying two-way playmaker, and Champagnie and Vassell are the perfect supporting pieces for the way the Spurs prefer to play.

Together, that five-man lineup outscored opponents by 18.5 points per 100 possessions and ranked in the 94th percentile or better in defensive, offensive, and net rating in 2025-26, per Cleaning the Glass.

Breaking up that group is thus a more difficult decision than simply prioritizing upside. Yes, Harper represents the future, but the present is that of a dominant team that cleared 60 wins and made the NBA Finals in the first year with the starting five fully formed.

With this in mind, Harper's first major hurdle in inching his way into the starting lineup is actually playing minutes alongside the starters when Fox isn't present—something he rarely did in 2025-26.

Dylan Harper needs more minutes next to Spurs' starters in 2026-27

This by no means goes to say that Harper can't adapt to a new lineup or become a full-time starter. Instead, it's a simple comment on the fact that he's only played 54 possessions with the four-man lineup that dominated the regular season. Per databallr, that translated to 24 minutes.

With this in mind, head coach Mitch Johnson must find ways for Harper to play alongside the dominant four-man lineup of Castle, Champagnie, Vassell, and Wembanyama.

The regular season can be tricky, of course, as injuries inevitably play a factor in how much time a group like that gets to play together. They were San Antonio's most heavily featured four-man lineup during the playoffs, however, and the next four all featured some combination of them and Fox.

For that matter, the Castle, Champagnie, Fox, Vassell, and Wembanyama lineup played 150 more minutes than any of the Spurs' other five-man constructions during the postseason.

The good news is that Harper began to play with that group during the playoffs. The context, however, is that he largely did so because Fox missed two games due to injury. In 2026-27, Johnson can't let a potential Fox absence be the only explanation for why Harper would play with the very teammates he could ultimately start alongside.

It's a delicate situation in San Antonio, of course, but developing Harper into the player he's capable of becoming will require giving him a chance to play the role he may one day be handed.

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