Mitch Johnson revives hopes for the lineup fans have wanted to see all season

San Antonio has three dynamic ball handlers who love to get downhill and wreak havoc in the paint. Fans would love to see them become a force on the floor together, not only for the fun of dominating, but also so we can come up with a fun name like the Super Slash Bros. lineup or the Fast & Furious crew. (I'm just spitballing some rough draft here, so don't slander me over those suggestions.)

Unfortunately, they haven't played together very much at all, and we're two-thirds into the season. It's fair to wonder if Coach Mitch Johnson even intends to go back to it. Well, now we have an answer, courtesy of NBA.com's John Schuhmann via a Q&A with the Spurs' fearless leader.

"Those three guys can play together, and they will play together. We have no concern over the lack of shooting," Johnson answered. The first-year coach had further explained that other circumstances, such as the revolving rotation due to injury, have been a factor. That's enough to restore the hope we could see Dylan Harper, Stephon Castle, and De'Aaron Fox share the court again soon.

Spurs can put final nail in criticisms with a successful 3-guard lineup

First, I'd like to acknowledge that the executives in San Antonio's front office probably don't give a rat's you-know-what about what anyone thinks about how they've done business. They've proven to be right more often than not.

However, Spurs Nation on the outside fights those battles for them. It's part of the fan experience. We like to be right and for the doubters to end up eating their words, and there were plenty of naysayers when the Silver and Black landed the second overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft. Harper, Castle, and Fox's shared weakness for shooting was supposed to hold this team back.

San Antonio's stable of rim-runners has already proven those critics very wrong on that front, but they can go a step further and have success as an on-court trio; the only issue is ensuring there is always one on the court for every minute of the game. Coach Johnson likely wants to make sure that he never feels the need to rest them all.

You also have to consider what happens if one of them gets in foul trouble early. All of a sudden, the entire rotation could be thrown off because you're managing fouls and fatigue differently than you could have if they hadn't all been out there at the same time. The benefits could far outweigh the good, though.

The Spurs are 13th in pace, but Mitch wants the team to play even faster than they have been. Putting Fox, Harper, Castle, Victor Wembanyama, and Julian Champagnie on the floor at once would be a great way to do that. Hopefully, it's something they start working on soon because that's the kind of lineup that could turn into a valuable weapon used to tip the scales in the postseason.