Spurs' elite depth opens the door for one of the NBA's most lethal lineups

Mitch Johnson is living in a coach's paradise right now. The Spurs are deep with talent at each position, so he should have fun experimenting with different lineups and combinations. Let me offer up a suggestion: a group consisting of De'Aaron Fox, Dylan Harper, Stephon Castle, Carter Bryant, and Victor Wembanyama would devastate opponents.

Just think about it. The Spurs' three elite guards would be an unstoppable scoring force, while Wemby and Bryant could help open up the floor and dominate defensively. It's no small-ball setup, but it could be the NBA's next sort of Death Lineup.

This is exactly what makes the Spurs so dangerous. It's not just their raw talent and youth, but it's also their deep rotation that allows Mitch Johnson to get creative with his lineups.

The Spurs' "death lineup" will be dangerous for opponents

There are several reasons why this combination would be unstoppable if Johnson deploys it next season. For one, the defensive combination of Victor Wembanyama and Carter Bryant is scary. Wemby's elite rim protection coupled with Bryant's knack for guarding multiple positions will make life difficult for opponents trying to score.

Imagine what this lineup also does for Stephon Castle, who's their best point-of-attack defender. Sharing the court with Harper and Fox takes a big load off of him offensively so he can focus on containing key matchups. That gives San Antonio three elite defenders who can shut down the perimeter and the interior.

Additionally, their offense would be dangerous. Their combination of guards gives them a few legitimate ball-handling options who can also each create their own shots. Bryant can be a floor spacer and slasher, while Wemby does MVP things.

Spurs' internal improvement may make this lineup playable

Now, for this lineup to work, each player must sharpen up key aspects of their game. Let's start with San Antonio's perimeter attack here. Harper, Castle, and Fox would be fully optimized together if they could reliably make shots off the catch.

There's no question about their ability to torch defenders one-on-one. All of them excel at beating opponents off the dribble to get to the basket. But to be at their best together, they must all space the floor at a high level. Luckily, none of them are too far off from mastering that. Castle and Harper saw growth as long-distance shooters around the second half of last season.

Carter Bryant must prove that he can be a consistent, season-long floor-spacing threat too, but the Spurs also need him to get better as a finisher. Those tweaks to his offensive game will go a long way, making him more than just a defensive specialist.

Lastly, Wemby must be able to take advantage of the spacing around him by becoming a prolific shot creator. We've seen flashes of it throughout his first few seasons; now it's time for him to make that a defining attribute of his game.

It would be a daunting task for opponents to close games out against this lineup if each player makes those leaps next season. That combination of defensive dominance and offensive excellence would give coaching staffs across the league headaches.

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