Spurs' elite three-guard lineup will give rivals problems they can't handle

No NBA team can match the San Antonio Spurs guard trio of De'Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle, and Dylan Harper, giving them a massive advantage over rivals. Thus far, San Antonio has yet to fully utilize their stacked guard trio, but that could soon change this season.

Coach Mitch Johnson experimented with playing that trio together in closing lineups during the NBA Finals. While it wasn't ultimately successful, another offseason for each player to improve and more time to gel could allow them to play much better together this year.

If those three can figure out how to play together effectively, they could form a dominant lineup alongside star Victor Wembanyama. Even without an obvious fifth man in that lineup, San Antonio is sitting on a potential gold mine with the point guard trio.

Spurs have huge edge with De'Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle, and Dylan Harper

It's incredibly rare for a backcourt to be this good and not have any of them be the best player on their team. As a result, San Antonio must take advantage of the point guard trio while they have them and look to play them as much as possible this season.

They appear to be well on their way to doing so, with former Oklahoma City Thunder and Chicago Bulls coach Billy Donovan seemingly tasked with helping make that happen. Unlike former Spurs coach Sean Sweeney, Donovan is an offensive-minded coach who has plenty of experience implementing three-guard lineups.

In Oklahoma City, he played Chris Paul, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Dennis Schröder together, and that trio blew the doors off teams offensively. In Chicago, he relied on playing Coby White, with Ayo Dosunmu, Josh Giddey, and Zach LaVine.

That might not have been his best idea, with that lineup having plenty of defensive flaws, but he won't have that problem with the Spurs.

The Spurs are planning on unleashing the point guard trio this season

All signs point to the Spurs unleashing their point guard trio on the NBA, and that could make for fascinating basketball. They could turn the NBA on its head by having three elite slashers on the floor with an already near-unstoppable big man in Wembanyama and an additional shooter.

San Antonio having three slashers who can get to the basket at will would be a major plus, and that lineup would put defenses at a major disadvantage. As would their ball-handling and playmaking with Fox, Castle, and Harper sharing the ball.

Defense would also be a strength, with each player being at least good on that end of the floor and capable of guarding bigger players. Shooting is really the only question mark.

The Spurs are closer than ever to unlocking their guard trio

Fox has historically been a below-average 3-point shooter, but Castle and Harper both showed promise during the second half of last season. In fact, Harper shot 46.8% from three on 2.5 3-point attempts over his last 30 regular season games before the playoffs.

Not to be outdone, Castle shot 35% from three on 4.3 3-point attempts per game in the playoffs. If either or both emerge as capable shooters, then that lineup becomes even more deadly.

Pair them with Devin Vassell, Julian Champagnie, or Tobias Harris at the four, and Wembanyama at the five, and that lineup would suddenly have plenty of spacing. Ultimately, the Spurs are seemingly ready to play Fox, Castle, and Harper together, and that trio could make an already great team nearly impossible to stop.

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