Spurs have a colossal playoff weapon that no one's talking about

The San Antonio Spurs will soon face the Portland Trail Blazers in the first round of the NBA playoffs and may quickly unveil their secret weapon.

Ironically, despite a strong season, the Spurs have yet to fully unleash their full offensive potential. Yes, we know about Victor Wembanyama as well as their point guard trio of De'Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle, and Dylan Harper.

However, what's surprising is how much more effective they are when Wembanyama and Harper share the floor. Don't believe me?

Harper and Wemby have an outrageous 120.9 offensive rating and a stingy 93.9 defensive rating. That means they have a blistering +27 net rating when they share the floor.

Pairing Victor Wembanyama and Dylan Harper is a recipe for success

Fox and Wembanyama have a +16.9 net rating, and Castle and Wemby have a +17 net rating. In fact, all three pairings boast a great net rating.

To be fair, Wembanyama has played more than 1100 minutes with both Castle and Fox compared to fewer than 600 minutes with Harper. Still, that is a large enough sample size to prove there's magic to be made with the pairing in the playoffs.

With Harper only playing 22 minutes per game during the regular season, the two didn't have nearly as much time to play together as they should have. Fortunately, Wemby will likely play around five minutes more per game in the playoffs, while Harper's minutes should stay about the same.

That will hopefully mean they could play significantly more together in the playoffs, and that clearly is a good thing.

Why has the Wembanyama and Harper pairing been so good?

Harper is arguably the Spurs' best slasher and a terrific playmaker. Put him next to Wembanyama and two or three shooters, and it's not hard to imagine that five-man lineup roasting teams offensively.

Remember, Harper plays most of his minutes with Luke Kornet, so he has barely played with a stretch five. Having Wembanyama pull the other teams' only rim protector away from the basket opens up driving lanes for Harper.

Defensively, that is a bit of a surprise. Sure, Harper is a fine defender, and Wembanyama is obviously a defensive player of the year frontrunner.

However, a 93.9 defensive rating with those two on the court is nearly 10 points better than the top-ranked defense in the NBA. Perhaps it's because Wembanyama often closes the first and third quarters and opens the second and fourth quarters with Harper.

Other teams' second units simply can't score against Wembanyama and Harper. That could change some with teams playing their starters extended minutes.

Even if that pairing had a defensive rating closer to 102.9, which is what the top-ranked Oklahoma City Thunder have, Harper and Wembanyama would still be an elite pairing thanks to offense.

Therefore, Spurs coach Mitch Johnson shouldn't be afraid to unleash his secret weapon by playing Harper and Wembanyama more together.

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