Spurs just stumbled into their ultimate dynamic duo with an unexpected twist

The San Antonio Spurs are among the hottest teams in the league heading into the NBA All-Star break. Considering just how poorly this team played in January, it has been quite the turnaround, with the Silver and Black having won six straight games.

That has been a result of San Antonio finally getting healthy and tweaking their rotation by starting Julian Champagnie. While he started during the 13-game absence of Devin Vassell, with Vassell back, Champagnie is still starting.

That has been for the best, with him having outplayed Harrison Barnes, who previously started 350 games before being benched by Mitch Johnson. In fact, Champagnie leads the team in plus/minus, not to mention the Spurs have scored at least 130 points in his last three starts.

Better still, Champagnie and Victor Wembanyama have the highest net rating of any two-man pairing that has played at least 500 minutes for the Spurs this season. That duo boasts a shocking +17.1 net rating, outpacing even Area51.

Julian Champagnie and Victor Wembanyama are the Spurs' most impactful duo

So why do Wembanyama and Champagnie seemingly play so well together? Well, it's less about their on-court chemistry and more about who is on the floor with them.

When De'Aaron Fox missed the first eight games of the season, Champagnie started alongside Stephon Castle, Vassell, Barnes, and Wembanyama. That gave San Antonio plenty of spacing around their best player and three shooters around a Castle and the Wembanyama pick and roll.

Champagnie has played most of his minutes with two other shooters and an all-star in either Fox or Wembanyama, often both. Those lineups are obviously incredibly difficult to stop and one of the reasons why he and Wemby thrive together.

Julian Champagnie is the Spurs' plus/minus king

Although Champagnie is primarily there for spacing, he keeps defenses honest by aggressively taking threes and occasionally driving to the rim. He also crashes the offensive glass, as well as drawing a surprising number of free throws.

It's not always pretty, but Champagnie is more than capable of having big performances. That includes hitting 8 threes Houston Rockets and 11 threes against the New York Knicks this season.

Defensively, playing with the 7'4" Frenchman is like a cheat code. His defensive impact alone is dramatic enough to alter plus/minus. That undersells Champ, however.

He is not only a reliable defender but also possesses the versatility to switch between guards and forwards. Champagnie is even a strong defensive rebounder. That is a huge help with the Spurs' starting four perimeter players, who previously struggled to keep teams off the offensive glass.

All told, the Wembanyama and Champagnie pairing aren't exactly a dynamic duo that gets each other easy baskets. Even so, they, the Spurs, thrive when they share the floor, and for this team to thrive, they should continue playing together.