Spurs’ most lethal playoff weapon is dripping with irony

Before the 2025-26 season, critics were adamant that San Antonio had a problematic backcourt logjam. Some felt like De’Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle, and Dylan Harper would step on each other and make things clunky on both sides of the floor. However, the opposite has been true, and as the three guards have thrived together, the Spurs have ascended to contender status.

San Antonio’s guards have done nothing but succeed together

Fox, Castle, and Harper haven’t had any trouble gelling this season. They’re all playing awesome basketball. They’ve each made sacrifices, too, which has been the key to the death of the dubiousness surrounding their names.

De’Aaron Fox has had some truly elite individual campaigns in his career. Just two years ago, he averaged nearly 27 points per game on decent efficiency. In 2024-25, before he got traded to San Antonio, he was posting 25 PPG and even poured in 60 and 49 points in back-to-back games. He hasn’t gotten buckets like that for the Spurs, but he hasn’t needed to.

The now two-time All-Star is attempting just 14.4 shots per game on the season, a steep drop-off from what he was getting up in Sacramento. His 18.5 point-per-game average is the fewest since his sophomore campaign in the league. But his willingness to accept this smaller role has made him arguably a more impactful player, and it's also made the Spurs better.

Fox’s reduction has allowed Stephon Castle to make a huge leap. Many nights, the youngster is the star of the show in the backcourt. He’s been impressive as an on-ball creator, and, to his credit, he’s also worked on his off-ball game.

The Spurs' young guards are playing their roles perfectly

The reigning Rookie of the Year is the most comfortable he’s ever been as a spot-up shooter, so he can step aside and let Fox cook when needed. Castle’s lacking three-point shot was a big root of the preseason concerns, but his improvement has helped put those to rest.

As for Dylan Harper, he’s done a commendable job embracing a bench role. He’s been one of the better backup guards in the NBA, especially over the past couple months. You have to imagine it’s a tad frustrating for him watching his peers Cooper Flagg and Kon Knueppel get praised as stars knowing he’s capable of reaching those heights too.

But the rook has kept his head down and continued to show unselfishness, maturity, and a hunger for winning, excelling in the job Mitch Johnson has assigned him.

Here’s the kicker on this whole thing. Fox, Castle, and Harper have only played 20 minutes together. There is some truth to the redundancy of their skillsets, but Mitch Johnson has snuffed out that issue by simply not playing them all together. That said, every possible two-man combination made from the trio has a positive net rating, according to Databallr.

San Antonio has a strong chance at winning a title this June. Their dynamic trio of Fox, Castle, and Harper is a big reason for that. All three guys are doing great things, and they’ve silenced the doubters that were so loud just months ago.