The San Antonio Spurs are 0-2 to start the preseason, and the lone bright spot over both games has been Dylan Harper. Without De’Aaron Fox in the lineup, Harper has led the team in scoring in both games thus far, posting 16 and 15 points.
Harper is showing that fans’ faith in him is well-placed. He’s made a strong case that he’s already the second-best player on the roster behind only Victor Wembanyama. Even though Fox is a proven star in this league, the case that Harper should be the starting point guard is building.
There’s an argument to be made that the Spurs don’t want Fox–their $221 million man–to come off the bench. However, he’s under team control for the next four seasons, so he sort of has to take the role he’s given. He doesn’t get the luxury of holding out or threatening to walk in free agency. It sounds harsh, but keeping Fox happy should be a low priority for San Antonio.
That’s not to say that Fox is a bad player or should be traded away. It’s just that Harper has already passed him up. And in order to maximize the youngster, Fox isn’t the only player who will need to make a sacrifice.
Stephon Castle will, too.
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Spurs Need Stephon Castle to Play Off-Ball
Even before he was drafted in 2024, Castle has made it clear that he wants to be a point guard. In college, he took a back seat behind Tristen Newton and was rewarded with a title. As long as the Spurs keep winning, it stands to reason that Castle won’t mind being a shooting guard.
San Antonio optimizing their lineup depends on it.
Neither Fox, Harper, nor Castle are reliable shooters. Harper showed a lot of flashes to end last season and is off to a great start in the preseason, but he regressed to just 33.3 percent from deep in the playoffs and 28 percent in the Finals. Harper is, marginally, the best off-the-dribble shooter between the three. Castle, meanwhile, has the biggest gulf between his catch-and-shoot 3s and his off-the-dribble attempts.
| Player | Catch-and-Shoot | Off-the-Dribble | 3PT% |
| Stephon Castle | 35.8% | 26.1% | 34.3% |
| Dylan Harper | 38.5% | 31.0% | 33.2% |
| De’Aaron Fox | 38.5% | 30.6% | 33.2% |
Castle is an adequate corner 3-point shooter and is excellent at moving without the ball, especially towards the basket. He and Wembanyama can take turns occupying the dunker’s spot and catching lobs from either Harper or Fox.
Castle, it seems, has developed more camaraderie with Harper than Fox, and knows that he and Harper are the long-term backcourt in San Antonio. In order to make that happen, though, he has to lean into his strengths rather than develop his weaknesses.
He’s turnover-prone and probably shouldn’t have the ball in his hands more than anyone else. Harper, meanwhile, can create for himself all over the floor and set his teammates up for success.
If the Spurs want to win long-term, having Castle be the secondary playmaker in Harper’s backcourt is the best solution.
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