SAN ANTONIO — The Spurs finally put De’Aaron Fox, Dylan Harper and Stephon Castle together in their starting lineup Wednesday, beating the Phoenix Suns 123–103 in a preseason game that offered an early look at how three ball-handlers might share the floor.
The result mattered less than the opportunity. Coach Mitch Johnson had been waiting to try the combination, with Fox’s hip problem delaying his preseason debut until San Antonio’s fourth exhibition game, according to pre-game reporting carried by Yahoo Sports.
For the San Antonio Spurs, the October 14 game provided something practice cannot fully reproduce: possessions against another team in which the three guards had to work out their responsibilities together.
Three guards, with Vassell and Wembanyama alongside
Fox, Harper and Castle started with Devin Vassell and Victor Wembanyama. ESPN reported the debut of the three-guard combination in the 20-point victory over Phoenix.
The arrangement raises a practical question rather than resolving one: how often can San Antonio give each guard meaningful involvement without reducing the others to spectators? Having several players capable of initiating an attack can create options, but the lineup still needs movement and useful spacing when only one has the ball.
That makes the connection with Victor Wembanyama particularly important. The value of the experiment is not simply fitting three guards onto a team sheet; it is finding combinations that make the entire five-man unit harder to defend.
The opening was uneven before the group found a better rhythm, according to Sports Illustrated’s account of the game. That progression is more useful evidence than treating the final margin as a verdict on the lineup.
Phoenix’s absences limit the conclusions
The Suns rested several regulars, including Devin Booker and Jalen Green, according to reporting on Phoenix’s preseason rotation. San Antonio was therefore not testing its preferred combination against a full-strength opponent.
That distinction matters. A successful exhibition can show whether players recognise openings and share responsibilities, but it cannot establish how the same group will perform against a settled regular-season defense or under playoff pressure.
For San Antonio’s roster construction, the experiment is about more than choosing a starter. Johnson must also decide which combinations remain effective when substitutions begin and how to distribute ball-handling across the rotation.
A first look, not a settled answer
Fox’s return allowed Johnson to begin answering those questions in a game. It did not require him to settle the starting lineup for the season on the strength of one result.
The next meaningful evidence will be whether the combination can produce repeatable possessions: enough room for drives, productive decisions away from the ball and a defense that holds up against stronger opposition. Those are the tests that connect an October experiment to San Antonio’s wider championship ambitions.
Wednesday supplied a promising starting point. The Spurs won comfortably, and their three guards finally shared the starting floor. Whether that becomes a durable advantage will take more than a preseason score to establish.
