The San Antonio Spurs are off to their best start in franchise history, and the good news doesn’t stop with their 5-0 record. They’ve done it all without several key members of the team, including all-star guard De’Aaron Fox. The athletic point guard was expected to be out for the first couple of weeks of the season. Sunday will mark the start of the third week of the season, and San Antonio could get Fox back any time. Adding a 20+ point a game scorer to a team that’s needed some half-court offensive
firepower will be the cherry on top of a hot start.
But how do they reintegrate him without messing with the mojo that has worked so well in the first five games? Whose minutes does he take? Who does he replace in the starting lineup?
According to Pounding the Rock readers, Julian Champagnie is the most likely candidate to move from the starting five to the bench. Champagnie is a rock-solid role player, but hasn’t been torching the nets like you’d want your three-and-D wing to do. He’s shooting 30% from deep on 5.8 attempts per game. Maybe a move back to the bench will help him get his rhythm back.
Harrison Barnes is another popular candidate. The veteran’s presence has been crucial to the Spurs’ last two clutch wins. He’s also somewhat capable of guarding bigger forwards when he plays the four. Moving him out of San Antonio’s starting lineup takes away a key part of the offense and makes the team smaller overall.
The better question may be what players get their minutes reduced when Fox returns. Jordan McLaughlin and Carter Bryant’s short stints will likely be eliminated. Champagnie will likely go from playing around 30 minutes a night to closer to 25 minutes. Mitch Johnson will have some tough decisions to make when reintegrating his star guard.
Johnson’s decision is made even harder by the stellar play of Victor Wembanyama’s supporting cast. Dylan Harper has been one of the most impressive rookies in the league. Keldon Johnson looks like a totally new player, committed to being a ball of energy off the bench. Devin Vassell has bought in defensively and is shooting 40.5% from deep. Luke Kornet, when healthy, has been great, and looks like he can play alongside Wembanyama.
Harper is the readers’ choice for the most surprising Spur to start the season. He is the most likely player to have his minutes impacted by Fox’s return. It’s hard to make the case that Harper deserves to play less. He’s been the driving force behind the bench unit’s success and gives the Spurs another downhill attacker in transition and in the half-court.
The Spurs staff has some tough decisions ahead of them with Fox and others returning. But these are champagne problems compared to the issues in past seasons.
