De’Aaron Fox dunks in Spurs preseason debut as three-guard lineup shows early juice

SAN ANTONIO — Oct. 14, 2026 — De’Aaron Fox finally got his first Spurs preseason minutes, and the dunk came early. Victor Wembanyama found him on a cut with the rim open; Fox threw it down and drew the and-one. The Spurs clipped the finish with a three-word caption that needed no explanation.

DE'AARON. FOX. 😳😳😳

📺 DAZN, CWSA pic.twitter.com/93p1ophKNu

— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) October 15, 2026

First look at the three-guard group

Fox started next to Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper in the three-guard look San Antonio has been building around Wembanyama. Paul Garcia reported the Spurs went small early in the second quarter with Carter Bryant at the five and Devin Vassell at the four while the three guards shared the floor — the same stretch that produced Fox’s dunk.

Dan Weiss tracked the first-half sample: Fox, Castle and Harper shared the court for 11 minutes, combined for 19 points and were a plus-10, including a plus-11 burst in the final three minutes of the half. Garcia had Fox at nine points and four assists by intermission, with Castle living at the free-throw line and Wembanyama already at three blocks.

Minutes managed

Fox did not start the second half. Jeff McDonald reported Harrison Barnes opened the third in his place, assuming a minutes limit for Fox’s first preseason action after hip tightness had kept him out of earlier exhibitions. Fox closed the night with nine points on 3-of-5 shooting, including 2-of-2 from three, plus three rebounds and four assists in 19 minutes — the same first-half line, unchanged after he sat.

Around him, the starters who stayed longer filled out the box. Castle finished with 18 points on 14-of-15 free throws in 24 minutes. Wembanyama had 19 points, four rebounds, three assists, two steals and four blocks in 23 minutes. Harper added nine points and six rebounds in 23. San Antonio led Phoenix by a wide margin deep into the fourth at Frost Bank Center.

What the debut answered

The pregame question was whether Fox would start at all after the hip issue. He did, he finished at the rim on the first highlight package of the night, and the three-guard group posted a clean plus-minus sample before the staff shut him down. The regular season is next; Wednesday was the first on-court look at how Fox fits with Castle, Harper and Wembanyama when the minutes are real.