Mitch Johnson after Fox-Castle-Harper debut: ‘They’re three of our better players’

SAN ANTONIO — Oct. 14, 2026 — Mitch Johnson finally started De’Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper together. After a choppy opening stretch, the Spurs rolled to a 123-103 preseason win over the Phoenix Suns at Frost Bank Center, and the coach framed the night as the next step in a lineup he has been defending for weeks.

“It’s time to push forward appropriately” on what he called the team’s “natural evolution that will still take time,” Johnson said after the game. Asked again about the three-guard look next to Victor Wembanyama and Devin Vassell, he landed on the same point he has made all preseason.

“I understand the narrative around it. I always land on the same reasoning at the very end of it,” Johnson said. “They’re three of our better players. I know the majority of their lives, maybe their highlight tape is typically with the basketball in their hands. But De’Aaron Fox has played with other handlers and played off the ball a ton. Steph Castle won a national championship [at UConn], basically not touching the ball ever for the start of a possession. They’ve done it here. We didn’t do it a lot last year.”

Sloppy start, then the group clicked

San Antonio managed almost nothing early. Harper and Castle missed their first five shots combined, and Fox, in his preseason debut after sitting out with general soreness, came out with 6:57 left in the first quarter. Johnson did not sugarcoat it.

“I’m glad they got to play some together and we got some reps out there,” he said. “I thought we started the game with some very sloppy possessions, and everybody will have to have a better start to games and a better approach with that.”

By halftime the Spurs led 60-49. Fox, Castle and Harper had combined for 31 points, 12 rebounds and six assists in the first half. Castle finished with a game-high 18 points on 2-of-5 shooting and 14-of-15 free throws in nearly 24 minutes. Fox played only the first half — 18 minutes, 33 seconds — and closed it with a corner three, finishing with nine points and four assists. Harper added nine points and six rebounds, including a tip dunk off a Vassell miss that drew the loudest cheer of the night.

Wembanyama led San Antonio with 19 points on 9-of-14 shooting, plus five rebounds, three assists, two steals and four blocks in 23 minutes. Vassell had 12. The Suns rested Devin Booker, Miles Bridges, Dillon Brooks and Jalen Green.

Why Johnson keeps coming back to the same answer

Johnson also explained why the trio barely shared the floor a year ago, when opponents beat San Antonio by 47 points in 69 total minutes with all three on the court.

“Dylan was a rookie who couldn’t play more than 20 minutes for half the season (last year) because he was going to cough up a lung because he wasn’t in shape,” Johnson said. “I think they can dribble, pass, shoot, defend, make winning plays. They’re unselfish. They have good size.”

He chuckled when another three-guard question came, already tired of the label before opening night. “We did some good things,” he said. “First time that group has played together, it’s been a very stop-and-go preseason in terms of lineups, so we’re just trying to get into a rhythm. Some positive reinforcement to show them, and some learning and a long way to go in other areas.”

Wembanyama and Fox on the handlers around him

Wembanyama saw the same arc Johnson described. “I felt like we were trying to do the right things at the beginning, but we scored so few points,” he said. “When it clicked, it clicked. The biggest thing is I’ve got handlers all around me, guys that we want to put the ball in their hands and pick and roll around me. That makes things easier.”

Fox said the three guards talked about sharing the floor when they visited Wembanyama in France over the summer. “Obviously, when we were in the Finals and just throughout the playoffs there were times where we all three played together, a lot more than we did throughout the regular season,” Fox said. “But we knew there was a chance that we’d all be starting or at least sharing the court together. We’re all excited for it.”

Johnson had named this starting five before the Hawks exhibition, then scratched Fox minutes later with soreness. Wednesday was the first real look. The Spurs close preseason Friday before opening the regular season Oct. 20 against Oklahoma City.