The San Antonio Spurs are going to give Dylan Harper a much bigger role in the lineup this season, and they have to find minutes for him somewhere.
Despite what fans might want, there's no plan in place for the San Antonio Spurs to trade away De'Aaron Fox. At least, not yet. Instead, the Spurs are expected to stay the course, trot out three excellent guards, and run things back.
Of course, that doesn't mean that Harper will be relegated to a backup role. He's expected to come off the bench, be a "backup" in the traditional sense, but be more like the second coming of Manu Ginobili, playing just as many minutes as the starters.
"I think there's a world where you put Harper, Castle, and Fox at about even in minutes," predicted Sports Illustrated's Matt Guzman. "Maybe you take a couple of minutes off Fox and Castle, and you give them both to Harper."
Last year, Fox led the Spurs with 31 minutes per game. Stephon Castle was close behind, at 30. Harper, meanwhile, was way back at 22.6 minutes per game. Expect those figures to be a lot more even, but it comes at a cost.
Spurs Expected to Demote Keldon Johnson
Keldon Johnson is not a point guard, but he led the Spurs' bench in minutes per game. San Antonio can't give Harper a bigger role without reducing someone else's, and Johnson is a prime candidate.
Plus, with the addition of Tobias Harris and the presumed rise of Carter Bryant, Johnson might be pushed out of the wing rotation, despite winning Sixth Man of the Year.
"But I would expect Harrison Barnes to be one of those guys that gets fewer minutes, as well as Keldon Johnson," Guzman added. "I do think that if you're giving Harper more minutes, if you're giving Carter Bryant more minutes, you're going to start chipping away at Keldon Johnson, who obviously struggled a lot, especially offensively in the playoffs as well."
With only one year left on his contract, it makes some sense for the Spurs to trade away Johnson.
He is, though, the longest-tenured player on the roster and a favorite in the locker room. This season, he will make $17 million. In restricted free agency next summer, any team (including the Spurs) that is interested in him will likely offer him less.
He's going to take a pay cut. The question is, though, does he want to be remembered as the player who stuck out the Spurs' rebuild and won a title in a lesser capacity, or as someone who played big minutes for a different team?
That'll be up to him.
