The San Antonio Spurs will have to juggle a three-guard lineup this season, although the players actually involved don't see it as an issue.
All offseason long, the main topic of conversation surrounding the San Antonio Spurs was their guard situation. De'Aaron Fox is an established All-Star and is on a long-term contract, but the fact remains that he is not a core player in San Antonio.
Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper complement each other, and both are expected to eventually be better players than Fox, if they aren't already.
The Spurs could trade Fox away, bench him, or stay the course with Harper playing with the second unit. All three options have their pros and cons, and the entire fanbase has been swept up in the speculation.
The only people who don't really seem to care, it seems, are the players themselves.
Stephon Castle Dismisses 'Outside Noise'
Last year, Castle and Fox both played around eight minutes more than Harper, and both were safe in the starting role.
Heading into the season, Harper is expected to remain on the bench, although the minutes distribution between the three is expected to be a lot more even. As long as the Spurs are winning, it's safe to say that none of them really care who gets to be on the floor for the opening tip.
"Stuff like that is just pretty much all outside noise for us," Castle said. "I mean, whoever starts, whoever doesn't start, if we all start together, I think we'll be fine either way. I feel like we're three high-level guards that are pretty unselfish, that can touch the paint whenever. And yeah, I think just being able to play off each other as much as we can, whether we have to have two of us on the court, three of us on the court, I think we'll figure it out. And it'll continue to grow as it did last year."
Harper did say that he would refuse to come off the bench, although those comments seemed sarcastic.
As long as the Spurs are competitive, individual sacrifice is to be expected. If they slip back, though, then and only then might egos begin to clash.
