The San Antonio Spurs’ lottery luck continued final June once they obtained the second general decide and used it to take then-Rutgers guard Dylan Harper. After Cooper Flagg, Harper was broadly thought-about the second greatest participant obtainable.
Even with the Spurs already having De’Aaron Fox within the fold and Stephon Fort, they took Harper in any case, giving them three dynamic ball-handlers, and two lefties in Fox and Harper. San Antonio even doubled down on the trio once they re-signed Fox to a max extension this previous August.
The match between the three might look awkward on paper, however the on-court manufacturing has been there for all three. Consequently, the Spurs are the second seed within the Western Convention. Harper has thrived in his sixth man function and Fox and Fort have been a seamless on-court match. Even with these elements, a troublesome determination looms for the Spurs.
San Antonio will not be going to have the ability to maintain all three guards for for the long term
Due to the NBA’s new CBA and the restrictions that include being a second apron workforce, the percentages of the Spurs conserving Fox, Fort, and Harper sooner or later are fairly low.
With Victor Wembanyama due for an extension this summer time, Fox’s extension kicking in quickly, and Fort turning into extension-eligible in 2027, San Antonio will discover itself in a cap crunch.
Along with that, Harper has proven that he has the mould of a lead guard. He has an extremely excessive degree of poise for a rookie, he operates easily within the pick-and-roll, and he’s elite at getting downhill to the basket. He has Cade Cunningham-esque skills in his recreation and we’ve seen Cunningham blossom because the lead guard in Detroit. Harper can observe that path.
This season, Harper is averaging 11 factors per recreation, three rebounds, and 4 assists in 22 minutes, whereas taking pictures 49 % from the sphere. These averages bounce to 18 factors, 4 rebounds, and 5 assists per 36 minutes. He’s additionally coming off the Rookie of the Month award for February, the place he averaged almost 13 PPG, 4 rebounds, and 5 assists on 56 % taking pictures.
The underside line is Harper has already confirmed himself to be a starting-caliber guard within the league. He has the ceiling to be an All-NBA degree guard throughout his prime. The query is will that chance include the Spurs and Wembanyama? Or will it include one other workforce down the road? Time will inform, however San Antonio will probably be compelled to decide.
