The young San Antonio Spurs team, led by a 22-year-old Victor Wembanyama, stunned the NBA world by making it to the Finals by dethroning the defending champions, the Oklahoma City Thunder. Although they suffered a gentleman’s sweep in the Finals (4-1 against the New York Knicks), they have several positive takeaways from this experience.
And one of them is the emergence of Dylan Harper, who has now put the league on notice in just his rookie season. Following last night’s game, Devin Vassell revealed that Dylan Harper had been unhappy with his role on the team earlier in the season.
“Tremendously proud…. I think we all knew he was talented. I don’t know if anybody knew he was this talented besides himself,” said Vassell.
“He was upset with playing time and different roles that he was in, but when we needed him most, he stepped up, and we have a star in the making.”
“And I know that he is going to put so much work into the offseason, it’s not just offensively, defensively, he’s made a lot of plays. He’s grown so much, I mean, what, he’s 20-21 years old. The sky is the limit for him.”
While a casual fan might say that Victor Wembanyama carried the team this far, only those who truly watch basketball would realize it would not have been possible without key pieces like Harper, who stepped up whenever the Spurs needed him.
With the season on the line, when players like Wembanyama and De’Aaron Fox were struggling to find their rhythm, it was Dylan Harper who took over the Spurs’ offense last night in Game 5.
He led all scorers for the Spurs with 25 points, five rebounds, and four assists while shooting 10-19 from the field (52.6 FG%) and 2-4 from beyond the arc (50.0 3P%).
The son of the former NBA player, Ron Harper, was overshadowed by players like Kon Knueppel, Cooper Flagg, and V.J. Edgecombe in the race for the Rookie of the Year award.
But clearly, his biggest problem with that was the lack of playing minutes to showcase his skills. Meanwhile, other players had become key starters on their respective teams.
He averaged only 11.8 points, 3.9 assists, and 3.4 rebounds while going 50.5% from the floor and 34.3% from behind the three-point line in the 69 games he played during the regular season.
However, he stepped up his game during the postseason and averaged 14.1 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 2.7 assists, shooting 51.5% from the field and 33.3% from behind the three-point line while coming off the bench.
Charles Barkley and several other experts also made a case that he should be starting over De’Aaron Fox due to his rising confidence, giving a boost to the team whenever he is on the floor.
Faced with the adversity of lacking playing minutes in the regular season and the amount of pressure that comes with playing in the NBA Finals during your rookie year, Harper has proven that the Spurs have multiple young talents that the league needs to watch out for in the coming seasons.
