In the NBA, most top-two picks enter the league with a featured role in their team’s starting lineup. However, for second overall pick Dylan Harper, the San Antonio Spurs’ backcourt standouts may create a unique situation for the 19-year-old point guard.<\/p>\n
Harper joins a Spurs squad hoping to break their six-year playoff drought, the longest in franchise history. The organization will look to their 7-foot-4 phenom center Victor Wembanyama to lead a playoff run as he’s flanked by Harrison Barnes and Devin Vassell in the frontcourt as well as all-star De’Aaron Fox and reigning Rookie of the Year Stephon Castle at the guard spots. Because of these two talents, Harper is porjected to begin his career in a bench role.<\/p>\n
During an appearance on Carmelo Anthony’s “7 PM in Brooklyn” podcast, Harper embraced this role, citing that every player has to wait for their turn in the NBA. In addition to demonstrating his patience, the 6-foot-5 Rutgers alum drew a comparison to former MVP James Harden, who began his career as a star sixth man for the Oklahoma City Thunder as they competed for championships in the early 2010s.<\/p>\n
While a bench role will inherently bring some limitations to Harper’s opportunity and potential to contribute, at least early on. On the other hand, it could also be beneficial to Harper’s development through certain advantages of lesser responsibility and pressure. <\/p>\n
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Jul 14, 2025; Las Vegas, NV, USA; San Antonio Spurs guard Dylan Harper dribbles the ball against Utah Jazz forward Cody Williams (5) during the second half of a NBA basketball game at the Thomas & Mack Center. Mandatory Credit: Lucas Peltier-Imagn Images \/ Lucas Peltier-Imagn Images<\/p>\n
By coming off the bench, Harper will likely have his minutes staggered with Fox, the team’s primary ball handler, than any other starter. This means when he is on the court, he’ll be able to be a high-volume handler in his own right in a competitive environment. <\/p>\n
This means more possessions where the offense runs through Harper, whether that be by initiating sets, facilitating the two-man game or hunting self-created buckets. Instead of focusing on contributing in a more off-ball role next to Fox, he’ll get a bigger chance to sharpen his lead-guard skills against second units and build confidence as a primary creator prospect. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Jul 12, 2025; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Dallas Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg (32) dribbles against San Antonio Spurs guard Kyle Mangas (16) and guard Dylan Harper (2) in the second quarter of their game at Thomas & Mack Center. Mandatory Credit: Candice Ward-Imagn Images \/ Candice Ward-Imagn Images<\/p>\n
On the other hand, a bench role means there’s a good chance Harper isn’t featured in the Spurs’ top lineups of choice. Bench players typically have a slimmer margin for error, as the starting players typically serve as a reliable alternative for their spot on the court.<\/p>\n
If Harper dishes errant passes, attempts ill-advised shots or experiences defensive lapses, he may get pulled more quickly than if he were a starter. For a young point guard, that can harm development, since trial-and-error and learning through failure are critical building blocks in the development of a creative, dynamic ball-handler. <\/p>\n
Harper may be able to save minutes by playing a more risk-averse style of ball, which can certainly also be beneficial, but may not be the best path for Harper to fulfill his true potential as an elite NBA point guard.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In the NBA, most top-two picks enter the league with a featured role in their team’s starting lineup.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":96941,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[434],"tags":[49,48,459,82],"class_list":["post-96940","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96940","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96940"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96940\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/96941"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96940"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96940"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96940"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}