The San Antonio Spurs raised some eyebrows after drafting Dylan Harper No. 2 overall in the 2025 NBA Draft, behind Cooper Flagg, when they already had two elite point guards in De’Aaron Fox and Stephon Castle.
That criticism only grew when Harper began his rookie season coming off the bench behind Fox and Castle, especially as other rookies like V.J. Edgecombe and Kon Knueppel quickly earned larger roles with their teams. As a result, some began to question whether the Spurs made the right decision in drafting Ron Harper’s son so high.
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But after Dylan’s breakout performance in Game 1 of the 2026 Western Conference finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder, the older Harper had something to say to his son’s critics.
“You ask why he was the number 2 pick in the draft…. Sleep on it now,” he wrote on “X.”
Harper has been a playoff riser
Although Harper showed flashes of brilliance during the regular season, he averaged only 22.6 minutes per game, putting up 11.8 points, 3.4 rebounds and 3.9 assists. But since the playoffs have started, Harper has been a huge difference-maker for the Spurs.
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With their first-round series against the Portland Trail Blazers tied at 1-1, he scored 27 points on 9-of-12 shooting, including 4-of-5 from 3-point range, in the game Victor Wembanyama missed due to concussion protocol.
Then, against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Harper averaged 14.7 points and 6.2 rebounds per game despite playing only 24.8 minutes.
On Monday night, with De’Aaron Fox out with an injury, Harper played the game of his life, finishing with 24 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and seven steals while committing just one turnover in 47 minutes of double overtime action. He joined Magic Johnson as the only rookie in NBA playoff history to record a 20-10-5 with five steals in a game. More importantly, he was a +14 for the Spurs. Only Wembanyama was better at +16.
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The Slash Brothers are like attack dogs
Harper and Castle have solidified their status as the new dynamic duo in the league — the “Slash Brothers” — whom head coach Mitch Johnson gave a lot of credit to after they eliminated the Timberwolves in the previous round.
“They listen when we tell them stuff, and they get on the court, and they’re just like attack dogs, and they just go,” Johnson said after the Spurs clinched the series in six games. “They don’t make a lot of repeatable mistakes, and when they’re given directions, they typically are very fast processors and pick up things very quickly. But I don’t know what the hell they look for because they’re just always relentless in going forward, and I love it about them, and I just try to help channel the energy sometimes.”
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After Castle starred with 32 in Game 6 against Minnesota, he struggled with 17 points on 5-of-14 shooting with 11 turnovers in Game 1 against the Thunder. But Harper picked up the slack, helping steady the Spurs in Fox’s absence.
Harper’s breakout showed exactly why San Antonio invested the No. 2 pick in him, and it only added fuel to the belief that the Spurs’ backcourt depth could become a major problem for the rest of the league. For his father, it was the kind of night that felt like vindication.
This story was originally published by Basketball Network on May 19, 2026, where it first appeared in the Latest News section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.