The San Antonio Spurs may already be lining up the next step in their backcourt plan, and it starts with Dylan Harper. After coming up just short in the NBA Finals last season, the Spurs are clearly operating like a team that thinks it’s close - and they’ve got the young talent to back that up.
Harper and Stephon Castle have become the center of the conversation, with their pairing drawing a big-time comparison from Charles Barkley.
“If I’m a guard in the NBA, I do not want to see them boys the next 10 years. They’re going to be the new Steph and Klay,” NBA legend Charles Barkley said.
That kind of buzz only adds to the growing belief around Harper inside the organization. ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said the Spurs see him as their No. 2 option behind Victor Wembanyama.
“The Spurs internally believe Dylan Harper is their second best player. That’s not a slight on De'Aaron Fox or Stephon Castle. Harper is a stud,” ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said.
With Harper climbing that quickly, a De’Aaron Fox trade starts to make more sense. Bleacher Report’s Greg Swartz floated a deal that would send Fox to the Houston Rockets in exchange for Fred VanVleet and Jabari Smith Jr.
“For the Spurs, a return of VanVleet and his expiring $25 million salary and Jabari Smith Jr. would be enough to make the money work. Fox is the best overall player in the deal, although San Antonio would get off of his four-year, $221 million contract and open up a starting job for Harper, which is the ultimate goal here. Houston could ask for some draft compensation in return given the heftiness of Fox's contract, even if the two-time All-Star is a major upgrade over VanVleet,” Swartz wrote.
VanVleet is on an expiring $25 million contract, while Smith would give San Antonio another young piece to fold into the core. For the Spurs, the appeal is obvious: clear the path for Harper, move off Fox’s four-year, $221 million deal, and keep building around a group that already looks loaded for the long haul.
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