Dylan Harper didn’t spend the summer softening the blow of San Antonio’s Finals loss. He came right out and said what the Spurs believe happened: they had the title within reach and let it get away.
The Spurs controlled long stretches of the NBA Finals against the New York Knicks, but the trophy still ended up in New York after five games. San Antonio led for 74% of the series and built double-digit leads in every game, yet kept coming up short when the finishes got tight.
For Harper, the answer starts with the late-game details.
"I think the biggest thing is probably closing out games, and I think just knowing exactly what we're gonna do in certain times," Harper told RG's DJ Siddiqi. "The biggest thing for us is we got a year under our belt."
That belief comes from a rookie season that turned Harper into a real postseason force. The No. 2 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft averaged 18 points in the Finals while coming off the bench in all five games. He put up 21 points in Game 4 and then led the Spurs with 25 in the deciding Game 5.
By the end of it, Harper had authored what amounts to the best rookie performance on the championship stage since Magic Johnson in 1980.
Still, there was no satisfaction in the run itself. Harper’s view is that San Antonio should already be hanging another banner.
"I feel like we all have that one team goal that we felt like that we should have had last year," Harper said. "I feel like that's really the only thing that's on everyone's mind."
That’s the heart of it for the Spurs. This isn’t about proving they belonged. It’s about reclaiming what they think slipped through their hands.
The roster clearly had the talent. Victor Wembanyama became the NBA's first unanimous Defensive Player of the Year, Harper gave them a scoring punch in the postseason, and the team had enough depth to dictate much of the series.
What they didn’t have, Harper said, was enough certainty when the game demanded one clean possession, one correct read, one solid rotation.
As his rookie year went on, Harper said he grew more comfortable with what his teammates liked to do and where they were supposed to be. That kind of familiarity becomes everything when the margin shrinks to the final minutes.
The Spurs ran into those exact problems against New York.
"To make it there that far, it definitely taught not just me, but I think just taught everyone in our group a lot and what we need to do," Harper said.
Now San Antonio heads into next season with a clear lesson and an even clearer mission: finish the games, and finish the job.
In Other News...
Spurs Fans Just Got A Lonnie Walker Reunion They Didn't Expect
Lonnie Walker IV is back in the Western Conference mix, this time on a one-year deal with the Denver Nuggets. For Spurs fans, it is another reminder of a player who once came through San Antonio as a draft pick and has since bounced around the league and overseas before landing in Denver, where he is expected to give the defending West powers a deeper bench.
Walkers path has always made him one of those names that can pop up anywhere and still feel familiar in San Antonio. The Nuggets are betting on him as reserve insurance and another source of perimeter depth, while Spurs supporters are left watching an old friend re-enter the conference in a role that could matter if Denvers second unit needs a lift. [Read more 🡒]
Stephon Castle Decision Could Shape Spurs' Long-Term Title Window
The conversation around rookie max extensions has shifted lately, and ESPNs Bobby Marks pointed to a possible new pattern after the recent trade involving Zaccharie Risacher to Dallas. For San Antonio, that matters because Stephon Castle has quickly become one of the most important young pieces on a roster already built around Victor Wembanyama, and the Spurs have spent years establishing the kind of team culture that makes long-term planning feel intentional rather than reactive.
If Castle keeps developing at the expected pace, he could land in the same contract conversation, and the timing of that decision would carry real weight for the Spurs salary cap and their bigger championship picture. San Antonio has already set one precedent with Wembanyama, and what happens with Castle could help determine how tightly the franchise can hold together its core while keeping a clear path to a title window that is still taking shape. [Read more 🡒]
Spurs Could Face A Brutal Devin Vassell Decision Soon
The Spurs are already staring at the kind of payroll squeeze that can arrive faster than a young team expects. With Victor Wembanyama, Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper all set to command bigger extensions down the line, San Antonio will have to map out how much money it can realistically commit around its core while the salary cap keeps climbing. Devin Vassell sits squarely in the middle of that conversation because his deal is part of the structure the front office now has to fit everything else around.
It is the sort of long-range planning that can force uncomfortable choices even when the basketball fit still makes sense. San Antonio would prefer to keep as much talent as possible, but the second apron is the type of line teams have learned to treat seriously, especially when one more hefty contract could tip the balance. For the Spurs, the question is not whether Vassell matters. It is how long they can keep the roster together before the math starts demanding a harder answer. [Read more 🡒]