San Antonio has put Dylan Harper in position to make a real leap, and the early returns are loud. Through 12 games, the Spurs guard is putting up 18.0 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 4.8 assists a night, production that has him in the conversation for a first-time All-Star.
The scoring numbers jump off the page, but the efficiency is what makes the case even stronger. Harper is finishing at a ridiculous 83.7% from inside three feet and hitting 35% of his 3-pointers. If the Spurs keep winning at a strong clip, that kind of two-way scoring profile can carry real All-Star weight.
What makes this rise even more striking is how quickly it has happened. Harper was coming off the bench last season and averaged only 22.6 minutes per game. Now that he’s starting, he’s getting the runway to show what he can do with the ball in his hands.
That matters for San Antonio, because Harper is already the team’s second-leading scorer this season. If he keeps this up, he could wind up establishing himself as better than both Stephon Castle and De’Aaron Fox. Castle is still settling into his new role, while Fox has not focused on scoring, and that has opened the door for Harper to take over offensively.
So far, he has done exactly that. Harper has clearly become San Antonio’s second-best player, and if that holds, the Spurs could end up with a 20-year-old All-Star helping drive what might be a 60-win team. That’s rare territory, but it also says plenty about how high his ceiling is.
The minutes tell their own story. Harper is playing more than Wembanyama, Castle, and Fox, and that’s no accident. Coach Mitch Johnson is making sure he gets as much time on the floor as possible, apparently recognizing that Harper’s breakout could be the biggest swing factor between last season and this one.
The extra workload has already paid off. Playing nine more minutes per game has pushed Harper’s scoring up by more than six points a night. And once he settles fully into the starting role, there’s room for even more.
His 3-point shot has already started to come around after a rough opening stretch, and if he keeps knocking down at least 35% of his threes on about 3.5 attempts per game while staying at that blistering 83% clip at the rim, 20 points per game is well within reach.
In Other News...
Wembanyama Just Gave Spurs Fans Another Unreal Moment To Debate
Victor Wembanyama keeps finding new ways to make the ordinary look absurd, and his latest highlight came in the third quarter against the Bulls. The Spurs big man launched into a two-hand dunk from the free-throw line, the kind of play that instantly turns a regular night into another entry in the growing Wembanyama highlight reel.
It also came in the middle of a game where he was already stuffing the stat sheet, with San Antonio ahead in the fourth quarter and Wembanyama sitting on 32 points, eight rebounds, two steals and four blocks. Given the way he has been playing all season, with elite production on both ends and a shooting touch to match, the only real debate left is how many more moments like this he can still create before the league runs out of ways to react. [Read more 🡒]
Spurs Have A DeAaron Fox Problem They Cant Ignore
DeAaron Fox has been one of the Spurs most important creators since arriving from Sacramento, and the ball is in his hands more often than ever. He still leads San Antonio in assists, which speaks to how much the offense has leaned on him to organize possessions and get others involved, but the scoring punch that once made him such a difficult cover has not traveled with him.
Fox is averaging 13.9 points per game this season, a steep drop from the level he showed when the Spurs acquired him. The bigger concern is not just the number itself, but the way it has come about: he looks less aggressive hunting his own shot, and that shift has put his offensive role under the microscope while also raising questions about how the league will view his trade value if this version of him sticks around. [Read more 🡒]
Spurs Hot Start Still Leaves One Big Tobias Harris Question
Nine straight wins have given the Spurs plenty to like early, but the one major piece they have not yet been able to factor in is Tobias Harris. His absence has left San Antonio to keep sorting through a rotation that is already working, even as the veteran forwards expected return looms as a potential boost in size and shooting.
Harris is the kind of addition that can change the shape of a lineup without forcing the Spurs to tear up what has gotten them off to such a strong start. The open question is where he fits once he is available, since his role could be determined by the coachs decisions and could land anywhere from the starting five to a more defined bench role. [Read more 🡒]