The Spurs have built themselves a rare kind of backcourt traffic jam, and Dylan Harper is right in the middle of it.
San Antonio can line up Stephon Castle, already a fringe All-Star, next to De'Aaron Fox, who remains one of the better guards in the NBA. Then there’s Harper, one of the most enticing young players in the league.
On most teams, that kind of talent would make Harper an automatic opening-night starter. In San Antonio, the plan is different: the Spurs have stuck with the idea of keeping Fox in the starting five.
There’s logic to that. Fox gives them a steadier hand, even after his lackluster Finals performance, and having a proven veteran on the floor has worked for San Antonio before.
But the rotation doesn’t have to be fixed in stone. There will be nights when Harper simply has more juice than Fox, and Mitch Johnson should be willing to ride the hotter guard to the finish.
That’s where the Manu Ginobili comparison starts to come into focus. Ginobili built a Hall of Fame career coming off the bench, but he was still on the floor when it mattered most.
Harper could be asked to do something similar.
The difference is that Harper is already talking like a player who understands the assignment. Since the Spurs drafted him, he has said the right thing over and over in some version of, "I'll play any role if it means the team wins."
That may be sincere. It also may not be enough if he starts to feel boxed in.
"Harper has been trying to say the right things, but he also wants to be a superstar - and rightly so," wrote The Athletic's Jared Weiss. "If he improves as much this season as he did last, he will be too good to spend crucial moments of games on the bench."
That’s the tension San Antonio is signing up for. Ginobili embraced a reserve role and made it legendary, but Harper’s path may not be that simple in today’s NBA. He’s not just trying to fit in; he’s trying to become a star.
And that matters because the business side is coming. Harper will be eligible to negotiate his first contract extension in 2028, and he’ll be paid for what he has already produced, not for the ceiling the Spurs believe he can reach. If he thinks his role is smaller than it should be, that could become a real issue when he sits down with Brian Wright.
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