Victor Wembanyama has changed everything for the San Antonio Spurs, and Dylan Harper may be feeling the ripple effect already.
The Spurs pushed their timeline forward the moment Wembanyama became one of the best players in the world, and that urgency helped lead them to De’Aaron Fox and a fast climb into championship territory. It was a smart move for the franchise’s bigger picture. But it also comes with a cost: Harper’s development is getting squeezed.
Harper flashed plenty as a rookie. He had five 20-point games in the playoffs while playing fewer than 27 minutes a night, then closed the NBA Finals with 21 and 25 points in the final two games as his minutes climbed above 30.
During that stretch, he looked better than Fox. Fox was dealing with an ankle injury, sure, but that comparison is going to hang over the season anyway.
That’s the tension for San Antonio. Harper already looks like a star, but the Spurs are still operating like a team obsessed with every win, every rotation tweak, every closing lineup.
That leaves less room for the 20-year-old to make the kind of mistakes young players need to make. And those mistakes matter.
They’re part of the process when a player is testing his limits and trying to grow into something bigger.
The upside is obvious. Harper has the kind of talent that could put him well beyond Fox someday - even into the top-20 conversation in the world. If that’s the path, the Spurs have to stop treating him like a piece to be carefully managed and start treating him like a co-star in waiting.
The numbers with Wembanyama back that up. When the two shared the floor in the playoffs, San Antonio was plus-12.5 points per 100 possessions.
With only Wembanyama out there, the Spurs were plus-12.4. When both Harper and Wembanyama sat, they were minus-22.8.
That’s not just a promising pairing; that’s the kind of duo the Spurs should be leaning into without hesitation.
Bill Simmons clearly sees the ceiling too. The Ringer had Harper ranked one spot ahead of De’Aaron Fox in its Top 100, and that came after Harper’s rookie season.
Fox is already in his prime and a two-time All-Star. Harper is just starting to scratch the surface.
So what should the Spurs do? Give Harper the ball when Wembanyama sits.
Let him take 20 shots. Let him be the guy.
If the goal is to turn him into a superstar, then San Antonio has to give him stretches where he carries the offense and lives with the results.
That approach fits where this team is headed. The Spurs reached the NBA Finals by beating the Thunder in Game 7 in Oklahoma City.
They don’t need to chase the top seed or obsess over regular-season dominance. Their real job is getting the most out of the talent they already have when the games matter most.
That’s why Harper’s minutes should rise. He averaged just 22.6 minutes per game as a rookie, and that shouldn’t be the case in year two. The 6-foot-5 guard should be in the 30-plus range every night, with Castle and Harper leading the team in regular-season minutes as San Antonio develops that backcourt next to Wembanyama.
Wembanyama, meanwhile, doesn’t need a massive workload. At 7-foot-4, he should be around 28 minutes per game so he’s fresh for the playoffs.
He’s already the best player on the planet. There’s no reason to run him into the ground.
If Harper costs the Spurs a few regular-season games while he learns, that’s a trade worth making. Those games are not the point. The point is building a player who can deliver when the pressure is highest.
For now, the reality is that Harper’s growth was stunted as a rookie and could be held back again in year two. Fox is expected to start and finish games as San Antonio tries to squeeze out as many wins as possible. Wembanyama forced that decision by accelerating the franchise’s timeline.
It wasn’t ideal, but the Spurs didn’t know they’d land the second overall pick in the 2025 draft when they traded for Fox. They wanted an All-Star guard, and Fox made it clear he wanted San Antonio.
Still, Harper is already elite, and the Spurs need to let him become more than that. More three-guard lineups.
More responsibility. More chances to grow into Wembanyama’s true co-star.
That’s the path to something much bigger. And if the Spurs are serious about building a dynasty, Mitch Johnson is the one who has to make it happen. Right now, though, he looks committed to Fox.
In Other News...
Stephon Castle Is Suddenly In The Middle Of A Spurs Power Shift
Victor Wembanyama is still the obvious headliner in San Antonio, but the conversation around the Spurs is starting to widen beyond their franchise cornerstone. The expectation is that they will have at least one All-Star next season, and the more intriguing question is whether a second name can emerge alongside him as the roster takes on a different shape.
Stephon Castle has become part of that discussion because of the way his game has grown, with his defense, athleticism and playoff experience giving him a profile that fits a two-way leap. In a team that is clearly shifting toward a new hierarchy, Castle is no longer just a promising young guard in the background, he is suddenly part of the debate over who might stand next to Wembanyama when the Spurs next wave fully arrives. [Read more 🡒]
Steph Curry To Spurs Is The Debate Fans Didnt Expect
Speculation around Steph Curry and the Spurs has a way of stopping a conversation cold, and this latest trade idea is no different. The proposal imagines Curry heading to San Antonio in a deal built around De'Aaron Fox, Luke Kornet and multiple future first-round picks, a framework that says as much about the leagues appetite for star-chasing as it does about the Spurs long-term position.
For it to even become a real discussion, several things would have to break in the right direction, starting with Curry declining a contract extension and then asking out of Golden State. The fit could make basketball sense for both sides in a vacuum, but loyalty still looms over the entire idea, which is why this remains more debate fuel than anything close to a likely path. [Read more 🡒]
Bulls Fans Will Circle One Blazers Game For Tiago Splitter
The Portland Trail Blazers are expected to have their 2026-27 schedule in hand soon, and even before the release there are already a few dates that figure to draw attention. Ja Morants first game back at FedEx Forum against the Memphis Grizzlies will be one obvious circle on the calendar, but from a San Antonio angle the Spurs matchup with Portland also stands out because it will bring Victor Wembanyama and a familiar, high-stakes opponent back into the picture.
What makes that game especially intriguing is the coaching wrinkle on the other side. Tiago Splitter, who served as Portlands interim head coach, has moved on to the Chicago Bulls, and his next step adds another layer to a meeting that was already going to matter for the Spurs. For San Antonio, it is another reminder that the Western Conference race is already shaping the way next seasons schedule gets viewed, well before the first tipoff arrives. [Read more 🡒]