Dylan Harper, on the San Antonio Spurs, is the accidental child who ends up being your favorite.
The Spurs were expected to put their foot down at the 2025 trade deadline, swinging for De’Aaron Fox. Stephon Castle was improving, Chris Paul was a viable starter, and Victor Wembanyama looked like an MVP candidate in just his second season.
With Fox, they seemed ready to make a push for the play-in. Instead, Wembanyama was sidelined, Fox suffered a finger injury, and the Spurs went 34-48, losing 19 of their last 30 games.
In short, the Spurs were not supposed to pick second overall in the 2025 NBA Draft. Somehow, though, they lucked into Harper, which flipped their long-term plan on its head.
Spurs Must Adapt to Dylan Harper
Perhaps the Spurs dropped the ball when they inked Fox to a four-year maximum extension after they had drafted Harper. Maybe it would have been smart to have effectively cut ties with him and let him walk in free agency this summer.
The Spurs didn’t do that, instead thinking that Harper would take a few seasons to settle into a starting role. Maybe he’d be a solid backup, but surely he won’t usurp Fox on the NBA’s biggest stage, right?
Wrong.
The Spurs selected Harper second overall because he was very clearly the second-best player in the 2025 Draft. Guys like Kon Knueppel, VJ Edgecombe, and even Ace Bailey would have been a better fit, but the Spurs, as most smart teams do, picked talent over fit.
It’s just pretty clear there wasn’t a plan in place for when Harper lived up to the expectations.
So now that Harper is better than Fox, or at least closing in on him, what should the Spurs do? By being passed up by a rookie, Fox’s trade value has tanked, and now the Spurs can’t recoup their investment on the open market.
So should they sell low? Hold the course? Move Fox to the bench? Or hold out?
The final option seems to be the most likely, but with Harper knocking on the door, the Spurs can’t kick the can down the road much longer. These were conversations the front office should have had as soon as they secured the second overall pick, instead of scratching their head more than a year later.
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