San Antonio Spurs rookie guard Dylan Harper couldn’t be in a better position

Winning the NBA Rookie of the Year award was an initial goal for San Antonio Spurs guard Dylan Harper this season. So was winning games — which was actually the top goal for Harper, who could be playing deep into the playoffs while other heralded rookies are watching at home.

“That’s every kid’s dream, to play on the big stages,” Harper, 20, told Andscape recently. “I might come off the bench, but in a month or so, I will be playing in the playoffs. Not many rookies that say they do that at a high level and play meaningful minutes.”

The odds broke in the Spurs’ favor in last year’s NBA draft lottery, when they received the No. 2 overall pick after having a 26.3% chance of landing anywhere in the top four. After the Dallas Mavericks took Cooper Flagg first overall, San Antonio selected Harper — despite already having a starting backcourt of two-time NBA All-Star De’Aaron Fox and 2025 Rookie of the Year Stephon Castle.

With no room in the starting lineup, Harper has emerged as a standout reserve for the Spurs in his rookie campaign, averaging 11.5 points (on 49.8% shooting), 3.9 assists, and 3.4 rebounds in 22.3 minutes per game entering tonight against the Golden State Warriors (ESPN, 10 p.m. ET).

But on the NBA.com Rookie Ladder, Harper was listed fourth behind Charlotte Hornets guard Kon Knueppel, Flagg, and Philadelphia 76ers guard VJ Edgecombe, all of whom are averaging at least 16 points per game while starting and ranking near the top of their respective teams in minutes played. Meanwhile, Harper entered Tuesday ninth among NBA rookies in scoring and 19th in minutes per game.

Harper admitted that coming off the bench for the first time in his life this year was initially an adjustment.

“It was hard in the beginning just trying to find my role, just trying to pick spots, things like that,” Harper said. “But as the season kept going on, the second group got to come in with me — KJ [Keldon Johnson], Luke [Kornet] — we kind of have our own little group and we get to go and play basketball. So, it’s definitely a challenge and different. But what’s so scary is that the first lineup is so good and the second lineup is just as good.”

There is one big difference between Harper and the other stellar rookies: He has a chance to not only win in the NBA playoffs but compete for a championship.

Led by MVP candidate Victor Wembanyama, the Spurs entered Tuesday with the second-best record in the league, behind the reigning NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder. The Spurs are competing with Oklahoma City for the top playoff seed in the Western Conference, and the Thunder entered Tuesday with the fourth-toughest remaining schedule, while the Spurs’ ranks 14th.

So, while Harper and the Spurs have their sights set on winning the franchise’s sixth NBA title, Knueppel and the Hornets will be in the play-in tournament, Flagg and the Mavs won’t be in the postseason, and Edgecombe and the injury-riddled Sixers have long-shot Eastern Conference title hopes.

“Even though I don’t get the volume or the minutes [the aforementioned rookies] get, I’m playing meaningful basketball,” Harper said. “Every day in every game I get in, we’re playing for something. We’re playing to win. We’re playing for the next big thing. It’s fun because when we [rookies] match up against each other, we get to see, and it’s time to compete. I love to compete. So, that’s a great thing about this league, too, is that you see everyone.”

What also makes winning more satisfying for Harper is that just a season ago, losing was the norm for him.

Rutgers University had high hopes for the 2024-25 season with Harper and fellow five-star freshman Ace Bailey, who is now with the Utah Jazz. Both were 2024 McDonald’s All Americans whom ESPN ranked in the top 5 of the 2024 SCNext 100. The Scarlet Knights, however, finished the season 15-17 and didn’t make the NCAA tournament.

Those struggles made Harper feel he had to prove himself as a winner once he joined the Spurs.

“It’s hard to watch the NCAA tournament now, because it’s something I didn’t get to do,” Harper said. “It was kind of blessing in disguise for me. It kind of opened my eyes. It was good for me. I never want to lose. But the losing aspect and not exceeding expectations was a good thing for me because it kind of kept me grounded and kept me level-headed. So, going into my NBA career was more of like, ‘All right, I have to prove that I’m a winner now.’ And we got [more than 50] wins, so I have done a pretty good job of that.

“But losing last [season] taught me a lot of lessons. You got to show up every day regardless of what happened yesterday. You got to show up to practice. It made me appreciate the little things a little more. It’s a dream come true. I always tell people, ‘It’s a flip. Usually, you win in college and you get to the pros and the first few years the team is not winning.’ But for me, I lost in college, I’m winning now. I can’t ask to be in any [better] position.”

It didn’t take long for the Spurs to know they had a talented rookie in Harper.

The 6-foot-5 Franklin Lakes, New Jersey, native averaged 14.4 points, 4.6 rebounds and 4.6 assists in 25.8 minutes in the first five games of the season. He was named the NBA Western Conference Rookie of the Month for February, when he averaged 12.5 points, 4.9 assists, and 3.9 rebounds and shot 55.4% from the field, helping the Spurs to an 11-0 month.

Harper has continued to grow, putting up 13.1 points on 57.3% shooting from the field, dishing 4.2 assists and hauling in 3.5 rebounds per game in 19 contests since the All-Star break.

Wembanyama said he had faith in Harper “very quickly.”

“It’s rare to be a really good shooter as a rookie, first of all,” Wembanyama said. “And I know it’s rare to have this [talent] as an NBA player at all. And very, very rapidly I had faith in him. It’s obvious, right?”

Joining a great team means Harper has also avoided the pressure and attention that usually comes with being selected high in the draft. Moreover, he had the luxury of a veteran in Fox taking him under his wing. Harper said he’s learned a lot from watching the habits of his more experienced teammates and even uses the same personal chef as Spurs guard Devin Vassell.

“I have great vets around me who help, like Fox,” Harper said. “We can sit down and talk about anything. On the basketball side, [Fox said], ‘I’m not trying to stunt your growth. I understand what it’s like to be young coming into this league. I’m going to help you as much as I can.’ Having people in my corner like that is special to me.”

Harper’s father, Ron Harper Sr., averaged a career-high 22.9 points per game as a rookie with the Cleveland Cavaliers during the 1986-87 season, but he finished second in the Rookie of the Year balloting to Indiana Pacers forward Chuck Person. It all worked out for Harper Sr., who went on to win five NBA championships in his 15-year career.

An appreciative Dylan Harper hopes to follow in his father’s championship footsteps and deliver the Spurs a sixth NBA title, which would put San Antonio in a tie with the Chicago Bulls for fourth-most in league history.

“I’m grateful that the Spurs picked me,” Dylan Harper said. “And I’m grateful that it would be in a position like this.”

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