Future Spur: Dylan Harper

[MannyIsGod]

If he doesn't come off the bench then who does? Steph?

I don't think anyone but Wemby and Fox have locked down start spots right now. If it was up to me, I'm staring Wemby, Barnes, Harper, Castle, and Fox. This might change after we see what moves the Spurs make, but I think people here are 1) overrating Castle and underrating Harper currently. Don't get me wrong, I like Castle a lot, but he has a LONG way to go before he's an all star. Obviously, so does the guy who hasn't played a single game in the NBA, but if you were forcing me to pick one of the two that is more likely to be be a #2 caliber star, I am going with Harper.

That being said, if you're also asking me who's the most likely to come off the bench given the history of this coaching staff and organization then I definitely believe that Harper is most likely to start the year coming off the bench. But I also expect him to just be too good for that. Maybe the evaluation changes once we actually see him against NBA compe ion, but I have a hard time believing Devin is going to be the best contributor out of him, Castle, and Harper and warrant starting.

[SpursFan86]

I’m a huge fan of Castle but I think he’s become a bit overrated on here tbh. People that are acting like he should be guaranteed a starting spot and/or already acting like him getting a max extension is a lock are getting ahead of themselves.

He wouldn’t have been ROTY in most years - it’s not like he was dominant as a rookie. It’s entirely possible that Harper as a rookie is better than Castle as a sop re.

You let them battle it out in training camp/preseason and see where things go. Neither guy should be guaranteed anything. I do think Castle is probably a better fit alongside Fox/Wemby for the 1st unit and if I had to bet money I’d say Castle gets the nod over Harper…but it shouldn’t be a foregone conclusion.

Might all be a moot point anyways when our starting lineup is Harper/Fox/Castle/KD/Wemby!

[scott]

You're taking benched in the playoffs Ayton over CP3 in a year he was 9th in MVP voting or over Bridges in a year he narrowly lost the DPOY vote?

Okay fine. He was the 4th guy. And that contract was clearly a mistake. He earned it by averaging 17/10. Castle and Harper, if they are behind Wemby, Fox and Durant, are going to average like 14/4/5 if they are lucky.

So you want to point to Ayton’s massive overpay of a contract as an example how Castle and Harper are going to earn a max?

[scott]

All this has me wondering why Harper chose Rutgers in the first place......to be closer to home, and, presumably Uncle Daddy Ron?
Kind of weird. Maybe this has been covered 20 pages ago, apologies if so. Columbo was a big influence on me. In that vein, any guesses as to why the Harpers might want to keep their boy close to home? Are the Brooklyn rumors feasible.
I know, I know, wait 20 days and we'll all find out.

Why didn't Cooper Flagg choose the University of Maine? Maybe it was a great choice for his development as a freshman to be close to home. Very odd for a 5-star recruit.

I don’t know how much of an impact it really played… but Dylan Harper did have a Top-5 in the nation NIL deal with Rutgers (reportedly) - which was the second largest NIL deal in the country for an incoming Freshman (behind Flagg). Now, did he get that because he was going to Rutgers or did he get that because he was the second best prospect and it didn’t matter what school he went to? I don’t know.

[baseline bum]

Okay fine. He was the 4th guy. And that contract was clearly a mistake. He earned it by averaging 17/10. Castle and Harper, if they are behind Wemby, Fox and Durant, are going to average like 14/4/5 if they are lucky.

So you want to point to Ayton’s massive overpay of a contract as an example how Castle and Harper are going to earn a max?

Just point out players with talent or perceived talent get paid. Also are you trying to tell me 40 year old Durant is going to be a better player than Year 4 Castle and Year 3 Harper and crowd them out of being able to earn max deals?

[scott]

Just point out players with talent or perceived talent get paid. Also are you trying to tell me 40 year old Durant is going to be a better player than Year 4 Castle and Year 3 Harper and crowd them out of being able to earn max deals?

Players with talent or perceived talent and on the court production get paid. A guy averaging 14/4/5 isn’t getting a rookie max extension, especially not in the apron era. Just go look at all the guys who have gotten rookie max extensions. Devin (thankfully) did not get one after averaging 18.5/4/4

Rookie extensions gets signed after a rookie’s 3rd year. So it would be after Durant’s 2nd year for us with for Castle and after his 3rd year with us for Harper. If you don’t think he’s going to still be averaging close to 20ppg in those years… why they is he extended at whatever insane salary he’ll be making?

But let’s say Durant isn’t here. It’s still Wemby averaging 25+ ppg and Fox averaging 20+ ppg. There is room for one of those guys to show out and earn a max rookie deal, but probably not both.

This is actually a completely fine problem for the Spurs… but my point it’s not hard for a player to look at that situation and see how it’s going to be difficult for them to maximize their earnings potential in San Antonio, and that might be a very real issue for guys. Some other guys may not care. But this is their job… and almost every human being in America wants to maximize their earnings.

[RC_Drunkford]

I don't think anyone but Wemby and Fox have locked down start spots right now. If it was up to me, I'm staring Wemby, Barnes, Harper, Castle, and Fox. This might change after we see what moves the Spurs make, but I think people here are 1) overrating Castle and underrating Harper currently. Don't get me wrong, I like Castle a lot, but he has a LONG way to go before he's an all star. Obviously, so does the guy who hasn't played a single game in the NBA, but if you were forcing me to pick one of the two that is more likely to be be a #2 caliber star, I am going with Harper.

That being said, if you're also asking me who's the most likely to come off the bench given the history of this coaching staff and organization then I definitely believe that Harper is most likely to start the year coming off the bench. But I also expect him to just be too good for that. Maybe the evaluation changes once we actually see him against NBA compe ion, but I have a hard time believing Devin is going to be the best contributor out of him, Castle, and Harper and warrant starting.

you can't start Fox/Harper/Castle all at the same time cause it'll up your spacing. That's not enough shooting. I also assume Harper would get used like a sixth man for his first season. I just hope we draft him, cause there's certainly enough smoke there to think that we might actually trade down (his dad's comments, his workouts for other teams, reports that the Spurs want Maluach and don't want to trade Devin)

[baseline bum]

Players with talent or perceived talent and on the court production get paid. A guy averaging 14/4/5 isn’t getting a rookie max extension, especially not in the apron era. Just go look at all the guys who have gotten rookie max extensions. Devin (thankfully) did not get one after averaging 18.5/4/4

Rookie extensions gets signed after a rookie’s 3rd year. So it would be after Durant’s 2nd year for us with for Castle and after his 3rd year with us for Harper. If you don’t think he’s going to still be averaging close to 20ppg in those years… why they is he extended at whatever insane salary he’ll be making?

But let’s say Durant isn’t here. It’s still Wemby averaging 25+ ppg and Fox averaging 20+ ppg. There is room for one of those guys to show out and earn a max rookie deal, but probably not both.

This is actually a completely fine problem for the Spurs… but my point it’s not hard for a player to look at that situation and see how it’s going to be difficult for them to maximize their earnings potential in San Antonio, and that might be a very real issue for guys. Some other guys may not care. But this is their job… and almost every human being in America wants to maximize their earnings.

Oh well doesn't sound like Harper is too concerned from that clip.

[exstatic]

I’m a huge fan of Castle but I think he’s become a bit overrated on here tbh. People that are acting like he should be guaranteed a starting spot and/or already acting like him getting a max extension is a lock are getting ahead of themselves.

He wouldn’t have been ROTY in most years - it’s not like he was dominant as a rookie. It’s entirely possible that Harper as a rookie is better than Castle as a sop re.

You let them battle it out in training camp/preseason and see where things go. Neither guy should be guaranteed anything. I do think Castle is probably a better fit alongside Fox/Wemby for the 1st unit and if I had to bet money I’d say Castle gets the nod over Harper…but it shouldn’t be a foregone conclusion.

Might all be a moot point anyways when our starting lineup is Harper/Fox/Castle/KD/Wemby!

As rookies in about the same minutes, other than 3 point shooting, Castle put up numbers better than SGA. ROTY winners also mostly have good to great career arcs. We’re right to be excited.

[scott]

Oh well doesn't sound like Harper is too concerned from that clip.

Might not be! I’m just pointing out that this is a real consideration for these guys when they get drafted… if they aren’t thinking about it, surely their agent is going to make them very much aware of how their landing spot may impact their future earnings potential.

I don’t think this is going to present a problem for Harper (because Castle is a SF)… but it is why I say that I wouldn’t just automatically pencil in Max Deals for Castle and Harper. It’s going to be hard for both of them to earn those deals. A cap sheet has in some ways some self-regulating features built in when you build organically in that regard. It’s when you go out and acquire a bunch of expensive guys who have “earned” big deals through their past performance and reputation that you run into a lot of trouble. It’s also why I think OKC will be in a lot better shape long term than people want to admit.

[SpursFan86]

As rookies in about the same minutes, other than 3 point shooting, Castle put up numbers better than SGA. ROTY winners also mostly have good to great career arcs. We’re right to be excited.

I mean shooting 37% from 3 (SGA) vs. 28% from 3 (Castle) is a pretty meaningful difference

Regardless, of course we should be excited with Castle. I mentioned I’m a big fan and I think he can be a huge piece of our core for years to come. I’m solely pointing out that I think people overestimate how good he currently is and are a little quick to act like he’s a lock to be a max contract guy down the road. Specifically in the context of this discussion, I think it’s silly to assume he’s a lock to start over Castle.

[Dejounte]

[twitter]https://x.com/harper04_5/status/1930672153361301594?s=46[/twitter]

Much ado about nothing

[baseline bum]

[twitter]https://x.com/harper04_5/status/1930672153361301594?s=46[/twitter]

Much ado about nothing

Link's broken

[SpursFan86]

[twitter]https://x.com/harper04_5/status/1930672153361301594?s=46[/twitter]

Much ado about nothing

It’s a tweet from Ron Harper saying “Nope” in response to a fan’s theory that Dylan is going to get rerouted to Utah or Washington.

To play devil’s advocate, he could be saying that because there is another team he’s getting moved to (not Utah/Washington)…doesn’t mean he’s staying in SA. That being said I probably wouldn’t waste time trying to read into Dylan’s dad’s tweets Highly doubt he’s actually going to give away real strategies/plans that are in play.

[mo7888]

Have there been any reports of Harper working out for Dallas?

[DPG21920]

[Ariel]

It’s a tweet from Ron Harper saying “Nope” in response to a fan’s theory that Dylan is going to get rerouted to Utah or Washington.

To play devil’s advocate, he could be saying that because there is another team he’s getting moved to (not Utah/Washington)…doesn’t mean he’s staying in SA. That being said I probably wouldn’t waste time trying to read into Dylan’s dad’s tweets Highly doubt he’s actually going to give away real strategies/plans that are in play.

Yeah, this. By reading his replies, I got the impression it's the Nets he's interested in, local kid, went to college in the area, now staying close to home and having his own team in a market like NY... I think that's the play, not getting him to Utah or New Orleans or somewhere like that. But hopefully I'm wrong.

[Ariel]

Have there been any reports of Harper working out for Dallas?

Ohhhh I like the way you're thinking...

[picnroll]

Harper will be half way through his rookie season with the Spurs and some Spurstalk posters will still be posting how he’s not coming here.

[scott]

Ron Harper's dad and Dejounte Murray's dad should hang out

[Ice009]

I don't know what's going on. At least his dad checked Dusty on his reporting .

It’s a tweet from Ron Harper saying “Nope” in response to a fan’s theory that Dylan is going to get rerouted to Utah or Washington.

To play devil’s advocate, he could be saying that because there is another team he’s getting moved to (not Utah/Washington)…doesn’t mean he’s staying in SA. That being said I probably wouldn’t waste time trying to read into Dylan’s dad’s tweets Highly doubt he’s actually going to give away real strategies/plans that are in play.

He might not be giving away any plans, but it looks like he's at least eliminating plans. Maybe someone who's on Twitter/X should post more scenarios and see what he says? Maybe we can get him to eliminate most of them and guess what the plans are.

[DPG21920]

I don't know what's going on. At least his dad checked Dusty on his reporting .

Funny part is it was not even Dusty’s report on this one - he aggregated it from Krysten Peek

[Leetonidas]

Ron Harper should really stfu. Especially considering his age. Old dudes tweeting all day is lame as

[The Truth #6]

Ron Harper should really stfu. Especially considering his age. Old dudes tweeting all day is lame as

Exactly. Go to Spurs Talk where it's socially acceptable to share bombastic opinions.

[Mr. Body]

Ron Harper should really stfu. Especially considering his age. Old dudes tweeting all day is lame as

I was at the dentist yesterday and some old boomer guy was just blaring out the stupid videos he was watching. They have no manners or regard for anything and just want to share how stupid as they are.