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As the second overall selection of the NBA Draft, Dylan Harper joins a San Antonio Spurs team that boasts the last two Rookie of the Year winners.
The pressure is on, yes, it is, but not in the way you might think.
For several reasons, the odds are against Harper netting the Spurs another ROY winner. What would determine whether Harper meets high expectations is what the Silver and Black do in his first year.
It'll be tough for Dylan Harper to win Rookie of the Year
No NBA team has ever featured three consecutive ROY winners. Last season, the Spurs became the third team in league history to draft and keep back-to-back Rookies of the Year when Stephon Castle captured the trophy off the heels of Victor Wembanyama's historic campaign. They matched Minnesota Timberwolves rookies Andrew Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns in 2014-2015 and Buffalo Braves teammates Bob McAdoo and Ernie DiGregorio in 1972-73. A Harper Rookie of the Year win would prove unprecedented.
Regarding the ROY race, though, more important is the presence of Cooper Flagg. If Harper was the second-best prospect in this draft – and he was – then Flagg was the top prospect in the field. He's the odds-on favorite to win the award. Specifically, Flagg will be aided by the reality that he'll have a chance to put up big numbers. Dallas Mavericks star guard Kyrie Irving will miss much, if not most, of next season, and Anthony Davis is injury-prone, so the former Duke Blue Devil is going to have the ball in his hands plenty.
Conversely, Harper joins a team that features veteran ball-handler De'Aaron Fox, a generational superstar in Wembanyama, and the reigning Rookie of the Year in Castle.
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Dylan Harper's true measure of meeting Spurs expectations
Because Harper joins two players who've made All-Star games – Wemanayama this past season, Fox in 2023 – and the most recent ROY, the Spurs fully expect to contend for a postseason spot. They were in contention last year until Wemby went out with an injury. After winning 22 games the season before, San Antonio improved by 12 wins, despite missing not only Wemabanyana since February, but Fox as well for the final month.
The Spurs spent the weeks prior to the draft somewhat engaged in talks to acquire future Hall-of-Famer Kevin Durant. Reports indicate the Phoenix Suns wanted either the second overall pick or Castle in a trade for KD. From the start of any negotiations, the Spurs made both off-limits. Stands to reason for Castle because of what he just did in his first taste of the NBA. That Harper was untouchable tells you what GM Brian Wright and company think of the former Rutgers Scarlett Knight.
If Harper plays a big role in helping the Spurs improve by another 12 wins or so and into the playoffs, he'd put the franchise ahead of schedule. If Durant was supposed to mean “win now,” the 19-year-old from Franklin Lakes, New Jersey, was supposed to represent the future. If Harper checks both boxes, he would've accomplished far more than any personal hardware.
