Player The restricted-age video store section of Dylan Harper

[LeBowen]

id have Harper ahead of Cade at this point, projection-wise. There’s something freaky about this guy. He sees things different and moves different. He’s probably better than castle today but I don’t mind him coming in off the bench to feast on 2nd units.

Cade just took the playmaking leap, he wasn't a natural point guard.
To me Harper already looks like a potential all-time floor general.
Has that effortless 10apg+ vibe to him.

 

[brazil]

Harper is a stud.. HOFer in the making

I'm way too hyped his grades are going to suffer... Below All Star level and I'll give him a 2

 

[Seventyniner]

Even though he's a lefty, he seems very comfortable dribbling and passing with either hand. The two kickouts to the corner in that vid were right-handed passes.

 

[spursfanfromafar]

Spurs are incredibly blessed to have Castle and Harper at this point, methinks. Gives me TP/Manu vibes if these two are a different kind of combo than Duncan's running mates.

What I like about these two are their positional strengths plus versatility. Castle is a solid wing with playmaking chops who can play as PG well enough, while improving as a shooter will make him an useful SG as well.

Harper is a stud PG in the making from whatever little I have seen of him, but he also seems to have enough size and off-ball play to coexist with other PGs like Fox / Castle.

This is very similar to what we had with Duncan, Ginobili and Parker. The three of them had enough versatility besides positional strengths to complement each other. As of now Harper can play the bench role to aplomb like Manu did, but the future could herald more promising things.

Eagerly waiting for the regular season to begin to see what is in store with these superb talents behind Wemby.

 

[Shmurs]

Harper is already better than Paul was last year, yes?

 

[Pioant]

Nothing to complain about with Harper at this point. Superb player already. He plays within the flow of the game so well. I wasn't expecting to see him navigate screens, switch and communicate on D so early. He and CB11 are great with screens. Harper is a complete luxury as a 2nd unit point guard. He and Kornet are huge upgrades over the last several seasons.

Devin is the one that annoys me with switching. I can't figure out why the rookies are better at understanding when to switch than our vets. I think years of tanking has done irreparable damage

 

[Ice009]

Harper is a stud.. HOFer in the making

I'm way too hyped his grades are going to suffer... Below All Star level and I'll give him a 2

I wanted to say something very similar, but I was trying to reserve myself. Since you said it, I may as well say it. I was going to say, I think we may just have a future HOFer coming in off the bench, and also possibly the guy that could end up being the best PG in Spurs' history. Obviously a bit early to say these things which is why I was trying to be reserved until I read your post .

In any case, I think while Dylan's coming off the bench, those guys are going to love playing with him, and I think whoever is playing with him off of the bench, their games are going to get elevated.

Harper is already better than Paul was last year, yes?

I think he could be. The only area Paul would be close/better is passing. Dylan would have him beat in most other areas IMO.

Devin is the one that annoys me with switching. I can't figure out why the rookies are better at understanding when to switch than our vets. I think years of tanking has done irreparable damage

This was brought up at ST a few times. Can't remember if it was Scott that said it, but there was a discussion there about creating a losing culture and that those guys might not be able to change/get out of it once losing games had been ingrained in them. I'm not sure if that is true that you really can't change those players, but it's a valid argument. I think Chris Paul sort of changed my mind on that as he kept talking to the players about learning good habits and learning what they need to do to win. I think if a player is good enough and has the right mentality, they can become a winning player and develop winning habits even if they've been on a bad team for years. Having said that, a couple of seasons ago, I wanted the team to try and win as many games as they could, but looking back at it, might not have been a good idea as the Spurs likely don't have the players they do now if they tried to all out win their games.

Hopefully, players like Devin with the right coaching/new coaching staff can get out of bad habits they learned when the team was losing. The other point to consider is, that some of these players might just not be good enough at these things whether they were on a winning team or not. Maybe like you said in regard to Devin and the switching, maybe he does the same things even if he were on a good team since his rookie season. It could just simply come down to processing speed and BBIQ. For now, though, while they're still on the Spurs, I'm going to give these guys the benefit of the doubt for a bit longer now that we have a better coaching staff that is going to hold players accountable for defense, I want to see if they can improve this season before getting all over specific players about it.

 

[Pioant]

The guy who changed my mind is KJ. He looks good on offense and defense this year. He has obvious defensive limitations because he has slow feet when moving laterally, but he is finally using his body. He is talking and switching.

My favorite part about Dylans defense is that there isn't some magnet that draws him to the paint, leaving a man wide open for 3. The other is that he always finds the closest body to guard. If he noticed that him or someone else messed up the switch, he notices quickly and finds a body to guard. I love that about this kid.

 

[Ice009]

I think KJ made the right choice to have the higher weight this season. I think last season he lost weight and came in lighter and it didn't help his defense at all. It was also a negative for him on offense as he could bully his way in, but so far, he looks like he could be a solid rotation player. Have to wait until the regular season, though, and see how he does in games that matter.

 

[brazil]

I wanted to say something very similar, but I was trying to reserve myself. Since you said it, I may as well say it. I was going to say, I think we may just have a future HOFer coming in off the bench, and also possibly the guy that could end up being the best PG in Spurs' history. Obviously a bit early to say these things which is why I was trying to be reserved until I read your post .

In any case, I think while Dylan's coming off the bench, those guys are going to love playing with him, and I think whoever is playing with him off of the bench, their games are going to get elevated.

Let's try to fake it a bit and be the reasonable guys... Dylan is a very young promissing PG but he has still a long way to go untill he can contribute in a winning team... nah fuck that, Dylan is the fucking truth, give him the starting position and get Fox off the bench

 

[spurraider21]

id have Harper ahead of Cade at this point, projection-wise. There’s something freaky about this guy. He sees things different and moves different. He’s probably better than castle today but I don’t mind him coming in off the bench to feast on 2nd units.

theyre a bit different. i think harper is smoother with the ball in his hands, but Cade is probably about 2 inches taller with a 7+ wingspan. cade was also a better shooter in college, both from 3 and from the FT line, though Harper was much more efficient on his 2pt attempts

but watching him play in the league, cade really bullies with his size and physicality. like his style of play is something in between harper and castle, but he's taller and longer than either, while becoming a solid shooter

 

[spurraider21]

Harper is already better than Paul was last year, yes?

will wait to see him in regular season action before making that call

Paul wasn't really attacking defenses and penetrating for us. he was a safe ball handler who was still whipping some great passes around the court, finding passing angles/lanes that most woudlnt. as far as scoring, he was mostly a spot up shooter for us. nearly 2/3 of his FGA were 3 pointers, and he made about 38% of them which is quite good.

ultimatley they look to play very different roles so its hard to directly compare. harper certainly has more upside as an offensive creator than last year's version of CP3, but if he starts making rookie mistakes, turns the ball over, takes bad shots, isnt consistent from 3, etc, the net effect as a rookie may end up worse than Paul last year.

but his size defensively will be a big help. last year Paul was sometimes just helpless on defense despite his effort and smarts there. and things looked pretty awkward when he and Fox shared the court, on both ends.

 

[LeBowen]

will wait to see him in regular season action before making that call

Paul wasn't really attacking defenses and penetrating for us. he was a safe ball handler who was still whipping some great passes around the court, finding passing angles/lanes that most woudlnt. as far as scoring, he was mostly a spot up shooter for us. nearly 2/3 of his FGA were 3 pointers, and he made about 38% of them which is quite good.

ultimatley they look to play very different roles so its hard to directly compare. harper certainly has more upside as an offensive creator than last year's version of CP3, but if he starts making rookie mistakes, turns the ball over, takes bad shots, isnt consistent from 3, etc, the net effect as a rookie may end up worse than Paul last year.

but his size defensively will be a big help. last year Paul was sometimes just helpless on defense despite his effort and smarts there. and things looked pretty awkward when he and Fox shared the court, on both ends.

CP3 was pretty much an assistant coach.
Still an elite passer, but his legs were gone, averaged less than 1 layup attempt per game.
He was obviously a positive contributor before we got Fox, but after that it was really difficult because CP3/Fox backcourt just couldn't work.

We were so desperate for paint penetration last season that I think Harper would've contributed more. Yeah, there would be more turnovers and erratic plays, but defending CP3 was fairly easy knowing he wont attack the rim.

 

[sKiN20]

Devin is the one that annoys me with switching. I can't figure out why the rookies are better at understanding when to switch than our vets. I think years of tanking has done irreparable damage

Harper is a better player and has higher BBIQ than vassell. Its just that simple.

 

[sKiN20]

Let's try to fake it a bit and be the reasonable guys... Dylan is a very young promissing PG but he has still a long way to go untill he can contribute in a winning team... nah fuck that, Dylan is the fucking truth, give him the starting position and get Fox off the bench

you cant bench a 230 million guy. If there is a player needs to benched if dylan were to start its castle or vassell.

 

[brazil]

you cant bench a 230 million guy. If there is a player needs to benched if dylan were to start its castle or vassell.

I should have used the blue font

 

[DTW]

Said it before the draft so this isn't just an overreaction to 2 preseason games...but there's a legitimate chance that rookie Harper > sophomore Castle. Not trying to start a player war and I'm thrilled to have both them but just think it's funny that people were ready to trade the #2 pick because we already have Castle.

Wouldn't surprise me if he forces his way into the starting lineup with his play before long, but either way he has the potential to make a huge impact this year. Harper/Kornet PnRs vs. opposing 2nd units could feed families.

I'd say a good chance Harper is better than Castle was as a rookie.

I could be wrong obviously, but I don't think Castle is part of the calculus on the decision to start Harper or who among them and Fox is the odd man out eventually.

If Harper is as good as he's looked so far though, even the two scenarios where I could have seen it being him, which is as part of an Antetokounmpo package or for one of the top prospects in the '26 draft, are probably going to be off the table and he's going to expedite Fox being traded.

 

[Exstatic]

Said it before the draft so this isn't just an overreaction to 2 preseason games...but there's a legitimate chance that rookie Harper > sophomore Castle. Not trying to start a player war and I'm thrilled to have both them but just think it's funny that people were ready to trade the #2 pick because we already have Castle.

Wouldn't surprise me if he forces his way into the starting lineup with his play before long, but either way he has the potential to make a huge impact this year. Harper/Kornet PnRs vs. opposing 2nd units could feed families.

What Castle did last year was nothing short of amazing, shouldering the primary scoring and secondary distributor duties as a rookie the second half of the season. I can’t wait to see him as a 3rd option for the defense to pay attention to.

 

[bozhemoi]

Spurs fans celebrate a player without ripping down other Spurs players challenge: impossible

 

[Paramore]

The Maestro.......is cooking!
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[Paramore]

Guys, how would you compare Harper versus Parker at this juncture, during Parker early years?

 

[spurraider21]

Guys, how would you compare Harper versus Parker at this juncture, during Parker early years?

ill wait until the regular season to make any judgments

 

[KobesAchilles]

Can we just pull a 1997 Phoenix Suns and start Harper alongside Fox and Castle? Just run the fuck out the ball and have Wemby swat stuff on the inside. I’d take my chances with that line up

 

[KobesAchilles]

Guys, how would you compare Harper versus Parker at this juncture, during Parker early years?

TP was the fastest player I’ve ever seen dribble a basketball ever. There are faster players than TP but I’ve never seen someone be able to dribble the ball at full speed like Tony did. He was a one man fast break who cooked GP as a rookie.

Harper is more crafty and shifty with the basketball. He just doesn’t have that TP speed and tbh he is slower than Fox too. But that’s ok bc I see Harper’s style more along the lines of Gino than TP

 

[spurraider21]

At some point we are going to need “Church of Harper” and “Church of Castle” threads tbh