Last Friday, the Spurs announced that their number two overall pick underwent surgery to repair a thumb he injured in a workout two days prior. While the recovery shouldn't be painstakingly long, there is still a chance that Dylan Harper won't be ready to start the season. That means missing his first chance to make a monstrous statement in the Rookie of the Year race against Cooper Flagg.
San Antonio kicks the season off with a duel versus their North Texas rivals, the Dallas Mavericks. Harper isn't expected in the starting lineup, though, so that will be an uphill battle for him all year long. It would help his chances if he were able to help the Spurs win that game and ruin Flagg's opening home game. Now, he'll have to just get it out of the mud the old-fashioned way.
Harper's chances for ROY hinge on consistency and big moments
The Silver and Black are looking to do something that's never been done in the history of the sport: having three players win ROY in consecutive years. It's unheard of, but it's a real possibility. Stephon Castle was the fourth overall pick last season, and when the season started, he had the fifth-best odds to win the award. That was too low, and we saw why when the season began.
Harper has the second-best odds behind the Mavs' rookie. That's fine. Flagg is the golden boy of this draft. But I'll remind you that Coop reclassified in high school and originally would have been in next year's class. D. Harp, originally, was meant to be the undisputed number one draft pick in 2025.
We know what he brought to the court on a collegiate level. If he can bring the same poise, leadership, and playmaking in the league, it'll go a long way. This is going to be tough for him to win. Flagg is a strong prospect, and he's going to have the ball in his hands quite a bit with Kyrie Irving out for the first couple of months of the season.
He'll run with the opening unit the entire year, and his usage rate will likely be pretty high. Those things aren't guaranteed for Harper. Quite the opposite, actually. I expect Harper to play an important role off the bench, but he'll have to earn the right to heavy minutes, and San Antonio's culture demands sharing the basketball.
But if he can string together great performances throughout the year and provide viewers with enough WOW moments, he stands a real chance to make history in a silver and black uniform.