The Spurs stand a chance at pulling off something incredible that no other franchise has done in the history of the game: house three consecutive Rookie of the Year winners. Some will bristle at the notion because "yeah, right," right? But those same people probably thought San Antonio had no chance at landing top-five draft picks three years in a row, either. So, take that.
Stephon Castle (last year's ROY winner, for those of you who forgot) agrees.
Stephon Castle on Dylan Harper's chances to win Rookie of the Year. pic.twitter.com/BbqaxTEe60
— AirAlamo (@AirAlamo) October 16, 2025
"He definitely has the potential to do it. I'm super confident in his game. I know he's super confident in his own game. He's gonna have to figure it out during the season, but he'll definitely have a great chance of doing it. For sure." - Castle
My favorite part of the quote is the (likely) unintentional harsh truth that came with the vote of confidence there. Dylan Harper is uber-talented, but he's certainly going to have a lot to figure out if he wants to win this award. Things are going to be different for him than they were for Steph and Victor Wembanyama, and it'll make his path more difficult, but not impossible.
Dylan Harper will have to get in where he fits in
When the Spurs signed Chris Paul last season, it wasn't just so he could teach the team how to win, and it wasn't just to get Wemby a veteran point guard. CP3 was meant to be a mentor for Castle. Obviously, at the time, they didn't know that they would end up with De'Aaron Fox or Dylan Harper, for that matter, so Steph was looked at as the lone guard of the future. They treated him like it.
While they 100% made an attempt to make the playoffs, they were also intentional in their quest to help the UConn alumni get acclimated to the NBA. He was given consistent opportunities to try and fail, if he needed, in an effort to jumpstart his growth.
As the clear-cut best player on the team and immediate face of the franchise as a rookie, Wembanyama was also given the green light to do whatever he wanted out there. Both players won Rookie of the Year, not just as a result of their obvious talent, but because of the Spurs' insistence on making them high usage players very early.
Harper isn't going to have that benefit. This is a deep roster with higher aspirations than squeaking into the playoffs by way of the play-in tournament. Grabbing De'Aaron Fox at last year's deadline, signing Luke Kornet, adding Kelly Olynyk, and their decision to shelve any player who was lightly banged up during the summer tell us that they're pouring everything into this season.
They want to win. I don't believe they think that they'll win a championship this year. But I also don't think they'd be surprised to find themselves in the second round or even the Western Conference Finals. So, if D. Harp wants to win ROY, he'll have to thrive within a system conducive to the ultimate team goal. It'll be tough. But not impossible.