The 2025-26 season is less than two weeks old. And yet, the San Antonio Spurs are slowly coming to a realization concerning Dylan Harper: that he is still going to need additional time if he is to become the type of superstar they believe he can eventually be.
That's not to say that he hasn't already [been playing very well](https://airalamo.com/dylan-harper-painfully-obvious-blueprint-reaching-stardom-with-spurs) when he's been on the court. But when the Spurs opted to take him with the second overall pick in the draft, they did so while still employing De'Aaron Fox. So of course, they knew patience was going to be essential throughout this process.
With Fox still a major part of San Antonio's equation and other guards in the mix as well, the Spurs were drafting Harper for two purposes essentially: to have a very talented youngster who could contribute right away, while also knowing that he would inevitably become something much greater in due time. This is the reality that we've seen play out so far on the hardwood this season.
Harper needs time to become the star the Spurs think he can be
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Harper is of course a rookie on a deep team with talented players ahead of him. The Spurs are clearly attempting to balance giving him a real opportunity to begin his professional career while also protecting his development and not rushing him into a heavy minutes role or overdoing his usage. Of course, they're running into a good problem due to him already being such a productive player this early on in his career.
What we've seen from Dylan in these early stages of his rookie season have proven his potential as a high-level scorer in this league. But despite the promise he has shown, San Antonio clearly wants to exercise some level of caution, and what we've seen so far has reinforced the narrative that they knew exactly what they were getting when they drafted him: a guy [with a lot of potential](https://airalamo.com/only-one-nba-rookie-ever-matched-dylan-harper-insane-start-he-spur-now) to raise this team's ceiling in the long term, but also one who will still benefit from using patience.
It's pretty obvious that the Spurs know their window for winning is relatively large. They're building around an anomaly in Victor Wembanyama, who is only going to get better himself, and will theoretically make San Antonio a winner for a long time. Utilizing Harper's talents properly in the here and now while also retaining something of a long-term mindset could lead to an even bigger payoff later when Dylan truly hits his stride.