Dylan Harper scored a game-high 16 points and dished out four assists as the Spurs’ starting point guard against the Hawks.
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SAN ANTONIO — It looks as if Dylan Harper’s big moment is here.
The biggest story of the San Antonio Spurs’ preseason got its answer right off the bat, as coach Mitch Johnson announced before the game that Harper would join De’Aaron Fox and Stephon Castle in the starting lineup, replacing Julian Champagnie. It was the first time the Spurs’ point guard trio would start together in one of the most anticipated lineups in the NBA.
But within an hour, Fox was ruled out for load management, arriving at the arena too sore from Thursday morning’s practice to be cleared by the training staff. It’s common practice for veteran players to sit out preseason games for even mild load management, as Atlanta star Jalen Johnson Jr. was also out for rest.
Johnson wouldn’t claim this as the official new starting lineup, knowing he has to see it to believe in it. Harper might make this decision fairly easy. He looked like the next evolution of someone poised to become one of the most complete guards in the NBA.
Harper came out and put on a show as the starting point guard, scoring a game-high 16 points and dishing four assists in the first half. What was shocking wasn’t just that he shot 3 of 5 from deep, but also that he took more than twice as many 3s as 2s. Though he still showed the stampeding downhill drive game that opened eyes across the league in the playoffs, he also looked comfortable sitting back in his pull-up game. That is a significant development compared with last season, where he was a good spot-up shooter from the corners but mostly avoided taking rhythm 3s above the break.
That last bit is the determining factor on whether this lineup can work. Can one of these guards shoot well enough for the Spurs to have the spacing they need to unleash Victor Wembanyama?
“I think shooting from the perimeter was a big thing for me,” Harper said of his summer training. “And I think just getting more comfortable with my shot, get more comfortable shooting off the dribble and just try to be as efficient as I can. And I feel like tonight, the ball just went in.”
The Spurs already had something great with two guards, two shooters and Wembanyama. But their half-court offense went stale down the stretch in the postseason, especially in the NBA Finals, when New York mounted a comeback in every game to win the series in five. If the Spurs can make Harper starting and closing work from a spacing perspective, they may have something no defense can shut down.
“We’re going to be really hard to guard. When me and Steph get downhill, Fox has the same ability,” Harper said. “So, I mean, I think all three of us can be hard to guard, and there’s going to be a whole lot of mismatches on the floor and just playing with each other. And we’re all selfish, and we all understand where we’re going to get our shots from.”
Harper has been at the center of the debate over the Spurs’ lineup because his high-level play made limiting him as a reserve detrimental to the team. The 20-year-old already looks good enough to command starter minutes and to close games. He has been saying throughout training camp he is willing to take whatever role he’s given, but this is the role he wants and has the talent to fulfill.
It’s likely Johnson will experiment with more combinations as the preseason drags on. But the early returns on Harper’s fit in the starting lineup look as good as the team could hope for.
“We understand what we all have to do to win,” Harper said. “So I mean, it’s going to be great.”
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Jared Weiss is a staff writer covering the San Antonio Spurs and Victor Wembanyama for The Athletic. He has covered the Celtics since 2011, co-founding CLNS Media Network while in college before covering the team for SB Nation’s CelticsBlog and USA Today. Before coming to The Athletic, Weiss spent a decade working for the government, primarily as a compliance bank regulator. You can follow Jared on X @JaredWeissNBA.
