It feels like a lifetime ago, but it’s actually only been three weeks since San Antonio Spurs rookie Dylan Harper became the youngest player in history to score 25 points off the bench in a playoff game. He did it in Game 3 against the Portland Trail Blazers in what was a monumental moment for these Spurs, who were tied 1-1 against the No. 7 seed and down 15 points in the third quarter.
You probably remember the game, or at least the baseline dunk Harper threw down over Robert Williams — Harper’s first of what is sure to be a long list of signature postseason moments. Portland’s Scoot Henderson, having a signature game himself, got caught up in the duel and decided it was a good idea to talk trash to Harper. It wasn’t.
Harper proceeded to score 22 of his 25 points in the second half. He hit four of five 3s and five of his seven shots as the Spurs rallied for the victory.
“I got to shout out Dylan [Harper] though,” Spurs guard Devin Vassell said after that win. “… To come in with that type of confidence, he doesn’t start. He never complains. Scoot Henderson starts talking to him and the next thing you know, it’s like he woke up a monster.”
Those who have watched Harper all season have known that monster was bound to come out. You saw it all year. The poise. The physicality. The elite creation and transition force. The shooting coming around rapidly. Only on a team as stacked as the Spurs would he not be the starting point guard right now.
That this guy is coming off the bench for San Antonio speaks to the talent of a team that, after defeating the Timberwolves 126-97 to take a 3-2 series lead on Tuesday night, is now one win away from the conference finals showdown with the Oklahoma City Thunder that just about everyone projected coming into these playoffs.
Harper only had 12 points on Tuesday, but man, was he impressive in his 25 minutes as a plus-13. The skills are one thing, but it’s Harper’s solidness, for lack of a better word, that makes it almost impossible to believe he’s a rookie. He’s poised. He’s physical. He meets you in the air as a finisher, and it’s not him who ends up going backward. If you woke up from a coma and someone told you this dude wearing No. 2 for the Spurs was a 10-year vet, you’d believe it.
Again, the bag is one thing. But this here is a man’s work.
That is Julius Randle, a tank of a 31-year-old man, that 20-year-old Harper went right through for that put-back. Harper’s size is a big reason why he’s destined for superstardom. Think Jalen Brunson’s craft but 6-foot-6 and a give-a-damn defender.
But right now, Harper isn’t afforded the usage rate of a Brunson. Right now, he has to be a jack of all trades, and it’s his ability to contribute all over the box score and thrive off the ball that is making him such an asset in these playoffs.
Yes, Harper is going to be San Antonio’s starting point guard very soon and for a very long time, but right now he needs to coexist with De’Aaron Fox and Stephon Castle, both of whom require the ball more to make their maximum impact, in a more secondary, albeit rapidly growing role.
These three-guard lineups only work if one of them can do a bunch of ancillary stuff, and Harper is suited for the job with his ability to offensive rebound, push and finish in transition (where he’s already operating like an All-Star) and attack the paint against scattered defenses consumed by Victor Wembanyama’s multi-layered gravity and all the other threats the Spurs have on the floor.
You need him to score? Cool. He has the most points of any bench player in these playoffs (136). You need him to rebound? No problem. He had five offensive boards on Tuesday and is the first rookie guard in history to record multiple 10-point, 10-rebound playoff games. You need him to defend? Check him out as he fights over this screen and still gets back in front of Anthony Edwards to choke off the possession.
We’re going to look back on this time in Harper’s career and compare it to James Harden on the Thunder — a no-doubt future superstar cutting his baby teeth on a contender not yet in need of his full services. That said, it is clear that Harper is already a main guy, even as a fraction of what he is going to become.
He’s probably already better than Fox, all things considered, but it still makes sense for Fox to start. Let Harper be the Spurs’ new Manu Ginobili for the time being, the laughably overqualified bench player who is fine with his role because he’s on a championship-level team and is going to play all the important minutes. What a luxury to have this kind of player, at this stage of his career, on this kind of contract, as you stare down this heavyweight bout against the Thunder.
Yeah, yeah, I realize I’m looking past the Timberwolves, and let’s be clear: This series isn’t over yet. Edwards is going to have a lot to say in Game 6 back in Minnesota, and I would not be surprised if it comes back to San Antonio for Game 7.
But assuming this ends up with the Spurs playing the Thunder in what many would call a de facto Finals, the one team that can come close to matching Oklahoma City’s depth is San Antonio, in large part because of Harper. He’s the Spurs’ version of Ajay Mitchell, OKC’s budding star who is temporarily, and circumstantially, assigned to the support staff. With Jalen Williams out over OKC’s last six games, Mitchell has been starting and starring. Harper would do the same if a Spurs starting guard went down.
But until then, he’s playing 25 minutes a game in these playoffs and the Spurs have won those minutes by 73 points. That is not an accident. Dylan Harper has turned into a monster, and he and the Spurs are only getting scarier as this postseason rolls on.
