The results of the 2025 NBA Draft lottery were so jarring that it was initially difficult to grasp all the ways it could come to change the future of the league. The Dallas Mavericks cashing in on a 1.8 percent chance to move up from the No. 11 slot in the drawing to the No. 1 overall pick felt too disorienting to be true: just months after trading Luka Doncic in one of the most widely-panned NBA deals ever, the Mavs landed an even better long-term piece with the rights to Cooper Flagg. Just as everyone was reckoning with Dallas’ incredible stroke of luck, something nearly as monumental happened with the next pick.
The San Antonio Spurs entered the lottery 8th in the odds, but somehow moved up to No. 2 overall in the draft order. It was the third straight year San Antonio had moved up in the lottery, and this time it gave them the opportunity to draft an ideal long-term co-star next to Victor Wembanyama.
Rutgers guard Dylan Harper flew under the radar a bit amid the Flagg hype and a forgettable season for his Scarlett Knights, but NBA evaluators always knew he was a blue chip prospect in his own right. Harper was the type of big lead guard the NBA covets, and he possessed a special gift for getting downhill as a driver. Add in his flashes of playmaking, spot-up shooting, and defensive switchability, and Harper was another stud prospect for the team that had just landed one of the greatest basketball prospects ever in the lottery two years earlier.
Harper’s place in the Spurs’ rotation was somewhat murky after De’Aaron Fox signed a max contract extension. Fox and Wembanyama had only played five games together before the latter suffered a season-ending blood clot in his shoulder, and the Spurs were now fully committing to him with an enormous salary. At the same time, Harper felt like an even better long-term bet next to Wembanyama while also being on his same timeline, age-wise. With Fox missing the start of the season with a hamstring injury, there’s minutes open for Harper, and he’s already showing what he can do.
In his third NBA game on Sunday, Harper put together a fantastic night that showed the full scope of his talents. He dropped 20 points, eight assists, six rebounds, and two steals on 8-of-11 shooting from the floor to a win over the Brooklyn Nets. Watch the highlights here:
At Rutgers, Harper was an absolute demon at splitting ball screens, getting a deep paint touch, and finishing at the basket below the rim. He shot 70 percent at the rim at Rutgers with only 17.6 percent of those makes coming off an assist, showing that he could create his own offense off the bounce. It was worth wondering if Harper would still be so good at finishing in close against NBA rim protectors, especially when he’s not really an explosive above-the-rim athlete. That certainly didn’t look like a concern watching him torch the Nets. While he still needs to prove he can be a viable shooter at the NBA level (he didn’t attempt a three vs. the Nets), he does have a lot of traits that star guards possess. The idea of putting a star guard next to Wembanyama for the next decade is a terrifying thought for the rest of the NBA.
Harper would be the most promising young player on most NBA teams. In San Antonio, he’s just another piece in Wembanyama’s supporting cast. The 7’5 French alien is the biggest story in the NBA to start the 2025-26 season as he plays with more power around the basket and looks more comfortable as a ball handler, shooter, and interior finisher. There has never been a player like Wemby before, and he’s been so dominant in his first three games that it feels totally possible he could be league MVP this year. It’s hard to believe he’s only 21 years old. It’s even harder to believe that San Antonio somehow lucked into an elite 19-year-old guard prospect in Harper with more lottery lucky.
The Spurs moved up from No. 3 in the lottery to No. 1 in the draft to land Wembanyama in 2023. The next year, San Antonio jumped to No. 4 in the draft from the No. 5 slot, allowing them to take reigning Rookie of the Year Stephon Castle. Harper required the biggest jump up the lottery drawing, and it’s another reason why the Spurs are set up absurdly well for the future.
The Spurs likely never would have had a chance to get Harper if Wembanyama didn’t suffer the blood clot in his shoulder that ended his season after the All-Star Game last year. It might have been the best thing that could have happened to his future championship hopes in San Antonio.
Ping pong balls can determine the course of history in the NBA draft lottery, and the tanker’s pain was the Spurs’ gain. Very early in the new season, San Antonio already seems to be making a leap around the unstoppable Wemby. That fact that he now has Harper next to him should be deeply concerning for any franchise trying to win championships over the next decade.
