Dylan Harper expected to shine for promising Spurs

NEW JERSEY — Filipino-American guard Dylan Harper remains a top-2 candidate to win next season’s NBA Rookie of the Year award despite the San Antonio Spurs locking De’Aaron Fox to a multi-year extension. 

The No. 2 overall pick Harper has the second-best odds at Wildz Casino with a $10 bet winning $100, while No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg is the odds-on favorite to win the award for the best freshman. 

A $10 bet on Flagg only wins $15.40. 

Harper’s Rutgers teammate Ace Bailey, Utah’s No. 5 pick and VJ Edgecombe, Philadelphia’s No. 3 pick, are tied with the third-best odds. 

A $10 bet on Bailey and Edgecombe wins $110. 

On Aug. 4, the Spurs gave Fox a four-year, $229 million extension with no player option that will tie him up to the team until the 2029-30 season.

Fox’s contract will end just as Harper’s second deal will kick in. 

Now, the Spurs have all locked up three talented guards in their backcourt with Fox, Harper and last season’s Rookie of the Year Stephon Castle. 

According to NBC Sports’ Kurt Helin, the expectation around the league has been that the Spurs will eventually have to move on from at least one of their guard trio. 

For all of Harper’s talents, the rookie could find himself in a Sixth Man role, backing up Fox in his first year. 

The Spurs landed Fox at the trade deadline last season in a three-team trade with the Chicago Bulls and the Sacramento Kings. They gave up three first-round picks in the deal without knowing that Harper, the most talented point guard in the draft, would land on their lap. 

Fox averaged 19.7 points and 6.8 assists in 17 games with the Spurs last season. But the one-time All-Star's initial tenure in San Antonio was cut short by a season-ending surgery on March 18 to repair tendon damage in his left pinkie. 

Before Fox got his bag, Harper signed his rookie deal worth $56 million over four years. 

Harper averaged 16.0 points, 4.0 rebounds,2.0 assists, and 1.0 steals in just 22.1 minutes across two games during the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas. The Spurs shut him down after they had seen enough of his talent to avoid injuries. 

Dylan is Ron Harper’s second son with Maria Pizarro, who migrated to the United States from Bataan, Philippines, when she was seven years old.

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Alder Almo is a former senior sportswriter for Philstar.com and NBA.com Philippines. He is now based in Jersey City, New Jersey, and writes for US-based publication Heavy.com