Cooper Flagg came into the NBA as a hugely promising prospect, and his first season did not disappoint.
The No.1 overall pick edged out his old Duke teammate, Kon Knueppel, to pick up a well-deserved Rookie of the Year award.
But once the regular season concluded and the Mavericks went into the summer break, another rookie emerged into the spotlight.
Dylan Harper played a key role in the San Antonio Spurs making it all the way to the NBA Finals and showed everyone why it’s him, not Flagg, who we should be most hyped about next season.
Move over Cooper Flagg, it’s Dylan Harper’s turn
Harper went just behind Flagg in the draft at No.2, but he was a non-factor in the ROTY race. He received just five third-place votes, not touching the production of the two ahead of him.
But when those two rookies went on holidays, Harper took his game to another level. The 20-year-old was arguably the second-best player on the Spurs from April onwards, showing a composure and mentality beyond his years.
He averaged about 14 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists throughout the postseason, and 18 PPG in the Finals.
Harper’s offensive bag just seemed to keep growing with every game, and watching him compete like that at the highest level was evidence enough that he’s the one to watch this upcoming season.
Nobody is saying Flagg wasn’t amazing as a rookie — he certainly was — but Harper looks poised to take a huge leap and put himself alongside the only man taken ahead of him.
His three-point shot is coming together, he’s figuring out how to make fast offensive reads, and he has that dog in him on the defensive side of the ball.
The Spurs look set to contend for the title again next year, while the Mavericks’ ceiling is a hell of a lot lower. Flagg will no doubt continue to stuff the box score, but Harper can become a legitimate second option on a championship team if his summer trajectory carries on in October.
How Dylan Harper becomes an NBA superstar
Harper averaged under 23 a game in the regular season, so a full starter’s workload on its own should push his numbers into a different bracket.
But the shot is the real swing factor. He hit 45.2% from three after the All-Star break, playoffs included, and if anything close to that holds across 82 games, defenses can no longer back off him at the arc.
That is the version of Harper who breaks games open — a guard who gets downhill whenever he wants and makes teams pay for giving him space.
San Antonio’s setup helps too. Sharing a floor with Victor Wembanyama means fewer bodies in the paint, and with De’Aaron Fox and Stephon Castle alongside him, Harper never has to drag an offense along by himself.
The core is locked in on rookie money for the next few years, so there is no pressure to rush any of it.
Harper does not need a jump in talent. He needs the ball in his hands more often, and the Spurs would be silly not to hand it over.
READ MORE:
Four quadruple-doubles in NBA history — and one that got taken away
How Cooper Flagg rubbed shoulders with Michael Jordan and LeBron James in his rookie season
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