Dylan Harper has a unique skill the Spurs will thrive with if used properly

The Spurs are beneficiaries of an ungodly amount of favor from the basketball gods. They beat the odds to move up in the draft in three straight seasons, and the last instance landed them Dylan Harper, who's about to bring something that San Antonio needs severely: pace and game manipulation.

Harper has a special knack for not allowing himself to be sped up, but he'll turn the jets on, pull back, pivot, and side-step his way into whatever spot on the floor he wants. Sound familiar? Manu Ginobili has a similar ability, and though he didn't use his start/stop skill as much as Harper does, being able to do so at such a high level was another reason why the San Antonio legend was such a problem.

Harper will do wonders for the Spurs' bench unit

Bryce Simon nailed it on the Game Theory podcast with Sam Vecenie when lauding Harper's ability to navigate defenses at his discretion.

"I love the nuance that he plays with... the handle he has to navigate defenders, he uses eye manipulation on his passes, he changes direction... he's ready for the counter move when the defense throws something at him." - Bryce Simon

Everything Simon noted about Harper here is strikingly similar to the skills Ginobili used to control the game when he was on the floor. That's why it's a great idea to bring him off the bench to start the season. If he finds his way into the starting lineup, that's fine. The Spurs have plenty of playmakers now.

They can even start with a three-guard lineup and, with the proper rotations, still keep at least one to two of them on the floor at any given time. But I'm a fan of leaving Harper to run the bench unit. Stephon Castle seems to be the forgotten man lately, but he's still the reigning Rookie of the Year.

He's already shown how hard he's working this summer because he's hungry for more. It won't be easy to supplant him as the starter, and there's no way De'Aaron Fox is coming off the bench.

There is plenty of time in a 48-minute ball game for the kid to get on the court, play heavy minutes, and effectively put his stamp on the game. Selflessness was the key to San Antonio's dynasty during the Big 3 era. Building a new dynasty will require the same kind of selflessness. If the new core players all reach their potential, there wouldn't be a lineup where the Spurs couldn't find an advantage.