Dylan Harper's late award push may steal major honor from teammate

After successfully completing his first regular season, San Antonio Spurs rookie Dylan Harper is ready for the playoffs. Harper has been crucial to the Spurs' success.

Especially during the second half of the season, with his elite ability to attack the basket and newfound ability to drill threes, all while coming off the bench. His strong play hasn't gone unnoticed.

On the Ringers' Zack Lowe's podcast, former NBA coach turned analyst Stan Van Gundy ranked Harper third in his Sixth Man of the Year voting. Not to be outdone, Game Theory podcast host Sam Vecenie stated that he will vote for Harper to win the award.

While Spurs forward Keldon Johnson has been seen as a strong favorite for the award, Harper's late-season push has apparently changed some minds.

Dylan Harper's greatness is shining off the bench

Harper is definitely a strong contender for the award. Nevertheless, he may still face an uphill battle for the Sixth Man of the Year. Johnson is seemingly a more popular choice, as is Miami Heat forward Jaime Jaquez Jr.

Be that as it may, despite him coming off the bench as a rookie, he has managed to turn heads with his strong play. Just the fact that San Antonio may have two players finish in the top three in that category is impressive, to say the least.

After all, most teams don't have the depth that the Spurs do. Harper getting Sixth Man of the Year consideration in addition to Johnson only proves that. As long as one of the two players brings the award home to San Antonio, Spurs fans will no doubt be happy.

Spur should have Sixth Man of the Year winner no matter what

The most likely scenario is that Harper will fall short and that Johnson will ultimately win the award. However, that's not to say that Harper couldn't win next year.

Remember, he will likely still come off the bench, barring injuries to De'Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle, or Devin Vassell.

In that case, with a full season under his belt, as well as the playoffs, Harper could be ready to make a big leap next season. Ironically, assuming Johnson wins the award this season, he could actually be San Antonio seventh man next year.

That's also assuming Harper gets an increased role next season, which he likely will. Coming off the bench won't be Harper's long-term role, but he could thrive as a super sub. The fact that he is already getting Sixth Man consideration as a rookie suggests that he could be a potential frontrunner next season.

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