Latest wild Dylan Harper take exposes how badly he’s being underrated

Dylan Harper couldn’t have had a better rookie year for the Spurs. He had plenty of moments of individual brilliance, but he also sacrificed to help San Antonio win and win and win some more. The kid’s proven he’s as enticing of a prospect as anyone, or at least, you’d think he has. Somehow, though, he’s not being put in conversations he deserves to be in.

In March, Kevin O’Connor said he’d take Kon Knueppel over Harper in a redraft, which aged horribly after the playoffs. Another questionable Harper take dropped yesterday, this time from The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie.

On his podcast, Vecenie said if Harper were in the 2026 draft class, he’d rank him fourth behind AJ Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson, and Cameron Boozer. But if Cooper Flagg were in the class, he’d have him first.

Folks aren’t high enough on Dylan Harper. It’s as simple as that. He’s done nothing but show he’s in extremely rare air as a youngster.

Dylan Harper deserves all the hype and more

People don’t seem to understand how special Harper’s 2025-26 season was. As a 20-year-old, he competed for Sixth Man of the Year for the two seed in the Western Conference, and in the playoffs, he was arguably San Antonio’s second-best player during important stretches.

Yes, Cooper Flagg and Kon Knueppel had historic campaigns in their own right. Yes, AJ Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson, and Cam Boozer are phenomenal talents with high ceilings. It’s not that Harper has to be ranked above all of those guys; it’s just that he needs to be placed in that same tier.

Vecenie preferring Flagg to Harper isn’t crazy. But the disparity between the two in his rankings is tough to understand. Had Harper been drafted to a team like Dallas that doesn’t have much structure, he probably would’ve matched, or maybe even exceeded, Flagg’s impressive statistical output and accomplishments.

Harper wasn’t handed the keys by the Spurs, but that doesn’t mean he’s not more than capable of being behind the wheel. This is a legitimate franchise cornerstone in the making we’re talking about here.

Harper will keep waking up those who sleep on him

It’s safe to assume people want to see more individual stardom from Harper in order for him to be on the same plane as Flagg, Dybantsa, and the others (somehow, 18.0 PPG in the NBA Finals wasn’t enough). Truthfully, he likely won’t be able to put that on display on a full-time basis for another year or two, at least, not in a way that will show up in the box score.

But all it takes is tuning into one Spurs game to see Harper’s immense potential. He’s a blue-chipper, stamped and certified. If that’s not obvious to you on tape, you’re not watching basketball the right way.

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