Spurs pass on Harper for Knueppel for wrong reasons in ridiculous 2025 re-draft

Bleacher Report is up to their old ways again. They love to completely miss the boat on what's going on in San Antonio, so it's no surprise to see them continue the trend. They've become the latest to push the narrative suggesting the Spurs should have drafted Kon Knueppel over Dylan Harper, and this time, they did it via a re-draft of the 2025 class.

The Spurs would and should draft Harper 10 times out of 10

In their recently published piece, they had the second overall pick heading to Charlotte at number four instead, essentially swapping places with the Hornets' rookie. But I couldn't help notice VJ Edgecombe remained in his spot at third. If this was strictly about fit and not an accusation against Harper's abilities, why wouldn't he just drop down to the next spot and go to Philly?

It's not like Edgecombe was lighting it up from a distance in college. He only shot 34%, so like Harper, he did most of his damage on the ball. However, that didn't stop the 76ers from taking him because he's that talented. That's the same thing we have at play in San Antonio, but because his production is down due to a lower usage rate, critics believe the Silver and Black made the wrong choice.

It's a very shortsighted way to look at these players and their unique situations. The difference between the ex-Rutgers star and the other top lottery picks is that Harper went to a team with a deep roster. But he's an integral part of the three-headed guard monster that's empowered this team to achieve a higher ceiling than most thought possible.

Maybe they play just as well with Kon, maybe it's better, and maybe it's worse. It's irrelevant if you believe that the sole reason the numbers favor the former Blue Devil is opportunity, and you're winning at an accelerated rate anyway. If they were 26-29, I'd understand having some concern. Since that's not the case, I don't understand why we're even having this conversation.

San Antonio is building their team in a different way

Too many are still trying to build the Spurs' rotation with traditional thinking. They believe that Mitch Johnson's squad has enough playmakers and could use a shooter instead. I say, the Spurs have the perfect number of playmakers and just need to add another shooter.

You don't have to sacrifice one to get the other, and while Kon is proving himself to be more than the average shooter, it's disingenuous to suggest Harper hasn't shown elite skill, like Bleacher Report did in their article.

"Maybe Harper has elite basketball in front of him, but Knueppel is flashing elite skills right now," Zach Buckley wrote. Maybe? Coming into this draft, Harper was looked at as the clear-cut number two choice, being Cooper Flagg.

You should be able to acknowledge that's probably still the case if you can see that Harper just doesn't have the license to do whatever he wants—something they basically acknowledged by including the number of minutes per game Dylan gets.

When he's been let off the leash, he's been sensational. His ability to get where he wants on the floor is special, and he has a natural feel for the game that you can't teach. That's only going to get better as he continues to grow with a winning organization, playing important basketball at an early stage in his career.

They act like the Spurs are suffering or something. They're the number two seed. There are no regrets, and I'm almost 100% certain they wouldn't change a thing if given the opportunity in a re-draft.