The Spurs trusted Dylan Harper but another rookie is quickly making them regret it

The San Antonio Spurs drafted Dylan Harper with the No. 2 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft. While Harper looks like a future starting point guard, the Spurs passed on Kon Knueppel -- and he looks like a bona fide star right now who could be helping the Spurs compete for a championship.

It is rare for a team to draft in the top two of a draft and then be a title contender the following season, but such is life for the Spurs. Victor Wembanyama is a Top 5 player in the NBA already in his third season, and the combination of veterans and young players around him are enough for the Spurs to be right in the mix at the top of the Western Conference.

Their success is resetting expectations, which means increased pressure on every player to be ready for winning basketball -- an expectation that is an awful lot to heap on the head of a rookie. Dylan Harper is just 19 years old but is expected to fill a rotation role on a team trying to knock off Nikola Jokic and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in the playoffs.

Harper was up to the challenge early in the season, putting up big numbers and showing off a fearlessness in the paint as he relentlessly attacked opposing defenses. He hit some massive shots in the Spurs' NBA Cup victory over the Thunder. Everyone agrees he appears headed for a long career as a starting point guard, and likely will be competing for All-Star berths at some point, if not perennially.

Dylan Harper is struggling a bit

Yet Harper has also cooled off significantly from his hot start, and his most glaring issue has only been more exacerbated: he cannot shoot. He is hitting just 24.7 percent of his 3-point attempts on the season, which is a rough number for a point guard in any context. When you factor in that his young partner in crime, Stephon Castle, is also a non-shooter, you get something that is more of a problem.

Over Harper's last 30 days -- encompassing 16 games -- he is shooting just 23.3 percent from deep and 38.7 percent from the floor, averaging just 8.2 points per game. He brings energy and some playmaking impact, but his shot simply is not falling.

That becomes a problem on a team with other limited shooters and with high aspirations. And that is when the unthinkable question starts to creep up. For as good as Harper has looked, and as bright as his future is, did they choose the wrong player with the No. 2 pick?

The Spurs should have drafted Kon Knueppel

Kon Knueppel went fourth overall to the Charlotte Hornets after co-starring with Cooper Flagg for a Duke team that was historically good. Somewhat eclipsed by the shadow of his phenom teammate, the expectations with Knueppel were all over the place. Many thought he should go much lower than No. 4; no one was saying he should go No. 2 ahead of Harper.

That is what has made the start to Knueppel's career so special. He is averaging 32.6 minutes per game as a starter on the Hornets and has been their best player this season. He is putting up 19.1 points, 52 rebounds and 3.6 assists while shooting 56.4 percent from 2-point range and 42.8 percent from deep.

Those are historic numbers for a rookie guard. He has carried the offense when LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller have been unavailable, and he has thrived in a smaller role sharing the rock with them.

That's exactly the kind of player who would be killing it on the Spurs right now. He could be their Sixth Man, playing behind and with both De'Aaron Fox and Stephon Castle. His shooting would unlock all sorts of lineups instead of clogging them up like the combo of Harper and Castle does.

His two-man game with Wembanyama would be incredible, and his hustle and basketball intelligence would both contribute immediately to a playoff setting. Harper looks like a really good pick; Knueppel looks like a home run.

Long-term, the Spurs may end up glad they chose Harper. He hasn't done much of anything to make them doubt the pick - his shooting was always going to take time.

But the play of one Kon Knueppel has taken the league by storm, and it has opened up at least a little doubt in the minds of the Spurs and their fans. He not only looks like a future All-Star, but his fit on the Spurs would be sublime.

If he keeps balling out, they may live to regret not taking him when they had the chance.