Throwing Dylan Harper into Spurs' starting lineup won't save the NBA Finals

Every time I open up social media, fans are screaming the same thing over and over. "START DYLAN HARPER!" As if inserting the 20-year-old rookie is a magic bullet to fixing everything that ails the Spurs in this matchup against the Knicks. He's been playing lights out, averaging 16 points and 7 rebounds on 55% shooting, so the sentiment is understandable. It's just perilously incomplete.

San Antonio has had several problems against New York, but the biggest one is this right here.

As frustrating as it is to admit, Wemby has been outplayed by his matchup. Karl-Anthony Towns has been taking the towering Frenchman to the woodshed and even screamed in his face after driving right by Vic and flushing a monstrous dunk. Fixing that should be the Spurs' biggest priority, followed by helping the bench more—not sabotaging it by removing Harper from that group.

The Spurs' bench production has been horrendous.

It's completely fair to point out the scoring inconsistency of San Antonio's starting guards. Stephon Castle is only shooting 40% through the first two games. De'Aaron Fox was 8-12 in Game 2, but 3-13 in Game 1. But those two bring other things to the table, such as defense and playmaking, that can't just be dismissed in favor of an added scoring punch.

The truth of the matter is that if Wembanyama were controlling these games from the start, which is what you expect from a great player, the starting unit's offense would be fine. The bench, however, needs to kick it into high gear because its dismal performance has flown under the radar.

Now, I wouldn't mind if Harper finished games, but he doesn't need to start them because if he does, how will San Antonio sustain offensive production when he inevitably sits down? He can't play for 48 minutes. Putting him in the starting lineup doesn't fix the Spurs' problems, but it could exacerbate them.

Mitch Johnson must figure out a way to get more out of the newly crowned Sixth Man of the Year, Keldon Johnson. He's only playing eight minutes a night in this series. That's shockingly low for someone so important to San Antonio's success this season. That's 13 points per game missing from the Spurs' offense.

Luke Kornet was supposed to be the guy that Coach Johnson could rely on when Wembanyama needed a break, but he hasn't given the Spurs enough. He's gone through several stretches of unplayability in this postseason, and that's killer for a team this young. They're all still learning, so it would be useful if the backup with championship experience could occasionally hold down the fort.

If the Spurs want to win this series, they need to get back to doing the things that got them here. That's relying on each other and stepping up when their teammates need it. This crew was 0.1 points away from setting a new regular-season record for players to average double digits. That depth needs to show up now. Winning a title shouldn't and can't all rest on Dylan Harper's shoulders.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow