The NBA Isn’t Ready For Victor Wembanyama & Dylan Harper…

The NBA Isn’t Ready For Victor Wembanyama & Dylan Harper…

He essentially played point center. You saw in some of those highlights, he looked kind of like Draymond Green getting the ball at the center of the court and distributing it. And look, he can do a lot of different things. Um, but create with the ball far from the hoop is something that is on the list. Victor Webyama was already terrifying. Now he’s been to the Shaolin Temple, trained with Hakee, and he has a point guard who might be the smartest rookie since Chris Paul. Rebound quickly up to Harper. The scorers look to push alley to Victor. Number two to number one. That’s an and one. The NBA has a problem. Preseason doesn’t usually mean much. Unless what you’re seeing feels like a preview of what’s to come. The Spurs might be cooking up the most dangerous young duo we’ve seen in years. The future in San Antonio somehow looks even brighter heading into the 2526 season. The Spurs already have the last two rookies of the year. Victor Webinama and Stefon Castle with Wembi now flirting with both defensive player of the year and MVP conversations. And now they’ve added another promising young piece to the mix. With WBY already looking like a generational superstar, the Spurs timeline has officially accelerated. They don’t have time to wait around for development projects. They need players who can contribute right now. While the basketball world has spent months hyping up Cooper Flag in Dallas, San Antonio’s been quietly celebrating their own lottery luck. Because while the Mavs may have found their next franchise player in Flag, the Spurs believe they landed one of their own in Dylan Harper. Harper, the 19-year-old former Ruters standout, has backed that belief up with a strong preseason. He dropped nine points in 18 minutes against Utah, then followed that with 11 points and eight assists in just 22 minutes versus Indiana. He’s a big-bodied lefty combo guard with basketball royalty bloodlines. The son of Ron Harper, who was a 255 guy before winning five championships with the Bulls and Lakers as a defensive specialist and Phil Jackson’s trusted role player. And like his father, Dylan brings skill, poise, and the kind of game control that makes everything move at his pace. He’s already playing with the confidence of a seasoned vet. Some scouts have even compared his driving style to James Harden. Not just because he’s a lefty, but because of the way he strings together dribble moves, keeps his handle low through traffic, and uses his strength to shield off defenders at the rim. Prime Harden might have been the better vertical athlete, but Harper still finished 67.6% of his shots at the rim last year, showing off a deep bag of pivots, floaters, and off the-hand finishes that make him a nightmare around the basket. Whether he’s scoring or drawing contact separates him from most rookie guards is how calm he looks doing it. Harper plays entirely at his own tempo, using change of speed, balance, and feel, not just raw bursts to get to his spots. It’s the same poise that make him look advanced beyond his years in pick and rolls. And it’s why his decision-m and passing fit perfectly next to a lob and kick out threat like Wemi. And that’s the key. With Webinama commanding so much defensive attention, San Antonio needs smart secondary playmakers who can create on the fly. The back court’s already stacked. Darren Fox just signed a massive four-year extension and Stefon Castle is coming off his Rookie of the Year campaign. Castle by one defender by two. Oh, Castle. Both will shoulder heavy workloads this season, but Harper looks ready to take some of that weight off them and maybe add something new to the mix. From the Spurs perspective, the pick was a no-brainer. You take the best player available always. And Dylan Harper was clearly the second best player in this draft. Teams that draft for positional need often end up making the kind of mistakes that haunt them for decades. You know the lines, we don’t need Luca Donic, we have Fox, or we don’t need Michael Jordan, we have Clyde Drexler. The Spurs weren’t about to make that mistake. They took the best player on the board and we’ll figure out the fit later. And if there’s one thing San Antonio is known for, it’s patience. Harper is a combo guard in the same mold as Stefon Castle, but plenty of scouts actually think Harper might end up even better in that role. He can play both on and off the ball. He’s a highle ball handler and passer, and his skill set allows the Spurs to pair him with either Darren Fox or Castle to create open looks for Victor Webama. Dylan is not a traditional explosive athlete, but his ability to tack the rim, finish through contact, and find open teammates should mesh beautifully with Wemi. And with wings like Devin Vel, Kell Johnson, and Harrison Barnes spacing the floor. If Harper and Wemi keep building the kind of chemistry we’ve already seen flashes off in the preseason, and given that they’re both of the same age timeline, the rest of the league could be in trouble a lot sooner than expected. Now, there is one area to watch closely. Shooting. None of Harper, Fox, or Castle are elite from deep just yet. Whichever one develops into a consistent catch and shoot threat will have a massive edge when it comes to minutes, both this season and beyond. Even though Harper is the least experienced of the three, he might already be showing something in that department. In college, he hit 36.8% of each catch and shoot threes. While he wasn’t as effective shooting off the dribble, he proved to be a reliable offball scorer who can relocate to the corner or wing and knock them down. Early preseason numbers back that up too. 40% from deep through two games. Small sample size, sure, but definitely a welcome sign for the rookie. Now, let’s talk about how Harper actually looked in his preseason action. His debut against the Jazz didn’t disappoint. The 19-year-old came off the bench for 18 minutes and dropped nine points on six shots with three assists in his first NBA appearance wearing the silver and black. The box score tells part of the story, but the real takeaway was how composed he looked. For a rookie who’s dealt with injuries since leaving college, Harper carried himself like a player who’s been here before. His first bucket came on a smart back cut after he faked setting a corner screen. His second came on the ball using a double screen from Luke Cornet and Victor Webyama to freeze the defense before exploding to the rim. Then he hit a tough baseline mid-range jumper and followed that up with a three. But it wasn’t just scoring. As a playmaker, Harper showed the exact qualities the Spurs drafted him for. Off a simple cornet screen, he turned the corner and hit the big man rolling for an easy finish. Moments later, he pushed the pace after a miss and found WBY sprinting down the floor for a lob. His final assist came on a baseline drive. Instead of forcing the shot, he wrapped a pass across the court to Julian Champany for a wideopen corner three. It was all there. Poise, vision, tempo, and control. He orchestrated in the half court and created in transition like a vet guard, not a rookie in his first NBA game. Interesting lineup here. Coach Mitch has put out. Harper drives and uses the speed. Now, one preseason game doesn’t mean everything. He’ll have tougher nights, especially once he faces real NBA defenses, but seeing Harper immediately showcase the same tools that made him such a coveted prospect. Coming off an injury is a massive positive. There’s been plenty of talk about his fit in San Antonio’s crowded back court, and you’d expect a 19-year-old to play tight under that kind of spotlight. Instead, Harper looked calm, confident, and certain of who he is. His maturity and self asssurance were as impressive as his box score line. Head coach Mitch Johnson summed it up perfectly when asked what impressed him most about Harper so far. He’s not trying to score every time or make a bunch of moves. He’s just trying to be part of the team and fit in. And that for a rookie this young might be the most Spurs-like trait of all. And in his second preseason game, Dylan Harper built on everything he showed in his debut. This time it came on the road against the Indiana Pacers, and the rookie looked even more comfortable. Harper finished with 11 points, eight assists, and two steals in just 22 minutes off the bench, shooting four of eight from the field and posting a plus 11 in a 124 to 108 Spurs win. That kept San Antonio unbeaten through the first four preseason games. But just like in his first outing, it wasn’t the box score that stood out. It was how he did it. He attacked the rim with a mix of speed, control, and power. He showed off his handle and court awareness, slicing through Indy’s defense for smooth finishes. He let it fly confidently from the corner without hesitation. And when the paces overcommitted, Harper punished them with perfectly timed passes to open shooters. At just 19, Harper has looked composed and poised. With almost no signs of rookie rust through two impressive preseason performances, his addition instantly gives San Antonio more flexibility and depth in the back court alongside Darren Fox, Stefon Castle, and Deon Vel. On the defensive end, Harper’s impact has been just as eye-catching. With springy legs, length, and a relentless motor, he’s been a fullcourt pest, constantly pressuring the ball and disrupting passing lanes. exactly the kind of defense first energy the Spurs want to build around. San Antonio made it clear from day one that their identity this season would be rooted in defense and that’s easy to commit to when you have someone like Victor Webama, a potential perennial defensive player of the year anchoring everything. Advantage Smith. Oh my. Blocked by Wemby get it out of here. WBY’s growth, both literal and figurative, gives Harper the freedom to play more aggressively, but not just on defense, offense, too. He doesn’t have to worry about setting everyone else up all the time because he’s sharing the floor with one of the most unique players the game has ever seen. As Harper himself put it, Victor looks like a point guard half the time. This preseason, it didn’t take long for Victor Webeyama to find his offensive rhythm. After scoring 19 points combined in his first two games, he topped that mark in each of the next two, highlighted by a 27point double double in a 16-point win over the Pacers. When Banyama knows exactly what kind of burden he carries, standing 7’5 with the mobility of a guard is something the league has barely seen. And truthfully, it even took the Spurs some time to figure out how to fully utilize that. As a rookie, WBY played with pure instinct. Flashes of brilliance mixed with the growing pains of a young team that despite packing arenas everywhere they went, managed just 22 wins. Then, just as things started to click in year 2, a bout of deep vein thrombosis abruptly ended his season in February. But heading into year three, everything feels different. A summer focused on growth, both personal and organizational, combined with key roster additions, that has the Spurs looking more complete than any point since drafting him in 2023. And now it’s on Wemby to truly claim that next level role. Defensively, there’s no confusion. His presence alone changes everything. He can recover from almost anywhere within 10 ft of the rim, turn mistakes into blocks, and force opponents to alter shots just by existing. Offensively though, the evolution has been fascinating. We has always shown a willingness to shoot and an almost stubborn refusal to stop shooting when things weren’t falling. But this preeason, something clicked. In his first game back on the floor since January 31, he didn’t just look confident, he looked in control. He’s developed a real feel for passing. Whether it was running a pick and roll with Luke Cornet, kicking out to Julian Champany, or turning a block off the glass into a fast break assist for Kell Johnson, WBY looked like a player completely in tune with his teammates. Several times he even passed up open looks from deep, finishing a perfect yet modest three for three from the field, but just three assists shy of a triple double. Afterward, he explained it perfectly. I’ve turned down shots I can make with my eyes closed. But that was to get one of my teammates a shot he can make in his sleep. We have to find the best option. This is what great teams do. That’s the kind of good to great basketball purists live for. The unselfish playmaking that separates just talent from true leadership. You know, you can shoot the three ball. Nice little ball fake. The penetration sucks in the defense. There’s Julian again. All by his lungs. Whenam’s always had the tools. The flashes of dominance have been there since day one. But what’s standing out now is how effortless it all looks. For the first time, his mind and body seem perfectly in sync. Every move feels deliberate yet natural. Every decision instant but never rushed. It’s reminiscent of Nicola Joic’s fourth season. The moment he started toying with defenses like he was playing chess while everyone else was stuck on checkers. Back then, the question was simple. If Joic ever became a consistent scorer, would anyone be able to stop him? The difference is when already is that kind of scorer? And if he keeps learning to control games the way Joic eventually did, the ceiling on what he can become might not even exist. Together, when Dylan Harper could become one of those joys that just clicks, not because they’re alike, but because they complement each other perfectly. Weby’s length, timing, and shot creation make him the most unguardable player on the floor. While Harper’s pace and downhill aggression give the Spurs exactly what they’d be missing, a guard who bends defenses and forces rotations. Together, they create constant pressure. Wall of Harper’s drives and WebM is waiting for the lob or the corner three. Collapse on Wemby and Harper is already bursting through the lane before the defense can reset. And the scariest part, they’re both still learning. Web is figuring out when to impose himself as a creator, and Harper’s just adjusting to NBA spacing and defensive length. But once they start truly reading each other, once Harper instinctively knows when WMBB is slipping a screen or floating to the dunker spot, San Antonio’s pick and roll game might become unguardable. At that point, it’s not about potential anymore. It’s about inevitability. The Spurs don’t just have two rising stars. They have a problem for the NBA, a nightmare in development. And if preseason is any indication, the rest of the league better start figuring out some answers fast. So, do you think Webyama and Harper will become the NBA’s next dynasty duo? Drop your prediction in the comments, and don’t forget to like and subscribe. And if you enjoyed this video, check out one of these ones on your screen now.

The San Antonio Spurs are quietly building something the rest of the NBA should be terrified of — and it starts with Victor Wembanyama and Dylan Harper. In this video, we dive deep into how this young duo is redefining what the future of basketball looks like. Wembanyama, already one of the league’s most dominant forces, continues to evolve into a generational superstar. His combination of shot-blocking, playmaking, and scoring versatility makes him nearly impossible to game-plan against.

Now add Dylan Harper, the explosive rookie guard with elite vision, creativity, and scoring instincts. Together, these two give the Spurs a frightening inside-out balance that few teams can match. Harper’s ability to break down defenses perfectly complements Wembanyama’s unmatched size and skill, creating one of the most dangerous young cores in the league.

The Victor Wembanyama & Dylan Harper era has officially begun.

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