The San Antonio Spurs have more young talent than they know what to do with. Second-overall pick Dylan Harper is yet to start an NBA game, but he is one of the best sixth men in the entire league.
Perhaps he can follow in Manu Ginobili's footsteps?
Through his first 13 games, he is averaging 13.5 points and 3.9 assists. The most eye-popping part of his game, however, is his ability to get to the rim. He can use his craftiness to create space for his athleticism to get above bigger players.
It's expoecte that he will have a long, productive NBA career.
The craziest part? The Spurs don't really even need him. He wouldn't be the first budding superstar to be relegated to the bench to kick off his career.
"I was thinking about all-time situations where somebody had this crazy luxury of somebody who is clearly going to be awesome," said noted Boston Celtics fan Bill Simmons. "Maybe even like Hall of Fame, awesome. And they don't really need him in the early part of their career, and anything he does is like a bonus. And it was like the Celtics were in this situation with McHale. He didn't even play crunch time for the first couple of years. It's like one of the 50 best players of all time. Rodman on the Pistons was like this, but you have this crazy, talented monster asset. And it's like, 'Oh, you're going to do something awesome. That'd be great.'"
Kevin McHale, of course, won two Sixth Man of the Year Awards before being promoted to starter and MVP candidate.
Harper is ahead of schedule, and the Spurs might not be able to ignore him for much longer."He can do so many things offensively already," Simmons added. "And he looks like he's 25. Some of the moves, like you can't even remember when you're watching him, what hand he shoots with. He's so comfortable bouncing off people and getting to the rim. And I'm just absolutely in love with him as a player."
As the Spurs continue to roll with De'Aaron Fox and Stephon Castle as the starting backcourt, Harper is perhaps the best second-unit guard in the entire NBA, and he's only 19 years old. By the time he hits his peak, Simmons expects him to be an All-NBA player.
Add in Victor Wembanyama, and the Spurs' future is even brighter than their present.