Dylan Harper reveals the primary flaw he labored on to assist Victor Wembanyama, Spurs initially appeared on The Sporting Information. Add The Sporting Information as a Most popular Supply by clicking right here.
Leaps after rookie years are to be anticipated. Nonetheless, being Dylan Harper means expectations are a lot increased than for the common second-year NBA participant. Some individuals in his draft class are simply vying for a rotational spot, whereas a choose few battle to make the beginning lineup. The San Antonio Spurs younger gun is aware of that he wants a star-level leap, not only for himself however to assist Victor Wembanyama and Co. lastly hoist the Larry O’Brien trophy. That’s the reason he labored on one particular flaw in his recreation this offseason.
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Harper unveils one flaw he patched as much as assist Wembanyama, Spurs get NBA championship
It is laborious to diagnose and dial in on one particular level of enchancment after only a single 12 months within the NBA. Gamers sometimes use their rookie contracts to determine what sort of participant they’re and which outdated habits ought to die. Dylan Harper doesn’t appear to want that transitionary interval. His rookie 12 months with Coach Mitch Johnson and Victor Wembanyama noticed him play essential minutes from the common season to the NBA Finals.
That’s the reason it is change into simpler for Harper to know what he must work on over the summer season break. So, what was the primary factor that the second-year participant labored on? All of it needed to do with being a greater perimeter presence for the Spurs, through Jared Weiss of The Athletic.
“I believe taking pictures from the perimeter was an enormous factor for me. And I believe simply getting extra snug with my shot, get extra snug taking pictures off the dribble, and simply attempt to be as environment friendly as I can. And I really feel like tonight, the ball simply went in,” Harper declared.
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Informal NBA followers won’t notice Harper struggled from deep throughout the 2025-26 season. He shot a measly 34.3% from the three-point vary, which was approach beneath the league common of 36%. The worrying half was that his shot eating regimen solely consisted of 27.13% makes an attempt from exterior. This meant the paint bought cluttered rather more when Harper was taking pictures. This will increase the variety of individuals boxing out Victor Wembanyama and the opposite Spurs massive males, which frequently results in poor offensive rebounding.
All of those are simply marginal, proper? Properly, not likely. Wembanyama and the Spurs are nice at rebounding once they management the inside or linger there for some time. It may be seen of their league-leading 77.3% DRB%. However the identical does not maintain for his or her skill to wash the offensive glass. Coach Johnson sees his squad dip to eleventh within the NBA in ORB% due to holes in Harper and different Spurs’ shot eating regimen. Consequently, they solely get a 26.2% ORB%.
Harper changing into a greater shooter by intention helps lots. He’ll draw extra defenders to the perimeter,, which allows the Spurs to get second-chance possessions by means of offensive rebounding. However has this began to floor? It is too early to inform, and the pattern dimension of their sole NBA Preseason recreation in opposition to the Atlanta Hawks is inadequate.
Nonetheless, Harper did properly on the perimeter in opposition to a wing-heavy, point-of-attack-focused group. Harper went 60% from the three-point line on 5 makes an attempt. Including in the truth that he went five-for-seven on the sphere meant that he additionally scored 16 factors. Importantly, the Spurs grabbed 13 offensive rebounds, which is already increased than the Spurs’ 2025-26 NBA common of 11.4.
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This one enchancment from Harper has already snowballed into better yields for the Spurs. His menace from three means his gravity pulls defenders away from Wembanyama for simple box-outs. If Harper knocks down the shot, they get three factors. If he does not, they get a straightforward reset shot clock.