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The San Antonio Spurs weren’t favored to end up with the No. 2 pick in the NBA Draft. But when they did, they really had only one logical choice: Rutgers point guard Dylan Harper.
He joined a roster that already included Rookie of the Year combo guard Stephon Castle and established star point guard De’Aaron Fox.
The logjam just got trickier on Monday. The Spurs and Fox agreed to a four-year, $229 million contract extension, the max amount he could sign for, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania.
It’s a case of the Spurs paying one of their best players what they thought he deserved, just a day after Fox became eligible for this extension.
They’ll work out the kinks of the guard rotation later.
It’s a good problem to have. The Spurs traded for Fox midway through the 2024-25 season from the Sacramento Kings, giving Victor Wembanyama a stud point guard to play with. Castle was in the midst of proving himself a rising star, too.
And then the Spurs got Harper, who is an old-school point guard with immense talent.
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In the present, the Spurs can probably let Harper develop at a manageable pace. But at some point down the road, this could create questions.
San Antonio wasn’t in a position to just let Fox walk. Paying him locks in an established player, and if a trade has to happen later, so be it.
On SI’s Evan Dammarell summed up the conundrum on X soon after the news: “I *do* wonder what the Spurs end up doing with their glut of guards after giving De’Aaron Fox top dollar (who deserves it). It just feels redundant to spend so much money on Fox and eventually extend Castle, and then figure out where Dylan Harper fits (and eventually pay him).”
Assuming Wembanyama is at full health, the Spurs should be a strong contender in the West this season and for many to come.
Source: Sporting News | Continue to Full Story…
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