By Tom Orsborn, Staff Writer | San Antonio Express-News (SAEN), 2026-01-25 12:20:28
2026年1月20日，休斯顿，在一场NBA篮球比赛的上半场，圣安东尼奥马刺队后卫迪伦·哈珀 (Dylan Harper)（2号）在休斯顿火箭队前锋多里安·芬尼-史密斯 (Dorian Finney-Smith) 的防守下控球。（美联社照片/阿什利·兰迪斯 (Ashley Landis)）
犹他爵士队主教练威尔·哈迪 (Will Hardy) 对艾斯·贝利 (Ace Bailey) 赞不绝口，这位罗格斯大学的毕业生在去年六月的2025年NBA选秀中被爵士队以第五顺位选中。
“艾斯是一个充满活力的家伙，所以我们试着在各方面引导这股能量，”哈迪在上周四爵士以109-126不敌马刺的比赛前说道。贝利在那场比赛中砍下了赛季新高的25分。
“他的切入、冲抢篮板的能力，以及他那迅捷的弹速——这些方面你才能真正看到他的臂展和运动天赋。在我们没有为他安排大量战术的情况下，他依然出色地找到了影响比赛的方式。”
谈到前罗格斯大学的球星，哈迪同样也是迪伦·哈珀的忠实粉丝。哈珀在与贝利以18岁新生身份一同为猩红骑士队效力后，被马刺队以榜眼签选中。
“迪伦是一位非常出色的年轻球员，”曾担任马刺助教的哈迪说。“他有很好的球场存在感。在备战马刺比赛并观看录像时，你会发现他很少打出那种让你不禁想问‘他到底在想什么？’的回合。他打球很合理，既在自己的节奏里，也在球队的体系之内。你很难阻止他杀入禁区，而且他在识别对位上做得很好。他把比赛打得相当简单，同时又充满力量和身体对抗。”
“在他职业生涯的早期，他就已经展现出自己是一名非常优秀的球员。”
除非在全明星周末前受伤，否则贝利和哈珀预计将于2月13日在洛杉矶的Intuit穹顶球馆重聚，共同参加新秀挑战赛。
一位马刺工作人员表示，NBA将于周一公布球员名单。
“能参加这项赛事简直是梦想成真，”哈珀说。“能在全明星周末登场竞技，没有比这更棒的感觉了。”
而且他很可能有一位队友与他并肩作战。2025年的年度最佳新秀斯蒂芬·卡斯尔 (Stephon Castle) 几乎锁定了名额，将参加他的第二次新秀挑战赛。
“能有个熟悉的面孔和我在一起会很棒，”哈珀说。“斯蒂芬和我几乎天天都待在一起。”
卡斯尔给哈珀的建议是：“认真对待，并全身心沉浸其中。”
“会有很多人关注，所以只管上场好好表现，”卡斯尔补充道。
了解哈珀的人都知道，他会处理得很好。
“他少年老成，”马刺队主教练米奇·约翰逊 (Mitch Johnson) 评价道。
“迪伦出身不凡，”约翰逊继续说道，他指的是这位新泽西本地人的父亲——五届NBA总冠军罗恩·哈珀 (Ron Harper)。“对于一个19岁的年轻人来说，他所拥有的沉着和冷静是独一无二的。19岁就在这个联盟打球很不容易，更何况是在一支力争胜利、充满竞争的球队里。这对他个人发展很有好处。”
“他既要融入这个联盟和一支新球队，又要努力竞争并被要求达到那样的标准，这可能比人们想象的要困难得多。”
但哈珀似乎把这一切都处理得游刃有余。
“他超级沉着，打球始终很有控制力，”卡斯尔说。“以他的年龄来说，他的球风非常成熟。”
在周日对阵新奥尔良的比赛之前，哈珀在35场比赛中场均出战21.3分钟，贡献10.4分、3.2个篮板、3.5次助攻和0.9次抢断。他有8次成为全队抢断王，6次助攻王，2次盖帽王，以及1次得分王（12月18日以119-94战胜华盛顿的比赛中，得到赛季新高的24分）。他共有18场比赛得分上双，3场得分20+，并有1次两双数据。
除了擅长攻击篮筐外，哈珀的防守技巧也备受赞誉。
“他在防守端做得很好，”约翰逊说。“融入这个联盟需要一个过程，这需要时间。比如避免愚蠢的犯规、找到正确的起始防守位置、理解对手的倾向和人员特点，以及执行那些细致且多层次的比赛计划。但他具备这些能力。他有体型，有精神和身体上的防守资本。他有好胜心，只需要继续投入时间去打磨。”
至于哈迪对他篮球智慧的评价，哈珀表示，这一切都关乎成为一个好队友。
“我的心态是，我要为球队做出正确的决策，”他说。“如果这意味着我必须站出来得分，我就会去做。如果这意味着我需要传球给空位的队友，我也会那么做。你要打得有侵略性，但同时也要保持聪明。球场上不止我一个人，还有四名队友，你必须把他们也考虑进去。”
San Antonio Spurs guard Dylan Harper (2) goes up for a shot over Milwaukee Bucks center Myles Turner (3) and guard Kevin Porter Jr. (7) during the second quarter at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026.
San Antonio Spurs guard Dylan Harper, right, goes to the basket against Oklahoma City Thunder guard Alex Caruso, left, during the first half of an NBA basketball game Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Nate Billings)
Oklahoma City Thunder forward Jaylin Williams (6) blocks a shot by San Antonio Spurs guard Dylan Harper (2) next to Thunder guard Alex Caruso (9) during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Nate Billings)
由生成式人工智能翻译，译文内容可能不准确或不完整，以原文为准。
点击查看原文：Spurs' Harper set for Rising Stars as reputation for smart play grows
Spurs’ Harper set for Rising Stars as reputation for smart play grows
San Antonio Spurs guard Dylan Harper (2) controls the ball against Houston Rockets forward Dorian Finney-Smith during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Houston, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Utah coach Will Hardy can’t say enough good things about Ace Bailey, the Rutgers alumnus the Jazz selected fifth overall in the 2025 NBA Draft last June.
“Ace is an energetic human, so we’ve tried to channel that in every way possible,” Hardy said before Bailey scored a season-high 25 points in a 126-109 loss to the Spurs last Thursday.
“His ability to cut, crash and then his quick twitch getting off the ground — that’s where you really see his length and athleticism. He’s done an amazing job of finding ways to impact the game when we’re not running a ton of plays for him.”
Speaking of former Rutgers stars, Hardy is also a big fan of Dylan Harper, who the Spurs selected second overall after he and Bailey played together for the Scarlet Knights as 18-year-old freshmen.
“Dylan is a heck of a young player,” said Hardy, a former Spurs assistant coach. "He’s got a good presence about him. Watching film prepping to play the Spurs, then watching him in the games, he very rarely has a play where you go, ‘What was he thinking?’ He kind of plays within himself and within their team construct. He’s tough to keep out of the paint and does a good job of recognizing his matchup. But he keeps the game pretty simple and plays with a ton of force and physicality.
“He’s showing himself early in his career to be a really good player.”
Barring an injury between now and All-Star weekend, Bailey and Harper are expected to reunite in Los Angeles as participants in the Rising Stars mini-tournament Feb. 13 at Intuit Dome.
The NBA will announce the player pool Monday, a Spurs staffer said.
“It’s just a dream to play in,” Harper said. “Just going out there to compete on All-Star weekend ain’t no better feeling.”
And he’ll likely have a teammate playing with him. Stephon Castle, the 2025 Rookie of the Year, is a lock to be chosen to participate in his second Rising Stars event.
“It’s going to be nice to have a familiar face with me,” Harper said. “Steph and I hang out damn near every day.”
Castle’s advice for Harper: “Take it seriously and soak everything in.”
“It’s a lot of eyes watching, so just go out there and perform,” Castle added.
Knowing Harper, he’ll be just fine.
“He’s wise beyond his years,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said.
“Dylan has pedigree,” Johnson continued, referring to the New Jersey native’s father, five-time NBA champion Ron Harper. "He has a poise and composure for a 19 year old that’s unique. It’s hard to play at 19 in this league and then to play on a team that’s competing and trying to win games. It’s good for his development.
“For him to have to integrate himself into this league and onto a new team while also trying to compete and be held to that standard is really probably more difficult than people understand.”
But Harper seems to handle it all so well.
“He’s super poised, plays under control all the time,” Castle said. “He has a mature game for his age.”
Heading into Sunday’s game against New Orleans, Harper was averaging 10.4 points, 3.2 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 0.9 steals in 21.3 minutes over 35 games. He’s led the team in steals eight times, in assists six times, in blocks twice and in scoring once (a season-high 24 points in a 119-94 win over Washington on Dec. 18). He has 18 games of 10-plus points, three of 20-plus and one double-double.
In addition to excelling at attacking the basket, Harper has also drawn praise for his defensive skills.
“He’s been good,” on that end of the court, Johnson said. “There’s an on-boarding in this league that just takes time. Silly fouls, being in the right, starting spots, understanding tendencies, personnel, some nuanced layered game-plan execution. But he’s got it. He’s got size, he’s got the capacity mentally and physically to guard. He’s got the competitiveness and he’s just got to keep putting the time into it.”
As far as Hardy’s assessment of his basketball acumen, Harper said it’s all about being a good teammate.
“The mindset is, I’m going to make the right play for the team,” he said. “If that means I got to go out and get a bucket, I do that. If it means I got to make a pass to the open man, I’m going to do that. You want to be aggressive, but you also got to be smart. It’s more than just me on the floor. You got four players out there, so you have to take that into account.”
By Tom Orsborn, Staff Writer, via San Antonio Express-News