Spurs' Dylan Harper Says He, Cooper Flagg 'Showed the NBA World What We're About'
The top two picks in the 2025 NBA Draft — Dylan Harper and Cooper Flagg — showed out Saturday in NBA Summer League action, with Harper’s San Antonio Spurs beating Flagg and the Dallas Mavericks 76-69.
The highly anticipated rookie matchup delivered, as No. 1 pick Flagg poured in 31 points on 47.6 percent shooting, while No. 2 pick Harper impressed in his debut with 20 points in just 20 minutes. The future of the league has officially arrived.
"[There's] not a better time to come back [than] in a game like this and a crowd as electrifying as this," Harper said, per ESPN's Michael C. Wright. "He had a good game. I had a good game. We kind of just showed the NBA world what we're about."
While Flagg bounced back from his rough Summer League debut — where he scored just 10 points on 5-of-21 shooting — his performance Saturday still wasn’t up to his own standard. The 18-year-old went 8-of-13 from the free-throw line, a mark he admitted he wasn’t happy with.
"I think it's a new environment, new setting," Flagg said, per Wright . "They want to see me be aggressive and do that type of stuff. I think I did that a lot better today, just getting to the line, getting fouled, and that helped me to get comfortable and get settled in early. Still missed a bunch of free throws. I know my mom probably wasn't very happy with that."
Both teams’ Summer League coaches were pleased with their rookies’ performances, praising their top picks for strong showings in the highly anticipated matchup.
"He just continues to make the right plays," Mavericks coach Josh Broghamer said, per Wright. "Whether it's a drive by [on] the guy pressuring him or we were using him a little bit more as a roller and off the ball a couple of times just to get him some easier catches so he wasn't working so hard to bring the ball up the floor, he just continues to make the right plays, which is always great to see."
"[Harper] was great, and you felt his impact," Spurs coach Mike Noyes added, per Wright. "The stints were a little bit short he would say. He hasn't played a game in a long time. So, we tried to manage that properly. When he was out there, he was playing hard, making the right play."
After the eye-popping performance on Saturday, the future of the NBA looks bright after the inaugural matchup between the top two picks of the 2025 draft.
"We're going to play them a lot this year," Harper said, per Wright. "So, the future battles are going to be great. One thing that we've both got: We're just competitors. We're going to go out and compete."
