No more fighting! The Spurs are injured in second place! Wenbanyama loses his strongest helper

On November 5, the Spurs officially announced: After an MRI examination, the new No. 2 pick Dylan Harper suffered a left calf strain. The return date is currently undetermined and he will be absent for at least 2-3 weeks. The Spurs originally had three point guards: Fox, Castle and Harper. Fox has not played a game this season due to a sprained right hamstring.

Fox has not returned yet, and Harper is injured again. Originally, everyone felt that the Spurs had too many defenders and should be traded. Unexpectedly, at the beginning of the season, there were not enough manpower. The Spurs currently rank second in the Western Conference with 5 wins and 1 loss. They will face the Lakers, third in the Western Conference, at 11 o'clock tomorrow morning. If the Spurs lose, they will be overtaken by the Lakers!

In the last game between the Spurs and the Suns, Harper played 11 minutes as a substitute and retired early with a calf strain. At that time, Harper made 5 of 8 shots and scored 12 points, 1 rebound, 0 assists and 0 steals. This game directly lowered his average data. In the first NBA official rookie rankings, Harper ranked third, second only to Edgcomb and Cowherd.

So far this season, Harper has played 6 games for the Spurs, all as a substitute. He averaged 23.3 minutes per game, 14 points, 4 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 0.7 steals, and 1.8 turnovers. His three shooting percentages were: 50%, 35.7%, and 83.3%. The average plus-minus per game is +8, ranking 24th in the league. When Wenban and Harper are on the court at the same time, the Spurs' defensive efficiency ranks first in the league!

Harper is the No. 2 pick in the 2025 class. Let’s compare the data of the No. 1 pick and No. 3 overall pick. Flagg played in 7 games, all starts. He averaged 32.7 minutes per game, 13.6 points, 6.3 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 0.9 steals, and 2.1 turnovers. His three shooting percentages were: 38.8%, 30.8%, and 100%. The average plus-minus per game is -11.1, ranking only 322nd in the league.

Edgecomb, the third overall pick, played 6 games for the 76ers, all of which were starts. He averaged 39 minutes per game, scoring 20.3 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 1.5 steals and 2 turnovers. His three shooting percentages were: 49.5%, 42.1%, 82.4%. The average plus-minus per game is +6.8, ranking 36th in the league. In points, assists and steals per game, he ranks first among the 2025 rookies.

Edgecomb's three-point shooting percentage ranks second among the rookies in this class. Guess who is first? Hornets No. 4 pick Knipur. Everyone always likes to tease the Hornets about their draft vision, but Knippel performed very well! Averaged 14 points, 4.9 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 0.6 steals and 2.1 turnovers per game, with three shooting percentages: 46.1%, 43.1%, 75%.

Judging from the performance of the top four picks, the most surprising one is definitely Edgecombe, and the most disappointing one is Flagg. Harper and Knippel's statistics are worthy of their draft picks. Talking back to the Spurs, they started the season with 5 wins and 0 losses, creating the best start to the season in team history. But the Spurs also have hidden dangers, with many key rotation players injured.

In addition to Fox, Sohan (wrist injury), Olynyk (ankle surgery) and Cody Waters (eye surgery) have not played a game this season. Cornet suffered an ankle injury and was sidelined after playing only 2 games this season. Now this is the remnant Spurs. When everyone comes back, the Spurs are definitely worth looking forward to!