Dylan Harper draws James Harden comparisons from NBA personnel
02/12/2025 02:53 PM
The Rutgers basketball team signed one of the best 2024 recruiting classes, and five-star Dylan Harper is a big reason why the ranking was so high. Harper is a true freshman, and he is already one of the best players in college basketball. He is expected to go to the NBA after this season, and he should be one of the first players off the board. Duke star Cooper Flagg seems like a lock to be the first overall pick, but Harper could be the #2 pick.
In a recent ESPN NBA mock draft, Dylan Harper is projected to be the second overall pick, teaming up with Zion Williamson and the New Orleans Pelicans. However, a lot can change in the next couple months.
“Harper returned from a 10-day absence in a highly impressive fashion, dropping 28 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists in a win against Illinois, thoroughly outplaying point guard Kasparas Jakucionis, a fellow projected top-five pick,” Jonathan Givony said in his scouting report for Harper. “Though Harper hasn’t fully locked down the No. 2 pick with the difficult January he endured battling the flu and an ankle injury, more games like the Illinois one to finish the season could cement him as the top non-Flagg option.”
When analyzing a player ahead of the NBA Draft, people often like to go with NBA player comparisons to illustrate what an athlete might look like at the next level. Jonathan Givony compared Harper to James Harden.
“The 18-year-old’s combination of size, shot-creation prowess, passing creativity, finishing skill and scoring instincts have drawn comparisons in NBA circles to a young James Harden,” Givony continued. “It will be fascinating to see how he finishes the season for a Rutgers team that likely needs to win the Big Ten tournament to earn an NCAA tournament berth.”
Getting a player like Dylan Harper would be big for a struggling team like the Pelicans. He could potentially fix a good amount of issues.
“The prospect of adding one of the draft’s elite talents at least offers some recompense for New Orleans, which has had one of the unluckiest stretches of injuries in recent NBA history,” Jeremy Woo said. “Offseason acquisition Dejounte Murray was set to lead the offense, broke his left hand in the opener, then appeared in 31 games before tearing his right Achilles, and Brandon Ingram was traded to Toronto at the deadline. Quality shot creation on the perimeter remains a major need. Harper’s mix of size, playmaking chops and star power could address many of the issues here at once and bolster the rotation on a roster that is trying to compete while still skewing young.”
Right now, Dylan Harper is only focused on the final stretch for the Rutgers basketball team. Making an NCAA Tournament push won’t be easy, but with Harper and co-star Ace Bailey (projected third overall pick), anything is possible for the Scarlet Knights.
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