Dylan Harper

The Harpers are a basketball family. Dylan's father, Ron, played 15 seasons in the NBA and won five championships while suiting up for the Bulls and Lakers. Dylan's brother, Ron Jr., currently plays for the Pistons as a two-way player, and their mom, Maria, played college basketball at New Orleans and is currently an assistant coach at Don Bosco Prep in New Jersey. Dylan was named NJ.com Player of the Year as a junior in high school and led Don Bosco to a state title as a senior. He was a consensus five-star recruit, picking Rutgers, his brother's alma mater, over Duke, Kansas and Auburn. Harper was Rutgers' highest-rated recruit in program history. Harper's lone collegiate season didn't go as planned due to a nasty illness that bothered him for an entire month. He averaged 22.8 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 1.2 steals in 13 games before missing a Jan. 2 game in Indiana. He tried to play through the ailment, averaging 9.7 points in six appearances before missing two more games. Harper finished his freshman season strong, averaging 21.0 points, 4.1 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 2.2 steals in his final 10 games. Overall, Harper posted 48/33/75 shooting splits on 13.8 field-goal attempts, 5.2 three-point tries and 5.8 free-throw trips per game. Harper is a big-bodied, do-it-all playmaker with positional versatility. He puts a ton of pressure on the rim, is creative with his footwork and can finish smoothly with both hands. He won't be the quickest or most explosive at the NBA level, but he has plenty of athleticism to succeed. He can use his size to win 1-on-1, but he's more efficient when utilizing a screen and has the potential to be an offensive engine due to his feel for the game and willingness to find the open teammate. Harper's jumper in catch-and-shoot situations was elite, but he took too many contested off-the-dribble shots to be a consistent three-point shooter in college. Regardless, with more space and better shot selection in the NBA, Harper still profiles as an above-average three-point shooter. Harper had good defensive production in college and showed a willingness to compete, but he'll need to be more engaged as a pro. It's difficult not to think of Cade Cunningham (6'6, 220) when watching Harper play, aside from the fact that the latter is a lefty. They both use their large frames to get to their spots against smaller guards and can blow by bigger defenders when opposing teams switch. Cunningham was great as a rookie, finishing third in ROY voting behind Scottie Barnes and Evan Mobley, but he transformed into a superstar due to incremental improvements in each of his first four pro seasons. Harper has all the elements and characteristics to make the same leap Cunningham did, but the Rutgers product will need to put in the work.