The Two-Way Profile of Dylan Harper

Dylan Harper is a Rutgers commit and a top prospect in the 2025 NBA Draft.

Mar 8, 2024; Piscataway, New Jersey, United States; Don Bosco vs. Paul VI in the Non-Public A championship at Jersey Mike's Arena. Don Bosco #2 Dylan Harper celebrates with his team after defeating Paul IV. / Michael Karas / USA TODAY NETWORK

With the 2024 NBA draft rapidly approaching, this year's cycle is beginning to wind down. Once the players in this class join their new teams in the coming days, the 2025 NBA draft cycle will begin to heat up. Cooper Flagg, the class' No. 1 ranked recruit, is already the most well-known and maybe best prospect in the world right now, regardless of age. Because of that, the 2025 draft will likely begin at the No. 2 overall pick, with a number of way-too-early candidates that look promising at that slot.

Dylan Harper is one of those candidates. Standing at 6-foot-6 and 220 lbs, he is the class' No. 3 RSCI recruit committed to Rutgers alongside Ace Bailey, the class' No. 2 RCSI recruit. Together, the duo will form a powerhouse that will look to compete at a very high level in the Big Ten Conference.

As a jumbo-sized point guard, Harper will serve as the primary initiator of the two. He's arguably the draft's premier advantage creator as he provides constant rim pressure in diverse ways.

He wins on drives with a number of tools: stringing together dribble moves/hesitations, strong acceleration, and genuine physicality in tandem with an excellent understanding of angles to create driving lanes, and subsequently, create rim pressure. When cut off on drives, he’s also flashed some excellent counters to get to the rim, notably a spin move.

As a playmaker, Harper pairs good processing and an understanding of passing windows with this rim pressure — he knows how to leverage his rim pressure to create open looks for teammates. As a scorer, Harper has a burgeoning pull-up game to counter with this rim pressure. He’s shot 35.5% on all 93 pullup 2s registered in Synergy’s database, and has shown year-over-year progression on pullup 3s at EYBL.

Pull-up equity, especially in the midrange area, is the main swing skill for Harper as not only is it a counter on drives but it will also relate to how he grades out as a pick-and-roll scorer. He has good pacing in pick-and-roll and is smart using his off-arm to initiate/maintain contact as a means of creating separation from his defender, and possessing a pull-up jumper he can knock down is important.

Harper's creation game will go as far as his pullup jumper takes him as a consistent one would round out the profile of an elite advantage creator.

But what makes Harper truly special is his defense. Most jumbo-sized advantage creators who are as good at generating offense as he is don't usually provide much activity or value on the defensive side of the ball. Especially not in high school, at least; but Harper did.

Harper pairs length — he has a 6-foot-10 wingspan — with intensity and pressure as a point-of-attack defender to disrupt opposing teams' ballhandlers. His length also gives him the potential to be switchable, something he displayed when facing off against the Boozer twins as he guarded both Cayden and Cameron Boozer (likely the second-best prospect in the world, regardless of age) in the same game.

A jumbo-sized initiator is the most coveted archetype in the modern day NBA and Harper is one of them. At 6-foot-6, he generates rim pressure in a number of ways — winning with speed, wiggle, physicality, and angles on any given possession — that makes him a uniquely elite advantage creator and one that should translate to all levels seamlessly.

Big advantage creators may lack passing vision, but not Harper. They may have bad shooting touch, but not Harper. They may lack defensive awareness and acitivity, but not Harper. He's not yet elite at any one of those aspects, but is already good to very good at all of them.

Having such a well-rounded profile as an 18-year-old coming out of high school is rare, and that's what makes Harper a way-too-early candidate for being the No. 2 pick in the 2025 draft.

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