NBA Headlines
2025 NBA Draft: Rutgers’ Dylan Harper is viewed as ‘a consensus top-two pick at this stage’
Zach Wolpin is an NBA and NFL expert who's been betting on the league for over three years now. Wolpin has been a fan of the NBA and has been watching for a decade and a half. He covers the latest news and stories surrounding the league daily. His passion in life is watching sports and being able to share that through his sports writing. He has written about the NBA and other sports leagues through various media outlets over the years like Sir Charles In Charge, G-Men HQ, and TAP into South Plainfield. Before he became an NBA News Writer, Wolpin attended Montclair State University where he graduated in 2021. He studied Sports Media and Writing while in school.
All posts by Zach WolpinUpdated9 hours ago on January 09, 2025
In the NBA, it’s not uncommon to know who the top picks will be in the upcoming draft. Over the years, we’ve known who the #1 pick would be well ahead of time. That was true in the 2003 draft with LeBron James and in 2023 with Victor Wembanyama.
We are not even halfway through the 2024-25 regular season and it’s clear who the #1 pick will be. Duke’s Cooper Flagg is undoubtedly the best prospect available in the 2025 class. While Flagg will likely go first overall, there is another player who could overtake him. That would be Rutgers’ Dylan Harper. The freshman is having a strong season individually with the Scarlet Knights. According to ESPN’s Jeremy Woo, Harper is considered “a consensus top-two pick at this stage.”
Dylan Harper has what it takes to thrive at the next level
Dylan Harper Viewed By NBA Teams As Consensus Top-2 Pick In 2025 NBA Draft https://t.co/CIi4jgls1L
— RealGM (@RealGM) January 9, 2025
In high school, Dylan Harper played at Don Bosco Prep in New Jersey. Harper was the #2 recruit in the class of 2024 and he decided to stay in-state to play collegiately. He followed in the footsteps of his older brother Ron and is playing for Rutgers. As a freshman, Harper is having a stellar start to his collegiate career. Through 14 starts this season, Harper’s (21.1) points per game leads all players in the Big 10 conference. Additionally, he’s averaging (5.2) rebounds, (4.5) assists, and (1.1) steals per game.
Harper is shooting (.520) percent from the field and (.368) percent from beyond the arc. At six-foot-six, Harper is the proto-type modern-day point guard in the NBA. That’s why the 18-year-old is one of the most highly-coveted prospects in the 2025 NBA draft. Players with his size and skill are not easy to acquire in the NBA. Draft comparisons for Harper are Cade Cunningham and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Cunningham was the #1 pick in his class and SGA was taken 11th. In the 2024-25 college basketball season, Rutgers is only 8-7 with two top-three recruits in Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper. There’s a chance the team will miss the NCAA tournament. However, analysts like Jay Bilas have said that Rutgers missing the tournament will not affect Dylan Harper’s draft position. We’ll see which team is lucky enough to draft the PG in 2025.
