The Ringer's
https://nbadraft.theringer.com/SCOUTING REPORT BY Danny Chau
To get a clearer sense of where Harper is headed, watch his feetbut have the pause button ready. He is one of the jewels of the draft, with the full modern tool kit: Euro-steps, stepbacks, spins, and step-throughs. Harper plays a patient game, and while he lacks top-end speed, he parcels out his short-area quickness in small, syncopated bursts. There is always an intent behind his dribbles, his footwork, his feints and hesitations. Harper's body control, in conjunction with his ballhandling ability, grants him unique ways of throwing defenders off. He's constantly placing the emphasis on a different syllable every time he goes down the floor.
His on-ball commandmanipulating ball screens, decisively splitting hard hedges out of the pick-and-roll like it's second natureought to be illegal at his age; he only recently turned 19. And once that four-on-three advantage is created, Harper has all the live-dribble passing talent and lob touch necessary to bend defenses past their breaking point. The same command of timing Harper has on drives, he demonstrates in his facilitatinghe has a knack for allowing creases to form in an overcommitted defense, getting the ball to his open man at the very last second, when the window is widest. If there is a worry, it's that he might overrely on screenshis possessions in isolation don't paint an overly compelling picture of a player who can create advantages all by himself. For all the acclaim Harper has gotten this season, that is a real concern for his ultimate ceiling as a shot creator, especially one without great foot speed. He's shown himself to be a promising spot-up threat from 3, but his pull-up consistency isn't quite where it needs to be. But give him even a half step to get his defender on his hip, and you get a glimpse of what makes Harper special.
Getting to the rim is the hallmark of Harper's game. It also helps to be able to finish in the paint. Luckily, Harper is one of the best at that in
recent NCAA history. If you strictly looked at his at-rim shooting percentage, you'd think he was a rim-running big man.
Harper has the instincts and pedigree to be a good defender. He's strong, with excellent pattern recognition, but he's also a consensus top-two prospect playing for a massively underwhelming Rutgers squad. As such, the effort isn't often therethough it sometimes isn't for high-usage omni-guards in the NBA. Being the engine of an NBA offense is one of the most taxing commitments in team sports. It can take years to find the balance, if it ever comes at all. But if there's that potential outcome for Harper's career, he's a risk worth taking.
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Yahoo Sports (KOC) -
https://sports.yahoo.com/nba/draft/pre-draft-board/?view=default&board=0&filter=Summary
Harper is a big-bodied lefty combo guard with NBA blood in his veins, as the son of Ron Harper, who was a 20/5/5 guy before winning five titles as a role player. Like his father, Harper has a high-floor with the skill, poise, and playmaking instincts to dictate the game at his pace. But the fate of his jumper will determine whether he's an All-Star or just one of the NBA's many solid guards.
Scouting Report
View articleSTRENGTHS
Crafty at-rim finishing: Harper looks like James Harden on drives to the basket, and not because he's a lefty. He fluidly strings together dribble moves, keeps a low dribble especially when splitting pick-and-rolls, and can use his bulky frame to shield defenders to finish through contact using touch. Prime Harden was a better vertical athlete with a quicker first step, but Harper is a near 70% scorer in the restricted area, and his deep bag of pivots, floaters, and off-hand finishes makes him a terror at the rim whether he's finishing or drawing fouls.
Poised ball-handling: He plays at his own tempo, leveraging change of speed, a slick handle, and physicality rather than raw burst to get where he wants on the floor. Sometimes it seems like he's moving slow, but that's because he wants to. This style makes him advanced for his age navigating pick-and-rolls, though his jumper must progress for him to fully unlock his talents.
Playmaking: Harper is a good decision-maker who tends to make the right play, and he can make all the standard passes like interior dump-offs, lobs, and kickouts. He isn't some savant playmaker, but he's beyond capable at running the show.
Spot-up shooting: In a multi-creator offense, it'll be important that Harper continues progressing as an off-ball player. At Rutgers, he showed the ability to hit shots off the catch, making 36.8% of those chances. His release is a little low, but overall looks smooth.
Defensive upside: Harper carried such a heavy offensive load at Rutgers, his average defense is forgivable for now. At his size, with such long arms, and strong spatial awareness, he should end up as a much more engaged defender in the long term. The flashes of competitive defense against opponents of varying sizes offer enough reason for optimism.
CONCERNS
Shooting: Harper is capable of getting hot off the dribble, but he's streaky and his averages are subpar from the free throw line, the midrange, and beyond the arc. This was an issue for him in high school too, and remains his biggest concern entering the NBA. As a 27.8% shooter on dribble-jumpers from 2-point range and 29.2% from 3, can he survive as a primary creator? Could he get to the rim the way he does in college? He'll need these numbers to significantly improve.
Burst: Not an explosive player off the dribble, whether it's his first step or his leaping in traffic. Many of his midrange shots are contested, and he's largely a below-the-rim finisher. If his jumper doesn't someday click, this would cap his scoring upside.
Lateral quickness: His size is a plus, but staying in front of shiftier guards could be a challenge at the next level since even in college he had struggles staying in front of quicker guards.
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The Athletic (Hollinger)
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6344540/2025/05/12/nba-draft-2025-prospects-cooper-flagg-dylan-harper/I don't think Harper's case at No. 2 is quite as ironclad as some others think it is, but at the end of the day, I still give him the nod over Baylor's V.J. Edgecombe for this spot. Harper doesn't pop athletically and struggled to shoot consistently in his lone college season (33.3 percent from 3, 75.0 percent from the line), but he is a true ball-in-hand, pick-and-roll creator with plus size and instincts.
His nose for the ball makes up for some meh measurables: Despite not being a speed demon, he pilfered 3.1 steals per 100 possessions in Big Ten play and the defensive tape shows him sliding to cut off driving angles. Offensively, he constantly touches the paint and shot 57.4 percent on 2s with a high free-throw rate. Harper did this despite a limited Rutgers roster around him; the surrounding talent likely jobbed him out of several assists.
High-usage, big guards like Harper are among the most difficult and expensive to obtain by other means; in a related story, they are among the most important when it comes to building a successful roster. That's why he has to be the choice here.
Little side note: Harper's height and wingspan are both 1/4" off of Kobe Bryant's. Same weight.
