NBA Draft Rumors: 'Most' Execs Grade Dylan Harper as 'Clear No. 2' After Cooper Flagg

Rutgers missing out on the NCAA men's basketball Tournament isn't likely to impact Dylan Harper’s status as one of the top picks in the 2025 NBA Draft.

According to The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie, “most NBA executives see [Harper] as the clear No. 2 pick in the class.”

Harper averaged 19.4 points, 4.6 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.4 steals through 29 games in his freshman season with the Scarlet Knights. He shot 48.4 percent from the field and made one third of his shots from behind the arc.

The guard saw his production dip late in his freshman season amid a bout with the flu that led to significant weight loss and an ankle injury that forced him to miss time.

According to Vecenie, field-goal shooting, defense, and speed when driving to the basket has helped Harper hold onto the projected No. 2 spot.

Vecenie noted that Harper's "pull-up jumper really remains the one question mark."

ESPN's Jeremy Woo previously reported that although Harper's teammate Ace Bailey and Baylor guard V.J. Edgecombe have cases for higher NBA ceilings than Harper, scouts see Harper "as the safest option at No. 2 due to his polished game and poise."

According to Woo, one general manager of a Western Conference team said: "I think he should be [No.] 2. Isn't he what everyone is looking for? An offensive orchestrator with size... You can build a successful offense around the guy."

Woo added that NBA scouts believe Harper's assists total was hurt by his Rutgers teammates, and that no evaluators "questioned his playmaking ability."

Cooper Flagg, who has helped Duke enter March Madness as a national title favorite, has been the consensus top pick in the upcoming draft throughout the 2024-25 season.

Over the later stretch of the season Harper has been competing with Bailey, who averaged 17.6 points and 7.2 rebounds in his own freshman campaign for Rutgers, for the projected No. 2 spot behind Flagg. The two are on track to be the first teammates named top-five picks since Zion Williamson and RJ Barrett in 2019.

The Utah Jazz are currently on track to have the best odds to select Flagg with the top pick in the upcoming draft, ahead of the Washington Wizards and Charlotte Hornets, per Tankathon. The season wraps up on April 13, followed by the draft lottery on May 12 and the draft on June 25.