Dylan Harper Compares His Game to Cade Cunningham, James Harden, SGA Ahead of Draft

As one of the top prospects in the 2025 NBA draft, Rutgers guard Dylan Harper is confident that his skills are comparable to some of the best players in the league.

When asked which NBA players he'd compare his game to, Harper told The Athletic's Mike Vorkunov, "It’s probably big guards like Cade Cunningham, James Harden, Shai [Gilgeous-Alexander]."

Harper, who is coming off a stellar freshman season in which he averaged 19.4 points, 4.6 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.4 steals, explained that he feels those players are able to impact the game in a variety of ways, and he carries that same mindset.

"Just big guards who know how to control the game, control the pace and just know when they need to score, when they don’t need to score," he said. "Then they know when they need to give someone a touch, they ain’t touch it. The most important thing that I like about all of them is that they make the team around them a lot better."

At 6'6", Harper is bigger than a typical point guard but still has the skills to be the initiator of the offense. If he takes a similar trajectory to the players he compared himself to, he will enjoy a fruitful NBA career.

B/R's Jonathan Wasserman predicted that Harper would be the No. 2 pick by the San Antonio Spurs in his latest mock draft. He would be another strong addition to a young core that includes star center Victor Wembanyama and reigning NBA Rookie of the Year Stephon Castle.