海角社区官网

If there is no doubt that Cooper Flagg will be the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft on June 25, it鈥檚 equally certain that Dylan Harper will follow him to the stage as the second selection.

Harper 鈥斅爐he son of ex-NBAer Ron Harper and brother of the Detroit Pistons’ Ron. Jr., a former Raptors prospect 鈥� has all the skills that could have landed him atop the draft class had Flagg not existed.

He鈥檚 a six-foot-six lefty guard with smarts and instincts that belie his 19-year-old self, and it鈥檚 hard to find a major flaw in his game that can鈥檛 be worked on and improved.

In one season at Rutgers, Harper finished with a 70 per cent success rate at the rim, he鈥檚 got a deep bag of floaters and drives, and he has found a way to dictate the tempo to the game.

鈥淣BA teams saw I am an all-around player,鈥� Harper said in announcing his decision to leave university. 鈥淚 can do whatever it takes to win, whether it’s score, defend or facilitate.鈥�

Harper is often compared to future Hall of Famer James Harden because of his ability to goad defenders into fouls on drives and manipulate the play.

Harper鈥檚 not nearly the shooter Harden is聽鈥� a below-average 29 per cent on three-pointers at Rutgers聽鈥� but that鈥檚 a skill that can be taught and honed.

And while it was impressive that he got to the free-throw line almost six times per game, he was only a 75 per cent foul shooter and that鈥檚 not good enough to orchestrate an offence.

That shooting may be the thing that holds him back a bit in his rookie season, but teams are more than willing to be patient because of his myriad other skills.

鈥淗e just knows how to play,鈥� a Western Conference scout said. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e not going to have to teach him too much.鈥�

If there is one eye-popping point about Harper, it鈥檚 centred on his team. The Rutgers Scarlet Knights, with the consensus No. 2 prospect for the draft along with Ace Bailey (widely expected to go in the top six), somehow failed to even sniff the 68-team NCAA tournament. That鈥檚 either an indictment of their teammates or the Rutgers coaching staff, but it鈥檚 a fact some NBA executives wonder about.

If the Raptors are in a position to draft Harper聽鈥� and the overwhelming sense is that it would take moving up to second in the May 12 lottery, because he’s not going to fall to No. 3聽鈥� it鈥檇 be an interesting conundrum for team president Masai Ujiri and general manager Bobby Webster.

The Raptors already have a glut of ball-handling, back-court scorers in Immanuel Quickley, Jamal Shead, RJ Barrett, Ja鈥橩obe Walter, Gradey Dick and Ochai Agbaji.

But a player with Harper鈥檚 potential is appealing in so many ways, and it could lead the Raptors to investigate a trade with a team that really needs help in the back court. Or 海角社区官网could keep him and deal some excess assets to address the need for a big man to groom in the post-Jakob Poeltl era.

However it shakes out as it pertains to Toronto, it doesn鈥檛 do anything to shake the sense that Harper will follow Flagg to the stage on draft night in Brooklyn.

He has been the consensus second pick since the college season began, and there鈥檚 nothing to suggest anything will change between now and the draft.