Inside The Wizards

Wizards Could Get Great Value Out of Dylan Harper

While Cooper Flagg is the obvious prize for all of the lottery teams looking to land the NBA Draft's top pick, he's not the only potential franchise player in his class for the Washington Wizards to examine.
Henry Brown|
Feb 23, 2025; Piscataway, New Jersey, USA; Rutgers Scarlet Knights guard Dylan Harper (2) reacts during the first half against the USC Trojans at Jersey Mike's Arena. Mandatory Credit: John Jones-Imagn Images
Feb 23, 2025; Piscataway, New Jersey, USA; Rutgers Scarlet Knights guard Dylan Harper (2) reacts during the first half against the USC Trojans at Jersey Mike's Arena. Mandatory Credit: John Jones-Imagn Images | John Jones-Imagn Images

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Washington Wizards

This past season of college basketball was dominated by Duke.

The Blue Devils entered the season fresh off of a respectable run in 2024's NCAA Tournament, added the top prospect in the country in Montverde's Cooper Flagg, and entered this past March as a title favorite behind their National Freshman and Player of the Year in Flagg and a starting lineup stacked with future NBA players.

Coverage for this upcoming NBA Draft has followed a similar pattern. Despite Duke's hype train coming to a sudden stop when the Blue Devils blew it to Houston in the Final Four, Flagg has been recognized as the consensus top draft prospect for all of 2025 to this point. He's about as complete as someone can be at 18 years old, elevating his game on the fly to reign supreme over the highest level of college ball.

This summer's draft is far from a one-man class, though. In fact, Flagg isn't even the only potential franchise-rebooter in this year's crop of talent, as Rutgers' Dylan Harper rivaled the Blue Devil as a collegiate standout and perhaps surpasses Flagg in superstar upside.

Harper as a Dream Playmaker

Harper and Flagg are two very different players. Flagg is a defense-first jack-of-all-trades who could very easily scale up to the NBA as a playmaking connector, while Harper spent his time in college as the kind of offensive hub that teams can feasibly ride into wins with him at the controls.

The small, dedicated crowd of hoop heads who'd prefer that Harper go #1 in the draft rely on a simple case: Harper's ceiling as an offense unto himself makes him a more bankable candidate to evolve into a franchise saver who can potentially carry teams into the playoffs with his deep bag of tricks as the primary ball handler.

The most basic comparison thrown around to describe Harper's game has been James Harden, and it's not hard to see why. Defenses had no idea what to do when the point guard made his way to the 3-point line, where they had to pick their poison. He's capable of taking anyone off the bounce and finishing on his own, he can shoot over the defense with an NBA-ready 6'6 frame, and can get any shooters or cutters involved with his court vision and off-the-bounce passing ability.

An offensive force capable of creating for himself and others remains one of the most desirable archetypes that teams continually hunt for in the draft, and Harper possesses the physical and statistical traits to fill just about any analysts' boxes

Even with his inconsistent 3-ball, which he connected on at a 33% rate on 5.2 attempts per game, he posted an above-average true shooting percentage of 58.7%. He showed a willingness to stretch the defense and made them question how to guard him during his drives with his 5.8 free throws per contest combined with his proficient finishing package at the rim.

Harper's Potential Fit in DC

Harper's multi-level approach to scoring and passing chops are hard to find in the college game, especially from someone with his size and young age at 19 years old.

He's not quite as stocky as Flagg, who possesses some nice off-the-dribble passing himself, but Harper's teammates couldn't hold a candle to Duke's co-stars, which factors into his underwhelming four assists per game.

Harper, much like Harden did during his days as a Rocket, could make do in Washington alongside the Wizards' young core of defenders who can make up for Harper's decent, if not game-changing, stopping ability.

Flagg is an easier fit to imagine in Washington as a low-usage Swiss army knife capable of slotting in anywhere in the front court, while Harper would have to share reps with Jordan Poole, Bub Carrington and whoever else the team lends the ball to. Still, he'd slot in as one of the best playmakers on the squad, and could feasibly develop into an expert-level offensive orchestrater.

All Wizards fans have their eyes on getting the top draft pick due to the flexibility it provides, as getting to determine your own destiny is the kind of luxury few teams get to experience every season. Even if the Wizards lose out on Flagg, Harper is far from your standard silver medalist.

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Henry Brown
HENRY BROWN

Henry covers the Washington Wizards and Baltimore Ravens with prior experience as a sports reporter with The Baltimore Sun, the Capital Gazette and The Lead. A Bowie, MD native, he earned his Journalism degree at the University of Maryland.

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