Rutgers freshman (and possible future Portland Trail Blazers guard?) Dylan Harper showed his NBA lottery-pick promise against Seton Hall Saturday. The 6-foot-6 Harper, 18, dropped 24 points on 8-13 shooting and buried a deep 3-pointer at the buzzer to help Rutgers win, 66-63.
Through 11 games this season, Harper has averaged 23.5 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4.4 assists while shooting 36.4% on five 3-point attempts per game. He’s projected by multiple sites — including SB Nation and NBADraft.net — as the No. 2 pick in next summer’s NBA Draft, a lottery the 8-17 Blazers are taking great interest in.
The presumed grand prize in the draft is Duke 6-foot-9 freshman Cooper Flagg, who is averaging 15.9 points, 9.0 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.4 blocks through 10 games. However, Harper appears to be fast on Flagg’s heels in the mock-draft pecking order, and performances like Harper’s on Saturday could help make that decision at No. 1 less simple.
The Blazer’s Edge reader community is full of NBA Draft analysts who do their homework and have their preferences about who they want the Blazers to take next summer. So, we’re extending a question to those analysts to discuss in the comments now: What do you think of Harper’s game, and do you think he could beat out Flagg as the No. 1 pick next summer? Ultimately, who do you want the Blazers to take?
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