I don’t think Dylan Harper’s case at No. 2 is quite as ironclad as some others think it is, but at the end of the day, I still give him the nod over Baylor’s V.J. Edgecombe for this spot. Harper doesn’t pop athletically and struggled to shoot consistently in his lone college season (33.3 percent from 3, 75.0 percent from the line), but he is a true ball-in-hand, pick-and-roll creator with plus size and instincts.
His nose for the ball makes up for some meh measurables: Despite not being a speed demon, he pilfered 3.1 steals per 100 possessions in Big Ten play and the defensive tape shows him sliding to cut off driving angles. Offensively, he constantly touches the paint and shot 57.4 percent on 2s with a high free-throw rate. Harper did this despite a limited Rutgers roster around him; the surrounding talent likely jobbed him out of several assists.
High-usage, big guards like Harper are among the most difficult and expensive to obtain by other means; in a related story, they are among the most important when it comes to building a successful roster. That’s why he has to be the choice here.
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