Dylan Harper is a superstar and more than just the 2025 NBA Draft’s consolation prize

If the Sixers don’t land the No. 1 overall pick, the best option is simple: draft Dylan Harper.

With just three more sleeps until we know the Sixers’ draft lottery fate, all Sixers fans are hoping and wishing upon that 10.5% chance that they land the No. 1 overall pick and the right to select franchise savior Cooper Flagg. However, if the Sixers do not land the top selection, who is the next best option and fit for the Sixers?

The answer is simple: draft Dylan Harper.

Let’s talk about it.

While Harper is the no-brainer No. 2 overall pick. He would also be an excellent fit with the Sixers in both the immediate and long-term future. Harper is a legitimate offensive engine, has excellent positional size at 6-foot-6 with a reported 6-foot-10 wingspan, and is the second-best advantage creator in the class. Harper has perennial All-Star and All-NBA upside should he reach his ceiling.

Harper ranks in the 86th percentile in finishing at the rim. Harper finished an astonishing 70% of his attempts at the basket, with 82.4% of those attempts being unassisted (via Bart), and in the 83rd percentile as a pick-and-roll ball handler where he shows a ton of patience, creativity and feel operating in such situations, doing so all with a less-than-ideal supporting cast in his one season at Rutgers.

Harper’s mixture of high-level passing feel, elite rim finishing, self-creation, playmaking ability, vision, as well as his deep arsenal and capability as a primary go-to scoring option, all make him an excellent prospect. His game has drawn comparisons to a young James Harden, Cade Cunningham and a pre-shoulder injury Markelle Fultz.

Dylan Harper Stats (PER 40 Minutes):

24.0 PPG

5.6 REB

5.0 AST

1.8 STL

58.7 TS%

While both Tyrese Maxey and Jared McCain are capable passers, they are both naturally more gifted and more wired to score. Harper being naturally a better playmaker and a more creative passer would optimize both Maxey and McCain in more secondary playmaker and primary shooting slots. The same would be true of Quentin Grimes. Harper’s constant rim pressure and ability to bend defenses with his passing and pull-up shooting threat make him a dynamic offensive juggernaut who will make life much easier for anybody who plays alongside him.

Harper’s true go-to scoring ability coupled with his fantastic passing prowess make him a nightmare to scheme against and cover.

Harper is an effortless and smooth athlete with an explosive first step and plenty of vertical pop to go upstairs and finish emphatically above the rim.

Harper also is a fantastic off-ball player, both as a spot-up player and off-ball mover. Not needing to be a heliocentric hub to be effective makes him an even more enticing fit from a roster and role flexibility standpoint alongside those other guards. Harper ranked in the 86th percentile as a spot-up player, per Synergy. He can punish defenses as a shooter and attack a moving defense with the threat to score and create additional advantages as a passer.

Some would argue that it would create a logjam at the guard position, but Harper’s size and primary skillset, which differs from his peers in the Sixers’ backcourt, make him an ideal fit as the team’s point guard. Harper is also a very good defensive prospect who uses his size and quickness to smother ball handlers at the point of attack, jump passing lanes off the ball, and rack up deflections thanks to his tremendous instincts and length. Harper would give the Sixers a defensive option in the backcourt that they do not currently possess. While Maxey has improved a ton as a defender over his time with the Sixers, he is not the defensive prospect or event creator that Harper has the potential to be.

Harper would take on the toughest guard assignments allowing Maxey and McCain to guard down on the scouting report which would be optimal for both. Maxey has shown tremendous growth as a defender and could turn into a real problem on that end drawing more advantageous matchups alongside Harper.

Harper’s elite ability as a pick-and-roll ball handler and DHO playmaker also makes him a fantastic fit with Joel Embiid and really any big man. If Embiid can ever get healthy enough to stay on the floor, I would predict a Harper and Embiid two-man game would rank amongst the best sources of offense in the NBA on a points per possession basis. Embiid and Harden made for a dynamic duo in there time together with the Sixers. Harper would bring a lot of those same tools to the table as the Sixers’ primary ball handler that Harden once did. While not quite the all-time playmaker and passer as Harden is at this stage, Harper would provide more as a downhill attacker and rim finisher.

While Cooper Flagg is viewed as the crown jewel of this draft class — and rightfully so — Harper is more than just a consolation prize and is a legitimate superstar prospect worthy of being the top overall pick in most drafts. He has the ability to change the fortunes and outlook of a franchise overnight.

Dylan Harper’s Mona Lisa of the 2024-2025 season was his 37-point explosion vs. Alabama.

Draft Dylan Harper.