Dylan Harper - NBA Mock Draft Roundup 1.0

Dylan Harper caught a nasty flu recently that limited his minutes and productivity, even losing nine pounds. Harper has an elite ability to create his own shot especially at the rim, per CBB Analytics, and he is still leading all freshmen in unassisted field goals per game by a wide margin this season. He has a strong case as the most intriguing offensive prospect in this class.

He was playing at an incredibly high level at the end of the calendar year but has recently been hampered by illness. The key with Harper is the shooting. If he's making 3-pointers, it unlocks so much else because of his size, strength, length and natural instincts with the ball in his hands — and he was 15 for 32 from behind the arc in December.

The flu cost Dylan Harper the Indiana game and clearly affected his play and minutes against Wisconsin and Purdue. He looked more like himself against UCLA on Monday.

Harper has made a strong impression this season with how well he's able to get to spots and finish in traffic. He's been lethal so far from off the ball in catch-and-shoot situations, and despite underwhelming pull-up percentages, he's demonstrated enough shotmaking capability for an 18-year-old to keep scouts' hopeful.

Lottery teams will ultimately view Harper as a scoring lead guard whose creativity and gravity should result in sufficient playmaking for an offense's primary ball-handler.

Harper is in the mix for No. 1. He's been a bit better than Flagg this season, averaging 22.8 points, 5.3 rebounds and 4.8 assists while shooting 52.5 percent from the field, 37.3 percent from 3 and 75 percent from the line. He went scoreless in 15 minutes on Monday against Wisconsin but was dealing with the flu. He had a monster 37-point game earlier this season against Alabama, a huge 24/12/5 game against Penn State, 36 points versus Notre Dame and 24 points on 13 shots against Seton Hall. More than anything, it's the well-rounded polish of Harper's game that showcases itself every time he takes the court. He's a terrific ballhandler, great decision-maker, sharp defender and good shooter. There isn't really anything he doesn't do well at this level, and he's elite at creating shots.

What are the questions that come up most? The first one is whether Harper will be able to consistently get this degree of separation against NBA-level defenders. He's not a monster athlete, but he's unbelievable at finding little creases in the defense and has incredibly flexible hips that allow him to find his way through traffic to get to the rim. The other big question is his pull-up game, as he's made just 33 percent from 3 and 40 percent from the midrange on such shots, per Synergy. But given that he's just 19 and has been as impressive as he's been, it's hard to nitpick. To me, this is a two-person draft at the top, and Harper has pushed himself into that top tier with Flagg.

Injuries have ravaged New Orleans' season, leading to a likely high draft pick. Harper has established himself among front offices as a consensus top-two pick at this stage and the Pelicans likely would be thrilled to add a player with his talent after such a difficult season.

Harper has even done enough to be a candidate for the No. 1 pick: His shot-creation prowess, pick-and-roll instincts and positional size should earn him the keys to some team's offense in the long run. He's making 3-pointers at a respectable clip (36% on nearly five attempts per game) and manages turnovers effectively in a huge role. Though Rutgers, at 7-6, will have an uphill climb to make the NCAA tournament, Harper has a terrific runway to strengthen his candidacy atop the draft. -- Woo

Harper has separated himself from anybody else in the race to go second overall behind Flagg. As it stands right now, he's as close as he's ever been to the No. 1 pick. Harper is averaging 21.1 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game on a Rutgers team that is underwhelming beyond him and Ace Bailey. The New Jersey native is the best pure guard in this draft, and it's not close.