NBA Prospects in New York, New Jersey: Dylan Harper/Ace Bailey
Brian breaks down the top prospects from New York and New Jersey! This includes Rutgers Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey, St. John's RJ Luis and Kadary Richmond and more!
Out of all of the teams in this region, only one team exceeded expectations and that was St. John’s University. Under Rick Pitino, the team improved to a 31-5 record and was a 2nd seed in the NCAA tournament. They lost to Arkansas in the second round however. The other teams in this region really struggled and there might not be a team in the country who disappointed more this season than the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. With 2 of the top 3 high school recruits, this team was poised to be in the headlights all season and it never materialized at all. Part of the issue is that Ace Bailey had to play center at times because he was the tallest player on the court for Rutgers. Dylan Harper also got sick during the season which hindered their chances to win games. Most of all, Harper and Bailey didn’t have that much help around them. While it was disappointing we couldn’t see them in the NCAA tournament, it happens sometimes. I also want to further emphasize, I don’t think this is a situation like Ben Simmons at LSU or Markelle Fultz at Washington. NIL management played a big part of why this team didn’t play very well. They spent most of their money on Dylan and Ace and didn’t fill out the roster very well apart from that. On top of that, there was very little ball movement during the season and spacing was an issue. Dylan and Ace should be fine in the NBA and I wouldn’t hold this Rutgers season against them. Now, let’s go break them down individually.
Note: I had a brain fart in a previous article and for some reason thought Princeton University was in Pennsylvania. It’s in New Jersey. So, I’ll just copy and paste what I put for Xaivian Lee and Caden Pierce in here as well.
Dylan Harper/Rutgers
My Opinion:
Dylan Harper was an incredibly impactful player on Rutgers this season. He didn’t have much help outside of Ace Bailey and still managed to score as well as he did with everyone gearing to stop him. Do not worry about the assist numbers at all. He’s going to be fine in the NBA. We are talking about a potential All-Star level player. Will he be the best player on a title team? I would guess that he isn’t but he can be a #2 pretty easily. I’m not ruling out he ends up being the best player on a title team but he’ll have to be so unstoppable offensively that not many people can guard him and I’m not sure I’m there yet. I think barring injury, he should be a ten year NBA player at least but he should be fine.
The question now is how high should you take him in dynasty drafts. In rookie drafts he should go #2 and there shouldn’t be much question about that. In start-up dynasty drafts, he’s a top 50 asset at this point. He should be valued in the 40’s-50’s range and he should be in a tier of his own.
Ace Bailey/Rutgers
My Opinion:
Here’s the link to the Marquesse Chriss comment.
I know the stats aren’t pretty, but I’m not too worried about it long term. He may not be a good fantasy player at the end of the day, but he’s still a very impactful player. When he’s on fire, he’s very, very hard to stop because of his size and frame. He’s not going to be this big on-ball guy, and he may not contribute to winning initially, but he has the tools and skills to be a very impactful NBA player. If things really start to go right for Ace, there’s real All-Star potential. I still believe he can get there. He’s got good character, is coachable, and is a hard worker.
In terms of a dynasty perspective, he should still go in the top 5, and the pre-draft process will be important to determine where he should go in dynasty leagues. If you don’t want to take him that highly with a top pick, I get it and won’t try to convince you otherwise, but the potential is there, and he could become a player that’s very hard to trade for later on.
Kadary Richmond/St. John’s
My Opinion:
Kadary has flaws in terms of his NBA translation, but you don’t often get players who can handle the ball like he can at his size. He’s going to benefit from players going back to school. There’s a very real chance he gets drafted, but I’m not that high on him long-term and never really have been, to be completely honest. He’s had a very good college career. He spent most of his time at Seton Hall and being an effective player. He should still get a two-way contract given what he’s good at though.
RJ Luis/St. John’s
My Opinion:
He’s a good player and defender. I just don’t know how this is going to work in the NBA unless he becomes a decent 3-point shooter. We’ve already seen DeMar DeRozan get phased out a bit here and there. DeMar is an outlier, so banking on someone who doesn’t project to be at that level of player is hard to rely on at the NBA level. He’ll need to show he can play off the ball, but he hasn’t been able to demonstrate that at any point in his college career.
I’ll also briefly mention some things that I didn’t think were hugely important to include in the actual report, because this won’t be a big factor down the line. St. John’s makes the tournament, wins against Omaha, then plays Arkansas and loses. In that game, RJ Luis is chucking shots, and he just clearly doesn’t have it. Rick Pitino decides to bench him down the stretch, and they end up losing. The benching was 100% the correct decision. Watching that game was tough, and the offense wasn’t flowing. RJ really struggled with Arkansas’s athleticism, and that’s an issue because those are the types of players RJ will face in the NBA. John Calipari is coaching at Kentucky, bringing in top high school prospects with all that NIL at Arkansas; these are the kinds of players RJ will play against in the NBA.
Then, it was recently announced that he was declaring for the draft and entering the transfer portal. Pretty normal stuff, right? Then his coach, Rick Pitino, put out a statement that seemed pretty ominous. Credit to Zach Braziller on X for this, here’s the link, but I’m going to copy and paste what he said:
Rick Pitino on RJ Luis: "We would not have had that season we had without RJ, but I do think RJ should try and make the NBA. He's reached his potential with us. Now I think the NBA is his calling, and we're rooting for him to make the NBA."
This is your coach saying this after you helped St. John’s get a 2 seed in the tournament. I know some people will make the connection about the benching and think that’s the reason why he entered the portal. I don’t think this is true, to be honest. I’m guessing this was probably brewing for some time, and it just became noticeable in that game against Arkansas. It’s also worth noting that Rick Pitino said RJ Luis was pretty underpaid this season for the production he gave them. You can make an argument that RJ is just trying to get the biggest bag possible, which is completely understandable. However, for your coach to say this is a pretty interesting statement, considering he just won Big East Player of the Year. Is there an attitude issue? It’s something to monitor, and the reason why RJ entering the portal is specifically important is that maybe the benching is a factor in him leaving, and if it is, that is a massive red flag for NBA teams. Especially with players on the end of NBA rosters, teams want players who won’t throw a fit when they don’t get their way and can be good teammates in the locker room. It’s just something to monitor long-term. He’s got talent, no question, but it’s a weird situation, and it’s worth taking note of.
Xaivian Lee/Princeton
My Thoughts: I just want to start off by saying that, truly, he is one of the most fun players to watch in college basketball. My issue with him is that he hasn’t been efficient this season. I expect more from him coming from the Ivy League. Why am I more concerned about it than I am with Fleming? Xaivian is the man at Princeton. He’s a PG without great size, and he isn’t efficient. Rasheer is a big guy with great size, doesn’t need the ball to be effective, and has more outs to being an NBA guy if things fail than Xaivian. I’m at the point with Xaivian Lee that I want him to stay in college but transfer to a high-major school. There are plenty of schools that are great in academics and also high majors. Look what happened to Danny Wolf at Michigan. (We’ll get to him later on.) Michigan, Northwestern, Stanford, Duke, UCLA, UC Berkeley, and Vanderbilt are all top schools with good athletic programs. I know, for one, Duke needs a PG. Stanford would be fun with him and Jaylen Blakes. If he comes out this year, I’d give Lee a two-way, but I wouldn’t do more than that. If he stays at Princeton, then his stock probably stagnates and we talk about him more seriously next year.
Quick Hits:
This segment will cover some lesser-known prospects who may not have as much buzz as others but could play in the Summer League or be sleeper names to watch next season. In addition, since we have entered transfer portal season, any player who enters the portal will be discussed in the context of the team they played for this season rather than their new team.
St. John’s Zuby Ejiofor had a breakout season after Joel Soriano left last year. Zuby showcased his dominance in the paint as a strong, bruising center who wasn’t afraid to take three-pointers. He’s returning for his senior season next year, and I imagine he’ll be on the pre-season board for the 2026 NBA Draft.
Syracuse’s Donnie Freeman had an up-and-down year. He had moments where you could see the potential of a big forward with shooting ability, but he wasn’t able to put it all together consistently. He wasn’t physically ready, but he should be in line for a breakout year next season.
St. John’s Aaron Scott had a good season this year, with his impact really being felt on the defensive end. He’s an athletic big man who can shoot a little bit, though his percentages weren’t great. He’ll be a name to watch to see if he gets invited to Portsmouth or Summer League to see what happens, but he’s not a high-priority add.
Princeton’s Caden Pierce was in line for a potential breakout junior season, but it never fully materialized. He could be back at Princeton next season, or there’s a possibility he could transfer if Princeton’s head coach (Mitch Henderson) gets a better job somewhere else.
Monmouth’s Abdi Bashir Jr. had a breakout season and will be transferring to a high-major team next season. He can really score the basketball, but I also think it’s worth noting how poor the efficiency was. I don’t think Bashir will end up on an NBA roster, but averaging over 20 PPG is impressive, and he should at least be mentioned as a potential solid player. Nick Kalinowski had a thread about him and some other players worth noting. Here’s the link to it.