Bailey, Harper starting to make their mark in the NBA.
We are three months into the NBA season, and the two former superstars for Rutgers men’s basketball are proving why they were drafted high and are showing potential to dominate the league for years to come.
Ace Bailey
Ace Bailey, despite a slower start to the season, is playing his best basketball as of late. Bailey started the year by averaging 4.4 points per game in October. However, in the two months since then, Bailey has averaged 12.1 points in November and 11.5 points in December. He has already had three 20-point games and has all but three games in double-digit points in December. He has recorded several highlight-worthy shots, including the one below.
Bailey still has a lot of development to do to reach his maximum potential in the NBA. If his time so far is any indication, he is on an upward trajectory to reach that level. He was viewed as an all-around project when he was drafted by the Jazz. In particular, his field goal shooting percentage, defense, and rebounding still need a lot of work. Regardless, he has looked better and better with each passing game.
Dylan Harper
Arguably, the more NBA-ready of the two when they declared for the draft, Dylan Harper has already demonstrated an ability to take over games, despite playing in the NBA for less than three whole months. Against Washington earlier in the month, Harper recorded 24 points and five rebounds in San Antonio’s dominating 119-94 win over the Wizards. This is not the first time this season he has recorded a similar stat line, as he has recorded games with 20 or more points and six or more rebounds two other times.
Harper is averaging 48.2 percent on field goals, which is just above the average for NBA players, which has been 46.9 percent this season. However, this three-point percentage needs some work, as he is averaging 30.2 percent per game this season when the league average for three-point percentage per game is 35.8 percent.
Both have shown their ability to score so far in this league. Now they need to prove that they can be contributors in the other statistics. Those will likely start to click as they get more experience on an NBA court.
Ron Harper Jr.
Ron Harper Jr. has spent most of his time this season on the Boston Celtics G League squad, the Maine Celtics. However, he has been called up to the main roster a few times, where he was largely used as a rotational piece due to injuries. Harper has seen action in four NBA games this season, seeing 20 minutes on the floor across all four. He has 8 points so far this season, with six of them coming in the Celtics game against the Memphis Grizzlies. He has three rebounds on the year as well, all of which came against Houston.
Category: General Sports
