Ron Harper Jr. better have his passport in order.
Right after the 2022 NBA Draft ended on Thursday night/Friday morning, the former Rutgers Men's Basketball signed a two-way contract with the Toronto Raptors.
Harper Jr. will get a chance to play for both the Raptors and its G-League affiliate, the Raptors 905. A two-way contract is a contract where you get paid depending on the league you are playing in. It is evident that Toronto liked the 6-foot-5 Harper, and now it gets to watch him grow even more under its watch.
Wayne Embry, a senior advisor for Toronto, was the General Manager of the Cleveland Cavaliers in 1986 when they selected Ron Harper Sr. in the first round.
The Raptors, which won their first NBA title in the 2018-2019 season, have a history of developing their home grown talent, especially in the D-League/G-League, such as Pascal Siakam, who turned into an NBA All-Star and All-NBA player, Dalano Banton, NBA All-Star Fred VanFleet, Chris Boucher, Norman Powell, Delon Wright, and others.
How the Raptors built the NBA's best development program
Since 2015-16, the first year for the 905, has made the playoffs in five of seven years. The only time it didn't was the very first year, and the 2019-20 season didn't have a postseason. They won a championship in 2016-17 and made the finals in 2017-18. The 905 have had two G-League MVP's, a finals MVP, three Defensive Player of the Year recipients, a coach of the year, four all-stars, eight all-league team members, three all-defensive league team picks, one all-rookie team honoree, a most improvement player, and they also won Franchise of the Year in 2019-20.
The Raptors 905 didn't win the G-League title this season, but they went 24-8 for the top record and made the East final.
Harper Jr. is in a spot and on a team that cares deeply about drafting well, signing well, and developing homegrown talent.
In order to have a chance at eventually getting to the NBA, Harper likely will have to develop more and improve in certain areas such as his 3-point shooting and defense to be a solid role player. He has the ability to do it, as he didn't back down from any defensive assignment and shot the ball efficiently at Rutgers.
Raptors use G-League team like European soccer club
"Great landing spot and I think it’s definitely better than getting drafted late," former teammate Geo Baker said on the TKR message boards. "He/his team got to decide where they thought was best for him to develop. The Raptors are known for developing out of the G-League. They take a lot of pride in it.
"It would have been a great symbol for Rutgers for him to be drafted, but ultimately him sticking in the league will be an even greater symbol. This gives him a better chance to do that than being drafted late second round by a random team."
Harper, a Franklin Lakes, N.J. native who spent four years at Rutgers after becoming a four-star recruit coming at Don Bosco Prep, averaged 15.8 points, 5.9 rebounds, 1.9 assists, and had 33 steals and 20 blocks as a senior. He also shot career-highs in 3-point percentage (39.8%) and free throw percentage (79.5%).
For his career, Harper averaged 12.6 points while netting 1,525 total points. He racked up 622 rebounds, 94 steals, 78 blocks, made 181 threes, 260 foul shots, and 524 buckets 3,522 minutes. He started 108 of the 121 games he played in.
Harper, who measured in at 6-foot-5 at the NBA Scouting Combine, had the second-longest wingspan differential relative to his height at +9.25.
Harper won the Lt. Frank J. Haggerty Award and earned Honorable Mention All-American, Second Team All-Big Ten, NABC Second Team All-District, and First Team All-ECAC honors this past season. He was the first Rutgers player since Quincy Douby to be named an All-American since 2006 and he had the highest all-conference accolade since Douby that year, who also won the Haggerty Award. Harper was a finalist for the Julius Erving Award, too.
Harper helped Rutgers to two-straight NCAA Tournament appearances, breaking a 30-year drought. This year, Harper scored 30 points and netted a buzzer-beater to beat then-No. 1 Purdue at Jersey Mike's Arena in Piscataway. He also drained the game-winning shot at Indiana on March 2. The Scarlet Knights wound up falling to Notre Dame, but Harper made a 3-pointer with 10 seconds left in double-overtime to force another extra period.
Harper ended his Rutgers career 12th all-time in points and 19th all-time in blocks.
Follow Chris Nalwasky on Twitter @ChrisNalwasky.
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