[NorrinRaddParticipant]

Was a lot more chalky than I thought at the very top.
I like the Minnesota/San Antonio trade for both teams.
A Maxey/McCain backcourt can strangely work.
Knecht’s a great fit for the Lakers.
Holland pick means Detroit is rebuilding their rebuild already… smh
I like the range AJ Johnson was drafted at, but c’mon the Bucks make no sense…
Tyler Smith imo the biggest snub of the first round…

[HitsterParticipant]

Has the rules changed about sending picks in successive years as T-Wolves owe Utah a 2029 first rounder for Gobert and then they traded away their 2030 and 2031 first rounders.

I’m surprised the Spurs didn’t draft even if Dillingham may have been a bit hgh at but he’d have given them a shooting option and a potential impact 6th man. Would Edey have even made senxse you’d have to guard the twin towers then.

Given Pops age I’m surprised he is happy to play the long game. What if Wemby starts getting a bit restless?

[BothTeamsPlayedHard-Participant]

2030 is a pick swap and 2031 is the pick itself. San Antonio is basically betting that by 2030 and 2031 that Wemby will have the Spurs in contention every year and that Gobert and Towns will have aged out. It is also possible they have assessed the possibility that Anthony Edwards could leave after the 2028-29 season as a free agent. Like a lot of these long-range pick swaps, it might not work out in any sort of meaningful way once the final picks are established, but if they weren’t enthralled by their choices at #8 they sure do have a couple assets to include in a trade down the line.

[HitsterParticipant]

I still don’t think it is such a good deal for the Spurs as some analysts were saying. Wemby could well have moved on by 2030 or 2031 in theory. If there was no-one in the later lottery that the Spurs fancied it was surprising even factoring in Wemby is light years ahead of most prospects anyway.

The Spurs might have an eye on next year’s draft too with Flagg, Ace, Harper, Edgcombe etc who will potentially be way better than what Dillingham will be.

Dillingham may not be a great defender but the T-Wolves can hide that somewhat and his scoring and shooting alongside Edwards gives them a nice option.

[HitsterParticipant]

The 2nd round looked surprisingly strong on paper with a number of consensus 1st round guys – Fliipowski, Klintman, Smith and Furphy all falling into the 2nd round.

Jonathan Mogbo was the standout guy from the combine who shot himself up the boards to be the top 2nd round pick. he might not quite have NBA C height but he has a huge wingspan, is very athletic and looks a good ball handler for his size. He can play at 3 to 5 on defence easily and whilst not having a 3 point range he can score around the basket.But his hustle, defence and energy is what the Raptors have drafted him for.

[sweaterflexParticipant]

Big Winners
1. Houston – Reed and AJG add shooting and upside that pair perfectly with Amen and Cam, League Pass HoF type team.
2. Thunder – all of that floor spacing for Topic and Jones will be great for their development.
3. Pistons – hiring Fred Vinson was their best decision, I had Ron #4 on my board without the best shooting coach in the world.
4. Jazz – Collier never should have slid that far, and they Flip falls to them after a bizarre scandal (hope he’s ok, check his family’s tweets).
5. Wiz – they needed a full tear down.

Losers
1. Spurs – can they just get someone who can either throw an entry pass to Wemby or space the floor?
2. Magic – spending a first rounder on a 23 year old stuck between positions on defense who is exclusively a play finisher on offense? Meh
3. Hawks – getting a slightly better version of DeAndre Hunter does nothing for anybody, and selling low on AJG was bad.

[NorrinRaddParticipant]

I’m not sold on what the Jazz did in the draft. Not sold on Cody Williams at least yet. Utah develops players well so I suppose he has a shot, but not the direction I would have gone at 10. Shot terrible at the combine and didn’t test as athletically as I thought he would. Only shot well in a small sample. Didn’t finish the year well either. Collier I don’t think is a great fit. His defense is atrocious. Filipowski is in a crowded frontcourt. They should have traded up and took Castle or Sheppard or something. They just drafted by name recognition it seems like to me. These prospects can make it and have a chance, but Utah needs to make moves.

Not sold on the Ron Holland pick. I like Ron Holland some, but the Pistons fit is awful. They’ve been rebuilding for a few years now and appear to be rebuilding their rebuild for another few years. smh. Nobody will space the floor and everyone wants the ball in Detroit. Too many mouths to feed. They need to do some trades before I can like this pick. Vinson is a good direction to go in at least.

I actually think Spurs and Minnesota both were winners and liked the trade for both teams. Castle will give an edge to the Spurs while Ingram should be a solid backup. Juan Nunez could be a sneaky pick. And they get some picks back. I’m a Dillingham believer, and Minnesota did right for themselves in the here and now.

Imo the biggest draft snubs were probably Justin Edwards and Trentyn Flowers… Neither one of them are locks to make an impact, but both seem to be better swings than others that were drafted. I would have chanced either one of those prospects over Furphy… All he can do is sit in a corner and shoot. Kansas alum Gradey Dick has more overall skills coming into last years’ draft than Furphy did this year. Gradey Dick had a dismal year in Toronto this year… Trentyn Flowers is at least young, athletic, a good passer and dribbler – something I doubt Furphy will be. But hey, people fell in love with Furphy for some reason…

Have to agree that Houston came out big winners, although they can still use a shot blocking anchor on defense. But as far as just talent, they are up there with the best in the league as far as top to bottom of the roster. Do they put it together? Chemistry? Maybe…

As much as I wasn’t sure about the Bucks’ AJ Johnson fit as the pick, I like the Tyler Smith pick in the 2nd round very much… in fact, Tyler Smith was my biggest first round snub.

Mogbo was a great combine guy, however I’m not a believer. To me he’s a watered down Kenneth Faried playing at the 5 these days. Toronto is good at developing too though, so I won’t count him out, but for me he was fringe. His size combined with shooting doesn’t sit right with me.

The best pick in the 1st round imo was Jared McCain to the 76ers. Knecht was a good value pick to the Lakers though.

I’m glad we get to go on to a better draft class for the 2025 year… It’s always fun to go through the draft process, however a good draft class always makes it better.

[HitsterParticipant]

That was the first I heard about Filipowski having a “cougar” girl friend. But Duke would still have a lot of Coach K guys working there and I’m pretty sure they would sniff out if anything was amiss. Plus if Ainge is happy sign off drafting him I don’t see that being an issue.

Utah are still getting their rebuild going after trading Gobert and Mitchell, they maybe punched above their weight since that trade but have the assets in the ocker and can rebuild via future drafts. Ainge ended up with Cody Williams, Collier and Filip and it almost went unnoticed.

Minny getting Shannon at 27 might be a good pick too. He would have gone higher but for the felony issue he had over his head. BTPH who I respect hugely for his knowledge had Shannon at 18 on his mock so he considered him a top 20 player.

Houston will be fun to watch next season and how the shots get shared around will be interesting to see. If they had trgetted Clingan or maybe another big lower down they would have needed to move Eason IMO.

[NorrinRaddParticipant]

TSJ was a good pick up… and you know who else was – was Denver getting DaRon Holmes… Blazers are interesting too with that Avdija pickup and Clingan selection.

The Knicks had an interesting couple picks with Kolek and Dadiet. Hukporti might surprise with fill in minutes. He rebounds like crazy. I also like the Wizards picks and the direction they’re going in.

[sweaterflexParticipant]

I don’t love Cody Williams either but Collier and Flip is a lot of value later in the draft. Flip is a ready made Olynyk replacement, shooting 5s are a godsend for young guards and Collier’s forceful finishing at the rim will benefit, something Keyonte has not figured out.

Holland does have some Josh Jackson style warning signs but sometimes you have to trust ‘growth plates’ in people’s games, he was super young and Fred Vinson can turn around Ingram, Herb, and Lonzo then Holland is a decent bet (FT% was decent too). Similar deal with Furphy, Gradey was better but also a good bit older, Furphy was good on a contending team at a young age, he has size and he can shoot, he’ll likely figure other stuff out.

I think the Wolves are better for Dillingham than he is for them, I bet he will score efficiently and be a highlight reel but I’d prefer an offball guy like McCain and hand the keys to Ant. Having said that I don’t McCain’s fit with Maxey, they’ll still need Melton to defend the point of attack.

The Bucks would have made more sense drafting Smith #23 and AJJ #36.

[HitsterParticipant]

Detroit have Cunningham Ivey, Duren and Ausar as a key young core and having had no luck in the last couple of drafts what they would do with 5th pick was a bit limited. Salaun would have been as risky as Holland whilst Clingan wasn’t really needed with Duren in situ unless Duren could play PF.

Fred Vinson is a good hire and can go over the roster’s shooting techniques with a fine comb. It may take time. The appointment of the right Head Coach is still key having fired Monty Williams after only one season. They need a coach who can develop yiung players, I’m not bothered about what his play off record might be. But someone who can take the current roster and make the players better in a couple of seasons time.

[BothTeamsPlayedHard-Participant]

Once Shannon was cleared in Kansas, I didn’t see why he fell to #27. I had thought Filipowski was deserving of the range he went in on merit. A lot of the hype around him was largely jersey based. He was never as good of a shooter as he was billed, and a poor athlete relative to the other big men in the class. I have my doubts over whether teams care about his girlfriend being five years older than him and whatever history they may have. I understand why a team would not want to take a player with real criminal convictions where people were hurt, pending felony charges, or a video of them delivering a gun to the site of a murder. Those are big things. The Filipowski thing is just not that.

Any way, Milwaukee is the one where I cannot comprehend how a team with a one-to-three year window with where Lillard and Middleton are in their careers uses one of the few assets they have on AJ Johnson. He is about the same size and similarly athletic as Shannon (Shannon’s didn’t test this time around, but his athletic testing from before probably still holds), but they could have actually used Shannon while their window is open. Minnesota’s moves might not get them a title, but going for Dillingham and Shannon shows they understand the urgency of the moment. They have a chance now, and came away from the draft with two guys who can help them. I also thought Orlando could have used a secondary creator in their backcourt. I know they are invested in Suggs, Anthony, and Black, but that Cleveland series really left me concerned about it. Tristan da Silva is a nice player, but feels like a backup to Franz and Paolo. I know they have cap space, but KCP or Klay Thompson will hit shots but at this point aren’t going to offer a secondary creator.

I am curious to see what Portland does with Robert Williams after taking Clingan. I am a little upset with my mock, because I went against my better instinct of thinking Clingan and Knecht weren’t going to go as highly as many predicted. If Clingan turns into a Robert Williams-type, it is a successful pick, and he has a successful career. I don’t think you need two of them when Ayton is also under contract for another two years.

[HitsterParticipant]

I’d forgotten about RW III completely. When Portland took Clingan I’ve been trying to figure out how the dynamic with Ayton works. Ayton as you say has two years left so Clingan can play behind him as moving Ayton on his salary won’t beeasy. Also Jerami Grant’s durability is an issue which could affect his trade value. So you have Ayton ad Grant on huge salaies as starters and then Clingan and RW iII to fit in too.

Williams on his salary would have trade value for a contender.

T-Wolves have maybe go all in but they have a young core which can be together for a few years. Edwards is getting a lot of hype as being the one of the very best backcourters playing in the NBA and being a superstar. The biggest name the T-Wolves have had since KG etc so putting a side around him to be a regular play off team, conference finalist comtender with the potential to make a fonal or two makes sense.

[BothTeamsPlayedHard-Participant]

If they trade Robert Williams, will they get a rough equivalent of the #7 pick? Could they get Matas Buzelis? If New Orleans looks to trade for a center in midseason, are they getting a pick in the 20s? If OKC looks to do the same, where is the pick? If the Knicks lose Hartenstein and Mitchell Robinson gets hurt again, what kind of pick are they getting? In as much as people like to claim teams must take the best player available, teams and players cannot succeed in setups that don’t make sense.

[HitsterParticipant]

I fully agree BTPH. Detroit and Charlotte both passed on Clingan as they feel they have their long term C in situ. With Memphis needing a big in this year’s draft I did wonder whether Eason, Sochan, Kessler might have been in play for them to trade the 9th pick for. RW III would have come into this mix too now looking at it with hindsight.

Clingan I didn’t put on my mock to go to Portland as they had Ayton I felt Wemby and Clingan could possibly work as a duo if not Memphis would have just taken Clingan at 9.

[NorrinRaddParticipant]

Imo there were some more good moves after the draft as far as 2 way deals…
Lakers have a pair of prospects I had on the fringe… Armel Traore I thought would get drafted and I thought Hinson would get consideration…

I like Branden Carlson for the Raptors. He’s about the oldest prospect, but solid player for now at least.

76ers did more good by bringing in Justin Edwards. I’d give him the Kentucky bump, had him early second round. I know he was an older freshman, but he improved during the year and finished pretty well. David Jones will at least compete there as well.

The Rockets picked up N’Faley Dante who is a big needed body down low that can get a rebound or occasionally block a shot.

Nuggets got PJ Hall and Trey Alexander. Both good college career players.

I like what the Kings did… Isaiah Crawford I had in the second and Isaac Jones was just outside but on the Fringe. Both have a chance to contribute here, Crawford especially.

Heat are a perfect landing spot for Keshad Johnson as an UDFA. And they added Zyon Pullin too…

I really like the Suns picking up Jalen Bridges as well.

I’m not sure, but I think Jaedon LeDee hasn’t signed anywhere yet… and not sure what contract Trentyn Flowers has with the Clippers yet… but yeah some good pickups after the draft.

[NorrinRaddParticipant]

I think LeDee’s in Minnesota now – like they need him. Too much talent for any playing time there. GLeague lifer. lol!

[HitsterParticipant]

N’Faley Dante is a nice pick up for Houston and does give them that big body they might need for certain match ups.

[NorrinRaddParticipant]

I compiled a way too early top 50 prospect potentials for the 2025 draft. It’s all in theory as we don’t know who gets playing time yet, but figured I’d take a stab at it… anyways the point is the top 20ish prospects in this upcoming class would have been at least considered for the top pick in the last! What a breath of fresh air! I got a feeling this 2025 draft isn’t one a team wants to punt on. In case you’re curious of my top 50, here we go; (Not my 1.0 BB yet officially though until I see a college game this year)

Cooper Flagg

Ace Bailey
Khaman Maluach
Dylan Harper

Tre Johnson
Jayden Quaintance
Hugo Gonzalez
Hansen Yang
Nolan Traore

Jalil Bethea
VJ Edgecomb
Boogie Fland
Karter Knox
Flory Bidunga
Ian Jackson
Donnie Freeman
Rocco Zikarsky
Dink Pate
Asa Newell
Egor Demin
Collin Murray-Boyles

Isaiah Evans
Ian Jackson
Drake Powell
Derik Queen
Noa Essengue
Dame Sarr
Hamad Mousa
Michael Ruzic
Derrion Reid

Joson Sanon
Billy Richmond
Elmarko Jackson
PJ Haggerty
Carter Bryant
Zoom Diallo
Jackson McAndrew
Naas Cunningham
Jase Richardson
Labaron Philon
Cam Scott
Kanon Catchings
John Bol
Jaland Lowe
Kanaan Carlyle
Caleb Foster
Aaron Bradshaw
Zvonimir Ivisic
Trevon Brazile
Mackenzie Mgbako

[NorrinRaddParticipant]

Didn’t realize Quaintance is a 2026 guy, I’d put Malique Lewis at the end of the list to replace him…

[BothTeamsPlayedHard-Participant]

VJ Edgecomb has had a great couple games in Olympic qualifying with the Bahamas. Even with Ayton, Hield, and Eric Gordon playing, he is leading them in scoring 20.5 per over two games on 65/43/91. They face Lebanon in the semis, and would likely face Spain in Valencia on Sunday. It is such a charming team. At the top, they have three established NBA vets, a likely lottery pick, Franco Miller just finished his college career at Florida Gulf Coast, Sammy Hunter did the same at Akron, Travis Munnings is playing in the French 2nd division, Kentwan Smith is playing in Sweden, and Lourawls Nairn is an assistant coach at Bowling Green (playing 12 minutes per off the bench).

Poland game
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9wV-aY41pQ
Finland game
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtN0r2oLYII

[NorrinRaddParticipant]

Agree, he looks much better than a few months ago. Hope he carries this on forward.

[HitsterParticipant]

I’d have Edgecombe in the second group instead of Maluach. I think Cooper Flagg will go top 3 but I just feel there will be a breakout scorer amongst the backcourt guys or Ace who may go ahead of him. I’m a big Cooper fan and think his downside is as an All Star. He’ll be a less risky version of Chet IMO.

Maluach could easily be a top 5 pick and with Chet could give Duke a defensive wall next season. I like Hansen Yang in the list but a lot depends when the Chinese authorities let him declare and they want to “guide” him to certain teams.Rocco Zikarsky I need to see more of, he can put the ball on the floor for such a huge guy and certainly looks more mobile than Edey at the same age was. But I said the same about Aday Mara!

Who out of Maluach, Yang and Zikarsky gets drafted first I’d not like to say.

Collin Murray-Boyles could be a sleeper lottery prospect as he had a decent freshman year and has an NBA ready body. His lack of a 3 point shooting would be a concern for me in the modern NBA. I’m not sure who I’d say the top returning college prospect is but I intend to keep an eye on Ivisic who had flashes of potential and Trevon Brazile who is another season removed from his injury so could be a breakout guy next season.

[NorrinRaddParticipant]

The thing about Collin Murray-Boyles is he’s got everything but range. He’s still young and can possibly develop that yet imo. He worked on so many assets of his game last year I think his shooting will come around. Imo he’s the clear best returning prospect.
To a lesser degree, I feel the same way about PJ Haggerty this year as a prospect.
I like Edgecomb’s play especially of late, but this class is this good imo. His trajectory right now is in the right direction though. I like what I’ve seen from Nolan Traore more so far.
As for Maluach being switched for Edgecomb, maybe… I actually thought about taking Maluach down a peg because he might not pan out like we want him too. His floor isn’t the greatest. But talk about a homerun swing! If he does hit, best case scenario for him is a very very high ceiling. Can he put it all together on a loaded roster this year though? Not sure one way or another, but my rankings give him the benefit of the doubt.

[HitsterParticipant]

I’ll be interested to see how Maluach and Flagg work as a duo at Duke. I assume Maluach anchors the defence and guards the boards whilst Flagg can control the perimeter and block shots there. If Maluach can live with Flagg on court then he goes very high I think. I see Maluach being a top 10 pick at the moment.

CMB is a very solid build and will use his core strength against skinnier and taller opponents. I didn’t see much of him last season as I didn’t hear his name mentioned in the draft mix really. With his power and nice touch he’d be a good pick for a mid first round late lottery team who wanted an intangibles/hard working guy. His all round game does look good and if he can improve his shooting range he can be a top 10 contender.

[NorrinRaddParticipant]

I think Maluach is going to start of slow like Dereck Lively did that year and then by the end of the year will kind of blow up, rise in stock and be in that top 10 or even 5 like I think he will. But there will be growing pains at first and we won’t see much of him paired with Flagg til the end of the season or so imo. Maluach’s ability to use his tools will improve late and that’s when we’ll truly be turning our heads to my estimation…

As for Collin Murray-Boyles, I didn’t actually see him play last year til end of January… And I thought for some reason he was a senior. Later on I found out he was a freshman last year and moved him on my board up pretty high around February and March… He played really well by the numbers and reminded me of Anthony Mason or Iowa State’s non knuckle head version of Royce White. I noticed his shooting range wasn’t there yet, but his FT% indicate it’s not broke… he’s a freshman that can do it all and has a chance to even shoot it in the future.

Ouch, the Lakers summer league team looks pretty bad.

[NorrinRaddParticipant]

Wow, a guy to look out for in the future – Abdou Toure… check out the game against China if you can in the U17 Fiba World Cup…

[HitsterParticipant]

Lively held his own in the play offs and whilst he did very little in college. The way he played and knew his role of the Mavs made him seem like the 2nd best big in last year’s draft after Wemby and if I did a redraft he’d be in the top 6 easily.

I found brief highlights of Abdou Toure vs China. Where I thought he would look to shoot a 3 he just drives to the basket instead like how the greats did before everything became 3 point shooting centric.

CMB I didn’t really see on any major mocks as a 2nd round guy but I could have made a case for him going where Raps took Mogobo or certainly within the top 45. He looks the sort of guy who could have put up good numbers at the combine and his width and strength could have been a good selling point. If he pushes on next season I can make a case for him being a first rounder. There will be contending teams who want a strong body who can play 15mpg from the bench and with his good basketball IQ he’d do what is required.

[NorrinRaddParticipant]

Lively didn’t do much in college… until the end of the season, where he earned his way into that first round again…

I noticed that about Abdou too, but he’s still very young. His range will pick up. And he kind of has to do everything on that team.

Collin Murray-Boyles could have been a higher pick in this last draft than top 45. I’d say top 25 pretty easy actually. Mogbo is a little older than CMB. I’d say CMB’s still the better player like Missi was against Johni Broome last year the time they actually matched up head to head. And like Missi, if FT% is and indicator for shooting range legitimacy and hopefulness (take Missi’s 2nd half of the season at Baylor only before he was shooting in the 30s in the beginning of the year) then the shot will eventually come around. To me Mogbo would be a style play of Kenneth Faried while CMB is more like I said before Anthony Mason. Different players and styles. I think you could plug and play CMB more than Mogbo. Guess we’ll see though.

[BothTeamsPlayedHard-Participant]

Has the dalliance in summer league done anything to your belief in Hansen Yang has a possible lottery pick? His lack of athleticism is probably accentuated by the overall lack of athleticism on the team, but it has not been great through two games. With the popularity of the NBA in China, I understand why they would want to have their guys have this kind of test, but it has been a bit awkward.

[HitsterParticipant]

I must admit I haven’t seen much of Yang so I’ll have to look at him in the SL games and see how he matches up to what say Edey was a couple of years back. Could Yang be like say Wang Zhizhia who was outstanding in China but not quite up to NBA level.

[NorrinRaddParticipant]

Yang is going to be a poor man’s Jokic. That’s more the style. China isn’t playing through him though. No he’s not the most athletic player. Neither is Jokic. He does other things.

[BothTeamsPlayedHard-Participant]

I think there is an offensive skill level there, but the speed of the game is a huge issue. He closes out on guys defensively like it is the first time he has ever been asked to do so.

[HitsterParticipant]

I’ve looked at his SL highlights and he does seem slow especially for the modern NBA. What he would be like in the more traditional half court set ups we used to have I don’t know. He does have some nice post moves and for a guy of his size he is a pretty good ball handler.

With him so much will depend on when or if the Chinese authorities let him declare for the draft or he may have to wait until he is automatically eligible in 2027. So until we get an indication he might be NBA bound we cannot really judge what his true draft status would be. I’d figure the Chinese powers would want to see him drafted in a decent place in the draft and not be some late 2nd rounder or undrafted if he did declare before he was auto eligible.

[NorrinRaddParticipant]

What a heartbreak – DaRon Holmes tore his Achilles tendon. smh – bumber

[BothTeamsPlayedHard-Participant]

It just stinks when this happens. While treatment is getting better, it is an awful injury. It is better that he is a 1st round pick, so they are still invested in him. Also, given the timing, he should have a pretty decent chance to be ready for 2025-26.

[HitsterParticipant]

Sad news about DaRon hope he can come back for next season.

[Author]

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