2025 NBA Draft Prospects

[Chi town]

Right now I have it:

Flagg

Harper
Ace

Edgecombe
Jakucionis

Anyone outside of that five I’d consider a bad return on what should’ve been a strong tank season.

VJ has really jumped. That 3 ball is real.
I have Fears in that tier too. He’s 18 like Ace and can flat out score. He adds a 3 and he’s special.

Further down I really like Will Riley. Can really shoot it. Elite IQ and no fear. He’s super young too.

I had Fears up there too, but after a few concerning games in January I bumped him down a bit.

He’s definitely someone I’d target in that 6-8 range.

Forgot about Tre Johnson. He’s a bucket. Big time shooter. Ray Allenesque. Have him in that tier.

Basically 8 players I’d be happy with.

Maluach is a dark horse unknown

[Chi town]

With our lane picked and the rebuild ensuing…

26 Draft has even more star power. Dybantsa and Petersen are both better than Flagg. True cornerstones. Both Generational talents.

Ament is better than Ace Bailey and a strong competitor.

Cameron Boozer is a man among boys. Great athlete at his size with great skill.

AK should be hard tanking for 26. We MUST get a top 4 pick. Franchise altering talents. Rebuilding would be over and with crazy cap space in 26 summer AK could have a his turned in the right direction.

https://youtu.be/NojKVV9rzXg?si=sJA_j0CLgNqfq2nG

[ShouldaPaidBG]

I want Matas' cousin

[pipfan]

I REALLY hope we go into the summer of '26 with
Ayo/Matas/Smith as solid starters
MAYBE Ball on a deal, but he'll probably leave
A top 8 pick in the '25 draft
A top 5 pick in the '26 draft
An extra 1st round pick from Vuc or White (plus we have the Port pick)
TONS of cap space-don't want both Giddy and PWill on the roster

How does that big kid from Duke look? Could be a nice guy to pick at #8 and spend a year developing him behind Smith and Collins

[Wingy]

With our lane picked and the rebuild ensuing…

26 Draft has even more star power. Dybantsa and Petersen are both better than Flagg. True cornerstones. Both Generational talents.

Ament is better than Ace Bailey and a strong competitor.

Cameron Boozer is a man among boys. Great athlete at his size with great skill.

AK should be hard tanking for 26. We MUST get a top 4 pick. Franchise altering talents. Rebuilding would be over and with crazy cap space in 26 summer AK could have a his turned in the right direction.

https://youtu.be/NojKVV9rzXg?si=sJA_j0CLgNqfq2nG

How is one a “generational talent” when there’s another in the same damned draft?

Gah, everyone just needs to stop with this term.

[Muzbar]

With our lane picked and the rebuild ensuing…

26 Draft has even more star power. Dybantsa and Petersen are both better than Flagg. True cornerstones. Both Generational talents.

Ament is better than Ace Bailey and a strong competitor.

Cameron Boozer is a man among boys. Great athlete at his size with great skill.

AK should be hard tanking for 26. We MUST get a top 4 pick. Franchise altering talents. Rebuilding would be over and with crazy cap space in 26 summer AK could have a his turned in the right direction.

https://youtu.be/NojKVV9rzXg?si=sJA_j0CLgNqfq2nG

How is one a “generational talent” when there’s another in the same damned draft?

Gah, everyone just needs to stop with this term.

I agree, the term 'generational' shouldn't just be used to describe the best player(s) in the draft, franchise talent works better, both are excellent talent you could build a foundation with.

But generational should be reserved for the true special unicorn type players.

[Rose2Boozer]

2026, I'm calling it!!!

Watch on YouTube

[Jcool0]

With our lane picked and the rebuild ensuing…

26 Draft has even more star power. Dybantsa and Petersen are both better than Flagg. True cornerstones. Both Generational talents.

Ament is better than Ace Bailey and a strong competitor.

Cameron Boozer is a man among boys. Great athlete at his size with great skill.

AK should be hard tanking for 26. We MUST get a top 4 pick. Franchise altering talents. Rebuilding would be over and with crazy cap space in 26 summer AK could have a his turned in the right direction.

https://youtu.be/NojKVV9rzXg?si=sJA_j0CLgNqfq2nG

How is one a “generational talent” when there’s another in the same damned draft?

Gah, everyone just needs to stop with this term.

Petersen isnt generational. If you want a comparison... Coby White. They are both 6'5" combo guards and not great athletes. Petersen has more length so could be a better defender then Coby.

[GuardianEnzo]

Flagg continues to be way underrated. He's now the odds-on favorite for NPOY in a year largely spent when he was 17. Been absolutely dominant for two months and a complete player with size, off the charts BIQ, and athleticism. He's going to be an MVP-caliber player and could easily wind up one of the 2-3 best players drafted in the 2020's.

[Chi town]

With our lane picked and the rebuild ensuing…

26 Draft has even more star power. Dybantsa and Petersen are both better than Flagg. True cornerstones. Both Generational talents.

Ament is better than Ace Bailey and a strong competitor.

Cameron Boozer is a man among boys. Great athlete at his size with great skill.

AK should be hard tanking for 26. We MUST get a top 4 pick. Franchise altering talents. Rebuilding would be over and with crazy cap space in 26 summer AK could have a his turned in the right direction.

https://youtu.be/NojKVV9rzXg?si=sJA_j0CLgNqfq2nG

How is one a “generational talent” when there’s another in the same damned draft?

Gah, everyone just needs to stop with this term.

Petersen isnt generational. If you want a comparison... Coby White. They are both 6'5" combo guards and not great athletes. Petersen has more length so could be a better defender then Coby.

Petersen is a freak athlete. Have you seen his speed and hops and body control?

Generational is rarely used. Wemby. Luka. Lebron.

Dybantsa and Petersen have that type of talent.

[Chi town]

With our lane picked and the rebuild ensuing…

26 Draft has even more star power. Dybantsa and Petersen are both better than Flagg. True cornerstones. Both Generational talents.

Ament is better than Ace Bailey and a strong competitor.

Cameron Boozer is a man among boys. Great athlete at his size with great skill.

AK should be hard tanking for 26. We MUST get a top 4 pick. Franchise altering talents. Rebuilding would be over and with crazy cap space in 26 summer AK could have a his turned in the right direction.

https://youtu.be/NojKVV9rzXg?si=sJA_j0CLgNqfq2nG

How is one a “generational talent” when there’s another in the same damned draft?

Gah, everyone just needs to stop with this term.

I agree, the term 'generational' shouldn't just be used to describe the best player(s) in the draft, franchise talent works better, both are excellent talent you could build a foundation with.

But generational should be reserved for the true special unicorn type players.

I agree in the overuse of generational.

With that said Dybantsa and Petersen are that.

You can have two generational talents at the same time. Magic Larry MJ all played at the same time.

[ChiTownHero1992]

2026 looks strong on paper but I want to see how they play at the next level for many of them before I make any claims that they'll be the better class.

Flagg by far is the best prospect out of all of them though, I don't agree that anyone in 2026 is better. However I'm also of the mindset that if we don't get super lucky in the lotto we have no chance at him. With that in mind, I'm looking at guys in that 5-8 range for the most part as I have a feeling that's where we fall, that too me would be:

1. Kasparas Jakucionis - offensive creator, ball handler, decent shooter, playmaker, just not a great athlete
2. Jeremiah Fears - speedy, shot creator, ball handler and decent shooter - but I would not say Elite
3. Asa Newell - rim running, lengthy four, starting to space the floor with a shot, versatile defender covering 3-5
4. Khaman Maluach - rim running, lengthy five, glass cleaner and shot blocker but very raw still
5. Tre Jonson - lengthy streaky shooter - not who I'd want to go for

I think all of these options would be good pieces to build with but none of them are "cornerstones" if you ask me, we'd still be a bad spot in 2026 that we would need to find that 1st and 2nd option guy.

[Chi town]

https://youtube.com/shorts/20xb5Ljr64s?si=nfYw0ttmXodkDXTH

Petersen is a freak athlete that dunks on folks consistently and makes it look effortless.

[Wingy]

How is one a “generational talent” when there’s another in the same damned draft?

Gah, everyone just needs to stop with this term.

I agree, the term 'generational' shouldn't just be used to describe the best player(s) in the draft, franchise talent works better, both are excellent talent you could build a foundation with.

But generational should be reserved for the true special unicorn type players.

I agree in the overuse of generational.

With that said Dybantsa and Petersen are that.

You can have two generational talents at the same time. Magic Larry MJ all played at the same time.

Disagree, but fundamentally it all comes down to how one defines it.

I see it as - once in a generation. That’s truly special.

If you are going greater than one…then what’s the number that makes sense? Then it’s all arbitrarily loosey goosey and you get people saying “generational” talent every other year when we just had Wemby who is the obvious generational talent.

[ChiTownHero1992]

https://youtube.com/shorts/20xb5Ljr64s?si=nfYw0ttmXodkDXTH

Petersen is a freak athlete that dunks on folks consistently and makes it look effortless.

He looks great, I do like his abilities and think he'll be a very good player, so don't take this the wrong way when I say it but you know who else looks like a freak athlete and dunks on folks effortlessly....just about EVERY drafted NBA player ever when they play in High school.

High school talent is so watered down, remember a few years ago when "Shabazz Muhammed was the next LeBron" due to how he played in HS, or James Wiseman being a can't-miss pick because he dominated HS talent, or even more recently Emoni Bates was a guaranteed #1 pick, can't miss guy after his Jr/Sr years

I'd like to see guys like Petersen and some of the other 2026 guys in College first, can they even handle that pressure/talent, or will they trail off before they even get to the NBA?

[Ice Man]

26 Draft has even more star power. Dybantsa and Petersen are both better than Flagg. True cornerstones. Both Generational talents.

With respect, it's really, really hard to identify the 2 best future NBA players while they are in high school. I just looked up 20 years' worth of EPSN prospect rankings, and the only possible case was 2011, when AD was 1st and Drum 2nd. But I think that Beal, who was further down the list, probably belongs ahead of Drum.

One thing I noticed when going through the HS list was how heavily those rankings carried over to their future draft order. Honestly, it seems that the scouts mostly shrug off their college performances. For example, the 2017 HS list -

1) Bagley
2) MPJ
3) Ayton
4) Bamba
5) WCJ

One year later among American players, Ayton went #1, Bagley #2, Bamba #5, and Carter #6, with Porter a bit later due to injury concerns. Those were crappy-assed picks, and you will have a hard time convincing me that they were made based on how those guys played in college. I think they were buoyed by the high school hype, which didn't translate much to their NBA careers.

Later draft picks in 2017 after those guys included Bridges, SGA, Brunson, and Mitch Robinson.

[Chi town]

26 Draft has even more star power. Dybantsa and Petersen are both better than Flagg. True cornerstones. Both Generational talents.

With respect, it's really, really hard to identify 2 best future NBA players while they were in high school. I just looked up 20 years' worth of EPSN prospect rankings, and the only possible case was 2011, when AD was 1st and Drum 2nd. But I think that Beal, who was further down the list, probably belongs ahead of Drum.

Keep watching.

I remember watching Oden in HS for the first time live. I texted my HS teammate who was top asst at Vandy… This kid will be first pick.

Sometimes it’s so obvious you can see it.

Flagg has IT in the way he competes.

Dybantsa and Peterson have IT with athleticism and their body types. Their skills match it too.

[Ice Man]

Keep watching.

Hmmm. The people who form the ESPN 100 list keep watching, but even so, they can't get 2 guys right in the same HS year. And often not one. Wiggins/Jabari went 1/2 in the 2013 ESPN list and then 1/2 in the draft (as I wrote, the scouts don't seem to care about college performances), with Randle, Aaron Gordon, Embiid, Zach, and Josh Hart behind them.

[AshyLarrysDiaper]

For me, generational prospects have to be aliens. They don’t need explanation or a long look. Watch for 20 seconds and you get it.

I’ve only seen four HS prospects with that quality since I started following the draft closely:

LeBron
Giannis
Zion
Wemby

With Giannis, like most I wasn’t sure if he was that sick or if the Greek Third Division was that bad.

Dybanstra and Peterson look awesome but I don’t see what puts them in that top 10-20% of #1 picks. Athletically, neither appears to be on the same level as an Ant or Amen Thompson. Granted, Dybanstra’s a lot bigger, which matters.

[JohnnyKILLroy]

HS and athleticism ? When are people going to learn?