**NBA Draft Discussion 2025**

[greg4012]

I don’t keep up with college ball anymore, how does a team with 2 of the projected top 3 players (who are apparently massive game changers) finish the season with a losing record and won’t even make the tournament?

Ace Bailey is overrated--not a top 3 (or even top 7 player) in this draft IMO. I see a bit of skinny Beasley with Ace. Black hole that wants to dribble into tough shots. Great tools to develop tho so he still def merits top 10 consideration.

Rest of Rutgers team is poor (team EFG of 50.6% ranks 192nd; team defensive efficiency is ranked 259th) and coaching is suspect.

[DayofMourning]

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Need Fears to stay kinda under the radar so he doesnt play himself up the board.

[3ammy3uck3ts]

I don’t keep up with college ball anymore, how does a team with 2 of the projected top 3 players (who are apparently massive game changers) finish the season with a losing record and won’t even make the tournament?

Ace Bailey is overrated--not a top 3 (or even top 7 player) in this draft IMO. I see a bit of skinny Beasley with Ace. Black hole that wants to dribble into tough shots. Great tools to develop tho so he still def merits top 10 consideration.

Rest of Rutgers team is poor (team EFG of 50.6% ranks 192nd; team defensive efficiency is ranked 259th) and coaching is suspect.

Yea I heard their coaching is ass and what I’ve seen from Ace is his shot selection is god awful lol like deep mid range over 3 guys and he’s just pulling up anyways, insane size and tools though for sure if you can make him not be a dumbass.

Unfortunate, I do watch the tourney so would’ve been nice to see them playing under that pressure

[DayofMourning]

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Fears hit the go ahead shot for OU with 5 seconds left. Big time.

[DayofMourning]

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Add some muscle and hes going to be tough to stop at the basket.

[DayofMourning]

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[MettaWorldPanda]

All aboard the Fears hype train!!

[DayofMourning]

All aboard the Fears hype train!!

Ive got my ticket stamped:)

Where do you have him ranked amongst guys in our striking distance?

[MettaWorldPanda]

All aboard the Fears hype train!!

Ive got my ticket stamped:)

Where do you have him ranked amongst guys in our striking distance?

Climbing up fast. Have him after Edgecombe. Tank has him at 9 but could end up being higher with the tourney buzz.

[DayofMourning]

All aboard the Fears hype train!!

Ive got my ticket stamped:)

Where do you have him ranked amongst guys in our striking distance?

Climbing up fast. Have him after Edgecombe. Tank has him at 9 but could end up being higher with the tourney buzz.

Feels more and more like we have to jump into the top four.

[DayofMourning]

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Looks like he got slapped right across the chest and arm.

[DayofMourning]

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[DayofMourning]

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[DayofMourning]

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[DayofMourning]

Tre J with a mild day.

[greg4012]

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Add some muscle and hes going to be tough to stop at the basket.

Fears has 9 dunks on season (a preferred metric of mine to assess NBA level athleticism).

Other guards in this draft class:

Dylan Harper - 11 dunks
VJ Edgecombe - 32 dunks (monster)
Tre Johnson - 7 dunks
Kasparas Jakucionis - 1 dunk (red flag)
Bennett Stirtz - 12 dunks
Jase Richardson - 5 dunks
Kon Kneuppel - 2 dunks (red flag considering his appeal is more as a wing)
Kam Jones - 0 dunks (red flag)
Tahaad Pettiford - 5 dunks
PJ Haggerty - 0 dunks (red flag)
Labaron Philon - 5 dunks
Anthony Robinson - 5 dunks

Love the upside case of Fears growing into his frame and maybe even growing a little more. Hes got a baby face

[DayofMourning]

Duke up by 1 after getting blown out in the 2nd half.

[MettaWorldPanda]

Keep eye on Labaron Philon from Alabama. Kid is having himself a March. Was just compared to D Fox by the ESPN college panel.

[MettaWorldPanda]

Philon got handcuffed by a bad ass Gators squad.

[greg4012]

Spoiler:

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Consider me intrigued

A little more on a Euro guard prospect that I have a hunch might just have lotto talent:

Sergio de Larrea is 19 year old Spanish 6'6 PG playing for a strong/deep Valencia squad against high level competition in the top Spanish league (ACB) and Eurocup.

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Playing limited minutes (12 mpg) but making the most of them with per 36 numbers of 16.2 pts, 7.8 ast, 6.7 reb, 2.2 stocks on excellent efficiency -- 50.5% FG, 45% 3pt, 76% ft [63% ts; 60% efg]

A little more context on how well Sergio is playing on a very good and deep Valencia team:

- Sergio is 3rd on the team in points per minute (and also 3rd on the team in Usg%) in ACB games
- Sergio is tied for first on the team in points per play (1.4) in ACB games
- Sergio has the 4th best DRTG in ACB games on the Valencia team among the regular rotation players as the youngest player on the squad

On tape, I see a jumbo PG with real playmaking chops and full court vision that has a pure stroke (a little slow), solid athleticism, some defensive versatility and a lack of glaring weaknesses. He doesn't seem to have a very explosive first step, but he gets to his spots on the court and makes some great plays.

If his size and 3 ball are as legit as they seem this season, then I'm not sure what's holding Sergio back from being a lotto talent.

Here's a statistical profile comparison to some other recent young prospects that played in high level European leagues and Giddey (I believe Sergio has faced better competition than the rest this season):

https://www.tankathon.com/players/compare?players=sergio-de-larrea--ben-saraf--zaccharie-risacher--nikola-topic--josh-giddey

The sample is low with his mpg so hard to know how real the 3 ball is. IMO it's pretty critical for his 3 ball to be real in order for him to distinguish his trajectory from past young Euro guards like Maledon, Balmero, etc. Unfortunately, Sergio is now out for a few weeks with a dislocated left shoulder.

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De Larrea has been on the sidelines for a few weeks now with a shoulder injury. Hopefully hes back in action soon