2025 Draft Thread

[Matches Malone]

Re-watched some of the combine scrimmages again and Miles Byrd and Alex Toohey had themselves some nice moments. They probably played themselves into the upper half of the 2nd, likely out of reach at #47

[M-C-G]

I think Coward will generate even more buzz as the weeks progress. Think he's got a chance to be another one of those mid-major draft risers ala Jalen Williams a few years back. Still relatively young for being a senior. Teams will find him appealing in round 1.

I wish Horst could just trick a playoff team into thinking Kuzma would be a better option than a rookie and trade him for a late 1.

I'm sure we'd have to take on some salary but what are the chances the player attached to it would be worse than Kuz was? I don't even think Kuz could be much worse than Kuz was.

Would you do Kuz for Patrick Williams and 12? I honestly am not sure I would

What about 12, Williams and one of Ayo or Javon Carter for Kuz and Pat?

Only under the idea we are not trading Giannis. Because I feel like Giannis could light a fire under Williams. If we are wrong, Giannis is probably traded after this season anyways. Being in purgatory with Williams post Giannis doesn’t really make a difference

Carter being a bridge PG makes some sense to me.

[Ron Swanson]

The more I watch of Harper, the more I feel gassing him up as this incredible consolation prize at #2 is entirely media driven for some very obvious reasons. It's not even that Rutgers was so mediocre with him and Bailey on the floor. It's that he seems like the classic guy that scouts look at and go "I mean, he's not particularly good at anything right now, but he could be great at everything someday!" I wouldn't drop him any further than #3, but he's not the Morant/Durant level guy behind the no-brainer #1 dude like a lot are making him out to be.

[bucksfansince88]

I think Coward will generate even more buzz as the weeks progress. Think he's got a chance to be another one of those mid-major draft risers ala Jalen Williams a few years back. Still relatively young for being a senior. Teams will find him appealing in round 1.

I wish Horst could just trick a playoff team into thinking Kuzma would be a better option than a rookie and trade him for a late 1.

I'm sure we'd have to take on some salary but what are the chances the player attached to it would be worse than Kuz was? I don't even think Kuz could be much worse than Kuz was.

Would you do Kuz for Patrick Williams and 12? I honestly am not sure I would

Man the annual cost for Pat isn't insanely brutal or anything but holy cow four more years including the player option? Absolutely insane contract.

At any rate, I actually quite like the prospects that are projected to be available at 12 so I'd think long and hard about it personally. Looking at guys that are being projected to go around 10-15 in the draft, I'd gladly take any of Kasparas Jakucionis, Derrik Queen, Carter Bryant, Egor Demin, Nolan Traore, etc. Even someone that I don't think is necessarily a great fit for all teams like Jase Richardson would probably be a really nice fit for us.

My hunch is that our front office still believes in Kuzma enough that they'll opt to keep him over what they perceive as selling low (and to be fair, I do expect him to be better next season than he was this year, almost by default lol).

Front office or Doc? id do the deal and take Derrik Queen if he slips that far in a heartbeat

[Bernman]

The more I watch of Harper, the more I feel gassing him up as this incredible consolation prize at #2 is entirely media driven for some very obvious reasons. It's not even that Rutgers was so mediocre with him and Bailey on the floor. It's that he seems like the classic guy that scouts look at and go "I mean, he's not particularly good at anything right now, but he could be great at everything someday!" I wouldn't drop him any further than #3, but he's not the Morant/Durant level guy behind the no-brainer #1 dude like a lot are making him out to be.

That's revisionist history, because before Flagg sustained months worth of a turnaround from his poor perimeter shooting, there were a sub-sect of people trying to argue Harper was the better prospect. That evaporated after while. But Harper was highly thought of throughout this process.

[ReasonablySober]

The more I watch of Harper, the more I feel gassing him up as this incredible consolation prize at #2 is entirely media driven for some very obvious reasons. It's not even that Rutgers was so mediocre with him and Bailey on the floor. It's that he seems like the classic guy that scouts look at and go "I mean, he's not particularly good at anything right now, but he could be great at everything someday!" I wouldn't drop him any further than #3, but he's not the Morant/Durant level guy behind the no-brainer #1 dude like a lot are making him out to be.

I'm impressed.

[Ron Swanson]

Think you're misremembering there. Bailey was actually the guy that was thought to be the only dude who could surpass Flagg. He was the consensus #2 whereas RSCI had Harper #3 and ESPN had him even below Edgecombe at #4.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/awards/recruit_rankings_2024.html

https://www.espn.com/college-sports/basketball/recruiting/playerrankings/_/class/2024/order/true

[Bernman]

Think you're misremembering there. Bailey was actually the guy that was thought to be the only dude who could surpass Flagg. He was the consensus #2 whereas RSCI had Harper #3 and ESPN had him even below Edgecombe at #4.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/awards/recruit_rankings_2024.html

https://www.espn.com/college-sports/basketball/recruiting/playerrankings/_/class/2024/order/true

How could I be misremembering when I had an argument on the draft board w/ guys who made that exact case? I pointed out the Rutgers' players were both terrible in the WI game for example, after which I was reassured Harper was sick. Bailey didn't have an excuse. He plummeted fast.

[Frank Nova]

At 47, I really like Yanic Konan Niederhauser from Penn State as a dart throw. His size, athleticism, foot speed and shot blocking should translate to at least serviceable in the league, as a lob threat as well. I think you can replace Jericho Sims with him pretty quickly if Sims is priced out of Milwaukee. YKN could be a diamond in the rough late 2nd rounder imo, maybe Isaiah Hartenstein type ceiling?

[LISTEN2JAZZ]

"I mean, he's not particularly good at anything right now, but he could be great at everything someday!"

I’m old enough to remember impassioned debate about using our #1 pick on such a guy… one who didn’t even start in college. I have a strict “player must have been great in their previous league” rule.

[fansinceforever]

Bailey and Harper were individually very, very good in college. Not very many 18 year olds have ever done what they both did last season. That and their teammates were awful.

[paulpressey25]

Last night's Dunc'd had them do a 30 minute discussion of Harper. Nate and Danny both said great size, great ball handling. Issue is shooting. Can he improve there?.

Was a good discussion. But I didn't come away thinking I wanted to trade Giannis to get him.

[Bernman]

Bailey and Harper were individually very, very good in college. Not very many 18 year olds have ever done what they both did last season. That and their teammates were awful.

They had the exact same record the year prior & there's no amount of awful supporting cast that should make you a losing team if you have 2 genuine stars. So at least 1 wasn't a real one. I'm going Bailey, his sub-par efficiency, & negative ast/to ratio.

It'd be ironic to pan Kuz in a normal yr, & praise Bailey, when Kyle's #'s, college & pro, were better/less bad. And the standard here is higher as 3rd pick in the draft.

[machu46]

Last night's Dunc'd had them do a 30 minute discussion of Harper. Nate and Danny both said great size, great ball handling. Issue is shooting. Can he improve there?.

Was a good discussion. But I didn't come away thinking I wanted to trade Giannis to get him.

It's specifically shooting off the dribble right? I think I remember reading that he shot like 40-45% from 3 on catch and shoot 3's this year so his off the dribble percentage must have been terrible to drag the overall % down to 33%.

I'm probably not going to spend time doing a real film analysis of him unless it becomes apparent that we're getting that pick, but he seems like a very good prospect to me. With his shooting being a weakness, I don't think we're really talking about like a mechanical issue where you question how he will even attempt jumpers off the dribble (ala Lonzo Ball/Ja Morant), nor are we talking about guys that seemingly had no hope of ever making them (ala Simmons/Giddey). He was just kind of a mixed bag as a shooter in his lone college season, which, if that's the big weakness you've identified, is probably a good problem to have.

I do agree with others that I tend to think the fact that Rutgers was a preseason top 25 team and ended up being legitimately very bad despite potentially having two top 3 picks in the draft is a red flag.

[Ron Swanson]

What's the middle ground between Tyreke Evans and Brandon Roy? That seems like the median outcome to me.

[midranger]

What's the middle ground between Tyreke Evans and Brandon Roy? That seems like the median outcome to me.

Austin Reeves?

[fansinceforever]

Bailey and Harper were individually very, very good in college. Not very many 18 year olds have ever done what they both did last season. That and their teammates were awful.

They had the exact same record the year prior & there's no amount of awful supporting cast that should make you a losing team if you have 2 genuine stars. So at least 1 wasn't a real one. I'm going Bailey, his sub-par efficiency, & negative ast/to ratio.

It'd be ironic to pan Kuz in a normal yr, & praise Bailey, when Kyle's #'s, college & pro, were better/less bad. And the standard here is higher as 3rd pick in the draft.

They're 17/18 year old kids playing in the B10 with literally no other talent on the team. Anthony Edwards' Bulldogs finished .500. how much did that matter?

Look at their numbers and watch the tape. They both can play.

[Bernman]

Bailey and Harper were individually very, very good in college. Not very many 18 year olds have ever done what they both did last season. That and their teammates were awful.

They had the exact same record the year prior & there's no amount of awful supporting cast that should make you a losing team if you have 2 genuine stars. So at least 1 wasn't a real one. I'm going Bailey, his sub-par efficiency, & negative ast/to ratio.

It'd be ironic to pan Kuz in a normal yr, & praise Bailey, when Kyle's #'s, college & pro, were better/less bad. And the standard here is higher as 3rd pick in the draft.

They're 17/18 year old kids playing in the B10 with literally no other talent on the team. Anthony Edwards' Bulldogs finished .500. how much did that matter?

Look at their numbers and watch the tape. They both can play.

I said 1 star can lead a team to being not so hot, but not 2 who the d can't key on. Who was Georgia's 2nd star?

They had Toumani Camara on that team. He was a defensive guy, early in his development, 6th leading scorer, transferred.

Yea, look at Bailey's #'s & watch the tape. The efficiency's bad, in terms of playmaking & scoring. He can't drive & make decisions.

How is Bailey over Fears, who was his team's only star, made the NCAA tourney & was more efficient, while being 1 class younger in H.S.?

[fansinceforever]

They had the exact same record the year prior & there's no amount of awful supporting cast that should make you a losing team if you have 2 genuine stars. So at least 1 wasn't a real one. I'm going Bailey, his sub-par efficiency, & negative ast/to ratio.

It'd be ironic to pan Kuz in a normal yr, & praise Bailey, when Kyle's #'s, college & pro, were better/less bad. And the standard here is higher as 3rd pick in the draft.

They're 17/18 year old kids playing in the B10 with literally no other talent on the team. Anthony Edwards' Bulldogs finished .500. how much did that matter?

Look at their numbers and watch the tape. They both can play.

I said 1 star can lead a team to being not so hot, but not 2 who the d can't key on. Who was Georgia's 2nd star?

They had Toumani Camara on that team. He was a defensive guy, early in his development, 6th leading scorer, transferred.

Yea, look at Bailey's #'s & watch the tape. The efficiency's bad, in terms of playmaking & scoring. He can't drive & make decisions.

How is Bailey over Fears, who was his team's only star, made the NCAA tourney & was more efficient, while being 1 class younger in H.S.?

Probably because he's 6 inches shorter and shot it worse from the field and from 3. He's a better free throw shooter but that doesnt make him a better scorer. And their birthdays are like 2 months apart.

There's nothing Bailey does poorly that can't be improved.

[Bernman]

Probably because he's 6 inches shorter and shot it worse from the field and from 3. He's a better free throw shooter but that doesnt make him a better scorer. And their birthdays are like 2 months apart.

There's nothing Bailey does poorly that can't be improved.

Fears is a pg. All teams need them. And they have higher value than most positions, because of their ability to create, for themselves and others. He does this much better than Bailey as a basketball player.

Positionally, Fears has solid size. He's a quarter inch taller than Westbrook measured. He's viewed as solid-sized pg. I anticipated this response, but it's a bad reason. 56.2 ts% for Fears, 53.6 for Bailey. And Fears actually had the better lack of teammates excuse. No Dylan Harper there.