2025 NBA Draft

[basketballRob]

Kasparas > Coward > Jase > Clayton

Kasparas can bend defenses and control pace of play. He's a fringe starter/bench unit guy coming into the league, but with Orlando's lack of point guard skillsets he would be starting. He's not a great pull up shooter off the dribble, but he can be eventually.

Coward has the special Weltman draft intangibles of being a ridiculous size for his position because he's a 6'6 SG with a 7'2! wingspan. Probably the best 2/3 - 3&D wing in the draft other than Edgecomb. I'm taking Coward over Clifford if Orlando goes this route because he has a higher ceiling, better intangibles, and is 2 years younger.

Jase is a connector combo guard. He's undersized. I don't think he is a starting lineup guy. More of an off the bench playmaker/scorer similar to a better version of Cole. He's athletic and can finish at the rim.

Clayton is an older version of Jase, but he's more of a score-first version instead of a connector. It's arguable he is a point guard. I dont think he can guard bigger guards though. Just another guy that is an off the bench scorer.

Kasparas is only available if Orlando trades up or he falls really far in the draft. The other 3 can probably be had at #16 if a team doesn't reach for Jase or Coward. Clayton can probably be had at #25 because that's probably his value. Tre Johnson, Knueppel, and Fears are probably out of range despite being better fitting selections because you could argue that any of them can go in the top 4-8.

Personally, I'm not really interested in guys that cannot break into the starting lineup. I'd rather Weltman either trade up or trade out for a known quantity. The only caveat to that statement has to do with Weltman using the draft as an insurance policy to replace players he is going to move like Cole, Isaac, Carter, or Goga.

Honestly I’d buy this. Kasaparas and Coward would be on top of my list too. They also fit the positional size Weltman preaches. They check the boxes of shooting and positional size plus good feel for the game.

Coward reminds me a little of Siakim. I think he could be that style of player.

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[VFX]

Kasparas > Coward > Jase > Clayton

Kasparas can bend defenses and control pace of play. He's a fringe starter/bench unit guy coming into the league, but with Orlando's lack of point guard skillsets he would be starting. He's not a great pull up shooter off the dribble, but he can be eventually.

Coward has the special Weltman draft intangibles of being a ridiculous size for his position because he's a 6'6 SG with a 7'2! wingspan. Probably the best 2/3 - 3&D wing in the draft other than Edgecomb. I'm taking Coward over Clifford if Orlando goes this route because he has a higher ceiling, better intangibles, and is 2 years younger.

Jase is a connector combo guard. He's undersized. I don't think he is a starting lineup guy. More of an off the bench playmaker/scorer similar to a better version of Cole. He's athletic and can finish at the rim.

Clayton is an older version of Jase, but he's more of a score-first version instead of a connector. It's arguable he is a point guard. I dont think he can guard bigger guards though. Just another guy that is an off the bench scorer.

Kasparas is only available if Orlando trades up or he falls really far in the draft. The other 3 can probably be had at #16 if a team doesn't reach for Jase or Coward. Clayton can probably be had at #25 because that's probably his value. Tre Johnson, Knueppel, and Fears are probably out of range despite being better fitting selections because you could argue that any of them can go in the top 4-8.

Personally, I'm not really interested in guys that cannot break into the starting lineup. I'd rather Weltman either trade up or trade out for a known quantity. The only caveat to that statement has to do with Weltman using the draft as an insurance policy to replace players he is going to move like Cole, Isaac, Carter, or Goga.

Honestly I’d buy this. Kasaparas and Coward would be on top of my list too. They also fit the positional size Weltman preaches. They check the boxes of shooting and positional size plus good feel for the game.

Coward reminds me a little of Siakim. I think he could be that style of player.

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He reminds me of Mikal Bridges more than anyone really because of his size, position, and measurables.

[Skybox]

I think Richardson's ceiling is Sexton. Sexton averaged 7.4 3s per 100 possessions last season and 6.3 per 100 for his career. Jared McCain averaged 11.1 per 100 last season.

Do we want a player in the mold of Sexton or like McCain? I think we need a player that you need to closely guard as soon as they cross half court, and if you give them an inch, they'll get a shot off.

Now do Richardson's 3s per 100 as a starter only...

Clayton was 6 months younger his freshman year than Richardson. The Iona team had 4 senior guards and 2 juniors, so Clayton didn't get much of a chance. The Michigan State team had 1 senior guard.

In Clayton's second season, when he was 6 months older than Richardson, Clayton shot 46/43/95 for 16.8 ppg, and he was MVP of the Mac conference.

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Let me get this straight...Clayton couldn't earn time on a "stacked" Iona team but Jase getting bigger and bigger role as freshman season went on, on Michigan State, is some sort of favorable comp?

Age is something but this is such a ridiculous double-down on bad info

If Jase stays in school my projections indicate that, as a senior, he will score 40ppg with 20 assists...but he will be too old to "develop"

[basketballRob]

Now do Richardson's 3s per 100 as a starter only...

Clayton was 6 months younger his freshman year than Richardson. The Iona team had 4 senior guards and 2 juniors, so Clayton didn't get much of a chance. The Michigan State team had 1 senior guard.

In Clayton's second season, when he was 6 months older than Richardson, Clayton shot 46/43/95 for 16.8 ppg, and he was MVP of the Mac conference.

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Let me get this straight...Clayton couldn't earn time on a "stacked" Iona team but Jase getting bigger and bigger role as freshman season went on, on Michigan State, is some sort of favorable comp?

Age is something but this is such a ridiculous double-down on bad info

If Jase stays in school my projections indicate that, as a senior, he will score 40ppg with 20 assists...but he will be too old to "develop"

Clayton won the MVP of the conference in his second season and he was 6 months older than Jase was as a freshman. I think it's safe to say that Clayton was too good for the MAC.

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[RichCollab]

Weltman will look foolish if he drafts Richardson at #16, and he doesn't crack the rotation next season. Then Miami drafts Clayton at #20, and he wins rookie of the year.

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He ain’t winning rookie of the year. Don’t live life scared.

[cedric76]

Weltman will look foolish if he drafts Richardson at #16, and he doesn't crack the rotation next season. Then Miami drafts Clayton at #20, and he wins rookie of the year.

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He ain’t winning rookie of the year. Don’t live life scared.

No rookie at #16 or #25 will crack our rotation

[VFX]

Weltman will look foolish if he drafts Richardson at #16, and he doesn't crack the rotation next season. Then Miami drafts Clayton at #20, and he wins rookie of the year.

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He ain’t winning rookie of the year. Don’t live life scared.

No rookie at #16 or #25 will crack our rotation

Corey Joseph started in the playoffs.

Magic can also move up in the draft.

[RichCollab]

He ain’t winning rookie of the year. Don’t live life scared.

No rookie at #16 or #25 will crack our rotation

Corey Joseph started in the playoffs.

Magic can also move up in the draft.

We had young guys not ready. I doubt a rookie this year would be ready.

[VFX]

No rookie at #16 or #25 will crack our rotation

Corey Joseph started in the playoffs.

Magic can also move up in the draft.

We had young guys not ready. I doubt a rookie this year would be ready.

“Crack our rotation” is what was said.

TDS was selected at #18, in a way worse draft, and played significant minutes in the beginning of the season.

He started 38 games and averaged 22mpg.

To say a rookie definitively won’t “crack the rotation” is beyond stupid.

[RichCollab]

Corey Joseph started in the playoffs.

Magic can also move up in the draft.

We had young guys not ready. I doubt a rookie this year would be ready.

“Crack our rotation” is what was said.

TDS was selected at #18, in a way worse draft, and played significant minutes in the beginning of the season. He started 38 games and averaged 22mpg.

To say a rookie definitively won’t “crack the rotation” is beyond stupid.

Playoff rotation would be how I put it.

[Knightro]

“Crack our rotation” is what was said.

TDS was selected at #18, in a way worse draft, and played significant minutes in the beginning of the season. He started 38 games and averaged 22mpg.

To say a rookie won’t “crack the rotation” is beyond stupid.

TDS wasn't in the rotation until Paolo went down though.

So it's probably more accurate to say something along the lines of "when everyone is healthy, this player won't regularly play rotation minutes"

[Idiosyncratic]

A rookie shouldn't start out in the rotation for sure. But we have Houstan/TDS as wing depth and Suggs/Isaac/Wendell as perpetually injured rotation pieces on top of Mo and Suggs coming back from serious injury.

Like there is a chance a rookie could be good enough to be in the rotation over guys like Houstan, TDS, Harris, Cole. Joseph-- but even if not, there is a pretty good chance they see some real minutes on our team due to needing injury fill-ins.

As it pertains to Jase Vs. Clayton, it doesn't mean I would lean more toward the older more ready player, I think you take your best guy no matter what, but there is a good chance whoever they pick will play real minutes unless they are Jett level bad. Using the MLE has a chance to help with our depth, but even with that it is overwhelmingly likely somebody will have to step up at some point and play, and imagine we don't use the MLE and only add a player via trade.

[VFX]

For people that still dont get it...

Ben Sheppard - 26th pick in the 2023 draft - averaging 15mpg in the current playoffs.
Andrew Nembhard - 31st pick in the 2022 draft - starter averaging 33mpg in the current playoffs.
Aaron Wiggins - 55th pick in the 2021 draft - averaging 14mpg in the current playoffs.
Miles McBride - 36th pick in the 2021 draft - averaging 19mpg in the current playoffs.

This is just me picking random players since 2021 from teams that made it past the first round...

Stop acting like players past pick #10 dont matter.

Stop pretending like Orlando wouldn't gladly take these players to "crack the rotation".

Idiots here would have you believe Ben Shappard wouldn't "crack Orlando's rotation" simply because he was the 26th pick 1 draft ago.

[VFX]

“Crack our rotation” is what was said.

TDS was selected at #18, in a way worse draft, and played significant minutes in the beginning of the season. He started 38 games and averaged 22mpg.

To say a rookie won’t “crack the rotation” is beyond stupid.

TDS wasn't in the rotation until Paolo went down though.

So it's probably more accurate to say something along the lines of "when everyone is healthy, this player won't regularly play rotation minutes"

"Let me add a lot of qualifiers to a dumb statement to make it sound less dumb"

[RichCollab]

For people that still dont get it...

Ben Sheppard - 26th pick in the 2023 draft - averaging 15mpg in the current playoffs.
Andrew Nembhard - 31st pick in the 2022 draft - starter averaging 33mpg in the current playoffs.
Aaron Wiggins - 55th pick in the 2021 draft - averaging 14mpg in the current playoffs.
Miles McBride - 36th pick in the 2021 draft - averaging 19mpg in the current playoffs.

This is just me picking random players since 2021 from teams that made it past the first round...

Stop acting like players past pick #10 dont matter.

Stop pretending like Orlando wouldn't gladly take these players to "crack the rotation".

Idiots here would have you believe Ben Shappard wouldn't "crack Orlando's rotation" simply because he was the 26th pick 1 draft ago.

They contributed their rookie years to playoff runs?

These are all not the norm and are outliers. I wouldn’t bank on this to aid us getting past the 2nd round.

[VFX]

For people that still dont get it...

Ben Sheppard - 26th pick in the 2023 draft - averaging 15mpg in the current playoffs.
Andrew Nembhard - 31st pick in the 2022 draft - starter averaging 33mpg in the current playoffs.
Aaron Wiggins - 55th pick in the 2021 draft - averaging 14mpg in the current playoffs.
Miles McBride - 36th pick in the 2021 draft - averaging 19mpg in the current playoffs.

This is just me picking random players since 2021 from teams that made it past the first round...

Stop acting like players past pick #10 dont matter.

Stop pretending like Orlando wouldn't gladly take these players to "crack the rotation".

Idiots here would have you believe Ben Shappard wouldn't "crack Orlando's rotation" simply because he was the 26th pick 1 draft ago.

They contributed their rookie years to playoff runs?

These are all not the norm and are outliers. I wouldn’t bank on this to aid us getting past the 2nd round.

Is Orlando competing for a championship next season?

These are the decisions that matter when filling out a roster so you arent paying Cole Anthony $13m to do nothing.

[drsd]

No rookie at #16 or #25 will crack our rotation

Trades these picks!

[drsd]

Is Orlando competing for a championship next season?

[Knightro]

“Crack our rotation” is what was said.

TDS was selected at #18, in a way worse draft, and played significant minutes in the beginning of the season. He started 38 games and averaged 22mpg.

To say a rookie won’t “crack the rotation” is beyond stupid.

TDS wasn't in the rotation until Paolo went down though.

So it's probably more accurate to say something along the lines of "when everyone is healthy, this player won't regularly play rotation minutes"

"Let me add a lot of qualifiers to a dumb statement to make it sound less dumb"

Not really?

When all the forwards were healthy at the beginning of the year TDS didn't play.

When all the forwards were healthy at the end of the year TDS didn't play.

Like yes, injuries happen, but you certainly don't go into a season expecting your 30-35 MPG players to miss 25+ games.

[tiderulz]

TDS wasn't in the rotation until Paolo went down though.

So it's probably more accurate to say something along the lines of "when everyone is healthy, this player won't regularly play rotation minutes"

"Let me add a lot of qualifiers to a dumb statement to make it sound less dumb"

Not really?

When all the forwards were healthy at the beginning of the year TDS didn't play.

When all the forwards were healthy at the end of the year TDS didn't play.

Like yes, injuries happen, but you certainly don't go into a season expecting your 30-35 MPG players to miss 25+ games.

TDS was never supposed to be a starter. he was supposed to be a bench big. and even at that, there is also a period of adjustment. but also, Mosely shortens his lineup come playoff time and TDS hasnt had enough time to get in Mose's good graces yet