2025 NBA Draft (2)

[Mik317]

McCain was 20 when he was drafted...guess its time to old yeller him.

a years difference isn't a big deal at all. Ace, Flagg and Fears all reclassed iirc. VJ is normal freshman age

like what are we doing here? Yall die on some weird ass hills

[M2J]

You gotta have more than one ballhandler as well. The days of a single PG handling it all game long are gone. There's so much more movement that you just gotta get a breather to guys. You could see Maxey's 3 ball last year started to die on him because his legs were getting tired having to run the offense every possession.

Plus getting a ballhandler that gets to the rim like Harper can forces the defense to start running around wearing it out over time.

Maxey and McCain can play point.

You guys think it's coincidence that yesterday it comes out that the Spurs aren't 100% taking Harper, and the 76ers moving up comes out the same day. It's all posturing... I'm sure. I don't think it's wise for Morey to give up anything when they can generally use either player and just make decisions on who to keep later. But that was no coincidence

I don't think anyone right now can determine with any certainty if the two smaller guards could legitimately play together in a playoff setting. Offensively they'd be fine, defensively is a whole other question. Harper fits next to all 3 main guards that we might have on the roster. It also lets you mix and match defensively between who Grimes or Harper runs with. Opponent have a faster but weak guard? Grimes. Stronger/slower? Harper.

Long run, the guard thing will work itself out. I don't care about fit either. I think his shooting and he's not exactly elite defensively right now, plus nobody trusts rookie defense.... It's tough to see him getting much play early being so on ball dominant. That's not a big deal in the long run. I think Philly should and will stand pat and draft either Ace, Tre or Harper maybe VJ. I'm probably in that order. If Morey finds something in his research with Noa.... Great...I could like him more than some of these guys

Again, in not tearing down any player. I believe in this draft and it's lottery level depth.

If Ace meetings go well, I don't see how either team turns that guy down for the others

[phifans]

I'm in agreement on VJ. I this his floor is a lot higher than Ass or Harper, which is what we need now. His defense and energy alone will get him minutes.

I actually like what Bill Simmons mentioned on his pod about us adding another guard with McCain and Maxey. Look at the Pacers - it's pretty nice if you have 4-5 capable guards. My concern is mortgaging more picks to do so.

We already have another good guard named Quentin Grimes. Adding VJ is overkill, and we don't need someone with a high floor, we need someone with a high ceiling.

We already have a future HOFer at SF/PF named Paul George and a nice young SF in Justin Edwards. Also we have Kelly Oubre off the bench. Adding Bailey is overkill, we don't need someone who is an ISO midrange shooter, we need someone who plays off ball with a 2-way high ceiling.

I don't want to get involved into this VJ&Ace nonsense but comparing PG Edwards and Oubre to Maxey McCain and Grimes is just crazy and you should be good enough to know that.

[M2J]

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Kyle and Derek are right.... Except not Harper. New Orleans trying to jump Philly to take Ace. Everybody knows that's who Utah likely and definitely Dumars is after.

Them saying trade the 28 Clipper pick to go up 1 space is idiotic IMO. You think Harper worth that?

[76ciology]

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Kyle and Derek are right.... Except not Harper. New Orleans trying to jump Philly to take Ace. Everybody knows that's who Utah likely and definitely Dumars is after.

Them saying trade the 28 Clipper pick to go up 1 space is idiotic IMO. You think Harper with that?

I’m more inclined to believe the Pelicans are putting up a smokescreen about being interested in Bailey to corner the trade market for the No. 2 pick, likely targeting Harper. Or simply if they’re trading for #2 it’s for Harper and if they’re trading #3 it’s for VJ.

They already have two excellent wings in Herb Jones and Trey Murphy, both of who are productive 2 way players and earning significant money ($25M for Herb, $13M for Trey). Bailey also doesn’t have the skillset and IQ of a 3. So it’s doesn’t make financial or basketball sense to draft Bailey just to bench one of them.

The real concern for the Pelicans is at the guard position. CJ McCollum is expiring, Dejounte Murray is injured, and frankly, both have been traded multiple times because they aren’t true lead guards. They’re more natural shooting guards.

And if, as Dumars said, the team is committed to Zion.. so trade up and outbid other teams to #2 just to be Zion’s back-up? Trey Murphy averaged 21ppg last season with good defense. Herb Jones is one of the better defensive wings in the league who’s capable of spacing the floor. They are stacked in the 3&4 positions.

You also ask yourself why not VJ? VJ is a good replacement for CJ. VJ or Harper, Dejounte, Murphy and Herb might be a 4 man line-up that can make Zion at the 5 work.

[MVP1992]

There's a Draft (3) thread started when this Draft (2) was still on page 103.

[76ciology]

There's a Draft (3) thread started when this Draft (2) was still on page 103.

Draft(3) is discussions for 3rd overall pick. Draft(2) is discussions for 2nd overall pick.

[MVP1992]

There's a Draft (3) thread started when this Draft (2) was still on page 103.

Draft(3) is discussions for 3rd overall pick. Draft(2) is discussions for 2nd overall pick.

When Morey either decides to tank for the 2026 top 4 protected pick or trades for a likely high lottery pick in 2026, I look forward to Volume 1 for the #1 draft selection we get to unanimously decide on when our balls get lucky. Should be a one page thread.

[Negrodamus]

We already have another good guard named Quentin Grimes. Adding VJ is overkill, and we don't need someone with a high floor, we need someone with a high ceiling.

We already have a future HOFer at SF/PF named Paul George and a nice young SF in Justin Edwards. Also we have Kelly Oubre off the bench. Adding Bailey is overkill, we don't need someone who is an ISO midrange shooter, we need someone who plays off ball with a 2-way high ceiling.

I don't want to get involved into this VJ&Ace nonsense but comparing PG Edwards and Oubre to Maxey McCain and Grimes is just crazy and you should be good enough to know that.

I quote is literally right above, “we already have another good guard named Quentin Grimes”. If Quentin Grimes is the reason to not take the BPA with a top 3 pick, then Morey should be relieved of his duties.

[Arsenal]

We already have another good guard named Quentin Grimes. Adding VJ is overkill, and we don't need someone with a high floor, we need someone with a high ceiling.

We already have a future HOFer at SF/PF named Paul George and a nice young SF in Justin Edwards. Also we have Kelly Oubre off the bench. Adding Bailey is overkill, we don't need someone who is an ISO midrange shooter, we need someone who plays off ball with a 2-way high ceiling.

I don't want to get involved into this VJ&Ace nonsense but comparing PG Edwards and Oubre to Maxey McCain and Grimes is just crazy and you should be good enough to know that.

Sadly the ADS afflicted have resorted to exaggeration, hyperbole, and obfuscation in their jihad against Ace.

We’re obviously stacked at guard. At forward, not so much.

[Arsenal]

McCain was 20 when he was drafted...guess its time to old yeller him.

a years difference isn't a big deal at all. Ace, Flagg and Fears all reclassed iirc. VJ is normal freshman age

like what are we doing here? Yall die on some weird ass hills

A year plus difference IS big when discussing prospects this young.

McCain was picked #16 overall. If we had the chance to take VJ at #16 that would be great. But right now we’re talking about the #3 overall pick.

[Stanford]

This thread would make a whole lot more sense if we all just signed a pledge that admitted we have no idea what we're talking about.

[Black Mage]

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Kyle and Derek are right.... Except not Harper. New Orleans trying to jump Philly to take Ace. Everybody knows that's who Utah likely and definitely Dumars is after.

Them saying trade the 28 Clipper pick to go up 1 space is idiotic IMO. You think Harper with that?

I had this thought too when I saw the Orleans report that they asked about #2. Morey may not have serious interest but is just getting into the fray to block NOLA. One of those, "if you get an offer from NOLA that you like, let me know and I'll see if we can beat it." With Giannis likely back to the Bucks, those Bucks picks next 2 years took a big hit in value.

[Jailblazers7]

Jared McCain has only played 23 NBA games and Grimes had some fun games on a tanking team (also a RFA so not guaranteed to be here). It would be very silly to let those two dictate which player/position we draft.

[sodmoraes]

Why don't people care that Edgecombe is old? I think age in and of itself is a dis-qualifier for Morey. He's at least half a year older than all the other top freshman prospects other than Kon and Queen.

Besides that, what if VJ is even older than that? He´s from Bahamas, a "3rd world country", so there´s a chance that he may have changed his birthday certificate to appear younger than his true age, to become more desirable as a prospect. I´m just wildly speculating, and, in reality, i think its really unlikely that this is the case, but it´s not unusual to happen this in underdeveloped countries, specially in Africa and South America( so that counts for Maluach too). Here in Brazil, it was kinda common in soccer, that some players lied their age so they had more potential. When i was a child( 20 year ago), almost every year we had a case like this in our professional league( here who does it is called "gato"), and we had some cases of african players too, even in the nba if i´m not wrong( Thon Maker?). But i think that nowadays the chance of this happening is way lower, since the birth certificates tends to be digital, so that lessen a lot the chances of that happening.

Anyways, i dont want to be a VJ hater and i´m just wildly speculating. In reality, the chance of this happening with Edgecombe is really low( less than 1%), and i dont even know Bahamas to say that it may happen there ( is it even a poor country?). But what if he´s not 20, but 22? The people who want to draft him are already hoping that he will have a lot of "hard developments" on his game( improving dribble, handle etc), and he´s already older than the other prospects, so if he´s even older it gets more difficult.

[Arsenal]

Why don't people care that Edgecombe is old? I think age in and of itself is a dis-qualifier for Morey. He's at least half a year older than all the other top freshman prospects other than Kon and Queen.

Besides that, what if VJ is even older than that? He´s from Bahamas, a "3rd world country", so there´s a chance that he may have changed his birthday certificate to appear younger than his true age, to become more desirable as a prospect. I´m just wildly speculating, and, in reality, i think its really unlikely that this is the case, but it´s not unusual to happen this in underdeveloped countries, specially in Africa and South America( so that counts for Maluach too). Here in Brazil, it was kinda common in soccer, that some players lied their age so they had more potential. When i was a child( 20 year ago), almost every year we had a case like this in our professional league( here who does it is called "gato"), and we had some cases of african players too, even in the nba if i´m not wrong( Thon Maker?). But i think that nowadays the chance of this happening is way lower, since the birth certificates tends to be digital, so that lessen a lot the chances of that happening.

Anyways, i dont want to be a VJ hater and i´m just wildly speculating. In reality, the chance of this happening with Edgecombe is really low( less than 1%), and i dont even know Bahamas to say that it may happen there ( is it even a poor country?). But what if he´s not 20, but 22? The people who want to draft him are already hoping that he will have a lot of "hard developments" on his game( improving dribble, handle etc), and he´s already older than the other prospects, so if he´s even older it gets more difficult.

Serge Ibaka and Ersan Ilyasova notoriously did this. They were 2-3 years older than their official age lol.

[LeonJordanJr24]

I went to 76ers games live. This team struggled with rebounding and we struggled with getting to the rim. Harper and Ace are the one only two guys I want out this lottery . Harper fits in with Maxey, Mccain and Grimes and makes their job easier. This team definitely needs a guy to open up the floor for them when embiid is not around. Ace makes 76ers bigger, defensive , athletic and adds upside and firepower. Choose one...

[Jailblazers7]

Are we going to start hooking up prospects to polygraphs to verify their age? We’ve gone completely off the rails at this point.

[CPops57]

Damn, if Nipples gets abused this bad in college, imagine what NBA players will do to him?

Whether or not Kneuppel is going to be a good NBA defender is subject to reasonable debate and I do grant that this is a reasonable question mark, but posting a tweet with a defensive lowlight reel is just a bad argument.

Basketball is a sport where even average players can score multiple times per game on great defenders. You can cherry pick a few clips from Jordan or Duncan or Garnett getting burned by random players and make a defensive lowlight reel for them too. It doesn't mean that they were bad defenders.

Everybody who sits down and analyzes the game acknowledges that while Kon is slow, he's also a very good team defender.

[76ciology]

Why don't people care that Edgecombe is old? I think age in and of itself is a dis-qualifier for Morey. He's at least half a year older than all the other top freshman prospects other than Kon and Queen.

Besides that, what if VJ is even older than that? He´s from Bahamas, a "3rd world country", so there´s a chance that he may have changed his birthday certificate to appear younger than his true age, to become more desirable as a prospect. I´m just wildly speculating, and, in reality, i think its really unlikely that this is the case, but it´s not unusual to happen this in underdeveloped countries, specially in Africa and South America( so that counts for Maluach too). Here in Brazil, it was kinda common in soccer, that some players lied their age so they had more potential. When i was a child( 20 year ago), almost every year we had a case like this in our professional league( here who does it is called "gato"), and we had some cases of african players too, even in the nba if i´m not wrong( Thon Maker?). But i think that nowadays the chance of this happening is way lower, since the birth certificates tends to be digital, so that lessen a lot the chances of that happening.

Anyways, i dont want to be a VJ hater and i´m just wildly speculating. In reality, the chance of this happening with Edgecombe is really low( less than 1%), and i dont even know Bahamas to say that it may happen there ( is it even a poor country?). But what if he´s not 20, but 22? The people who want to draft him are already hoping that he will have a lot of "hard developments" on his game( improving dribble, handle etc), and he´s already older than the other prospects, so if he´s even older it gets more difficult.

I wont be surprised if Embiid’s real age is closer to 50. His metabolism is slow and he gets hurt easy, he reminds me of grandpa.