2025 NBA Draft Prospect Part 2

[Thaddy]

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What about this screams good NBA player? In the NBA his athleticism isn't going to be anything new. A lot of the guys in the league were in the top percentiles when it came to hops. I don't see an electric acceleration that guards need in the NBA either. On top of all that he's got a weak handle and his shot isn't consistent and reliable. I would pass on this kid. I want a player with two defined skills whether it's scoring/passing, shooting/ball handling, shooting/rebounding, shot creation/defense, or any combination of those skills. Outside of Flagg and Harper the only guys I see who are worthwhile would be Maluach, Jakucionis, Johnson, and McNeeley.

McNeeley is pretty under looked. He looks better than Gradey when he was in college. He's an elite stationary shooter, handles the ball, and he can guard up and down the lineup. He looks like a better version of Christian Braun.

[Jstock12]

Even though it's much more likely that Demin's struggles are due to increased level in competition, here's a more optimistic argument - there's no place like home!

He is 18 and will get better with more experience. Not every 18 year old is Flagg. He still is an elite passer and can defend. I say for adjustment Toronto would be the best place for him.

Agreed on everything apart from defense. I don't think he was very good defensively this year. Slow laterally, a lot of the times gets blown by. Got outmuscled too, but that part is fixable.

[ATLTimekeeper]

If it’s between Maluach or VJ….I’ll take Khaman.

I think Maluach has the greater potential of the two. While VJ has incredible leaping ability and will make a SportCenter highlight more often, he’s still fairly limited offensively. If we’re taking any guard/wing, they have to have the potential imo to become our leading scorer. His lack of shooting ability will only make things tougher on Scottie and Yak as clearly that means we’re sending Gradey or JaKobe to the bench and that leads to another problem….now you have such diminishing returns as we’d just have a plethora of SGs…RJ, Gradey, JaKobe, Ochai and then VJ. Sure you can play them out of position at SF but that’s really not ideal at all.

Maluach on the other hand would walk into almost an ideal situation backing up Yak (if we didn’t trade him as we should but if he stays that’s likely why we’re in this position lol) as he develops but in a year or two he’d be primed to start and offer a completely diff dynamic. He seems to have some touch around the basket but would be a major rim running threat, make fantastic screens and of course presents the upside of stretching the floor (and more). But the potential is there to be one of the top Cs in the league long term (considering Jok and Embiid will be done in a few years from now and he’ll only barely be starting his ascension). But I’ve seen so many Duke highlights where I’m thinking why don’t they dump the ball to him when he has such good position a lot of times and they barely even attempt to use his jumper even though on the RARE occasion they actually let him take them, he’s hit them. At 7’2 with a reported 7’6+ wingspan and a frame that looks like he’s gonna be 270+, he could be a lot of any player not named Jok or Embiid to handle and again those guys will likely be done or very close to it by the time Khaman is done his rookie contract.

Some of the things I don't like is that his hands aren't great. He really isn't a great rim runner, but he's good enough. If you watch Duke games instead of highlights you'd know why they don't dump the ball into him. He can't hold position.

Of course, I think there's a lot to work with but VJ is a better prospect to me. He can play 35 minutes a night

[DG88]

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[Spates]

I'm surprised by the thirst for Tre Johnson. He doesn't look remarkably different from Mathurin, Shaedon Sharpe, or Whitmore.

He’s a totally different archetype altogether. Not sure why you’re comparing him to those guys.

Laziness

[earthtone]

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What about this screams good NBA player? In the NBA his athleticism isn't going to be anything new. A lot of the guys in the league were in the top percentiles when it came to hops. I don't see an electric acceleration that guards need in the NBA either. On top of all that he's got a weak handle and his shot isn't consistent and reliable. I would pass on this kid. I want a player with two defined skills whether it's scoring/passing, shooting/ball handling, shooting/rebounding, shot creation/defense, or any combination of those skills. Outside of Flagg and Harper the only guys I see who are worthwhile would be Maluach, Jakucionis, Johnson, and McNeeley.

McNeeley is pretty under looked. He looks better than Gradey when he was in college. He's an elite stationary shooter, handles the ball, and he can guard up and down the lineup. He looks like a better version of Christian Braun.

I'm a huge VJ fan, I think you're slightly underselling him. His athleticism is top-tier even for the NBA, his speed, body control, and vertical pop are elite.

His athleticism + motor + intelligence gives him a very, very high floor IMO. Even if his ball-handling and shot creation doesn't reach it's highest outcomes, I still see him impacting games at a Josh Hart level. Elite rebounding for a guard, great passing and secondary playmaking, combined with game changing point of attack defense while being a menace in passing lanes. If the on-ball creation does come along, he has Oladipo/Jimmy Butler upside, and is much already better and more advanced than both of those players at the same age.

People are also oddly low on his 3pt shooting which I don't fully understand. He shot 40% on ~100 attempts in his senior year in high school and 38.5% in the Olympic qualifying games this summer (on low volume, 5/13 over 4 games). He started the season off cold from three (3/17 over his first four games), but has been very solid in the games since (16/42, 38%).

I'm a big VJ guy, he's solidified in my Top 5, I think he'd be #3 on my board if the draft was today.

[TNRaps4life]

Basketball Rewind on Flagg and Harper

https://youtu.be/pn6RwMhM7SM?si=WsJfGDDVEHhJQOXv

[mademan]

If we dont get a top 2 and Philly hovers around bottom 10, im trading our pick for OKC's 3 1st rounders this year (10ish and 2 late teens). They dont have the roster spots for 3 different guys and we could use multiple chances at finding a star.

[T-d0t]

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Jak @ 3
Vj @ 4
Ace @ 5

[Nature]

Gap between Cooper and everyone else is only getting wider. Head and shoulders above everyone else, including Harper.

[LoveMyRaps]

Kind of crazy that even right now.... with the 3rd worst record in the league, we're guaranteed a top 7 selection.

So that guarantees us one of:

Flagg, Harper, Ace, Kasp, Maluach, VJ, Johnson


All of the above players are starting calibre players with tremendous upside.

Feels good man. Can't wait for June!

[billy_hoyle]

If we dont get a top 2 and Philly hovers around bottom 10, im trading our pick for OKC's 3 1st rounders this year (10ish and 2 late teens). They dont have the roster spots for 3 different guys and we could use multiple chances at finding a star.

Been saying this all year. The trade down is on the table.

Let OKC amalgamate, and lets us take three shots.

Obviously, if Masai loves someone at 3-5 then I'll bet he values his guy more than the shot gun approach.

[Jstock12]

Some game tape analysis on Bailey

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[bballsparkin]

A lot of players figure things out without a mentor on the team. Some mentors are even bad, like what Barnes had. Unless Maluach is a clear cut ROTY we aren't winning with him starting next season. If you look at the playoff teams most teams have a C with significant experience starting. The Raptors probably don't want to tank two years in a row so keeping Poeltl around is their "hack" out of it.

I personally disagree. If we end up dropping to the 5th pick or later we won't get a difference maker. At that point selling Poeltl for a pick in the 10-15 range would make sense. I'm hoping the front office is waiting to see if we land in the top 3 before making any serious decisions.

Yeah sure if Jakob gets a top 10-15 pick sign me up. If he doesn't get a great offer he would be a good mentor though.

[Appostis]

If we dont get a top 2 and Philly hovers around bottom 10, im trading our pick for OKC's 3 1st rounders this year (10ish and 2 late teens). They dont have the roster spots for 3 different guys and we could use multiple chances at finding a star.

Been saying this all year. The trade down is on the table.

Let OKC amalgamate, and lets us take three shots.

Obviously, if Masai loves someone at 3-5 then I'll bet he values his guy more than the shot gun approach.

It's not a bad idea.

[TNRaps4life]

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[PhilBlackson]

If we dont get a top 2 and Philly hovers around bottom 10, im trading our pick for OKC's 3 1st rounders this year (10ish and 2 late teens). They dont have the roster spots for 3 different guys and we could use multiple chances at finding a star.

Been saying this all year. The trade down is on the table.

Let OKC amalgamate, and lets us take three shots.

Obviously, if Masai loves someone at 3-5 then I'll bet he values his guy more than the shot gun approach.

It's not a bad idea.

If it's not top 4 and all of Flagg, Harper, Bailey & Kasp have been taken -- then yeah I'd be open to it buuut I don't think PHI is staying in the top 10/they'll make it to the PlayIn (at minimum) and if they had no picks in the lottery then nah I wouldn't.

[Clutch0z24]

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[TNRaps4life]

Some say the 18 year old is a burst. Kid keeps adding to his game. #2 or 3 pick locked.

Bookmark this.

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[ImaBeatDatAzz]

I can’t stress enough how many times I got 6th pick on Tankathon lol. Like 8 or 9 out of 10 sims