2025 NBA Draft Discussion Part 7

[DreamTeam09]

Maluach or one of the big wings Noa E / Carter Bryant / Egor

[dkb964]

Givony says we have the 9th pick in an 8 person draft...i don't think thats quite true...it flatens out way before 9th, from what ive seen.

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I agree with Givony.

[grant101]

I’m baffled as to why Noa Essengue and Fleming are getting so much love at 9, beyond the fact that they look like NBA players. Both are undisciplined defenders and I’m not convinced either is going to shoot it. Plus, Noa’s frame is very concerning given his limitations elsewhere. Fleming reminds me of Paul Reed with less of a handle. Not sure either has an elite skill, and I can’t see what makes either better than someone like Yaxel or Coward. Yaxel has a far more game and Coward is a better bet to shoot it at a high level. It we’re going for role player at 9, I’d want either a higher ceiling or floor than what either offers.

[720]

Givony says we have the 9th pick in an 8 person draft...i don't think thats quite true...it flatens out way before 9th, from what ive seen.

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I agree with Givony.

Someone is surely to fall. They always do.

[Clutch0z24]

I’d take Sorber over Queen. I know one produced, and I realize the other has a foot injury… but it is what it is for me.

plays like an old school big man.....At least he has the size and the strength to play a position of need as a backup C ....But i don't see All star upside with him as i do with Queen....Would be a good backup though....Id rank the bigs in this class in the first

Queen
Maluach
CMB
Fleming
Newell
Sorber
Wolf

Prolly could trade down for Sorber if you wanted him tbh.

[Duffman100]

The top 5 (Flagg, Harper, Bailey, Edgecomb, Johnson) have the most potential to be an allstar/borderline allstar contributors to their teams.

After that there’s a lot of players with significant question marks about their talent or long term projects.

I wouldn't group them all into the same class.

Flagg is a tier of his own
Harper below him

The other 3 have higher potential than the rest of the lottery but also have bust potential.

I also don't think the gap from 3-12 is that big tbh.

Flagg and Harper have franchise potential, Ace, Edgecomb and Johnson all have all-star potential (remember Bradley Beal was an all-star) based on talent alone. I’ve been listening to a lot of draft content and I’ve never heard any serious person say any of the 3 have high bust potential.

If you look at the top 5, all of them have self creation ability and outside of the top 5 the only guys that have high self creation ability projected to go lottery are Queen, Kasparov, Fears, Denim and maybe Knueppel but they all also come with way more question marks than the projected top 5.

Isn't the knock on Bailey that he doesn't have self creation ability outside of tough jumpers.

[Pointgod]

Givony says we have the 9th pick in an 8 person draft...i don't think thats quite true...it flatens out way before 9th, from what ive seen.

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Trade the pick.

[BoyzNTheHood]

I’d take Sorber over Queen. I know one produced, and I realize the other has a foot injury… but it is what it is for me.

plays like an old school big man.....At least he has the size and the strength to play a position of need as a backup C ....But i don't see All star upside with him as i do with Queen....Would be a good backup though....Id rank the bigs in this class in the first

Queen
Maluach
CMB
Fleming
Newell
Sorber
Wolf

Prolly could trade down for Sorber if you wanted him tbh.

Not saying they’re exact comparisons, or that they’ll reach these levels. But to me Queen reminds me of Portland ZBo, and Sorber reminds me of Raptors Bosh.

Personally, I’d prefer Bosh, but those two in their primes was a wash offensively. The difference was on the defensive side of the ball, and I think that’s why Sorber is more valuable than Queen.

[raptor jesus]

Givony says we have the 9th pick in an 8 person draft...i don't think thats quite true...it flatens out way before 9th, from what ive seen.

Sent from my SM-G960W using RealGM mobile app

I agree with Givony.

Someone is surely to fall. They always do.

No one fell to the Raps in 2016, also an '8 player draft', yet they walked away with Poeltl, Siakam and FVV. The 'x player draft' narrative is always silly.

[JCP11]

I'm starting to lean towards drafting CMB. After reading a lot of comments about how bad his shot is, that he's similar to Mogbo and his bad shooting performance at the combine I didn't even want to look at his game but man I'm glad I didn't do that. He's a unique player with size, smarts, physicality, he's a dawg, can defend pretty much anyone, process the game game at a high level, great passer, I mean he has a lot going for him.

...and then there's his shot. I have to agree it's not great but it's not broken like Draymond and he's been willing to let it go this year although only made 9. If the shot ever gets there, this is the type of player you want in the playoffs when everything gets way more physical. There's a chance everyone we like gets picked before 9 and he's the one guy left with more upside. If they believe the shot can get better I hope they don't overthink it and just draft him.

Yeah the highlights and game tape you can like him but for me personally hes 6"6 without shoes so 6"7 with shoes....Its hard for me to imagine him having an advantage playing against the majority of the bigs in the league....He deff can't play C.....So then you have a log jam....Barnes/CMB/Mogbo...

Where does CMB fit in with the starting lineup ever? With Ingram/Barnes at SF/PF theres no spot for him to take in our starting lineup....So you are drafting a permanent bench guy....He does not have a 3 point shot so if you tried to play a Barnes/CMB/Yak lineup the spacing would be bad...

If you tried to turn him into a C....Every C in the league would be able to shoot over him or have such a size advantage it just would not work....

CMB is really a SG/SF Size in a PF/C body....And his game as well is a PF/C game i don't think he could ever change his game enough to be a wing (Where he should be playing)...

I do think CMB is a productive player but i feel we will need to literally change our entire team to fit his style of play if we want to get the most out of him....We would have to trade Barnes for an elite 3 point shooting PG like Trae Young, Trade RJ/Yak for someone like Tyler Herro, And sign Myles Turner as a free agent for CMB to make sense on this team...

Trae/Herro/Ingram/CMB/Turner < Now that makes 1000 percent sense and would be a good team...
IQ/Ingram/Barnes/CMB/Yak.....Yeah....No lol Spacing would be horrendous....

Good player but if he were like 6"10 or 6"11 and his shot wasn't as broken (Can't even really shoot in open gym which is a bad sign) he would be my top pick in this class...If he were legit C height....He would fill a need and could become a starter one day....Too Bad hes not tho

First I don't think he would start so I wouldn't worry about the fit with Barnes just yet, secondly I think he could guard 3-4-5 on defense but all of that hinges on the hope he can develop his 3 pt shot if he wants to stay on the floor. That would require some patience but it could pay off huge, dude is just a very good basketball player, the other guys that will be available at 9 don't even come close to his level of IQ, physicality and versatility.

Guys like Essengue, Fleming, Bryant and Demin would get overwhelmed by CMB in a game right now imo and that's who were looking at at #9 unless someone slips. I might be way off on this dude but this is my gut feeling right now. I believe in drafting good players and figure things out later

[Clutch0z24]

I’d take Sorber over Queen. I know one produced, and I realize the other has a foot injury… but it is what it is for me.

plays like an old school big man.....At least he has the size and the strength to play a position of need as a backup C ....But i don't see All star upside with him as i do with Queen....Would be a good backup though....Id rank the bigs in this class in the first

Queen
Maluach
CMB
Fleming
Newell
Sorber
Wolf

Prolly could trade down for Sorber if you wanted him tbh.

Not saying they’re exact comparisons, or that they’ll reach these levels. But to me Queen reminds me of Portland ZBo, and Sorber reminds me of Raptors Bosh.

Personally, I’d prefer Bosh, but those two in their primes was a wash offensively. The difference was on the defensive side of the ball, and I think that’s why Sorber is more valuable than Queen.

Dang....Bosh....Thats high value for Sorber...Idk if i see Bosh though....Bosh was a top pick in one of the best draft classes ever ....Sorber has not been ranked that high even before his injury.....But if he is as good as Bosh take him 9th...Wouldn't be mad...

[BoyzNTheHood]

plays like an old school big man.....At least he has the size and the strength to play a position of need as a backup C ....But i don't see All star upside with him as i do with Queen....Would be a good backup though....Id rank the bigs in this class in the first

Queen
Maluach
CMB
Fleming
Newell
Sorber
Wolf

Prolly could trade down for Sorber if you wanted him tbh.

Not saying they’re exact comparisons, or that they’ll reach these levels. But to me Queen reminds me of Portland ZBo, and Sorber reminds me of Raptors Bosh.

Personally, I’d prefer Bosh, but those two in their primes was a wash offensively. The difference was on the defensive side of the ball, and I think that’s why Sorber is more valuable than Queen.

Dang....Bosh....Thats high value for Sorber...Idk if i see Bosh though....Bosh was a top pick in one of the best draft classes ever ....Sorber has not been ranked that high even before his injury.....But if he is as good as Bosh take him 9th...Wouldn't be mad...

Sir, I said I wasn’t saying those comparisons were what they’d become

I’m simply using playing styles as a comparison.

[Pericles]

Flagg
Harper
Bailey
Edgecombe
Maluach
Queen
Knueppel
Fears
Johnson

We have the 9th pick in a 9 player draft.

[UnbelievablyRAW]

I'm starting to lean towards drafting CMB. After reading a lot of comments about how bad his shot is, that he's similar to Mogbo and his bad shooting performance at the combine I didn't even want to look at his game but man I'm glad I didn't do that. He's a unique player with size, smarts, physicality, he's a dawg, can defend pretty much anyone, process the game game at a high level, great passer, I mean he has a lot going for him.

...and then there's his shot. I have to agree it's not great but it's not broken like Draymond and he's been willing to let it go this year although only made 9. If the shot ever gets there, this is the type of player you want in the playoffs when everything gets way more physical. There's a chance everyone we like gets picked before 9 and he's the one guy left with more upside. If they believe the shot can get better I hope they don't overthink it and just draft him.

Our offense was consistently bad all year. We can’t add defense first guys with shaky offense and continue trying to win off defense alone

[Raptorfan2012]

Givony says we have the 9th pick in an 8 person draft...i don't think thats quite true...it flatens out way before 9th, from what ive seen.

Sent from my SM-G960W using RealGM mobile app

I agree with Givony.

Givony has Flagg, Harper, Bailey, VJ, Fears, Tre Johnson, Maluach, and Knueppel as his top 8. I can potentially see Flagg and Harper in first and second tier, and then Bailey, VJ, Fears, and Tre Johnson, in the third tier, but guys like Malauch and Knueppel can easily be grouped with guys like Kasparas, Queen, and Carter Bryant for the 4th tier. I also disagree that CMB is in that tier. IMO.

[BoyzNTheHood]

Givony says we have the 9th pick in an 8 person draft...i don't think thats quite true...it flatens out way before 9th, from what ive seen.

Sent from my SM-G960W using RealGM mobile app

I agree with Givony.

Givony has Flagg, Harper, Bailey, VJ, Fears, Tre Johnson, Maluach, and Knueppel as his top 8. I can potentially see Flagg and Harper in first and second tier, and then Bailey, VJ, Fears, and Tre Johnson, in the third tier, but guys like Malauch and Knueppel can easily be grouped with guys like Kasparas, Queen, and Carter Bryant for the 4th tier. I also disagree that CMB is in that tier. IMO.

Givony is cooked. Mike Schmitz got hired by a real NBA team over him for a reason.

[Clutch0z24]

I'm starting to lean towards drafting CMB. After reading a lot of comments about how bad his shot is, that he's similar to Mogbo and his bad shooting performance at the combine I didn't even want to look at his game but man I'm glad I didn't do that. He's a unique player with size, smarts, physicality, he's a dawg, can defend pretty much anyone, process the game game at a high level, great passer, I mean he has a lot going for him.

...and then there's his shot. I have to agree it's not great but it's not broken like Draymond and he's been willing to let it go this year although only made 9. If the shot ever gets there, this is the type of player you want in the playoffs when everything gets way more physical. There's a chance everyone we like gets picked before 9 and he's the one guy left with more upside. If they believe the shot can get better I hope they don't overthink it and just draft him.

Yeah the highlights and game tape you can like him but for me personally hes 6"6 without shoes so 6"7 with shoes....Its hard for me to imagine him having an advantage playing against the majority of the bigs in the league....He deff can't play C.....So then you have a log jam....Barnes/CMB/Mogbo...

Where does CMB fit in with the starting lineup ever? With Ingram/Barnes at SF/PF theres no spot for him to take in our starting lineup....So you are drafting a permanent bench guy....He does not have a 3 point shot so if you tried to play a Barnes/CMB/Yak lineup the spacing would be bad...

If you tried to turn him into a C....Every C in the league would be able to shoot over him or have such a size advantage it just would not work....

CMB is really a SG/SF Size in a PF/C body....And his game as well is a PF/C game i don't think he could ever change his game enough to be a wing (Where he should be playing)...

I do think CMB is a productive player but i feel we will need to literally change our entire team to fit his style of play if we want to get the most out of him....We would have to trade Barnes for an elite 3 point shooting PG like Trae Young, Trade RJ/Yak for someone like Tyler Herro, And sign Myles Turner as a free agent for CMB to make sense on this team...

Trae/Herro/Ingram/CMB/Turner < Now that makes 1000 percent sense and would be a good team...
IQ/Ingram/Barnes/CMB/Yak.....Yeah....No lol Spacing would be horrendous....

Good player but if he were like 6"10 or 6"11 and his shot wasn't as broken (Can't even really shoot in open gym which is a bad sign) he would be my top pick in this class...If he were legit C height....He would fill a need and could become a starter one day....Too Bad hes not tho

First I don't think he would start so I wouldn't worry about the fit with Barnes just yet, secondly I think he could guard 3-4-5 on defense but all of that hinges on the hope he can develop his 3 pt shot if he wants to stay on the floor. That would require some patience but it could pay off huge, dude is just a very good basketball player, the other guys that will be available at 9 don't even come close to his level of IQ, physicality and versatility.

Guys like Essengue, Fleming, Bryant and Demin would get overwhelmed by CMB in a game right now imo and that's who were looking at at #9 unless someone slips. I might be way off on this dude but this is my gut feeling right now. I believe in drafting good players and figure things out later

Id agree with you about CMB vs a few of the guys in that list....Id prolly pick CMB over Essengue/Fleming/Demin as well because all of them are prolly projected to be role players at their peaks....So if you are drafting a role player CMB would be the best role player out of the bunch...So thats valid...

But if the right player from the 9 falls to you...I prolly take that player > CMB....It would be a tough call between CMB/Bryant....Also i have my top 9 so id want anyone that fell from my list at 9 over CMB....But if Masai likes CMB at 9 gotta trust it...

[Clutch0z24]

Flagg
Harper
Bailey
Edgecombe
Maluach
Queen
Knueppel
Fears
Johnson

We have the 9th pick in a 9 player draft.

Agreed which ever one is at 9 you prolly take....Unless you see all star potential in a player outside of that 9....If you draft someone outside of that 9....You better hit on the pick or else it would look bad if the player you pass on is alot better...

[bballsparkin]

What are the chances of us trading back to get the hawks picks. Seems the more interesting picks will be there

Someone like Kon or Fears drops it could be valuable. But I doubt they trade it.

Do you think the Hawks would trade #13 and #22 for #9?

They would have to love someone at 9 to do that I think. But maybe. 13 it might get harder to get the guy you want. Adding #22 sure would be nice though.

[Indeed]

You never said we build around Maluach, but you said he is a championship calibre player, which to me, championship calibre player are towards star players.

You keep missing my point. I'll give you a clear example: OG... is he a "star"? not really, but he can be the 3+D on a championship team. he will not be the MVP but he will play his role at the championship level. Is that clearer?

Role players are not because they can be replaced. would you call Ibaka a championship calibre player? Would you call Norm Powell a championship player?

Yes, they both are championship calibre bench players. Any team with them coming off the bench can win a ship.

If Maluach is a high end role player, there are also other options in that tier, and we can look for better fit. We do not have a dynamic guard to use Maluach, so his fit is in question. But I think we are hoping for a player who can create at 9.

That's what it is, you have your preferences (who do think can be a better championship caliber role player at 9?) and I'm not here to make you change your mind

I would draft OG over Siakam. You understand what I mean? OG is not a championship calibre player, until he became a star. Would Bowen be a championship player with Tim Duncan? No. You don't draft him above Parker.

Ibaka and Norm Powell are not championship players, they are not star players. Any team that are stacked enough for them to come off the bench wins, but they are replaceable.

I am neither make you to change your mind, but claiming he can be a star or championship calibre player is misleading to me. He is just a high-end role player that some teams may excel in using him, but some teams like ours who prefer a passing big as the hub would not be making use of him. If we are drafting him and able to trade down, sure. If we are drafting him and cannot use him, then his value will not be high.