2025 NBA Draft Discussion Part 7

[Clutch0z24]

Carter Bryant will be a 3&D fast break guy.....Its rare to see a player develop an Iso/Handle/Shot creating skills over night....They usually already show flashes of it in High school/College.....If they do not show it at them levels the chances are they will never develop it...

Bryant will prolly never be an all star and is prolly more just a bench role player/Decent Starter.....Where he lacks is ....He can't dribble past his defender, Doesn't have a very good dribble package, Does not get to the line or draw contact (49 FTs in college) He doesn't get to the rim other than fast breaks or cuts....He will be a good defender but on offense hes prolly a 9-12 pts a game type of guy for the majority of his career unless he takes a rare jump in development that no one sees coming...

The chances were getting an allstar at #9 is slim to none, especially in this draft, it looks to be on the weaker side when it comes to star power.

If Carter Bryant becomes a decent starter, that's high end value for the #9 pick.

Here are the last 10 #9 picks

15 - Frank Kaminsky
16 - Jakob Poeltl
17 - Dennis Smith Jr
18 - Kevin Knox
19 - Rui Hachimura
20 - Deni Avdija
21 - Davion Mitchell
22 - Jeremy Sochan
23 - Taylor Hendricks
24 - Zach Edey
25 - ?

0 allstars, and the best player of the bunch is Jakob Poeltl. Is Carter becomes a starting caliber 3+D wing who can give 10 points, hit 3's, and play solid defense... that's realistic value for the #9 pick, and no one should be disappointed.

15.Passed on Devin Booker/Myles Turner
16.Yak Vs Sabonis (Sabonis prolly slightly better)
17.Passed on Donovan Mitchell/Bam/Jarret Allen/OG
18.Passed on Shai/Brunson
19.Passed On Herro
20.Passed On Hailiburton/Maxey
21.Passed on Sengun/Jalen Johnson/Trey Murph
22.Passed on Jalen Williams/Jalen Duren/Mark Williams
23.Passed on Cason Wallace/Lively/Dick/
24.Could have tooken Ware but Edey was a good pick

....See how we can go through all these drafts and see how players got picked over way better players...We do not want to be the team that passed on a great player and we wanna pick the good player....Is Bryant that guy?....Maybe but chances are hes prolly not the best player at 9 on the board...Due to his lack of offensive skills....Hes prolly just a utility guy...And there will be a player that goes after Bryant if we picked him at 9 that will be more than just a utility guy and becomes an all star...

[Basketball_Jones]

He looks really mechanical but the footwork and jumpshot is smooth as hell. Still my pick at 9 with Maluach.

[Pointgod]

Other than being selected at #9 by the Raptors, which teams do you think could be interested in Khaman Maluach before we'd have the chance to select him?

Would anyone be willing/able to trade up into one of the top 8 picks to choose him ahead of us?

Both New Orleans or Brooklyn are threats to pick Maluach before us. Brooklyn more so because they're not fully invested in their frontcourt. Both teams will either be looking to fill their guard rotation or big man rotation.

Other than being selected at #9 by the Raptors, which teams do you think could be interested in Khaman Maluach before we'd have the chance to select him?

Would anyone be willing/able to trade up into one of the top 8 picks to choose him ahead of us?

New Orleans, Brooklyn, Washington.

Washington? Agreed. Kyshawn George moves to SF, Sarr moves to PF and Khaman Maluach starts at C.

While the Pelicans do lack some depth at the C and PF spots, they just drafted Yves Missi and traded for Kelly Olynyk so I'm not entirely sold on them being a team that would potentially draft Khaman ahead of us, especially when you consider the lack of good, young talent they have at the SG (CJ McCullom/Jordan Hawkins) and PG (Dejounte Murray/Jose Alvarado) spot and the prospects who could still be available at #7 (Tre Johnson, Kon Knueppel, Kaspars Jakucionis, Jeremiah Fears) to fill those needs.

Same goes with the Nets who have Nic Claxton/Day'Ron Sharpe at C and Cam Johnson/Noah Clowney at PF, not as much good, young talent at the SF (Ziaire Williams/Jalen Wilson) and PG (D'Angelo Russell/Tyson Etienne/Reece Beekman) positions, and would likely choose any of the four (4) prospects mentioned above in lieu of Khaman Maluach.

What about the Sixers?

Andre Drummond/Adem Bona are the backups at C and Joel Embiid has played an average of 50 games per season during his career. While choosing Khaman at #3 might be a stretch, I think Utah, Washington, New Orleans or Brooklyn would be viable trade partners to move up and select Ace Bailey or VJ Edgecombe.

What about the Hornets?

Mark Williams was traded, but the trade was rescinded due to his medicals and Jusuf Nurkic is his backup. What is the likelihood they would have Maluach ahead of Ace Bailey or VJ Edgecombe on their draft board?

Washington could opt for the two big line up with Khaman and Sarr. Really hone in on defence.

New Orleans Missi looks like a back up big and in no way does having Olynyk and Missi on the roster keep you from drafting Malauch if you believe he’s the best player when you pick.

Nets same thing. None of their bigs should keep your from taking Malauch.

Sixers. I mean do you spend the 3rd pick on a backup? Maluach is in play if the Sixers trade down.

Same for Hornets. Edgecomb is too much of a fit for Charlotte and their roster construction plus his upside is much higher. Again he could be in play if they trade down.

[JCP11]

I think I'm pretty set on Bryant at pick 9 with Rasheer and Coward next up.

I think he has the best chance of the to be more than an elite role player. He has more to his game than he was able to show in college, which you can see in his high school tape.

I see a realistic ceiling of a Trey Murphy or Mikal Bridges.

This is encouraging...then if they draft him, let him get some run in the G league so he can work on his game cuz we certainly didn't see that in college.

[XTC]

Carter Bryant will be a 3&D fast break guy.....Its rare to see a player develop an Iso/Handle/Shot creating skills over night....They usually already show flashes of it in High school/College.....If they do not show it at them levels the chances are they will never develop it...

Bryant will prolly never be an all star and is prolly more just a bench role player/Decent Starter.....Where he lacks is ....He can't dribble past his defender, Doesn't have a very good dribble package, Does not get to the line or draw contact (49 FTs in college) He doesn't get to the rim other than fast breaks or cuts....He will be a good defender but on offense hes prolly a 9-12 pts a game type of guy for the majority of his career unless he takes a rare jump in development that no one sees coming...

The chances were getting an allstar at #9 is slim to none, especially in this draft, it looks to be on the weaker side when it comes to star power.

If Carter Bryant becomes a decent starter, that's high end value for the #9 pick.

Here are the last 10 #9 picks

15 - Frank Kaminsky
16 - Jakob Poeltl
17 - Dennis Smith Jr
18 - Kevin Knox
19 - Rui Hachimura
20 - Deni Avdija
21 - Davion Mitchell
22 - Jeremy Sochan
23 - Taylor Hendricks
24 - Zach Edey
25 - ?

0 allstars, and the best player of the bunch is Jakob Poeltl. Is Carter becomes a starting caliber 3+D wing who can give 10 points, hit 3's, and play solid defense... that's realistic value for the #9 pick, and no one should be disappointed.

15.Passed on Devin Booker/Myles Turner
16.Yak Vs Sabonis (Sabonis prolly slightly better)
17.Passed on Donovan Mitchell/Bam/Jarret Allen/OG
18.Passed on Shai/Brunson
19.Passed On Herro
20.Passed On Hailiburton/Maxey
21.Passed on Sengun/Jalen Johnson/Trey Murph
22.Passed on Jalen Williams/Jalen Duren/Mark Williams
23.Passed on Cason Wallace/Lively/Dick/
24.Could have tooken Ware but Edey was a good pick

....See how we can go through all these drafts and see how players got picked over way better players...We do not want to be the team that passed on a great player and we wanna pick the good player....Is Bryant that guy?....Maybe but chances are hes prolly not the best player at 9 on the board...

Exactly. You see now that the draft is a crap shoot right? People bust, and development is never linear. At the time no one thought these where bad picks, and some of these guys fell for a reason, or where not even on the radar at all. 2016 for example, Masai drafted Poeltl at #9, but then drafted Siakam at #27. Siakam became an allstar, and made a couple all NBA teams... it doesn't mean Poeltl was a bad pick by Masai.

No one bats 100%, and there's no clear cut formula to see who is going to be a star or not. If you get a decent starter at #9 that's a W, and it doesn't matter what happens after. If Carter Bryant is a decent starter at #9, that's a high value for the #9 slot.

Heck there might be a guy picked at #29 who ends up being an all NBA perrennial allstar, and it doesn't mean the players picked before him where bad picks . The draft is a crap shoot, and getting an allstar after the top 5 picks is super lucky.

[billy_hoyle]

Carter Bryant will be a 3&D fast break guy.....Its rare to see a player develop an Iso/Handle/Shot creating skills over night....They usually already show flashes of it in High school/College.....If they do not show it at them levels the chances are they will never develop it...

Bryant will prolly never be an all star and is prolly more just a bench role player/Decent Starter.....Where he lacks is ....He can't dribble past his defender, Doesn't have a very good dribble package, Does not get to the line or draw contact (49 FTs in college) He doesn't get to the rim other than fast breaks or cuts....He will be a good defender but on offense hes prolly a 9-12 pts a game type of guy for the majority of his career unless he takes a rare jump in development that no one sees coming...

The chances were getting an allstar at #9 is slim to none, especially in this draft, it looks to be on the weaker side when it comes to star power.

If Carter Bryant becomes a decent starter, that's high end value for the #9 pick.

Here are the last 10 #9 picks

15 - Frank Kaminsky
16 - Jakob Poeltl
17 - Dennis Smith Jr
18 - Kevin Knox
19 - Rui Hachimura
20 - Deni Avdija
21 - Davion Mitchell
22 - Jeremy Sochan
23 - Taylor Hendricks
24 - Zach Edey
25 - ?

0 allstars, and the best player of the bunch is Jakob Poeltl. Is Carter becomes a starting caliber 3+D wing who can give 10 points, hit 3's, and play solid defense... that's realistic value for the #9 pick, and no one should be disappointed.

Not the best way to look at it. That's like saying the #2 pick is for draft busts because Bagley Jr and Wiseman were drafted 2nd.

2015 - Booker (13)
2016 - Sabonis (11)
2017 - Donovan Mitchell (13), Bam (14)
2018 - SGA (11)
2019 - Herro (13)
2020 - Haliburton (12)
2021 - Sengun (16)
2022 - J-dub (12)
2023 - too early to call

Literally every draft has had at least an All Star available in that late lottery range.

Odds are very good one of the best players in this draft will be available at 9.

I like Masai's chance at selecting him.

Odds are more like 15-20% at random, and obviously higher the better the scouting department

[Clutch0z24]

I think I'm pretty set on Bryant at pick 9 with Rasheer and Coward next up.

I think he has the best chance of the to be more than an elite role player. He has more to his game than he was able to show in college, which you can see in his high school tape.

I see a realistic ceiling of a Trey Murphy or Mikal Bridges.

Sorry to be nit picky....But that handle won't work in the NBA looks bad and not tight at all....Can work in HS...But against better defenders he can't dribble like that...

[XTC]

Carter Bryant will be a 3&D fast break guy.....Its rare to see a player develop an Iso/Handle/Shot creating skills over night....They usually already show flashes of it in High school/College.....If they do not show it at them levels the chances are they will never develop it...

Bryant will prolly never be an all star and is prolly more just a bench role player/Decent Starter.....Where he lacks is ....He can't dribble past his defender, Doesn't have a very good dribble package, Does not get to the line or draw contact (49 FTs in college) He doesn't get to the rim other than fast breaks or cuts....He will be a good defender but on offense hes prolly a 9-12 pts a game type of guy for the majority of his career unless he takes a rare jump in development that no one sees coming...

The chances were getting an allstar at #9 is slim to none, especially in this draft, it looks to be on the weaker side when it comes to star power.

If Carter Bryant becomes a decent starter, that's high end value for the #9 pick.

Here are the last 10 #9 picks

15 - Frank Kaminsky
16 - Jakob Poeltl
17 - Dennis Smith Jr
18 - Kevin Knox
19 - Rui Hachimura
20 - Deni Avdija
21 - Davion Mitchell
22 - Jeremy Sochan
23 - Taylor Hendricks
24 - Zach Edey
25 - ?

0 allstars, and the best player of the bunch is Jakob Poeltl. Is Carter becomes a starting caliber 3+D wing who can give 10 points, hit 3's, and play solid defense... that's realistic value for the #9 pick, and no one should be disappointed.

Not the best way to look at it. That's like saying the #2 pick is for draft busts because Bagley Jr and Wiseman were drafted 2nd.

2015 - Booker (13)
2016 - Sabonis (11)
2017 - Donovan Mitchell (13), Bam (14)
2018 - SGA (11)
2019 - Herro (13)
2020 - Haliburton (12)
2021 - Sengun (16)
2022 - J-dub (12)
2023 - too early to call

Literally every draft has had at least an All Star available in that late lottery range.

Odds are very good one of the best players in this draft will be available at 9.

I like Masai's chance at selecting him.

Odds are more like 15-20% at random, and obviously higher the better the scouting department

Point being it's super rare, and there's no magic formula to predict this. No one blames Masai for not picking Sabonis... heck Masai picked Poeltl over Siakam, and if he was so sure Siakam becomes an allstar, there's no way he let's him slide to #27.

Maybe Carter Bryant becomes the next Tatum, maybe he busts, but if he became a starting caliber 3+D wing, while some guy drafted #22 becomes an allstar, no one is going to be like "WTF Masai". The draft is 50% scouting, doing workouts, seeing what tools the player has, the other 50% is pure luck, because player development is never linear.

[Clutch0z24]

The chances were getting an allstar at #9 is slim to none, especially in this draft, it looks to be on the weaker side when it comes to star power.

If Carter Bryant becomes a decent starter, that's high end value for the #9 pick.

Here are the last 10 #9 picks

15 - Frank Kaminsky
16 - Jakob Poeltl
17 - Dennis Smith Jr
18 - Kevin Knox
19 - Rui Hachimura
20 - Deni Avdija
21 - Davion Mitchell
22 - Jeremy Sochan
23 - Taylor Hendricks
24 - Zach Edey
25 - ?

0 allstars, and the best player of the bunch is Jakob Poeltl. Is Carter becomes a starting caliber 3+D wing who can give 10 points, hit 3's, and play solid defense... that's realistic value for the #9 pick, and no one should be disappointed.

15.Passed on Devin Booker/Myles Turner
16.Yak Vs Sabonis (Sabonis prolly slightly better)
17.Passed on Donovan Mitchell/Bam/Jarret Allen/OG
18.Passed on Shai/Brunson
19.Passed On Herro
20.Passed On Hailiburton/Maxey
21.Passed on Sengun/Jalen Johnson/Trey Murph
22.Passed on Jalen Williams/Jalen Duren/Mark Williams
23.Passed on Cason Wallace/Lively/Dick/
24.Could have tooken Ware but Edey was a good pick

....See how we can go through all these drafts and see how players got picked over way better players...We do not want to be the team that passed on a great player and we wanna pick the good player....Is Bryant that guy?....Maybe but chances are hes prolly not the best player at 9 on the board...

Exactly. You see now that the draft is a crap shoot right? People bust, and development is never linear. At the time no one thought these where bad picks, and some of these guys fell for a reason, or where not even on the radar at all. 2016 for example, Masai drafted Poeltl at #9, but then drafted Siakam at #27. Siakam became an allstar, and made a couple all NBA teams... it doesn't mean Poeltl was a bad pick by Masai.

No one bats 100%, and there's no clear cut formula to see who is going to be a star or not. If you get a decent starter at #9 that's a W, and it doesn't matter what happens after. If Carter Bryant is a decent starter at #9, that's a high value for the #9 slot.

Heck there might be a guy picked at #29 who ends up being an all NBA perrennial allstar, and it doesn't mean the players picked before him where bad picks . The draft is a crap shoot, and getting an allstar after the top 5 picks is super lucky.

Sure....But my point still stands that i think there will be better players available at 9 than Bryant....Because of the lack of offensive versatility....Its very hard for a defensive first 3&D to be anything more than just a role player and i will bet that if we pick him at 9th you will see 3 years later 5 or so players that end up better....Id be fine with a good role player but we didn't tank the year for a role player ....Lets hope to get the best player at 9 you can get...

[XTC]

15.Passed on Devin Booker/Myles Turner
16.Yak Vs Sabonis (Sabonis prolly slightly better)
17.Passed on Donovan Mitchell/Bam/Jarret Allen/OG
18.Passed on Shai/Brunson
19.Passed On Herro
20.Passed On Hailiburton/Maxey
21.Passed on Sengun/Jalen Johnson/Trey Murph
22.Passed on Jalen Williams/Jalen Duren/Mark Williams
23.Passed on Cason Wallace/Lively/Dick/
24.Could have tooken Ware but Edey was a good pick

....See how we can go through all these drafts and see how players got picked over way better players...We do not want to be the team that passed on a great player and we wanna pick the good player....Is Bryant that guy?....Maybe but chances are hes prolly not the best player at 9 on the board...

Exactly. You see now that the draft is a crap shoot right? People bust, and development is never linear. At the time no one thought these where bad picks, and some of these guys fell for a reason, or where not even on the radar at all. 2016 for example, Masai drafted Poeltl at #9, but then drafted Siakam at #27. Siakam became an allstar, and made a couple all NBA teams... it doesn't mean Poeltl was a bad pick by Masai.

No one bats 100%, and there's no clear cut formula to see who is going to be a star or not. If you get a decent starter at #9 that's a W, and it doesn't matter what happens after. If Carter Bryant is a decent starter at #9, that's a high value for the #9 slot.

Heck there might be a guy picked at #29 who ends up being an all NBA perrennial allstar, and it doesn't mean the players picked before him where bad picks . The draft is a crap shoot, and getting an allstar after the top 5 picks is super lucky.

Sure....But my point still stands that i think there will be better players available at 9 than Bryant....Because of the lack of offensive versatility....Its very hard for a defensive first 3&D to be anything more than just a role player and i will bet that if we pick him at 9th you will see 3 years later 5 or so players that end up better....Id be fine with a good role player but we didn't tank the year for a role player ....Lets hope to get the best player at 9 you can get...

I agree. Let's hope Masai picks the best player possible.

[earthtone]

Underrated thing about our situation is no matter who we draft, they're coming into a great situation for development with great vets at their position. Instead of a 19-year old coming in and having to carry the weight of a franchise on their back, a centre can learn from Jakob, big wings can learn from Scottie & BI, and guards can learn from RJ & Quick.

No pressure on them to carry the organization, they can just come into a positive environment to develop their skills and learn how to contribute to winning basketball

[XTC]

I think I'm pretty set on Bryant at pick 9 with Rasheer and Coward next up.

I think he has the best chance of the to be more than an elite role player. He has more to his game than he was able to show in college, which you can see in his high school tape.

I see a realistic ceiling of a Trey Murphy or Mikal Bridges.

This is encouraging...then if they draft him, let him get some run in the G league so he can work on his game cuz we certainly didn't see that in college.

Highlights are the worst way to evaluate a prospect. Pat Beverley looked like prime Westbrook in highschool.

Watch on YouTube

[earthtone]

I really don't get this lol

When Bryant was on the floor for Arizona, they had an offensive rating of 128.4 (5th) and a defensive rating of 94.1 (15th). Without Bryant on the floor, those ratings were 122.1 (18th) and 97.3 (35th) respectively. Those aren’t detrimental drop-offs, but the difference is staggering when you consider that Bryant only started five out of 36 games and ranks seventh on the team in minutes per game. Even when we look at Bryant’s individual advanced numbers, they are staggering for someone who had his minutes so aggressively restricted all season. Bryant’s BPM of 7.8 ranked second on the team (just behind Henri Veesaar), eighth among all freshmen (behind Cooper Flagg, VJ Edgecombe, Jase Richardson, Kon Knueppel, Asa Newell, Khaman Maluach, and Dylan Harper), and his defensive BPM of 4.6 ranked fourth among all freshmen (behind Flagg, Flory Bidunga, and Luke Bamgboye), per BartTorvik. So how did a freshman who had a minute share of just 47.5 (Flagg was 71.3 for reference) and averaged 6.5 points make such an impact on winning?

The obvious place to start is on the defensive end. When we look at this freshman class, there aren’t many prospects who have the same combination of footwork, awareness, strength, and explosiveness that Bryant has. Bryant is an incredibly unselfish defender as he constantly has his head on a swivel; he is a highly effective weak-side rim protector, and he doesn’t hesitate to scramble on defense. Bryant’s reliability and consistency as a help defender are extremely rare for his age and a driving reason behind why he posted a block rate of 6.0 and a steal rate of 2.7.

Through no fault of his own, Carter Bryant has pretty consistently been the forgotten name when the 2025 NBA Draft gets discussed. All he’s done throughout the season is play winning basketball. On offense, he’s a highly efficient play-finisher with tantalizing passing upside. On defense, he does just about everything at a high level. Bryant may not have the upside that guys in the Top 5 have, but that’s why he doesn’t get mentioned in that range. What he does have, though, is an incredible baseline as a 3-and-D wing who looks like he could play a decade-plus in the league. At a minimum, that archetype deserves to go much higher than he tends to get mentioned. As he continues to explore his ancillary skills, too, who’s to say how much room for growth he still has left? Carter Bryant is a winning basketball player; don’t overthink it.

https://www.noceilingsnba.com/p/carter-bryant-is-a-winning-player

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

Projection is what Essengue is getting. The reason why people are bigging up Bryant is that the production is clearly there even in limited minutes and I don't think it's a question of that diminishing too much with greater volume and more minutes.

You're telling me this team wouldn't benefit from a defensive monster and a shooting threat?

How do people not watch the playoffs and not clearly see the value in what he brings?

Was on board with everything until the Essengue dig haha, I think he's less of a projection than Bryant. They're very differently built even though they both have great size + athleticism for their position, but Essengue will have ~double the minutes played as Bryant against a much higher level of competition.

[JCP11]

I think I'm pretty set on Bryant at pick 9 with Rasheer and Coward next up.

I think he has the best chance of the to be more than an elite role player. He has more to his game than he was able to show in college, which you can see in his high school tape.

I see a realistic ceiling of a Trey Murphy or Mikal Bridges.

This is encouraging...then if they draft him, let him get some run in the G league so he can work on his game cuz we certainly didn't see that in college.

Highlights are the worst way to evaluate a prospect. Pat Beverley looked like prime Westbrook in highschool.

Watch on YouTube

I've watched a lot of Carter recently, I was just looking for some footage of on ball play cuz there's none in college lol. He's not my preferred choice but I could be on board if the team has a good plan in place for his development. He's the archetype we've been looking for for a while physically and athletically wise. If he can develop a handle you might have something special.

[Indeed]

I mean, that's why you draft an 18 year old over a 23 year old. Potential.

I mean, that's why there are so many bust, and people (eg. Vecenie) talked about it when you can have 4 years of data, yet, GMs still fall for the hype.

Not saying that Maluach, or anyone, will exceed expectations the same way, but Vecenie (and may others) made the same arguments against drafting Scottie Barnes so high and was completely shocked when he developed an offensive repertoire that he never showed in college. Sometimes it really is about the projection of what they could be, and Masai often drafts this way.

Again not saying that I'm sold Maluach is that guy - Fears and Jakucionis and Queen are also flawed but potentially really good prospects, but at #9 we're not going to get a 100% sure thing unless we do go for a lower ceiling, but closer to finished product.

Not saying high I am on the other prospect, but someone with low volume 3 point shooting at 25%, are people certain he can shoot the 3 at average? Other players showed their skills (footwork, reading defense / offense, ball handling, etc.), Maluach basically didn't show much. Low block rate, low assist rate, etc. these stats aren't even kind to him. His draft position is based on potential.

[billy_hoyle]

The chances were getting an allstar at #9 is slim to none, especially in this draft, it looks to be on the weaker side when it comes to star power.

If Carter Bryant becomes a decent starter, that's high end value for the #9 pick.

Here are the last 10 #9 picks

15 - Frank Kaminsky
16 - Jakob Poeltl
17 - Dennis Smith Jr
18 - Kevin Knox
19 - Rui Hachimura
20 - Deni Avdija
21 - Davion Mitchell
22 - Jeremy Sochan
23 - Taylor Hendricks
24 - Zach Edey
25 - ?

0 allstars, and the best player of the bunch is Jakob Poeltl. Is Carter becomes a starting caliber 3+D wing who can give 10 points, hit 3's, and play solid defense... that's realistic value for the #9 pick, and no one should be disappointed.

Not the best way to look at it. That's like saying the #2 pick is for draft busts because Bagley Jr and Wiseman were drafted 2nd.

2015 - Booker (13)
2016 - Sabonis (11)
2017 - Donovan Mitchell (13), Bam (14)
2018 - SGA (11)
2019 - Herro (13)
2020 - Haliburton (12)
2021 - Sengun (16)
2022 - J-dub (12)
2023 - too early to call

Literally every draft has had at least an All Star available in that late lottery range.

Odds are very good one of the best players in this draft will be available at 9.

I like Masai's chance at selecting him.

Odds are more like 15-20% at random, and obviously higher the better the scouting department

Point being it's super rare, and there's no magic formula to predict this. No one blames Masai for not picking Sabonis... heck Masai picked Poeltl over Siakam, and if he was so sure Siakam becomes an allstar, there's no way he let's him slide to #27.

Maybe Carter Bryant becomes the next Tatum, maybe he busts, but if he became a starting caliber 3+D wing, while some guy drafted #22 becomes an allstar, no one is going to be like "WTF Masai". The draft is 50% scouting, doing workouts, seeing what tools the player has, the other 50% is pure luck, because player development is never linear.

I agree that no front office bats 100%, but our FO definitely isn't throwing darts at random mock drafts.


I don't think it's necessarily true that Masai would have selected Siakam at 9. Front offices know the range with which a player is typically getting ranked. Siakam was already over drafted by every mock. The entire board was up in arms that we didn't take Skal or Davis. There's no way Poeltl makes it even another couple picks. That's value selecting.

Should he have picked Sabonis over Yak. Yes, and maybe another player or two. As you said, nobody bats 100%, but Yak is a good pick at 9.

Maybe Carter Bryant is a good pick at 9 too. I'm not saying otherwise. I think he has an tantalizing ceiling.

Imma trust Masai tho, he's demonstrably better than literally everyone on this board at this.

[dohboy_24]

For this year's draft, which prospects likely to be selected between picks #10 and #30 have the most potential to become an all-star and/or all-nba calibre player?

Guards:
Jase Richardson
Egor Demin
Nolan Traore
Ben Saraf
Walter Clayton Jr
Lebaron Philon
Tahaad Pettiford

Wings:
Carter Bryant
Noa Essengue
Nique Clifford
Will Riley
Cedric Coward
Liam McNeeley
Hugo Gonzalez

Forwards:
Collin Murray-Boyles
Rasheer Fleming
Yaxel Lendeborg
Noah Penda
Adou Thiero

Bigs:
Derik Queen
Asa Newell
Thomas Sorber
Danny Wolf
Joan Beringer
Maxime Raynaud

If I had to bet I'd choose one or two of the following as the most likely to eclipse that standard:

Tahaad Pettiford
Jase Richardson
Nolan Traore
Egor Demin
Carter Bryant
Hugo Gonzalez
Will Riley
Thomas Sorber

[canada_dry]

Im really in on jaku.

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[Brinbe]

I really don't get this lol

When Bryant was on the floor for Arizona, they had an offensive rating of 128.4 (5th) and a defensive rating of 94.1 (15th). Without Bryant on the floor, those ratings were 122.1 (18th) and 97.3 (35th) respectively. Those aren’t detrimental drop-offs, but the difference is staggering when you consider that Bryant only started five out of 36 games and ranks seventh on the team in minutes per game. Even when we look at Bryant’s individual advanced numbers, they are staggering for someone who had his minutes so aggressively restricted all season. Bryant’s BPM of 7.8 ranked second on the team (just behind Henri Veesaar), eighth among all freshmen (behind Cooper Flagg, VJ Edgecombe, Jase Richardson, Kon Knueppel, Asa Newell, Khaman Maluach, and Dylan Harper), and his defensive BPM of 4.6 ranked fourth among all freshmen (behind Flagg, Flory Bidunga, and Luke Bamgboye), per BartTorvik. So how did a freshman who had a minute share of just 47.5 (Flagg was 71.3 for reference) and averaged 6.5 points make such an impact on winning?

The obvious place to start is on the defensive end. When we look at this freshman class, there aren’t many prospects who have the same combination of footwork, awareness, strength, and explosiveness that Bryant has. Bryant is an incredibly unselfish defender as he constantly has his head on a swivel; he is a highly effective weak-side rim protector, and he doesn’t hesitate to scramble on defense. Bryant’s reliability and consistency as a help defender are extremely rare for his age and a driving reason behind why he posted a block rate of 6.0 and a steal rate of 2.7.

Through no fault of his own, Carter Bryant has pretty consistently been the forgotten name when the 2025 NBA Draft gets discussed. All he’s done throughout the season is play winning basketball. On offense, he’s a highly efficient play-finisher with tantalizing passing upside. On defense, he does just about everything at a high level. Bryant may not have the upside that guys in the Top 5 have, but that’s why he doesn’t get mentioned in that range. What he does have, though, is an incredible baseline as a 3-and-D wing who looks like he could play a decade-plus in the league. At a minimum, that archetype deserves to go much higher than he tends to get mentioned. As he continues to explore his ancillary skills, too, who’s to say how much room for growth he still has left? Carter Bryant is a winning basketball player; don’t overthink it.

https://www.noceilingsnba.com/p/carter-bryant-is-a-winning-player

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Projection is what Essengue is getting. The reason why people are bigging up Bryant is that the production is clearly there even in limited minutes and I don't think it's a question of that diminishing too much with greater volume and more minutes.

You're telling me this team wouldn't benefit from a defensive monster and a shooting threat?

How do people not watch the playoffs and not clearly see the value in what he brings?

Was on board with everything until the Essengue dig haha, I think he's less of a projection than Bryant. They're very differently built even though they both have great size + athleticism for their position, but Essengue will have ~double the minutes played as Bryant against a much higher level of competition.

That's true, and playing pro ball at 18 does matter, but the German League is still like the 6th/7th best in Europe, so it's not exactly super top competition and nothing really sticks out to me with him even in Eurocup play. And when they played the actual other good team in Bayern he got shut down.

As I've said previously, the athlete getting transition buckets thing generally gets overrated for me. It's more like what does he do in a half-court if he can't shoot 3s at a high level? Is he more of a 4/5 then? And it's like he'll do a bunch of stuff at an okay level in terms of defending/attacking the basket and maybe he gets there as a shooter, but nothing really stands out to me as anything exceptional at the next level.

And it's perfectly fair if people see the same thing Bryant too.

[JCP11]

For this year's draft, which prospects likely to be selected between picks #10 and #30 have the most potential to become an all-star and/or all-nba calibre player?

Guards:
Jase Richardson
Egor Demin
Nolan Traore
Ben Saraf
Walter Clayton Jr
Lebaron Philon
Tahaad Pettiford

Wings:
Carter Bryant
Noa Essengue
Nique Clifford
Will Riley
Cedric Coward
Liam McNeeley
Hugo Gonzalez

Forwards:
Collin Murray-Boyles
Rasheer Fleming
Yaxel Lendeborg
Noah Penda
Adou Thiero

Bigs:
Derik Queen
Asa Newell
Thomas Sorber
Danny Wolf
Joan Beringer
Maxime Raynaud

If I had to bet I'd choose one or two of the following as the most likely to eclipse that standard:

Tahaad Pettiford
Jase Richardson
Nolan Traore
Egor Demin
Carter Bryant
Hugo Gonzalez
Will Riley
Thomas Sorber

If somehow Pettiford could gain 15 pounds and grow one more inch, he's surefire all star. He's so fun to watch and has that IT factor. He knows how to run an offense and makes big shots. Too bad he's so small.