2025 NBA Draft Discussion Part 5

[Dalek]

"My biggest strength is my defense," Essengue said. "I have the versatility to guard 1 to 5. If an NBA coach wanted to put me on the court right now, it would be because I can stay in front of point guards and also put a body on centers. I need to keep improving every aspect of my game, though. I'm playing tougher every game, trying to match the intensity and physicality of my opponents."

"I want to be a guy who can do everything on the court. I watch a lot of Kevin Durant, Brandon Ingram, and Kawhi Leonard, players that can dribble, pass, shoot and defend."

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/44733314/french-forward-noa-essengue-enter-nba-draft

Noa Essengue is the best upside pick for men even ahead of Maluach and Beringer. He is a dunking machine and has length and freakish ground coverage on defense.

I love that he watches Ingram. Imagine learning under one of his favorite players. Personally I think his frame fills out better than Ingram in time.

Since March 1 - 39% from three, 53% from the field. He is also only 18 and the second youngest to Flagg playing pro ball.

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As of today, I’d say he, Bryant and Maluach are top 3 on our brass’ draft boards within our current range.

Nice. I think those are the big upside players. I prefer Essengue because of his age and maturity. Playing in a pro league at 17 and draws a ton of fouls. Today he had his best game of the season.

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?s=46

[dohboy_24]

Khaman didn’t start playing basketball until he was 13. In less than five years of playing organized basketball, he has become the top center in his draft class.

Scouting reports:
https://theswishtheory.com/scouting-reports/khaman-maluach/
https://www.noceilingsnba.com/p/khaman-maluach-unicorns-arent-real

Considering the prospects at center who are likely to be drafted in the next few years, which ones would you rank ahead of Khaman right now and who do you think has the potential to be become a better player than Malauch over the course of the next 2-3 years?

Flory Bidunga
Tomislav Ivisic
Amari Williams
Zvonimir Ivisic
Rocco Zikarsky
Dylan Caldwell
Xavier Booker
Aaron Bradshaw
Ugonna Kingsley Onyenso
Clifford Omoruyi
Chris Cenac Jr
Malachi Monero
Jayden Quaintance
Moustapha Thiam
Henri Veesaar
Patrick Ngongba II
Sidi Gueye
Abraham Joum Maker Bol
Sayon Keita
Mouhammed Sylla
Magoon Gwath
Eric Reibe
Marcus Ponder

[WuTang_CMB]

"My biggest strength is my defense," Essengue said. "I have the versatility to guard 1 to 5. If an NBA coach wanted to put me on the court right now, it would be because I can stay in front of point guards and also put a body on centers. I need to keep improving every aspect of my game, though. I'm playing tougher every game, trying to match the intensity and physicality of my opponents."

"I want to be a guy who can do everything on the court. I watch a lot of Kevin Durant, Brandon Ingram, and Kawhi Leonard, players that can dribble, pass, shoot and defend."

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/44733314/french-forward-noa-essengue-enter-nba-draft

Noa Essengue is the best upside pick for men even ahead of Maluach and Beringer. He is a dunking machine and has length and freakish ground coverage on defense.

I love that he watches Ingram. Imagine learning under one of his favorite players. Personally I think his frame fills out better than Ingram in time.

Since March 1 - 39% from three, 53% from the field. He is also only 18 and the second youngest to Flagg playing pro ball.

Watch on YouTube

As of today, I’d say he, Bryant and Maluach are top 3 on our brass’ draft boards within our current range.

I would probably agree with this

[PhilBlackson]

I hope you are right about Maluach being better than Allen...But you said hes shown Mid range and shooting....I don't think he has 1 mid range jumpshot in his entire Duke season....He has not shown he can do it on the college level consistently if at all.... Let alone in the NBA

Also we are not good enough imo to draft on need or our roster we have now....We won 30 games last season you just have to go BPA.....And Tre upside is way 2 good to pass on....Again Maluach vs Fears can be debated. Maluach at the end of the day will be best suited in his NBA career as a rim running P&R lob threat imo....If you let him take 3 pointers or try and create for himself you will see alot of bad basketball and ugly misses. Thats just not his game at all.

I didn't say he will, I said he has the POTENTIAL to be better than Allen just to be clear lol. Likewise I also said he had shown flashes of a mid range & 3pt shot in BAL and no it would be impossible for him to show that consistency at Duke because they literally didn't run any plays for him to show any of that. Obv in BAL he was much more of a focal point/greater freedom offensively so he showed more there. I know obv that's lesser competition but he can only show what the coaching staff allows him to, we've seen that happen to (much) greater players than himself in college ie/ AD & KAT (to a lesser extent). But Scheyer as a 1st coach at Duke following one of the GOAT college coaches of all time and inheriting a supposed "generational" prospect along with multiple other top recruits (ie/ Kon, Evans, Proctor etc) didn't have the leash to develop or test things out, it was all about winning and making sure guys play their roles hence why a kid like Evans that would start on vast majority of college teams was forced to come off the bench. But the FT% and percentages from the floor are there that there's at least POTENTIAL there to be greater.

Also being a "30W team" is a bit disingenuous...I'm not sure the exact numbers but I'll be surprised if our full starting lineup even played 1/3 of the season together an I'd say for almost 3/4 of the season we were missing multiple starters and that's not even factoring Ingram as one of them. We could EASILY been a lot better than that at full health, we were fighting to LOSE games lol. BUT again love Tre but I simply don't see the FO considering an EIGHTH shooting guard (period) and maaaybe they'll consider Fears but I still have my doubts considering the lack of minutes available. Can't say it enough that I don't think it's any coincidence that we lack an actual NBA level backup C and Masai flat out saying that's what he wants lol. To be clear personally I don't even debate Fears vs Maluach, I think Fears has more star potential but don't see them doing it. Because I don't see them considering any guards, the only non C I might see them looking at is Carter Bryant.

Personally I like any of Queen, Bryant (would've been Fears had I believed the FO would do it) or Maluach (prob in that order). So it's not like I'm personally attached to drafting Maluach but again I just think people writing him off as a "bust" or "backup at best" is a bit crazy when we haven't seen him in the NBA yet considering he has a higher starting point (and potential) than a current borderline all-star C especially with a franchise that develops as well as we do.

Allen also showed flashes of a mid range / baseline jumper (in college). Allen showed flashes on his post moves.
Allen in his draft days has the same potential as Maluach.

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Well except the actual shooting percentages don’t reflect that as Maluach shot a SIGNIFICANTLY higher percentage than Allen from both the FT line and the floor. Not to mention the substantial size/strength advantage Khaman has and also the edge in rebounding so no I would still have to disagree with that.

[Basketball_Jones]

Queen/Maluach/Fears in that order for me. Queen would probably be the one guy I’d be disappointed in losing out on because he’s going to be very productive from day 1 putting up numbers on a crap team somewhere. Leaning towards Khaman over Fears based on team needs so almost interchangeable.

[Indeed]

Mitchell, Oladipo, and Westbrook.

None are even close to as raw as VJ. VJ can't dribble, has no shiftiness to his game whatsoever.

Thats not true. Westbrook was far more raw

I am unsure Westbrook was far more raw.
Edgecombe will probably be a better shooter, but I don't think he will be as impactful as Westbrook. Neither has the Westbrook / Oladipo wingspan in the 6'8 range. I don't think he will be a bust, since his defense is good and started to hit the 3s well, but he won't be elite.

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[PhilBlackson]

Queen/Maluach/Fears in that order for me. Queen would probably be the one guy I’d be disappointed in losing out on because he’s going to be very productive from day 1 putting up numbers on a crap team somewhere. Leaning towards Khaman over Fears based on team needs so almost interchangeable.

Basically where I’ve been at for a bit now but the only adjustment I’d make is that I just don’t have faith the FO will seriously enough consider a PG like Fears considering the financial commitment to IQ coupled with Shead’s emergence…just not enough minutes to go around for a top 10 pick that they know publicly they’ll be somewhat under the gun with. Especially in Masai’s contract year.

For that reason I’ve substituted Fears with Bryant and now I’ll be happy with any of those guys but Queen is a little notch above the rest because he not only serves a roster need but I think he can be a bit more dynamic which is super important in the Playoffs…

[bboyskinnylegs]

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[PhilBlackson]

I would like Noa a lot better if he weren’t shooting Scottie Barnes like percentages.

[Indeed]

I didn't say he will, I said he has the POTENTIAL to be better than Allen just to be clear lol. Likewise I also said he had shown flashes of a mid range & 3pt shot in BAL and no it would be impossible for him to show that consistency at Duke because they literally didn't run any plays for him to show any of that. Obv in BAL he was much more of a focal point/greater freedom offensively so he showed more there. I know obv that's lesser competition but he can only show what the coaching staff allows him to, we've seen that happen to (much) greater players than himself in college ie/ AD & KAT (to a lesser extent). But Scheyer as a 1st coach at Duke following one of the GOAT college coaches of all time and inheriting a supposed "generational" prospect along with multiple other top recruits (ie/ Kon, Evans, Proctor etc) didn't have the leash to develop or test things out, it was all about winning and making sure guys play their roles hence why a kid like Evans that would start on vast majority of college teams was forced to come off the bench. But the FT% and percentages from the floor are there that there's at least POTENTIAL there to be greater.

Also being a "30W team" is a bit disingenuous...I'm not sure the exact numbers but I'll be surprised if our full starting lineup even played 1/3 of the season together an I'd say for almost 3/4 of the season we were missing multiple starters and that's not even factoring Ingram as one of them. We could EASILY been a lot better than that at full health, we were fighting to LOSE games lol. BUT again love Tre but I simply don't see the FO considering an EIGHTH shooting guard (period) and maaaybe they'll consider Fears but I still have my doubts considering the lack of minutes available. Can't say it enough that I don't think it's any coincidence that we lack an actual NBA level backup C and Masai flat out saying that's what he wants lol. To be clear personally I don't even debate Fears vs Maluach, I think Fears has more star potential but don't see them doing it. Because I don't see them considering any guards, the only non C I might see them looking at is Carter Bryant.

Personally I like any of Queen, Bryant (would've been Fears had I believed the FO would do it) or Maluach (prob in that order). So it's not like I'm personally attached to drafting Maluach but again I just think people writing him off as a "bust" or "backup at best" is a bit crazy when we haven't seen him in the NBA yet considering he has a higher starting point (and potential) than a current borderline all-star C especially with a franchise that develops as well as we do.

Allen also showed flashes of a mid range / baseline jumper (in college). Allen showed flashes on his post moves.
Allen in his draft days has the same potential as Maluach.

Watch on YouTube

Well except the actual shooting percentages don’t reflect that as Maluach shot a SIGNIFICANTLY higher percentage than Allen from both the FT line and the floor. Not to mention the substantial size/strength advantage Khaman has and also the edge in rebounding so no I would still have to disagree with that.

No player is the same, but raw C coming out has a lot of risk, even with potential of shooting 3s and long arm, being the lob threat.

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[causal_fan]

I don't think the Raptors should risk a top pick on Khaman Maluach, he's too raw and I've witnessed too many tall bust - maybe if the Raptors acquire a mid/late FRP and he's still available then that's worth a gamble.

[Psubs]

He played his role at Arizona. He was being a team player. If he was playing on Rutgers, you would see his full game like in HS.

There’s a dude named Carter Bryant? Is he better than LeBryan Nash?

I'm sure somewhere there is a LeBron Jordan whose parents are hoping is the next big thing.

We had 2 Mike James.

[Indeed]

Queen/Maluach/Fears in that order for me. Queen would probably be the one guy I’d be disappointed in losing out on because he’s going to be very productive from day 1 putting up numbers on a crap team somewhere. Leaning towards Khaman over Fears based on team needs so almost interchangeable.

Basically where I’ve been at for a bit now but the only adjustment I’d make is that I just don’t have faith the FO will seriously enough consider a PG like Fears considering the financial commitment to IQ coupled with Shead’s emergence…just not enough minutes to go around for a top 10 pick that they know publicly they’ll be somewhat under the gun with. Especially in Masai’s contract year.

For that reason I’ve substituted Fears with Bryant and now I’ll be happy with any of those guys but Queen is a little notch above the rest because he not only serves a roster need but I think he can be a bit more dynamic which is super important in the Playoffs…

I think we definitely prefer a big, but it might comes down to BPA.

I see all of them being in the same tier 4 with there types:
Tier 1 (a and b)
- Flagg, Harper
Tier 2 with high upside and show basketball IQ
- Bailey, Edgecombe
Tier 3 with skill and position
- Tre Johnson, Fears
Tier 4 with offensive position only
- Queen, Jakucionis, Knueppel, Jase Richardson
Tier 4 with defensive position only
- Bryant, Essengue, CMB, Newell
Tier 4 with high potential at a position
- Maluanch

They are all tier 4 to me, just the matter if a team believe in them or can hide them.

[Basketball_Jones]

I don't think the Raptors should risk a top pick on Khaman Maluach, he's too raw and I've witnessed too many tall bust - maybe if the Raptors acquire a mid/late FRP and he's still available then that's worth a gamble.

I’m becoming more sold on him. Workouts will tell a lot but I think he has legit game changing big man potential due to size/defense/strength/and semblance of offensive touch. Extremely raw though and that will scare away the top 5 teams imo. We have the depth and patience to develop him that few lotto teams have.

[DG88]

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[Psubs]

If don't get the consensus top 2, then I would trade down as much as I could while still selecting Carter Bryant. I'm sold on him; like a little bulkier Jayson Tatum.

I don't see Jayson Tatum at all in him.

I see no creation ability with Bryant whereas Jayson Tatum was certified bucket at Duke.

Bryant is 3+D...maybe elite 3+D but he doesn't have the bag that Tatum has. I see a lot of OG in the way he moves and in his build. Big strong wing who can defend and hit 3s.

Psubs makes his comparisons based on measurements, not game.

I like Bryant, but the Tatum comparison is crazy

Ya, Bryant doesn't use the offensive foul lead arm to get by people.

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Tatum was lighter, a little quicker with slightly better handles. I don't think the comp is crazy, just considering their 1 year f college.

https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/players/jayson-tatum-1.html

A/T < 1
Less BPM
3pt% is a bit worse
a lot worse 2pt%

[Psubs]

Watch on YouTube

Transfer Portal for Thiam!

Oh he is committing to Cincy!

[Clutch0z24]

I been watching more of Carter Bryant while i wouldn't draft him if we stay at 7th or move up hes intriguing....Id still pick Maluach over him due to the upside of Maluach but i could see why people would pick him over Maluach because of the Jumpshot already being there.....If we move to 8th or 9th though could see Masai taking a swing on him over guys like Kon/Jak

[Psubs]

I been watching more of Carter Bryant while i wouldn't draft him if we stay at 7th or move up hes intriguing....Id still pick Maluach over him due to the upside of Maluach but i could see why people would pick him over Maluach because of the Jumpshot already being there.....If we move to 8th or 9th though could see Masai taking a swing on him over guys like Kon/Jak

I would take Thiam over Maluach. Thiam already has a baseline jumper, jumper from the elbow, 29% from 3, in real games. Lead the Big 12 in blocks and likely again next season. If he can get them to an above .500 record in the conference, that would be huge.

[causal_fan]

Would Ryan Kalkbrenner make a solid backup C - I'm thinking with the Portland SRP.