2025 NBA Draft Discussion Part 8

[CazOnReal]

Queen at 9 or Nolan, Flemming and Joan at 19, 26 and 27?

And how exactly are we getting 19, 26 & 27?

Like ignoring that drafting 4 rookies is a bad idea (Yes I know we did it last season and it worked but Chomche is more or less a lottery ticket until proven otherwise), how are we adding that many draft selections to this team's options?

I'm all for drafting Queen 9th if Malauch is off the board but I need to hear the latter half of this out.

BK wants a lottery pick.

Good for them.

They already got #8 and every trade with the Nets has been bad (Yes even the Schroder trade - you couldn't have even eked out a second? Really?).

[Tor_Raps]

Is that why it seems like Poeltl has no impact on our defense? I guess we don’t really need another defensive C then

Matchup dependent.

Queen is a C. Who's been our other C's since Gasol/Ibaka.

Poeltl is legitimately the only rotation caliber C we've rostered.

I think Maluach would also work. Any actually good C, offensive or defensive would work next to Barnes. A stretch defensive Center might be optimal, but a Sabonis like C might be great too. Hard to say.

Defensive being the key word here. I mean..if we draft Queen for a Bobby Portis/Naz Reid role off the bench, that’s fine, but Scottie and Mogbo aren’t covering for the defensive drop off when Poeltl exits the game.

I would say that Olynyk was rotation worthy off the bench.

Is that why it seems like Poeltl has no impact on our defense? I guess we don’t really need another defensive C then

I have no clue why you're quoting me here since I've been crying about having 2 Centers on this roster since the Ibaka/Gasol days.

Poeltl has been the only competent Center Masai has added to this team since then. While I love Poeltl, Masai's ineptness has made him seem like Jokic in terms of importance lol.

What I meant by that is Mogbo/Scottie isn’t enough to absorb a C with below average defense.

We would still need another defensive big man if we got Queen, preferably one that could play both PF/C. Limiting Queen to a bench role where he faces opposing benches for his entire career works too.

Of course having a 2 way player is always more ideal than a 1 way player but having a Center like Queen is better than forcing Barnes/Mogbo to play there.

I don't watch enough college ball to have enough of an opinion of Queen's career but you are hoping to get more from the 9th slot than a career backup.

[Brinbe]

Unless he can transition to PF, most centers that can’t be defensive anchors are just not that useful.

If we get a KAT, Sabonis, Randle, or even Sengun, chances are we will want to trade them eventually, and we may not get great value for them. All of them are way better ballers than Queen, who doesn’t project to be better than any of them and he’s also got some tunnel vision when attacking the basket. Meanwhile, defensive C’s are pretty coveted and can be a part of a winning solution.

So what’s the point if we trade Queen down the road for low value and spend a lot to get a defensive C.

If you look at OKC vs Indiana now, it’s pretty much all two-way starters minus Haliburton. Boston last year was also all two-way players in the SL. The goal isn’t to be the Knicks or Sacramento.

he's a way better defender than all those guys. and trying to call him a tunnel vision player just shows you have no zero clue here lol

c'mon man...

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the tape, the production and the results don't lie on him. and a combine score or a body type doesn't change that he's a winning player.

You probably don’t even know what that stat indicates. Pfeifer manually tracked each prospects passes and subjectively labeled any pass that requires a high degree of skill as a “big time pass”

So if Queen passes 10 times in a game, 3.7 out of 10 passes are where he’s trying to do something fancy. If you actually want to disprove my point, track where he’s looking to score, but is in a situation where he needs to pass, then compare the pass/shoot ratio to other prospects.

With your level of analysis, gotta take whatever you say with a grain of salt.

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of course, I know what it is. you don't even need the stats. you just need eyes and a working brain instead of trying to play a contrarian.

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since you're great with stats, tell me how many games has derik queen lost in the past two years at montverde and maryland combined? how many has he won? what's his winning percentage? answer that for me. i'll even help you out a bit.




'doing something fancy' when his teams consistently win. but sure, he's just gettin 'carried' right? taking my opinions with a grain of salt when you're just a nonsense hater. let me guess, he's too fat and dumb?

[WuTang_OG]

- barlow - wouldnt be suprised if 1-2 teams in top 5 move back... thinks noa is in play for them
wonder if toronto could get in on this and try and grab fears even tho we never move up

Watch on YouTube

;ab_channel=LockedOnNets

[S.W.A.N]

Crazy that we got Barnes in the starting lineup and Mogbo off the bench for that lol

Is that why it seems like Poeltl has no impact on our defense? I guess we don’t really need another defensive C then

Matchup dependent.

Queen is a C. Who's been our other C's since Gasol/Ibaka.

Poeltl is legitimately the only rotation caliber C we've rostered.

I think Maluach would also work. Any actually good C, offensive or defensive would work next to Barnes. A stretch defensive Center might be optimal, but a Sabonis like C might be great too. Hard to say.

Queen is a limited vert 6'10 center which limits his defensive potential, but Defense is more about effort and IQ than anything else...

If his offensive footwork could translate into defensive he becomes more interesting but he's still got minor red flags. Fat boys have to be judged for being fat during college. If he continues to improve his body and shows that hes a worker and not just a super talented guy who was bigger and stronger than the competition then he's a potential all-star.

If he is lazy, then he'll be out of the league in 4 years... Whoever drafts him needs to believe in his work ethic.

[littlerock2277]

Not sure what it would cost to get him but we should really look to take Aaron wiggins from okc. Need that shooting on the raptors.

[djsunyc]

Is that why it seems like Poeltl has no impact on our defense? I guess we don’t really need another defensive C then

Matchup dependent.

Queen is a C. Who's been our other C's since Gasol/Ibaka.

Poeltl is legitimately the only rotation caliber C we've rostered.

I think Maluach would also work. Any actually good C, offensive or defensive would work next to Barnes. A stretch defensive Center might be optimal, but a Sabonis like C might be great too. Hard to say.

Queen is a limited vert 6'10 center which limits his defensive potential, but Defense is more about effort and IQ than anything else...

If his offensive footwork could translate into defensive he becomes more interesting but he's still got minor red flags. Fat boys have to be judged for being fat during college. If he continues to improve his body and shows that hes a worker and not just a super talented guy who was bigger and stronger than the competition then he's a potential all-star.

If he is lazy, then he'll be out of the league in 4 years... Whoever drafts him needs to believe in his work ethic.

how is he as a rebounder because if he is slow footed then he must be a great rebounder to not kill you on defense.

[Tor_Raps]

Matchup dependent.

Queen is a C. Who's been our other C's since Gasol/Ibaka.

Poeltl is legitimately the only rotation caliber C we've rostered.

I think Maluach would also work. Any actually good C, offensive or defensive would work next to Barnes. A stretch defensive Center might be optimal, but a Sabonis like C might be great too. Hard to say.

Queen is a limited vert 6'10 center which limits his defensive potential, but Defense is more about effort and IQ than anything else...

If his offensive footwork could translate into defensive he becomes more interesting but he's still got minor red flags. Fat boys have to be judged for being fat during college. If he continues to improve his body and shows that hes a worker and not just a super talented guy who was bigger and stronger than the competition then he's a potential all-star.

If he is lazy, then he'll be out of the league in 4 years... Whoever drafts him needs to believe in his work ethic.

how is he as a rebounder because if he is slow footed then he must be a great rebounder to not kill you on defense.

He's a great rebounder with great hands from what I've seen. Seems like a Sengun/Kanter like player

[NoBias]

Would yall draft Sengun with the 9th pick if he was available? Because that’s queen. Athleticism doesn’t mean much when intangibles, smooth touch and IQ are there. The best player in the world can barely jump over a pylon lol

[BoyzNTheHood]

Would yall draft Sengun with the 9th pick if he was available? Because that’s queen. Athleticism doesn’t mean much when intangibles, smooth touch and IQ are there. The best player in the world can barely jump over a pylon lol

Queen is neither Sengun, nor Jokic.

[RoteSchroder]

he's a way better defender than all those guys. and trying to call him a tunnel vision player just shows you have no zero clue here lol

c'mon man...

Read on Twitter

the tape, the production and the results don't lie on him. and a combine score or a body type doesn't change that he's a winning player.

You probably don’t even know what that stat indicates. Pfeifer manually tracked each prospects passes and subjectively labeled any pass that requires a high degree of skill as a “big time pass”

So if Queen passes 10 times in a game, 3.7 out of 10 passes are where he’s trying to do something fancy. If you actually want to disprove my point, track where he’s looking to score, but is in a situation where he needs to pass, then compare the pass/shoot ratio to other prospects.

With your level of analysis, gotta take whatever you say with a grain of salt.

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

of course, I know what it is. you don't even need the stats. you just need eyes and a working brain instead of trying to play a contrarian.

Read on Twitter

since you're great with stats, tell me how many games has derik queen lost in the past two years at montverde and maryland combined? how many has he won? what's his winning percentage? answer that for me. i'll even help you out a bit.




'doing something fancy' when his teams consistently win. but sure, he's just gettin 'carried' right? taking my opinions with a grain of salt when you're just a nonsense hater. let me guess, he's too fat and dumb?

Listen dude, I get he’s a poor man’s version of Sabonis. He can be a great 6th man, I just don’t want a fat tunnel vision version of Sabonis, I want a rich man’s Sabonis, to which we both can agree he’s not.

Using highlight packages and the misuse of stats isn’t something I’m interested in.

Lol @quoting a team with Flagg, McNeeley, Newell also on the roster. With this level of analysis, gotta take your word with a grain of salt.

[Thaddy]

I think Kon drops hard and out of the lottery.

I'm guessing Maluach, Essengue or Bryant jump in his place.

I'm hoping we get one of these 3. They're all young, developing, and easy to add in long term.

Maluach gives us a C for the next 15 years.

Bryant or Essengue give us a strong forward set with Ingram, Barnes, the pick, and even Mogbo.

[DG88]

Updated draft workout tracker
https://hoopshype.com/lists/2025-nba-draft-workout-tracker-where-are-prospects-working-out/

[Tripod]

If you draft Queen, is it:

As Yak's replacement and get him to bulk up

Or Barnes replacement and get him to slim down

And of course I mean a replacement on his 2nd contract...fully expect Yak to get re-signed. He "looks" like a taller version of Barnes in offense but with better touch around the rim.

The problem of course is he needs to be with a defensive C if he if eventually a PF...but ideally, one of them need to be able to shoot. Getting a defensive C that can shoot...far and few between.

That's where I struggle with Queen. I think he is very talented but also not a plug and play guy...like a Bryant for example. He is sort of hard to build with.

[Raptaurus]

Queen reminds me of Z Bo but with better passing. Great value for the ninth pick! Z Bo used to play with Gasol and Memphis was quite successful for a few years…

[BoyzNTheHood]

Queen reminds me of Z Bo but with better passing. Great value for the ninth pick! Z Bo used to play with Gasol and Memphis was quite successful for a few years…

Grab Queen (ZBo) and Yang (Gasol) and let’s run the grind city reboot!

[PhilBlackson]

I think Kon drops hard and out of the lottery.

I'm guessing Maluach, Essengue or Bryant jump in his place.

I'm hoping we get one of these 3. They're all young, developing, and easy to add in long term.

Maluach gives us a C for the next 15 years.

Bryant or Essengue give us a strong forward set with Ingram, Barnes, the pick, and even Mogbo.

I don’t want to draft Kon but I doubt he falls outta the lottery, either HOU or SAS could certainly use his shooting.

[ATLTimekeeper]

Queen reminds me of Z Bo but with better passing. Great value for the ninth pick! Z Bo used to play with Gasol and Memphis was quite successful for a few years…

The problem is the league has changed dramatically since ZBo. There's no LaMarcus Aldridge, Carlos Boozer, etc.s to pair off with. He has to be a C. The skill PF's in today's NBA are like Siakam and Scottie. Guys that will just burn you down the court.

[OakleyDokely]

The issue I have with Queen is that you'd need to give him a very high usage to get the most out of it, but I'm not sure he's the type of prospect that should warrant a high usage in the NBA. He isn't an off ball player, he isn't a shooter, he likely won't be a elite defender, so you'd have to run a lot of your offense through him, otherwise, he's just a guy out there.

[God Squad]

Stein

One thing teams seem to agree on: Duke center Khaman Maluach is largely viewed as the leading center prospect in this class. And Toronto, sources say, is among the clubs that highly value the 7-foot-2 big man who played for South Sudan's national team in the 2024 Summer Olympics.


The Raptors, though, have left various rival teams with the impression that they covet multiple centers at the No. 9 slot … meaning they might have another big man in mind should Maluach come off the board by the time Toronto is on the clock.

Wonder if this is smoke

But interesting nonetheless

Wonder if they would reach for Sorber

And who knows on Queen

I know I'm probably the minority here, but Sorber > Queen.