2025 NBA Draft Discussion Part 8

[mihaic]

does kasp every dribble to attack or does he always take the step back jumper because he can't get by his guy?

He can't get past his guy without the PnR. He's like the opposite of Fears.

You mean jak is like IQ.

[mihaic]

As of today, I think Raptors are picking one of if available:

Fears, Maluach, Carter Bryant, Jakocionos

Watch Masai pick one out of left field. Everyone will go again like wtf?

[Supermann98]

I look at Maluach's stats and it scares me. How does a guy with his size not know how to rebound? Or .... do anything of significance at all?

I get the need for a future C but this guy looks stiff and awkward and uncoordinated. If he's there Masai probably takes him and I cheer for him, but this kid has absolutely NOTHING on Zach Eddy or any other big C that's come out recently

[Raptorfan2012]

As of today, I think Raptors are picking one of if available:

Fears, Maluach, Carter Bryant, Jakocionos

Watch Masai pick one out of left field. Everyone will go again like wtf?

Its easier to do that in the late first/second round. At most Masai may 'reach' a bit at the 9th spot, but pretty sure it will be a name we have heard of before.

[Psubs]

As of today, I think Raptors are picking one of if available:

Fears, Maluach, Carter Bryant, Jakocionos

Watch Masai pick one out of left field. Everyone will go again like wtf?

Its easier to do that in the late first/second round. At most Masai may 'reach' a bit at the 9th spot, but pretty sure it will be a name we have heard of before.

Not left field but maybe CF? Some have CB in the 20's, so picking at #9 would be a reach. Him and Fleming are mocked all over the place.

[TheDunc]

I look at Maluach's stats and it scares me. How does a guy with his size not know how to rebound? Or .... do anything of significance at all?

I get the need for a future C but this guy looks stiff and awkward and uncoordinated. If he's there Masai probably takes him and I cheer for him, but this kid has absolutely NOTHING on Zach Eddy or any other big C that's come out recently

Same boat for me, I will say his body and game is giving off Rudy Gobert vibes but a poor man's version which is basically Solomon Alabi. Not sure I like spending our top pick on him.

Im going with Bryant, go watch his tourney highlights and tell me you dont see that fitting in the starting lineup. It moves RJ to be the bench as the 6th man and it allows Bryant just to fit right in the starting lineup playing defense first and hitting open shots. Kind of like a young Norm Powell but bigger, not the driver Powell is but hes got the same athleticism so who knows

If the Raptors want to go bigger then Flemming can play the 4 and is my second choice. Khaman should drop in my opinion, heres hoping Masai doesnt follow his heart on this one

[ciueli]

I look at Maluach's stats and it scares me. How does a guy with his size not know how to rebound? Or .... do anything of significance at all?

I get the need for a future C but this guy looks stiff and awkward and uncoordinated. If he's there Masai probably takes him and I cheer for him, but this kid has absolutely NOTHING on Zach Eddy or any other big C that's come out recently

Year 1 in college Maluach averaged about the same RPG as Karl-Anthony Towns in almost exactly the same minutes per game, (number 2 rebounder in the NBA this season) and not that much worse than Sabonis (number 1 rebounder in the NBA this season). Looking at per 40 numbers he's better than Jakob Poeltl was year 1 in college, so I'm not sure what you want him to do at the age of 18.

As for "do anything of significance at all", I'd say being a great switch defender and the best lob dunk threat in college basketball are a few things of significance. Realistically an 18 year old player is going to selected based on potential, there's every expectation Maluach can be a solid starting centre at worst in the NBA, my comp is Jakob Poeltl with better free throw shooting and the possible upside of 3 point shooting if it develops, maybe a Myles Turner type in that case.

[OakleyDokely]

Maluach also defended a lot more on the perimeter than your typical traditional C, which means less rebounding opportunities. I remember people saying the same thing about Scottie prior to the draft and the lack of rebounds. The ability of a big to defend on the perimeter is a much more important skill than standing under neither the basket grabbing easy rebounds.

[Yallbecrazy]

Maluach also defended a lot more on the perimeter than your typical traditional C, which means less rebounding opportunities. I remember people saying the same thing about Scottie prior to the draft and the lack of rebounds. The ability of a big to defend on the perimeter is a much more important skill than standing under neither the basket grabbing easy rebounds.

Scottie played offensively as a point guard so he didn't get many offensive rebounds and he was probably the smallest or 2nd smallest guy on the floor for many of his minutes on that Florida St. team. They shot the 3 at a good rate, but very low volume as a team(192/520).

Duke was 394/1020 which is an absurd number for college and means lots of offensive rebounding opportunities, and tons of spaced out defenders.

Maluach had a 16.5% oreb rate which is really damn good, but hard to evaluate as all centres in college placed on that team in that conference would have their oreb% increase dramatically from whatever team they were on. He would have also been camped around the paint all the time. He had a worse d rebounding rate than Flagg.

It's really hard to compare, but rebounding is not something I'm terribly worried with Malauch. His rim protection I think could be pretty terrible, which is something a lot of people just assume he will be great at, but it's more than just being big. If Bargnani was 7'4 he still would have been a terrible defender who couldn't protect the rim.

[SpezNc]

Am I missing something at #9?

https://www.si.com/onsi/fantasy/nba/2025-nba-mock-draft-lottery-edition-spoiler-alert-cooper-flagg-goes-to-the-dallas-mavericks-at-1

[Dalek]

Am I missing something at #9?

https://www.si.com/onsi/fantasy/nba/2025-nba-mock-draft-lottery-edition-spoiler-alert-cooper-flagg-goes-to-the-dallas-mavericks-at-1

Boogie Fland is already out of the draft and committed to Florida - so that shoots down that idea.
https://sports.yahoo.com/article/boogie-fland-shocks-college-basketball-132528906.html

[OakleyDokely]

Am I missing something at #9?

https://www.si.com/onsi/fantasy/nba/2025-nba-mock-draft-lottery-edition-spoiler-alert-cooper-flagg-goes-to-the-dallas-mavericks-at-1

Masai ain't taking a non shooting 6'2 guard 9th overall. If I had to rank possible options from most likely to least likely, Fland would be near the very bottom.

[Yallbecrazy]

Am I missing something at #9?

https://www.si.com/onsi/fantasy/nba/2025-nba-mock-draft-lottery-edition-spoiler-alert-cooper-flagg-goes-to-the-dallas-mavericks-at-1

Fland is super young and Kentucky guards were a thing because of Calipari so it's now Arkansas guards. (Calipari is an incredible identifier of talent and recruiter, and also a terrible coach so makes them look worse than they are).

Fland seems to be a good playmaker and good shooter too, but I just can't get behind a guy that was that bad inside the arc and didn't rebound at all + had a bpm under 6.

I also forgot he withdrew.

[Yallbecrazy]

Am I missing something at #9?

https://www.si.com/onsi/fantasy/nba/2025-nba-mock-draft-lottery-edition-spoiler-alert-cooper-flagg-goes-to-the-dallas-mavericks-at-1

Boogie Fland is already out of the draft and committed to Florida - so that shoots down that idea.
https://sports.yahoo.com/article/boogie-fland-shocks-college-basketball-132528906.html

My god Florida is returning their whole team and replacing Clayton with Fland? If they get a high end shooting guard with some creation they will probably go undefeated even while playing in the SEC.

[Lord_Zedd]

Another one, Milos Uzan withdrew from the draft and returning to Houston.

2nd round is starting look pretty bare, once all the international draft and stashes get scooped up.

[Dalek]

Am I missing something at #9?

https://www.si.com/onsi/fantasy/nba/2025-nba-mock-draft-lottery-edition-spoiler-alert-cooper-flagg-goes-to-the-dallas-mavericks-at-1

Boogie Fland is already out of the draft and committed to Florida - so that shoots down that idea.
https://sports.yahoo.com/article/boogie-fland-shocks-college-basketball-132528906.html

My god Florida is returning their whole team and replacing Clayton with Fland? If they get a high end shooting guard with some creation they will probably go undefeated even while playing in the SEC.

I posted about it before but they have Xaivien Lee (Canball kid and elite scoring guard), plus they have returners like Condon and Chinyelu. They have a squad again.

[Dalek]

Jamir Watkins is going to be a great pro and is a good fit for Toronto. We love our athletes who compete on defense and can be swiss army knives on ball.

Read on Twitter

Watkins is in the mold of wings we like including AJ Lawson and Jared Rhoden but I think he has even more self-creation skill (68% unassisted at the rim; 93% unassisted 2 pointers; 16 Ast%).

Also, he played with Scottie Barnes' brother at FSU for the past two years and likely has a connection with Scottie. I think he is highly likely to be a Raptor given the Mogbo pick last year.

[RoteSchroder]

Maluach also defended a lot more on the perimeter than your typical traditional C, which means less rebounding opportunities. I remember people saying the same thing about Scottie prior to the draft and the lack of rebounds. The ability of a big to defend on the perimeter is a much more important skill than standing under neither the basket grabbing easy rebounds.

Scottie played offensively as a point guard so he didn't get many offensive rebounds and he was probably the smallest or 2nd smallest guy on the floor for many of his minutes on that Florida St. team. They shot the 3 at a good rate, but very low volume as a team(192/520).

Duke was 394/1020 which is an absurd number for college and means lots of offensive rebounding opportunities, and tons of spaced out defenders.

Maluach had a 16.5% oreb rate which is really damn good, but hard to evaluate as all centres in college placed on that team in that conference would have their oreb% increase dramatically from whatever team they were on. He would have also been camped around the paint all the time. He had a worse d rebounding rate than Flagg.

It's really hard to compare, but rebounding is not something I'm terribly worried with Malauch. His rim protection I think could be pretty terrible, which is something a lot of people just assume he will be great at, but it's more than just being big. If Bargnani was 7'4 he still would have been a terrible defender who couldn't protect the rim.

Maluach defended the perimeter a lot at Duke, he’s been through every type of defensive action. Comparatively, it seems a lot of other college bigs play drop coverage and defend near the paint more. Looking at Sorber highlights, it’s all drop coverage

[earthtone]

Am I missing something at #9?

https://www.si.com/onsi/fantasy/nba/2025-nba-mock-draft-lottery-edition-spoiler-alert-cooper-flagg-goes-to-the-dallas-mavericks-at-1

Boogie Fland is already out of the draft and committed to Florida - so that shoots down that idea.
https://sports.yahoo.com/article/boogie-fland-shocks-college-basketball-132528906.html

My god Florida is returning their whole team and replacing Clayton with Fland? If they get a high end shooting guard with some creation they will probably go undefeated even while playing in the SEC.

They got Toronto’s Xavian Lee from Princeton too. I think he has a chance of playing himself into a guaranteed contract this year.

Absolutely stacked roster down in Gainesville this year

[Dalek]

May 28 deadline day.

Recent top 60 guys who withdrew:
• Otega Oweh (just withdrew)
• Yaxel Lendeborg (Going to Michigan to to the Danny Wolf role)
• Alex Condon (Florida)
• Milo Uzan (Houston)
• Boogie Fland (Florida)
• Mackenzie Mgbako
• Darrion Williams (Texas Tech)
• Karter Knox (Arkansas)

Still waiting on
• Adou Thiero
• Yanic Niederhauser
• Tahaad Pettiford
• Miles Byrd
• Jamir Watkins
• RJ Luis
• Neoklis Avdalas
• Ben Henshall
• Hugo Gonzalez