2025 Draft Thread - Part 2

[Dat2U]

Cedric Coward = A pro-level shooter, good at rising and firing over contested looks on or off the dribble. Not much an athlete but he looks the part, seems to have a solid b-ball IQ and has very good length., He does remind me of Kawhi in the way he moves - not a complement though. He moves like a guy that's been in the NBA 12 years and had 2 knee surgeries - he looks sorta ground bound.

He's like former Wizard Martell Webster but with a extra juice on the ball to get off a jumper in ISO situations. He uses his ISO to create space for clean looks from 3 and mid-range and does so effectively even if he does not get all the rim. Seems ok defensively, nothing special. I think he's worth a pick in the 15-25 range.

[tontoz]

Cedric Coward = A pro-level shooter, good at rising and firing over contested looks on or off the dribble. Not much an athlete but he looks the part, seems to have a solid b-ball IQ and has very good length., He does remind me of Kawhi in the way he moves - not a complement though. He moves like a guy that's been in the NBA 12 years and had 2 knee surgeries - he looks sorta ground bound.

He's like former Wizard Martell Webster but with a extra juice on the ball to get off a jumper in ISO situations. He uses his ISO to create space for clean looks from 3 and mid-range and does so effectively even if he does not get all the rim. Seems ok defensively, nothing special. I think he's worth a pick in the 15-25 range.

Coward finished 4th in the sprint at the combine at 3.06 and had a 38.5" vert.

[Gig18]

Haven't been here in a long time. But the draft stirs passions and old memories. Gotta say, right now, two guys who look like they have superpowers are Maluach and Fears. I'm an old guy. Fears reminds me a little bit of Rod Strickland; Maluach LOOKS like he could develop as a shooter. Geez, a 7 foot, impossible-reach, rim-running, defensive-player-of-the-year type. Sounds good.
But I also wanted to ask; why no love for Kneuppel. I know he's below the rim.
But gosh, last year a lot of this board was falling all over themselves in love with Reed Sheppard, who was small for a PG! Kneuppel is at least 6-5 and 219 pounds. Smart as hell, good passer and reallllly good shooter. We're pretty bad offensively.
What if he's Chris Mullins?
By the way, he's reminscent of an old 2 time allstar Bullet and Duke player--- Jack Marin.

Sheppard averaged 3 steals and a 1 block per 36 minutes and has a 42" vertical leap. He is way more athletic than Knueppel and I think he'll pan out to be a solid, albeit non-switchable defender. I worry more about Kneuppel's position on defense. He's too short to guard forwards and too slow to guard wings.

Also, while Kneuppel is an excellent shooter, nobody in recent memory was as good of a shooter as Sheppard. The guy shot 52% from 3-point range!

Finally, I really felt that Sheppard has the ability to be a true PG in the Mark Price mold, but simply didn't get a chance to do it often because he had to share PG duties with Dillingham. In a handful of games when Kentucky just turned over all the PG duties to Sheppard, he was excellent, posting double-digit assists a couple of times. Knueppel is more of an off-ball player (though he can run some PnR too). I question whether an off-ball offensive player will have enough touches on offense to offset his likely sub-par defense at the other end of the floor.

OK, but I also remember everyone being pretty surprised by that 42 inch vert because he didn't play like that. And yeah, he had a 50% 3 pt shooting clip, but accdg to the Ringer's write up on Knueppel, he himself shot 47% last year on spot up 3s. Don't know how his defense will translate. But I'm willing to bet his team D will be pretty good. His head is on a swivel. He also worked really well on the pick and roll last year. I dunno. We'll see. he may just be that guy who shoots 40% from 3 for the next 12 years...

[closg00]

To put it in WizD terms, dude is NOT an engine. He’s more like an ant walking on a treadmill attached to a generator.

4- cylinder today, 12-cylinder in 4 years, he will catch-up to our timeline , we don't even have to give him the keys right away.
I am also liking a Malauch (despite the risk) Nolan Traore draft, Jase will be gone by 18, or a Fears/Sorber draft.

Watch on YouTube

[NatP4]

Keep in mind, Richardson played off the ball and came off the bench for half the season because MSU was loaded with guards.

Jaden Akins was a 6’4 senior guard, had been a multi-year starter at guard for them. Tre Holloman was a 6’2 junior guard that played 20 MPG for in the previous season. Jeremy Fears Jr, another 6’2 guard that was a rotation player for MSU in the previous season. Richardson came in as an 18 year old freshman behind all 3 of them.

It was one of the worst offensive teams in the country. They ranked 300+ in 3PM/3P%, in the 100+ for FG%/Points. The bulk of the playmaking responsibilities were on Fears&Holloman. Assist numbers likely repressed. They needed Richardson to be a shooter.

[closg00]

It may not matter, Utah is seriously considering Fears. I would be mildly disappointed if we have to pick Tre by default, I think I would go Mal over Tre.

[payitforward]

Latest rumor making the rounds —

That the Spurs are looking to make a move for Maluach to pair with Wemby. Not at No. 2, though.

So maybe give them no. 6 + Bilal? ...

In principle, if we value Bilal as a #7 pick, I'd say 6 & 7 is too much to give for 2.
What about 6 & Bub?

I'd hate to give up Bub, but Harper seems like a terrific "get."

What about 6 & 18 for 2 & 38?

[dobrojim]

How likely is it that Fears or Jase will be better than AJJ?

Yes I just violated the BPA vs fit rule. How well can a
team develop multiple players at the same position?
Perhaps the usual answer, it'll work itself out in time,
will apply.

You are the position you defend in today's NBA.

Fair point. If they draft Jase, they must really believe that neither Bub or AJ have the "juice" to be the primary ball handler at the 1. I think it's a little early to make that call since they are both so young.

It would be Karma for Bub. Dudes ball handling (pause) and trick shot at the buzzer is why we’re picking 6th to begin with.

Sounds like you are suggesting he should have
deliberately missed that shot.

...6th instead of 5th

[AFM]

Fair point. If they draft Jase, they must really believe that neither Bub or AJ have the "juice" to be the primary ball handler at the 1. I think it's a little early to make that call since they are both so young.

It would be Karma for Bub. Dudes ball handling (pause) and trick shot at the buzzer is why we’re picking 6th to begin with.

Sounds like you are suggesting he should have
deliberately missed that shot.

...6th instead of 5th

I don’t really have a strong opinion either way. I do know that what happened was the most #soWizards outcome possible.

[willbcocks]

I would definitely trade #6, Bilal, and Bub for #2. Not just Bilal or Bub.

[NatP4]

I would definitely trade #6, Bilal, and Bub for #2. Not just Bilal or Bub.

I’d do Carrington, George, and #6 for #2.

Harper/Bilal/Sarr is a real core to build around.

Carrington is completely untouchable though, he’s from Baltimore.

[nate33]

I would definitely trade #6, Bilal, and Bub for #2. Not just Bilal or Bub.

I have an irrational belief that Bilal is going to pan out to be an All-Star caliber player. I would not include him plus #6 just to move up to #2. I'd trade #6 + two among: Carrington, George, #18. If San Antonio wants more, too bad. I'd rather just see what's available at #6.

[Gig18]

sheesh. I don't want to part with ANY two of our younguns and the 6th pick for Dylan Harper. Bub?? Keshawn?? AND 6?
I was really enjoying watching those 2 play at the end of last year. I'd rather stick and add a Maluach or Tre Johnson or Fears to what we have. You want to trade 6, 18 and Kispert or something like that, I'm game. Man we just GOT some good young guys. Birds in hand...

[tontoz]

sheesh. I don't want to part with ANY two of our younguns and the 6th pick for Dylan Harper. Bub?? Keshawn?? AND 6?
I was really enjoying watching those 2 play at the end of last year. I'd rather stick and add a Maluach or Tre Johnson or Fears to what we have. You want to trade 6, 18 and Kispert or something like that, I'm game. Man we just GOT some good young guys. Birds in hand...

The problem is that right now none of them are good, or even close to good.

KG is my favorite among the young guys but if I can trade him/Bub/6 for Harper I do it without hesitation.

[closg00]

In an ironic twist, teams are interested in trading for a player we passed-up to draft Bilal, but not Bilal:

Read on Twitter

[DCZards]

Bub will be the lead guard. He’s a natural oncourt leader.

[DCZards]

sheesh. I don't want to part with ANY two of our younguns and the 6th pick for Dylan Harper. Bub?? Keshawn?? AND 6?
I was really enjoying watching those 2 play at the end of last year. I'd rather stick and add a Maluach or Tre Johnson or Fears to what we have. You want to trade 6, 18 and Kispert or something like that, I'm game. Man we just GOT some good young guys. Birds in hand...

Yeah…I’m not giving up Bub, Keyshawn and 6 for Harper. That’s 3 rotational players. The two teams in the NBA finals are proving that depth matters.

I’d rather take my chances with picking 6.

[DCZards]

In an ironic twist, teams are interested in trading for a player we passed-up to draft Bilal, but not Bilal:

Read on Twitter

That’s because they figure they can get Whitmore cheap since he’s not getting any playing time.

[Benjammin]

I would trade 6, 18, and either KG or Bub for #2 and draft Harper. That's as much as I would trade.

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[TheBlackCzar]

I would trade 6, 18, and either KG or Bub for #2 and draft Harper. That's as much as I would trade.

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Too much.... You wanna trade two 1sts and one of our youngings, for a player that has two potential comps next season in Peterson and Arenas who shoot even better than him and get to the rim just as frequently..... I wouldn't do that....


On a side note, all the issues about trading Deni, we should be steaming mad we didn't draft Halli after promising him that we would... I'm kinda sick knowing this, as he said it himself so not hearsay but dumb ass management on our behalf....