2025 Draft Thread - Part 2

[tontoz]

Carter Bryant's situation reminds me of 2020's Draft with Patrick Williams

Kind f reminds me of Trey Murphy. Young and not very productive in college, so we pass on him and end up with Kispert.

Bryant made twice as many 3s in college as Williams and has a BPM of 8.8 compared to 5.5 for Williams.

[payitforward]

Kind f reminds me of Trey Murphy. Young and not very productive in college, so we pass on him and end up with Kispert.

Murphy was actually pretty productive in college.... Yes, passing on him was a mistake.

OTOH, & far worse, we also passed on Alperen Şengün, Jalen Johnson, & several other guys who have turned out to be better than Kispert.

[The Consiglieri]

I guess what bothers me most about the Carter Bryant thing is simply that: he didn't play much. College Basketball is already a small sample size for freshman, when a guy isn't a starter, its even smaller. Just looking at those dudes that we could have selected, Flagg, Harper, Queen etc, they are all 30+ minutes per game, Bryant is sitting at 19. Could not break in as a full time starter.

I get all the reasons people have, and they're more or less valid depending upon what they are, but they are still a knock, the best of the best typically force their way into the starting lineup, period. Flagg wasn't waiting for his time at Duke, he took it, same with Queen at Maryland, same with Harper at Rutgers, same with Fears at Oklahoma. With so small a sample size, already for a teenager, its a problem, for any of these guys, now add in that he was playing about 60-70% the minutes of his peers, and its an even bigger problem. I like the guy, but he and Maluach in particular have these sparingly used issues in play. Considering where he's going for now, there's pretty much no way I'd take him at 6. Would I consider him in a trade down? Sure. But not at 6. Too many question marks for me, the upside angle is there, and I want a big swing, but if every agg board for now says he's going somewhere between 12 and 14. Because its such a flat draft after the big 4, he could certainly go higher if someone is enamored, but I'm not taking him 6th, when he's projected 12th-14th. Trade down and get assets for it, and I'm fine with it, though I'd prefer some other guys, at 6 I'm definitely against it.

[Jay81]

Kind f reminds me of Trey Murphy. Young and not very productive in college, so we pass on him and end up with Kispert.

Murphy was actually pretty productive in college.... Yes, passing on him was a mistake.

OTOH, & far worse, we also passed on Alperen Şengün, Jalen Johnson, & several other guys who have turned out to be better than Kispert.

Kispert was the most predictable pick ever and we took him. Thats why tommy will never work again in ball

[closg00]

Post combine mocks, I am not concerned that Kon continues to be mocked to us.
https://www.si.com/nba/draft/mock-drafts-big-boards/2025-nba-mock-draft-two-round-projections-following-draft-combine

ESPN
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/45179882/2025-nba-mock-draft-projecting-all-59-picks-post-combine-cooper-flagg-dallas-mavericks

[nate33]

Kind f reminds me of Trey Murphy. Young and not very productive in college, so we pass on him and end up with Kispert.

Murphy was actually pretty productive in college.... Yes, passing on him was a mistake.

OTOH, & far worse, we also passed on Alperen Şengün, Jalen Johnson, & several other guys who have turned out to be better than Kispert.

Kispert was the most predictable pick ever and we took him. Thats why tommy will never work again in ball

I understood the Kispert pick at the time, under the premise that the Wizards were refusing a full teardown and were instead rebuilding on the fly around Beal. (It was a stupid premise, but I blame that on Ted wanting to sell tickets, not Sheppard.)

I'm not saying Kispert was a great pick or anything, but he wasn't awful either. The guy gave us 4 years as a useful rotation player on a rookie salary, and was good enough to earn roughly MLE money on his second contract. That's not bad for a #15 pick. The pick mostly looks bad because the next 5 picks included Sengun, Murphy and Jalen Johnson. Sengun was an atypical player that I understood not gambling on. And Johnson had a lot of injury trouble (and still does), so both of those misses were forgivable IMO. I do think they should be criticized for missing out on Murphy who looked like a much better prospect at the time.

After Johnson at #20, the rest of the draft was pretty ho hum with mostly just other role players no better than Kispert.

[nate33]

Post combine mocks, I am not concerned that Kon continues to be mocked to us.
https://www.si.com/nba/draft/mock-drafts-big-boards/2025-nba-mock-draft-two-round-projections-following-draft-combine

ESPN
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/45179882/2025-nba-mock-draft-projecting-all-59-picks-post-combine-cooper-flagg-dallas-mavericks

Agreed. They won't draft Kon.

[dckingsfan]

Sooooo. I have flipped on 18 - I think we should go with Hansen Yang (if we don't take a big with 6). That would allow Sarr to move to PF.

I know, I know... but he is like a 4.5 for me now on the Dat scale.

What makes Yang better than Tristan?

Passing, shooting, feel for the game. I think you could run an offense through him if he develops.

One thing that does worry me is his slow foot speed, so "switchability" is an issue. The more I watch him the bigger the concern. Kinda moves me off wanting to take him in the first round. The NBA game is really fast.

[SUPERBALLMAN]

Sooooo. I have flipped on 18 - I think we should go with Hansen Yang (if we don't take a big with 6). That would allow Sarr to move to PF.

I know, I know... but he is like a 4.5 for me now on the Dat scale.

What makes Yang better than Tristan?

Passing, shooting, feel for the game. I think you could run an offense through him if he develops.

One thing that does worry me is his slow foot speed, so "switchability" is an issue. The more I watch him the bigger the concern. Kinda moves me off wanting to take him in the first round. The NBA game is really fast.

At the Combine his shuttle time was decent, and in the scrimmage he switched out on guards on the perimeter and held his own. I think he plays a more physical style than Tristan and passes it better, but Tristan is a better shooter. I just don’t know what the deal is with Tristan, there seems to be some kind of hang up between him and the team. At the least I’d like someone that can come in and challenge him. I’d love Yang at 40.

[tontoz]

What makes Yang better than Tristan?

Passing, shooting, feel for the game. I think you could run an offense through him if he develops.

One thing that does worry me is his slow foot speed, so "switchability" is an issue. The more I watch him the bigger the concern. Kinda moves me off wanting to take him in the first round. The NBA game is really fast.

At the Combine his shuttle time was decent, and in the scrimmage he switched out on guards on the perimeter and held his own. I think he plays a more physical style than Tristan and passes it better, but Tristan is a better shooter. I just don’t know what the deal is with Tristan, there seems to be some kind of hang up between him and the team. At the least I’d like someone that can come in and challenge him. I’d love Yang at 40.

Yang tested as more mobile than Maluach.

[dckingsfan]

What makes Yang better than Tristan?

Passing, shooting, feel for the game. I think you could run an offense through him if he develops.

One thing that does worry me is his slow foot speed, so "switchability" is an issue. The more I watch him the bigger the concern. Kinda moves me off wanting to take him in the first round. The NBA game is really fast.

At the Combine his shuttle time was decent, and in the scrimmage he switched out on guards on the perimeter and held his own. I think he plays a more physical style than Tristan and passes it better, but Tristan is a better shooter. I just don’t know what the deal is with Tristan, there seems to be some kind of hang up between him and the team. At the least I’d like someone that can come in and challenge him. I’d love Yang at 40.

Yang at 40 would be solid (I think CCJ has posted other bigs that might be available at that pick). I feel like this is where the draft has its best depth.

BTW, I think that Yang will end up being as good a shooter (opinion) as Tristan. No question he is going to be an elite passer (opinion) (if he can stay on the court) with his D.

[AFM]

Excellent video for your lunch break

Watch on YouTube

[J-Ves]

At this point I’m just hoping one of Tre, Ace or VJ fall to 6. So many of the other names fail to tick a box one way or another. I guess Jakucionis is my top consolation prize

[WizarDynasty]

Hansen Yang is a top 5 pick. i have seen alot. He has Jokic and Draymond Green combination. Extremely rare. I don't see him lasting past top 10. Queen is a bigger version of Carmelo Anthony. He is a top 10 pick. Khaman Maluach is after Queen. I would need to see him palm the ball in the post before I selected him. I am not impressed by any of the guards.

[closg00]

At this point I’m just hoping one of Tre, Ace or VJ fall to 6. So many of the other names fail to tick a box one way or another. I guess Jakucionis is my top consolation prize

Same, the player most-likely to fall to us according to the mocks, is Tre, if none of them then Fears appear to be under consideration.

[Kanyewest]

Excellent video for your lunch break

Watch on YouTube

I'm going to need some dessert.

[Kanyewest]

Excellent video for your lunch break

Watch on YouTube

He makes a good point that he does have good technique to guard on the perimeter. IE he won't just pack in the paint.

[80sballboy]

Nice job from KOC on Yahoo. He has Wiz taking Tre, Egor and Hansen Yang in the 2nd round.
https://sports.yahoo.com/nba/draft/?view=default&board=0&filter=round%3Aall

[Kanyewest]

This was recommended in my google feed

Read on Twitter

?

[TGW]

Dat had Castle on his Do Not Draft list last year, and I disagreed with him on that decision, and I'll disagree with him on Tre Johnson this year. I have him in the DND bucket.

Looking at this tankathon profile, and he has negative marks for:
-Def. Rating ****
-Off. Rebounds ***
-Rebounds **
-Def. Win Shares **
-Def. Rebounds **
-2P% **
-Def. BPM *
-Steals *
-FTA Rate *
-FG% *
-Win Shares *
-Blocks *

I mean, where do I start here. For one, he is absolute dog poo on defense. He has not one strength on that end of the court, which is a massive red flag. I mean, even the most incompetent defender, like a Jordan Poole, is at least decent at getting steals. Tre didn't even muster a steal a game.

Secondly, his 2pt% and FTA rate is bad, and he shot more threes per game than free throws. He is totally reliant on his three point shot (like Poole) and if it isn't dropping, it's safe to say he's not doing much else. Poor finisher in the paint when he even tries to get there. Average handles for a guard.

I am not interested in that kid whatsoever.