2025 Draft Prospect Thread

[KingCat]

Obviously want 1 or 2, but at this point I feel pretty good anywhere in top 5.

I'm sold on Johnson and think he would be a great consultation prize at 5. Also like Bailey's potential

6 and below, no one really interests me. I don't really see the Fears hype.

[fatlever]

the wait... the limbo of not knowing our pick has everyone in a holding pattern.

[JMAC3]

the wait... the limbo of not knowing our pick has everyone in a holding pattern.

Would be great if we landed 1 or 2, just to prevent the back and forth for next 2 months that we have had the last few drafts with Miller/Scoot and #6 last year. Just give us the no brainer selection.

But I am sure we will land 3 for MAX Madness

[fatlever]

the wait... the limbo of not knowing our pick has everyone in a holding pattern.

Would be great if we landed 1 or 2, just to prevent the back and forth for next 2 months that we have had the last few drafts with Miller/Scoot and #6 last year. Just give us the no brainer selection.

But I am sure we will land 3 for MAX Madness

can you imagine if we got 2 and didnt pick harper... lol. the meltdown would be unprecedented for a hornets draft selection - and we've had some doozies - zeller, frank, miller

[fatlever]

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lee represents hornets at lotto

I can't wait for Captain Positivity to be shown smiling and fist pumping when it is announced that the Hornets get the 6th pick.

[KingCat]

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lee represents hornets at lotto

I can't wait for Captain Positivity to be shown smiling and fist pumping when it is announced that the Hornets get the 6th pick.

God I already see his empty enthusiastic nod and smile when the Hornets logo gets pulled out at 6

[fatlever]

https://www.reddit.com/r/NBA_Draft/comments/1kg9q0y/how_can_teams_better_scoutproject_guys_who_will/

i love this conversation - some teams always shoot for stars and are bad at find elite role players.

I’m always skeptical of players who project as good defenders or are cited as having “potential” on that end but who weren’t junkyard dogs in college. Being a true + defender at the NBA level requires a level of psychotic competitiveness that not many people have. That mentality isn’t a skill you can just add (especially not after being paid millions despite not having it).

side note: so true... mkg never had that junkyard do mentality. he was too self conscious, too nice to be an elite defender like he was billed.

for role players...

so many young guys fall thru the cracks because they have no idea of how to go from being "the man" to being a role player. you need to be very good at at least one valuable thing as a role player. id rather have that than a guy who is simply ok at everything as a pro. note to nsj - dont be ok at everything, find your role, be very good at at least one valuable skill - eg 3pt shooting.

[JMAC3]

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[JustBuzzin]

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Fears is legit.

He's #3 on my board behind Flagg/Harper

[JMAC3]

If Fears and Edgecombe both measure 6-3.5 with 6-6 wingspans and 185 lbs at the combine does that do anything for you?

[KingCat]

Ugg I thought VJ was bigger than that.

It's becoming Flagg , Harper, Bailey, Johnson or bust for me

[fatlever]

question about fears...
if we draft fears, would you still go out and try to sign/trade for a legit backup vet pg for next year as a stopgap? would you still want mann to be signed? do you think hornets can get away with melo/fears/miller defensively at 1-3?

[JMAC3]

question about fears...
if we draft fears, would you still go out and try to sign/trade for a legit backup vet pg for next year as a stopgap? would you still want mann to be signed? do you think hornets can get away with melo/fears/miller defensively at 1-3?

I mean sure, I would be fine with adding another pg. What is the worst that will happen? We end up not needing them and they don't play. Seems like an alright problem to have.

Mann? Sure why not. Give him a 1 or 2 year deal. Again, what is the worst thing that will happen? He won't play?

I think no matter who we get in top 7 picks our defense is probably not very good, I don't think Dylan Harper is all that better defensively than Fears early in their careers. Tre Johnson doesn't project as a defender. Miller or Fears would likely improve a lot of defense if they had to guard the best player every night though. Do you think VJ Edgecombe is enough to carry a defense with LaMelo, Miller, Bridges and Mark?

So yeah no matter who we pick we are going to have issues. We are just a bad team, we need 3-4 more good players to fix all of our issues.

[fatlever]

givony has hornets taking ace at 3 in his mock today, with vj as next best option for us.

nothing else of note in his hornets section

[JMAC3]

So much of the Ace Bailey stuff I think is what people have manufactured in their heads about players over the years. It is nuts to me to see people bashing him when you can take the best 90 seconds of Flagg, Harper and Bailey from this year and you probably would have no idea who is the best player.

Obviously Flagg is better, but the flashes by the other two guys you could argue are even more elite then the best Flagg showcases at time.

[Braggins]

I would be a little surprised if Fears measured 6'3.5" even in shoes. I would not be surprised if his barefoot measurement is below 6'2". I'm still fine with him as a prospect, though.

I'm not that worried about his 3pt%. If a young lead guard has decent shooting mechanics I don't stress too much about their 3pt% at this stage. These types tend to take a lot of more difficult off the dribble 3s which hurts their efficiency until they get comfortable and dialed in. I think Fears mechanics look totally fine and I think I remember reading somewhere that he shot in the 36%-38% range on catch and shoot 3s.

[JustBuzzin]

If Fears and Edgecombe both measure 6-3.5 with 6-6 wingspans and 185 lbs at the combine does that do anything for you?

Fears is a legit pg so his height doesn't bother me as much as VJ would. If we drafting Fears it's with the intent to move Melo to the sg spot.

VJ is a undersized sg. I'm not sold on him no matter what his height is. He screams role player. We need a legit star on this team. We can't keep drafting guys who just play a role especially not with a top 5 pick.

Fears game just screams star. His ability to attack the paint with his shot creation ability is elite. The only thing he needs to work on is his jumpshot. Given his ability to make FTs I'm comfortable saying his jumper will improve over time.

[JustBuzzin]

question about fears...
if we draft fears, would you still go out and try to sign/trade for a legit backup vet pg for next year as a stopgap? would you still want mann to be signed? do you think hornets can get away with melo/fears/miller defensively at 1-3?

No need as Fears would solve that issue. We just need another playmaker on the court with Melo. Someone who can take the load off him on offense. He literally has to create for himself and the other starters. Fears solve that issue from day 1.

I think our focus would be on defense. We would probably have to trade Miles for someone bigger who can guard pf's and help defend.

[JustBuzzin]

So we all like Fears?

[GiggitySmalls]

If Fears and Edgecombe both measure 6-3.5 with 6-6 wingspans and 185 lbs at the combine does that do anything for you?

It's what I project Edgecombe to be. If hes slightly above that its icing on the cake. Thats big enough to guard 2s and switch on smaller 3s. An added 15 pounds of muscle would go well on Edgecombe to put him at the right size of of a poa defender. For Fears it would be considered a big win and people would project he can play 1 or 2. Lets say Edgecombe is 6'3.75 with a 6'7 wingspan people would shut up around here when it comes to his size.

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