2025 General Draft Discussion 2

[fatlever]

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[amcoolio]

its seemingly impossible to have an actual konversation about kon on here anymore, unfortunately.

Kon seems like an okay player but it just seems insane to pass up guys who can create their own shot like Ace or Tre or Fears or guys with top 5% athleticism, explosiveness and a first step with good shooting predictors like VJ for a guy with his skillset. I've already accepted that Charlotte will pass on everyone for Kon anyway

[fatlever]

its seemingly impossible to have an actual konversation about kon on here anymore, unfortunately.

Kon seems like an okay player but it just seems insane to pass up guys who can create their own shot like Ace or Tre or Fears or guys with top 5% athleticism, explosiveness and a first step with good shooting predictors like VJ for a guy with his skillset. I've already accepted that Charlotte will pass on everyone for Kon anyway

I don't really have any issues with not wanting to spend a number 4 pick on a guy who probably tops out as a high-end glue guy, That is probably best served being the last piece to an already good team rather than a building block for a bad team. Like that's an actual rational conversation I can get behind. I don't have any issues with anyone worried about his physical limitations.

But the pendulum of the conversation has become a little bit ridiculous with people discounting any analyst who has kon in their top 5... A ton of reputable analysts that have him there on their big boards, And not just because they are trying to predict draft slots based off of Intel.

these types of takes regarding kon, Are every bit as ridiculous as the opposite takes of the draft nerds that have pushed ace into the teens on their boards.

These two have become the lightning rods for 2 different ways draft analysts' view prospects. you have on one end you have the high ceiling, best chance at being a superstar if everything goes right types of rankings and then you have people that overly put a very heavy emphasis on feel on the other side. And unfortunately there's not a lot of rational conversations in between the two sides.

I think anyone that pushes either one of these guys outside of their top 10 is probably putting too much emphasis on one extreme versus the other.

[Braggins]

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heres mine

Hes That Dude: Kon
Shooters Shoot: Kon
Microwave: Kon
Upside: Kon
Dawg: Kon
Potential diamond: Kon
When In Doubt: Kon
Don’t Sleep on 'Em: Kon
Go Get Him: Kon
Sleeper: Kon

[JMAC3]

I would say I have a good feel on who everyone on the board likes, except a few. Outside of VJ who would you take at 4?

Braggins
kembaWalker
Sweed
Diop
Kingcat

[fatlever]

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In all honesty, this is how I feel about this draft. I don't actually love anyone in our draft range. vj I was the only one I feel that actually fits on our roster in a seamless way. But I have real concerns about where he tops out offensively. Everyone else for me is either too redundant or has big holes in their game that would be amplified on our current roster.

And therefore you're left with drafting someone who doesn't really fit your roster but is the best player available, meaning you're going to have to at some point make some follow up trades to figure things out. or you're reaching for someone Who doesn't have the same level of upside.

Like I said earlier in the cycle it's a shame that we couldn't have flipped our draft slots from last year to this year. Draft 4 last year and draft 6 this year would have been such a better situation.

[fatlever]

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[KingCat]

I would say I have a good feel on who everyone on the board likes, except a few. Outside of VJ who would you take at 4?

Braggins
kembaWalker
Sweed
Diop
Kingcat

This draft is a hard one for me. At first I was iffy and unexcited about about VJ but with the recent news linking us to Kon, I have softened a great deal on him.

Ace is terrifying for many reasons, but his two way glimpses are hard to pass on.

Love Tre. I think he has the easiest path to stardom, but still a solid floor if he doesn't fully pan out. Also an underrated Ball handler that may be able to take pressure off Melo.

Jaku is my guilty pleasure pick. Can't shake the feeling that he will end up a top 2 or 3 player in this class. Whatever team takes him is gonna get lauded for pulling off a steal

Fears, I'm indifferent.

Right now I'm flipping a coin to pick between Tre and Ace. If we get an enticing offer to trade down, I'm doing it with the sole intention of taking Jaku.

Honestly I will celebrate draft night as long as we don't walk away with one of Flagg's teammates or trade the pick for a washed star.

[KingCat]

We have back to back 20 win seasons, a core that can't stay healthy, and have G League players filling out the roster by January.

I do not care about roster fit at all.

[MasterIchiro]

With the East wide open (no need to rehash details), I lean towards trading down and picking up a win-now piece like Cam Johnson, even if it means adding 1 or 2 outside 1st round picks plus 2nd round picks. And I am for making one additional pickup using outside draft capital, plus MLE.

Add 1-2 starters plus 1 solid bench piece (MLE) in addition to pick 5, 6, 7, or 8 in a trade down

Keep all Hornets 1st round picks on reserve for upgrades next offseason.

[Rich4114]

I would say I have a good feel on who everyone on the board likes, except a few. Outside of VJ who would you take at 4?

Braggins
kembaWalker
Sweed
Diop
Kingcat

Kon, Ace or Tre. I honestly will be happy with any one of those 4 guys at this point. It's more about who I DON'T want them to take (Jak, Fears, Maluach, Random terrible at basketball prospect we haven't heard of yet).

Ideally, they maximize the asset and can still get one of those 3 guys via trade down to Utah/Was/NOLA (have a hard time seeing them there at 8).

I can get excited for different reasons about each of them.

[MasterIchiro]

But I also feel the Nets will trade up to 3 for Bailey.

Leaving Charlotte to field offers for 4 from 5, 6, 7.

Jazz have Collins & Lauri.

Wizards have no interesting available players.

Pelicans have Murphy III and Herb Jones.

[driveandkick]

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In all honesty, this is how I feel about this draft. I don't actually love anyone in our draft range. vj I was the only one I feel that actually fits on our roster in a seamless way. But I have real concerns about where he tops out offensively. Everyone else for me is either too redundant or has big holes in their game that would be amplified on our current roster.

And therefore you're left with drafting someone who doesn't really fit your roster but is the best player available, meaning you're going to have to at some point make some follow up trades to figure things out. or you're reaching for someone Who doesn't have the same level of upside.

Like I said earlier in the cycle it's a shame that we couldn't have flipped our draft slots from last year to this year. Draft 4 last year and draft 6 this year would have been such a better situation.

I think I disagree. Purely as prospects I think VJ is a better prospect than Castle was when he entered. They project as similar players but VJ shooting metrics quite a bit better than Castle’s coming out iirc. Doesn’t mean he will end up being as good, but I still think 4 in this draft is waaayyyy more valuable than 4 in last year’s.

[fatlever]

We have back to back 20 win seasons, a core that can't stay healthy, and have G League players filling out the roster by January.

I do not care about roster fit at all.

then lets trade melo and actually rebuild around miller and #4.

[Rich4114]

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In all honesty, this is how I feel about this draft. I don't actually love anyone in our draft range. vj I was the only one I feel that actually fits on our roster in a seamless way. But I have real concerns about where he tops out offensively. Everyone else for me is either too redundant or has big holes in their game that would be amplified on our current roster.

And therefore you're left with drafting someone who doesn't really fit your roster but is the best player available, meaning you're going to have to at some point make some follow up trades to figure things out. or you're reaching for someone Who doesn't have the same level of upside.

Like I said earlier in the cycle it's a shame that we couldn't have flipped our draft slots from last year to this year. Draft 4 last year and draft 6 this year would have been such a better situation.

I think I disagree. Purely as prospects I think VJ is a better prospect than Castle was when he entered. They project as similar players but VJ shooting metrics quite a bit better than Castle’s coming out iirc. Doesn’t mean he will end up being as good, but I still think 4 in this draft is waaayyyy more valuable than 4 in last year’s.

Agreed, it's not comparable. Castle was a brick shot-wise, VJ looks like a better shooter from the jump. Castle is probably a better ball handler though.

[fatlever]

But I also feel the Nets will trade up to 3 for Bailey.

Leaving Charlotte to field offers for 4 from 5, 6, 7.

Jazz have Collins & Lauri.

Wizards have no interesting available players.

Pelicans have Murphy III and Herb Jones.

I could be way off here but I think if Ace goes 3rd via some type of trade up situation that the Hornets run to the podium to draft VJ

[Snidely FC]

Plowright on Ace:

if it wasn't for some mindset/approach questions, he would comfortably be 3rd in this class based off the film.

His Coach Steve Pikiell has praised Bailey as a great kid, an energy giver, and a good teammate. Pikiell specifically mentioned Bailey's strong work ethic and has said that Bailey has a light the room up kind of personality.

Dylan Harper has also praised him as a player, teammate and friend

are these mindset/approach questions coming from Ace's actions or from pundits analysts and GMs who want him to fall in the draft?

[driveandkick]

I really don’t think it’s insane to think Kon could have gone #1 last year

[fatlever]

Read on Twitter

In all honesty, this is how I feel about this draft. I don't actually love anyone in our draft range. vj I was the only one I feel that actually fits on our roster in a seamless way. But I have real concerns about where he tops out offensively. Everyone else for me is either too redundant or has big holes in their game that would be amplified on our current roster.

And therefore you're left with drafting someone who doesn't really fit your roster but is the best player available, meaning you're going to have to at some point make some follow up trades to figure things out. or you're reaching for someone Who doesn't have the same level of upside.

Like I said earlier in the cycle it's a shame that we couldn't have flipped our draft slots from last year to this year. Draft 4 last year and draft 6 this year would have been such a better situation.

I think I disagree. Purely as prospects I think VJ is a better prospect than Castle was when he entered. They project as similar players but VJ shooting metrics quite a bit better than Castle’s coming out iirc. Doesn’t mean he will end up being as good, but I still think 4 in this draft is waaayyyy more valuable than 4 in last year’s.

that was with the assumption that vj goes third. A lot of this is just simply that the chasm between castle and tiddy is enormous.

id rather have say... castle and kon/tre
vs
tiddy and ace/vj

[Braggins]

We have back to back 20 win seasons, a core that can't stay healthy, and have G League players filling out the roster by January.

I do not care about roster fit at all.

Same. I don't have a very strong feeling about who exactly they pick because I didn't get a good enough sample of watching most of them, but I think the guys worth considering are VJ, Ace, Tre, Jaku, Fears, and maybe Demin. I have a definite slight preference for VJ over anyone else and after that I probably personally just like Jakucionis the next best (not saying I think hes for sure the next best prospect, but I like his game). I don't want them to draft Kon or Malauch and feel more strongly about that than who I want.

VJ ~ Seems the most sensible. Very solid floor. Bit of star upside. Makes sense from any angle because hes also a great character and basketball fit.
Ace ~ Super scary to me but its easy to imagine him looking great playing at 19 for a good program vs playing at 18 for Rutgers.
Tre ~ He gives me vibes of a type of prospect I really don't like, but dude can shoot and if someone thinks he can be one of this archetype that ends up really good I could kind of get it.
Fears ~ So many high end offensive flashes and I'm more optimistic about his shot than a lot of people, but there are some serious concerns
Demin ~ Maybe a bit of stretch but I love the combo of passing, IQ/feel, physical tools, and young age. I like oversized playmakers a lot. I get why he scares people but his warts don't seem any worse than most of the other guys in this range so I feel like he might be underrated.