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2025 NBA Draft Thread (pt 3)

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Re: 2025 NBA Draft Thread (pt 3) 

Post#221 » by The Corey's » Fri Jun 27, 2025 9:24 pm

jfs1000d wrote:
The Corey's wrote:So if Hugo flames out and Fleming turns into a rotational player. Does Brad finally start to get some criticism on his drafting?

And what happens if they both suck?


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Then I guess both his prospects for that range were misses.
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Re: 2025 NBA Draft Thread (pt 3) 

Post#222 » by jfs1000d » Fri Jun 27, 2025 10:00 pm

The Corey's wrote:
jfs1000d wrote:
The Corey's wrote:So if Hugo flames out and Fleming turns into a rotational player. Does Brad finally start to get some criticism on his drafting?

And what happens if they both suck?


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Then I guess both his prospects for that range were misses.

Or maybe don't give credit to GMs and on second round picks.


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Re: 2025 NBA Draft Thread (pt 3) 

Post#223 » by Hal14 » Fri Jun 27, 2025 11:03 pm

JR Hawks wrote:We're several years into the Stevens regime and are yet to see any proof that Brad cares about the draft. That's concerning for a rebuilding team under this new CBA. Brad is only going to be able to live off Danny's picks for so long.

Rebuilding team?

Also, Scheierman showed good promise for a rookie last season. Hauser was the first UDFA Brad signed - that was definitely a hit.

The other picks were so late in the draft, that most picks that late don't pan out anyways..or it's too soon to tell if they will pan out or not.

The only one of Danny's picks still with the team are Tatum, Brown and Pritchard. The rest of the roster was thanks to Brad.
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Re: 2025 NBA Draft Thread (pt 3) 

Post#224 » by redslastlaugh » Sat Jun 28, 2025 12:02 am

I'd complained before the this draft that, in recent drafts under Brad, our plans/targets had consistently found their way into the press through Vecenie/Givony and it looked like we were going down the road again. Before the first round, draft media said Celtics were high on Rasheer Fleming, Noah Penda, Ryan Kalkbrenner, & Maxime Raynaud.
Celts came up at #28 with all four prospects on the board and Celts take Hugo Gonzalez, a prospect who was almost never mentioned as a Celtics target.

Much better job of managing the media pre-draft and keeping our plans under wraps. Gotta give the front office credit.
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Re: 2025 NBA Draft Thread (pt 3) 

Post#225 » by Smart2Nesmith43 » Sat Jun 28, 2025 12:20 am

redslastlaugh wrote:I'd complained before the this draft that, in recent drafts under Brad, our plans/targets had consistently found their way into the press through Vecenie/Givony and it looked like we were going down the road again. Before the first round, draft media said Celtics were high on Rasheer Fleming, Noah Penda, Ryan Kalkbrenner, & Maxime Raynaud.
Celts came up at #28 with all four prospects on the board and Celts take Hugo Gonzalez, a prospect who was almost never mentioned as a Celtics target.

Much better job of managing the media pre-draft and keeping our plans under wraps. Gotta give the front office credit.

Austin Ainge is no longer with the organization. Not saying he was the mole but the leaks stopping the moment he leaves isn't a great look.
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Re: 2025 NBA Draft Thread (pt 3) 

Post#226 » by Hal14 » Sat Jun 28, 2025 2:44 am

redslastlaugh wrote:I'd complained before the this draft that, in recent drafts under Brad, our plans/targets had consistently found their way into the press through Vecenie/Givony and it looked like we were going down the road again. Before the first round, draft media said Celtics were high on Rasheer Fleming, Noah Penda, Ryan Kalkbrenner, & Maxime Raynaud.
Celts came up at #28 with all four prospects on the board and Celts take Hugo Gonzalez, a prospect who was almost never mentioned as a Celtics target.

Much better job of managing the media pre-draft and keeping our plans under wraps. Gotta give the front office credit.

Yeah that's true. This pick surprised us all. We heard nothing about Hugo being a potential target for Boston.

Good job by Brad and company to not let it leak out. I wonder if they leaked the interest in Jakucionis and all those rumors about us evaluating PG's, and looking to trade up into the lottery was just to throw other teams off.
Nothing wrong with having a different opinion - as long as it's done respectfully. It'd be lame if we all agreed on everything :)
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Re: 2025 NBA Draft Thread (pt 3) 

Post#227 » by Curmudgeon » Sat Jun 28, 2025 5:18 pm

LOL, people who believe stuff during lying season do so at their peril. NBA draftnet had Gonzalez going at #24 to the Kings and other draftniks had him mocked even higher. He's a legit 6-6 barefoot and 220 pounds. He's not one of those skinny Euros who shies away from contact.
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Re: 2025 NBA Draft Thread (pt 3) 

Post#228 » by cloverleaf » Sat Jun 28, 2025 6:41 pm

Curmudgeon wrote:LOL, people who believe stuff during lying season do so at their peril. NBA draftnet had Gonzalez going at #24 to the Kings and other draftniks had him mocked even higher. He's a legit 6-6 barefoot and 220 pounds. He's not one of those skinny Euros who shies away from contact.


6'6.25" without shoes and 222.7 pounds at 19 years and 3 months at the combine.
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Re: 2025 NBA Draft Thread (pt 3) 

Post#229 » by cloverleaf » Sat Jun 28, 2025 6:43 pm

Hal14 wrote:
redslastlaugh wrote:I'd complained before the this draft that, in recent drafts under Brad, our plans/targets had consistently found their way into the press through Vecenie/Givony and it looked like we were going down the road again. Before the first round, draft media said Celtics were high on Rasheer Fleming, Noah Penda, Ryan Kalkbrenner, & Maxime Raynaud.
Celts came up at #28 with all four prospects on the board and Celts take Hugo Gonzalez, a prospect who was almost never mentioned as a Celtics target.

Much better job of managing the media pre-draft and keeping our plans under wraps. Gotta give the front office credit.

Yeah that's true. This pick surprised us all. We heard nothing about Hugo being a potential target for Boston.

Good job by Brad and company to not let it leak out. I wonder if they leaked the interest in Jakucionis and all those rumors about us evaluating PG's, and looking to trade up into the lottery was just to throw other teams off.


Chatty Austin is on to Utah.
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Re: 2025 NBA Draft Thread (pt 3) 

Post#230 » by Smart2Nesmith43 » Sun Jun 29, 2025 12:48 am

Hal14 wrote:
redslastlaugh wrote:I'd complained before the this draft that, in recent drafts under Brad, our plans/targets had consistently found their way into the press through Vecenie/Givony and it looked like we were going down the road again. Before the first round, draft media said Celtics were high on Rasheer Fleming, Noah Penda, Ryan Kalkbrenner, & Maxime Raynaud.
Celts came up at #28 with all four prospects on the board and Celts take Hugo Gonzalez, a prospect who was almost never mentioned as a Celtics target.

Much better job of managing the media pre-draft and keeping our plans under wraps. Gotta give the front office credit.

Yeah that's true. This pick surprised us all. We heard nothing about Hugo being a potential target for Boston.

Good job by Brad and company to not let it leak out. I wonder if they leaked the interest in Jakucionis and all those rumors about us evaluating PG's, and looking to trade up into the lottery was just to throw other teams off.

I mean I wouldn't say all of us were surprised :wink:
https://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=2395219&p=117951523#p117951523
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Re: 2025 NBA Draft Thread (pt 3) 

Post#231 » by Fierce1 » Sun Jun 29, 2025 12:53 am

Smart2Nesmith43 wrote:
Hal14 wrote:
redslastlaugh wrote:I'd complained before the this draft that, in recent drafts under Brad, our plans/targets had consistently found their way into the press through Vecenie/Givony and it looked like we were going down the road again. Before the first round, draft media said Celtics were high on Rasheer Fleming, Noah Penda, Ryan Kalkbrenner, & Maxime Raynaud.
Celts came up at #28 with all four prospects on the board and Celts take Hugo Gonzalez, a prospect who was almost never mentioned as a Celtics target.

Much better job of managing the media pre-draft and keeping our plans under wraps. Gotta give the front office credit.

Yeah that's true. This pick surprised us all. We heard nothing about Hugo being a potential target for Boston.

Good job by Brad and company to not let it leak out. I wonder if they leaked the interest in Jakucionis and all those rumors about us evaluating PG's, and looking to trade up into the lottery was just to throw other teams off.

I mean I wouldn't say all of us were surprised :wink:
https://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=2395219&p=117951523#p117951523

You're gloating! :lol:
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Re: 2025 NBA Draft Thread (pt 3) 

Post#232 » by 165bows » Sun Jun 29, 2025 11:36 am

Fierce1 wrote:
Smart2Nesmith43 wrote:
Hal14 wrote:Yeah that's true. This pick surprised us all. We heard nothing about Hugo being a potential target for Boston.

Good job by Brad and company to not let it leak out. I wonder if they leaked the interest in Jakucionis and all those rumors about us evaluating PG's, and looking to trade up into the lottery was just to throw other teams off.

I mean I wouldn't say all of us were surprised :wink:
https://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=2395219&p=117951523#p117951523

You're gloating! :lol:

Totally fair he was all about this guy.

Now let’s see if he’s any good!!
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Re: 2025 NBA Draft Thread (pt 3) 

Post#233 » by redslastlaugh » Mon Aug 18, 2025 8:56 pm

Now that we're two months post-draft (roster trades, summer league) I look at our haul of 2025 prospects and I mostly like what Brad did.
We added 3 new 2-way players: Amari Williams, Max Shulga and RJ Luis
Brad also made only his second ever first round pick as GM: Hugo Gonzalez

Of the four prospects, I'm the least high on Hugo Gonzalez but I admit, he also has the highest potential upside. Hugo is only 19 with a strong frame and motor but I'm not that high on him, even though he came into the season as a potential lottery pick. Sometimes a youth player is rated as a potential top 5 pick a year before the draft and then, come the draft time, gets picked much lower, & I think this is typically a bad sign. Sometimes a player matures faster than his peers and that player dominates on the junior level based on a physical advantage that fades over time. And perhaps that's what happened with Hugo?

Looking backwards, Justin Edwards was viewed as potential top 5 pick during the 2024 draft cycle and then ended up going undrafted on draft night. Skal Labissiere in 2016 was foreseen as a potential top 5 pick who also ended up sliding to #28 like Hugo. I view a 18 yr old prospect who is rated really highly and then falls as a bad sign for that players prospects.

In Hugo's case, it also bothers me that Brooklyn had five first round picks, four in a reasonable range to select Hugo, with a coach, Jordy Fernandez, who is Spanish himself and very plugged into basketball in Spain and BRK passed on Hugo four times. Tough look right there.

My expectation, and I hope I'm wrong, is Hugo follows a Nassir Little or Dzanan Musa path, where a highly decorated junior level prospect with elite physical tools gets taken in the first round, but then just doesn't pan out and, five yrs out, is playing in another league not the NBA. But there definitely exists also high upside possibility where Hugo becomes a top 50 type of impact NBA player as his skills develop.

Even though I don't have high expectations for Hugo, I kind of like the pick just for the outside chance at his super high end outcome. On the outside chance that Hugo develops into an OG Anonoby type of frontcourt player, it's fine to take that swing.

Also, I really like the other 3 guys we got on draft night and signed to 2-way contracts:

Amari Williams, I am high on the swing as a passing/rebounding connective type of big man with elite size. Shulga I like as a competitor. I like Shulga's headiness and I think his athletic concerns are overblown. Shulga doesnt look like a great athlete but he reminds me a little bit of a smaller Gordon Haywood. I think he's more athletic than you think and I generally get good vibes from how he moves.

RJ Luis strikes me as a good swing, an athletic guy who is not a standstill 3 pt shooter but operates more in the mid range and more creatively. Brad said our problem last year was our tendancy towards stagnancy and RJ Luis Jr is the opposite of stagnant.

We came in with 28 & 32 and had we simply had traded back to #28, #46, #57 (plus two future seconds) and then selected RJ Luis, Max Shulga and Amari Williams as our three picks, I'd have been happy with that draft. And we got that, plus Hugo Gonzalez. I see Hugo as a free swing on upside and overall, looking back on this draft, I'm happy (though still if I was picking, I would not have picked Hugo Gonzalez ... but I can recognize the upside potential)
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Re: 2025 NBA Draft Thread (pt 3) 

Post#234 » by Hal14 » Mon Aug 18, 2025 9:26 pm

redslastlaugh wrote:Of the four prospects, I'm the least high on Hugo Gonzalez but I admit, he also has the highest potential upside. Hugo is only 19 with a strong frame and motor but I'm not that high on him, even though he came into the season as a potential lottery pick. Sometimes a youth player is rated as a potential top 5 pick a year before the draft and then, come the draft time, gets picked much lower, & I think this is typically a bad sign. Sometimes a player matures faster than his peers and that player dominates on the junior level based on a physical advantage that fades over time. And perhaps that's what happened with Hugo?

Looking backwards, Justin Edwards was viewed as potential top 5 pick during the 2024 draft cycle and then ended up going undrafted on draft night. Skal Labissiere in 2016 was foreseen as a potential top 5 pick who also ended up sliding to #28 like Hugo. I view a 18 yr old prospect who is rated really highly and then falls as a bad sign for that players prospects.

It often is a bad sign..others who were rated very highly going into their first season of draft eligibility but then fell in the draft who didn't pan out are Romeo Langford, BJ Boston, Jordan Walsh, Julian Phillips, Kendall Brown, Kennedy Chandler, JD Davison, Jaden Hardy, Yannick Nzosa. Cam Whitmore could join that group.

However, there's other cases on the flip side where the player did work out in the NBA such as Jalen Johnson, Jaden McDaniels, Tyrese Maxey, Peyton Watson. And it's looking like GG Jackson could join that group.

Then a guy like caleb Houstan hasn't been a total bust but he he hasn't been great either. Kind of too early too tell as well with him - and some of these other guys.

So it's a mixed bag but I wouldn't say that all guys who are projected lottery picks who fall in the draft don't pan out. Especially since the hit rate on picks 20 or later is pretty low anyways.

redslastlaugh wrote: In Hugo's case, it also bothers me that Brooklyn had five first round picks, four in a reasonable range to select Hugo, with a coach, Jordy Fernandez, who is Spanish himself and very plugged into basketball in Spain and BRK passed on Hugo four times. Tough look right there.

Or maybe it will end up being a tough look for Jordi if Hugo pans out?

Way too soon to tell for sure.

Also, Jordi isn't the one with final say on draft picks in Brooklyn - Sean Marks is.
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Re: 2025 NBA Draft Thread (pt 3) 

Post#235 » by darrendaye » Mon Aug 18, 2025 9:42 pm

Hal14 wrote:
redslastlaugh wrote:Of the four prospects, I'm the least high on Hugo Gonzalez but I admit, he also has the highest potential upside. Hugo is only 19 with a strong frame and motor but I'm not that high on him, even though he came into the season as a potential lottery pick. Sometimes a youth player is rated as a potential top 5 pick a year before the draft and then, come the draft time, gets picked much lower, & I think this is typically a bad sign. Sometimes a player matures faster than his peers and that player dominates on the junior level based on a physical advantage that fades over time. And perhaps that's what happened with Hugo?

Looking backwards, Justin Edwards was viewed as potential top 5 pick during the 2024 draft cycle and then ended up going undrafted on draft night. Skal Labissiere in 2016 was foreseen as a potential top 5 pick who also ended up sliding to #28 like Hugo. I view a 18 yr old prospect who is rated really highly and then falls as a bad sign for that players prospects.

It often is a bad sign..others who were rated very highly going into their first season of draft eligibility but then fell in the draft who didn't pan out are Romeo Langford, BJ Boston, Jordan Walsh, Julian Phillips, Kendall Brown, Kennedy Chandler, JD Davison, Jaden Hardy, Yannick Nzosa. Cam Whitmore could join that group.

However, there's other cases on the flip side where the player did work out in the NBA such as Jalen Johnson, Jaden McDaniels, Tyrese Maxey, Peyton Watson. And it's looking like GG Jackson could join that group.

Then a guy like caleb Houstan hasn't been a total bust but he he hasn't been great either. Kind of too early too tell as well with him - and some of these other guys.

So it's a mixed bag but I wouldn't say that all guys who are projected lottery picks who fall in the draft don't pan out. Especially since the hit rate on picks 20 or later is pretty low anyways.

redslastlaugh wrote: In Hugo's case, it also bothers me that Brooklyn had five first round picks, four in a reasonable range to select Hugo, with a coach, Jordy Fernandez, who is Spanish himself and very plugged into basketball in Spain and BRK passed on Hugo four times. Tough look right there.

Or maybe it will end up being a tough look for Jordi if Hugo pans out?

Way too soon to tell for sure.

Also, Jordi isn't the one with final say on draft picks in Brooklyn - Sean Marks is.


Quentin Grimes is another possible comparable.
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Re: 2025 NBA Draft Thread (pt 3) 

Post#236 » by Smart2Nesmith43 » Mon Aug 18, 2025 10:26 pm

redslastlaugh wrote:In Hugo's case, it also bothers me that Brooklyn had five first round picks, four in a reasonable range to select Hugo, with a coach, Jordy Fernandez, who is Spanish himself and very plugged into basketball in Spain and BRK passed on Hugo four times. Tough look right there.

Remember when the Suns literally hired the national team coach of Luka Doncic with whom he had just won EuroBasket before selecting DeAndre Ayton. How did that turn out for them ? Considering the drafting record of Sean Marks, I'm not overly worried about his opinion on the matter. It's not like he is Sam Presti or anything.

Besides Fernandez has been an assistant coach in the NBA since 2009 and most recently served as the head coach for Canada. I'm not sure what his level of involvement with Spanish basketball is at the moment but it can't be high.
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Re: 2025 NBA Draft Thread (pt 3) 

Post#237 » by redslastlaugh » Mon Aug 18, 2025 10:49 pm

Hal14 wrote:
redslastlaugh wrote:Of the four prospects, I'm the least high on Hugo Gonzalez ... I view a 18 yr old prospect who is rated really highly and then falls as a bad sign for that players prospects.

It often is a bad sign..others who were rated very highly going into their first season of draft eligibility but then fell in the draft who didn't pan out are Romeo Langford, BJ Boston, Jordan Walsh, Julian Phillips, Kendall Brown, Kennedy Chandler, JD Davison, Jaden Hardy, Yannick Nzosa. Cam Whitmore could join that group.

However, there's other cases on the flip side where the player did work out in the NBA such as Jalen Johnson, Jaden McDaniels, Tyrese Maxey, Peyton Watson. And it's looking like GG Jackson could join that group.

Then a guy like caleb Houstan hasn't been a total bust but he he hasn't been great either. Kind of too early too tell as well with him - and some of these other guys.

So it's a mixed bag but I wouldn't say that all guys who are projected lottery picks who fall in the draft don't pan out. Especially since the hit rate on picks 20 or later is pretty low anyways.

redslastlaugh wrote: In Hugo's case, it also bothers me that Brooklyn had five first round picks, four in a reasonable range to select Hugo, with a coach, Jordy Fernandez, who is Spanish himself and very plugged into basketball in Spain and BRK passed on Hugo four times. Tough look right there.

Or maybe it will end up being a tough look for Jordi if Hugo pans out?

Way too soon to tell for sure.

Also, Jordi isn't the one with final say on draft picks in Brooklyn - Sean Marks is.

Firstly, I know Sean Marks is making the call, but it's also hard for me to believe that Jordi Fernandez gave a glowing, powerful endorsement of Hugo Gonzalez to Marks and then Marks passed at #19, #22, #26, & #27 leaving Boston to scoop him up at #28.

Sure, definitely possible Jordi Fernandez had Hugo rated highly and that Marks just didn't see it... but in the NBA, in a multiple pick type of situation, there is often some concessions from the GM to the coaching staff.

I remember in 2011, Chad Ford said a Celtics scout pre-draft told him that the C's front office hated Fab Melo but the coaching staff wanted him as a rim protecting center. I guess the team was feeling the absence of Kendrick Perkins and there was still some disagreement inside the org if the team made the right move to trade Perk.

Anyway, Chad said it was funny because he was told "we have back to back picks and we're considering Fab with one of them. We actually hate him but we might draft him" ... And then, of course, we took Fab Melo. A long tenured coach and long term GM is almost like a marriage with each side making compromises to keep everyone happy.

If a team only has a single 1st round pick, then whatever, the GM takes whoever he wants. But in the Nets case, having four picks in the 19-27 range, in this specific instance with a Spanish coach and high level Spanish prospect, passing on Hugo is saying something. At least to me.

But still, Brooklyn not taking him, that's not like a final judgment on Hugo Gonzalez. Vlade Divac passed on Luka Doncic with Vlade being very knowledgeable about basketball in that part of the world -- and Vlade passing didnt mean anything about Luka.

As to your list of prospects, I agree there are a lot of guys who were highly ranked in high school and came out after weak freshman years, and a lot of them (not all) flopped. When Ainge was running the team, he liked to roll the dice on super highly rated recruits who had fallen in the draft for whatever reason. You listed Romeo but also Leon Powe, Bill Walker and Avery Bradley, if my memory serves, were super high ranked HS players going into college. And when Danny took over Utah he took Isaiah Collier which was the same thing, and very on brand for him.
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Re: 2025 NBA Draft Thread (pt 3) 

Post#238 » by threrf23 » Mon Aug 18, 2025 10:50 pm

redslastlaugh wrote:Of the four prospects, I'm the least high on Hugo Gonzalez but I admit, he also has the highest potential upside. Hugo is only 19 with a strong frame and motor but I'm not that high on him, even though he came into the season as a potential lottery pick. Sometimes a youth player is rated as a potential top 5 pick a year before the draft and then, come the draft time, gets picked much lower, & I think this is typically a bad sign. Sometimes a player matures faster than his peers and that player dominates on the junior level based on a physical advantage that fades over time. And perhaps that's what happened with Hugo?

Looking backwards, Justin Edwards was viewed as potential top 5 pick during the 2024 draft cycle and then ended up going undrafted on draft night. Skal Labissiere in 2016 was foreseen as a potential top 5 pick who also ended up sliding to #28 like Hugo. I view a 18 yr old prospect who is rated really highly and then falls as a bad sign for that players prospects.

In Hugo's case, it also bothers me that Brooklyn had five first round picks, four in a reasonable range to select Hugo, with a coach, Jordy Fernandez, who is Spanish himself and very plugged into basketball in Spain and BRK passed on Hugo four times. Tough look right there.

My expectation, and I hope I'm wrong, is Hugo follows a Nassir Little or Dzanan Musa path, where a highly decorated junior level prospect with elite physical tools gets taken in the first round, but then just doesn't pan out and, five yrs out, is playing in another league not the NBA. But there definitely exists also high upside possibility where Hugo becomes a top 50 type of impact NBA player as his skills develop.

Even though I don't have high expectations for Hugo, I kind of like the pick just for the outside chance at his super high end outcome. On the outside chance that Hugo develops into an OG Anonoby type of frontcourt player, it's fine to take that swing.


It's the Nets, man. But yeah it's a valid point.

I love Hugo's scouting capsules. At least the ones that say good things about his intangibles. Intangibles coupled with talent gives him a really high ceiling so long as his skills come along over time.

While I have my own concerns about him, I don't think he is Nassir Little or Skal. He strikes me as more...I have to think of someone...but I think he eventually becomes a useful/valuable glue guy type at worst.

If I am being honest, Brian Scalabrine is a guy who came to mind when I thought about it post draft. That probably sounds (and to a lesser extent is) ridiculous, but...

If his Euroleague stats from last season are a good indication - and they might not be, smallish sample size - he might have NBA talent but is possibly years away from really being in the NBA convo. 35% from two and 29% from three, terrible A/TO ratio for a lower usage guard, 0.3 steals per 36.

Rebounding was solid, stocks/foul OK by Euroleague standards, but don't make him out to be the defender some scouts say he is.

Liga ACB stats weren't bad, but I'm not inherently sure how well they translate, and they weren't that great, and from what I can tell he hasn't even really shown potential as a three point shooter at any level to date.

At the very least I don't think his perimeter skills as a whole are as good as he has been given credit for, and given that he is built so well for a young guard, I was thinking he might actually be seen more as an undersized PF once he is filled out in a few years. That's how Scal, and Grant Williams for that matter, came to mind. I don't really think either is a great comp, for obvious-ish reason, but strengths and weaknesses might not be far off.
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Re: 2025 NBA Draft Thread (pt 3) 

Post#239 » by redslastlaugh » Mon Aug 18, 2025 11:24 pm

threrf23 wrote:It's the Nets, man. But yeah it's a valid point.

I love Hugo's scouting capsules. At least the ones that say good things about his intangibles. Intangibles coupled with talent gives him a really high ceiling so long as his skills come along over time.

While I have my own concerns about him, I don't think he is Nassir Little or Skal. He strikes me as more...I have to think of someone...but I think he eventually becomes a useful/valuable glue guy type at worst.

If I am being honest, Brian Scalabrine is a guy who came to mind when I thought about it post draft. That probably sounds (and to a lesser extent is) ridiculous, but...

If his Euroleague stats from last season are a good indication - and they might not be, smallish sample size - he might have NBA talent but is possibly years away from really being in the NBA convo. 35% from two and 29% from three, terrible A/TO ratio for a lower usage guard, 0.3 steals per 36.

Rebounding was solid, stocks/foul OK by Euroleague standards, but don't make him out to be the defender some scouts say he is.

Liga ACB stats weren't bad, but I'm not inherently sure how well they translate, and they weren't that great, and from what I can tell he hasn't even really shown potential as a three point shooter at any level to date.

At the very least I don't think his perimeter skills as a whole are as good as he has been given credit for, and given that he is built so well for a young guard, I was thinking he might actually be seen more as an undersized PF once he is filled out in a few years. That's how Scal, and Grant Williams for that matter, came to mind. I don't really think either is a great comp, for obvious-ish reason, but strengths and weaknesses might not be far off.


And ultimately Hugo's stats are the main concern (plus just watching the Vegas SL) I have rather than he slid in the draft or other teams who conceivably should have liked him passed.

People said Hugo barely played, and it's true that per game he was averaging like 10 minutes. But his team played so many games he ended up with a 700 minute sample for last year. For comparison, Liam McNeely went the next pick after Hugo and McNeely played 867 minutes as a freshman at UConn so this not such a sample size disparity really

As a physical, athletic wing, Hugo shot 28% from 3pt but also racked only 1.0 steals and 1.0 blocks per 36. The player who statistically seemed similar to me was O-Max Prosper taken 24th in 2023. O-Max was a 6-8 physical wing defender who shot 34% from 3 in college but also only generated 0.2 blocks and 1.1 steals per 36 and so far, for OMax it just hasn't worked at the NBA level.
https://www.tankathon.com/players/compare?players=hugo-gonzalez--olivier-maxence-prosper

But Scal is an interesting name because Hugo has in his corner his intangibles, good feel and high motor and Scal had those intangibles in spades. You'd think Scal woulda been a great shooter but his career 3pt % was not very impressive. Scal just had a physicality and a bunch of intagibles... but obviously Scalabrine is a quirky comp and we are still having higher hopes for Hugo's ultimate impact

The last thing in Hugo's favor is his age, he was 19 years old at the draft and so there's a ton of time on his side ... im trying not to be too negative, I hope he is good obviously, lol
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Re: 2025 NBA Draft Thread (pt 3) 

Post#240 » by threrf23 » Tue Aug 19, 2025 1:11 am

redslastlaugh wrote:
And ultimately Hugo's stats are the main concern (plus just watching the Vegas SL) I have rather than he slid in the draft or other teams who conceivably should have liked him passed.

People said Hugo barely played, and it's true that per game he was averaging like 10 minutes. But his team played so many games he ended up with a 700 minute sample for last year. For comparison, Liam McNeely went the next pick after Hugo and McNeely played 867 minutes as a freshman at UConn so this not such a sample size disparity really

As a physical, athletic wing, Hugo shot 28% from 3pt but also racked only 1.0 steals and 1.0 blocks per 36. The player who statistically seemed similar to me was O-Max Prosper taken 24th in 2023. O-Max was a 6-8 physical wing defender who shot 34% from 3 in college but also only generated 0.2 blocks and 1.1 steals per 36 and so far, for OMax it just hasn't worked at the NBA level.
https://www.tankathon.com/players/compare?players=hugo-gonzalez--olivier-maxence-prosper

But Scal is an interesting name because Hugo has in his corner his intangibles, good feel and high motor and Scal had those intangibles in spades. You'd think Scal woulda been a great shooter but his career 3pt % was not very impressive. Scal just had a physicality and a bunch of intagibles... but obviously Scalabrine is a quirky comp and we are still having higher hopes for Hugo's ultimate impact

The last thing in Hugo's favor is his age, he was 19 years old at the draft and so there's a ton of time on his side ... im trying not to be too negative, I hope he is good obviously, lol


To be fair, a relative majority of his 700 minutes were Liga ACB. As bad as his Euroleague stats were, his Liga ACB stats last year were really decent, save for his 27% three point percentage (which isn't a big deal at this point). I'm just not sure off the top of my head as to how easily they translate.

It was probably wrong to drop Scal as a possible comp without also mentioning Aaron Nesmith, there are definite parallels to Nesmith, he'd just be a Euro Aaron Nesmith who can't yet shoot but has been better schooled perhaps in other areas.

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