2025 NBA Draft Thread, part 1 – Capture the Flagg

[brackdan70]

Thomas Sorber -
Is the foot injury and surgery a big enough concern that he drops enough for the Cs to draft him?
Is it enough of a concern that they shouldn’t draft him. Big guys and feet problems are scary.
My uninformed opinion…if he drops you roll the dice.

so get another talented Big who may break like Glass? I'm in

You can never have too many.

[playa-hater]

Thomas Sorber -
Is the foot injury and surgery a big enough concern that he drops enough for the Cs to draft him?
Is it enough of a concern that they shouldn’t draft him. Big guys and feet problems are scary.
My uninformed opinion…if he drops you roll the dice.

so get another talented Big who may break like Glass? I'm in

You can never have too many.

Or in our case enough

[threrf23]

Hell of a game between UCONN & Florida.

I like Walter Clayton Jr more than I like Florida's bigs. Not to react too much to a senior making a few big plays in a tourney game, but he has been productive all four years and statistically looks like a decent prospect as is.

[redslastlaugh]

Hal is pretty high on Clayton Jr. Has him in the 1st round on his big board.

I like him too, reminds me of Payton Pritchard a little bit.

EDIT: Alex Condon going 2-6 from the stripe in the last 4 mins, didnt do himself any favors.
EDIT2: Alex Karaban going 2-9 from 3PT, for a "shooter" Karaban has a lot of tough nights. If we draft him I hope its a trade down into the 40s or something. I dont think hes a 1st rounder.

Hell of a game between UCONN & Florida.

I like Walter Clayton Jr more than I like Florida's bigs. Not to react too much to a senior making a few big plays in a tourney game, but he has been productive all four years and statistically looks like a decent prospect as is.

[Bill Lumbergh]

A guy I kinda like who isn't on any mocks I have seen is Richie Saunders at BYU. Haven't looked at too many guys yet though. I just happened to check him out last night since BYU is still in the tourney.

[threrf23]

A guy I kinda like who isn't on any mocks I have seen is Richie Saunders at BYU. Haven't looked at too many guys yet though. I just happened to check him out last night since BYU is still in the tourney.

Apparently he's an older guy, was 21 as a freshman, will be 24 in September. It's BYU so maybe he went on a mission before attending school.

Statistically I think he looks like an otherwise good prospect who fouled a bit much his first two seasons, he has improved in that capacity but I'm inclined to profile him and wonder if it speaks to his agility. On the plus side, he is a career 60% guy inside the arc and has additionally become a very good outside shooter.

[playa-hater]

Other than Wemby, for obvious reasons, I am starting to think Cooper Flagg is the most hyped prospect since Lebron. Flagg > Zion, Wiggins, KD/Gregg Oden and whomever else I am forgetting. As of now, I actually think he lives up to it. Wish there was some way to get him. Even offering Tatum wouldn't get it done. In fact only Vic Wemby would make that trade possible.

[phincsfan]

Thomas Sorber -
Is the foot injury and surgery a big enough concern that he drops enough for the Cs to draft him?
Is it enough of a concern that they shouldn’t draft him. Big guys and feet problems are scary.
My uninformed opinion…if he drops you roll the dice.

Foot injuries and athletes are always a concern especially bigs.

Embiids first injury when he was drafted was his foot. His was a stress fracture which was bad.

Sorber’s is turf toe which IMO isn’t as bad because it involves the ligaments rather than a bones stress fracture.

I bet a team still takes him before #28.

[Hal14]

Hell of a game between UCONN & Florida.

I like Walter Clayton Jr more than I like Florida's bigs. Not to react too much to a senior making a few big plays in a tourney game, but he has been productive all four years and statistically looks like a decent prospect as is.

Yeah, as I've said before Clayton reminds me a lot of Payton Pritchard.

I think he's a late 1st round pick caliber guy.

[165bows]

Yaxel Lendeborg continues killing it - 18/12/4 per game with 4(!) stocks per game over 8 games in March, hitting almost a 3 per game.

Kind of similar situation as Clifford, little bit older guy producing really well, but also against somewhat modest comp.

[phincsfan]

Yaxel Lendeborg continues killing it - 18/12/4 per game with 4(!) stocks per game over 8 games in March, hitting almost a 3 per game.

Kind of similar situation as Clifford, little bit older guy producing really well, but also against somewhat modest comp.

I wonder if Al or Tito know him personally?

[redslastlaugh]

The Rookie Scale consensus board blends public mock drafts, crunches them in a weighted algo and projects consensus for where each prospect will be pciked.

https://www.rookiescale.com/2025-consensus-board/

Interesting to get a sense of where guys are currently projected and who moves up/down during workouts, combine, measurements, etc

[djFan71]

Rookie Scale consensus boards blends public mock drafts, crunches them in a weighted algo and projects consensus for where each prospect will be pciked.

https://www.rookiescale.com/2025-consensus-board/

Interesting to get a sense of where guys are currently projected and who moves up/down during workouts, combine, measurements, etc

I'd take a Carter / Byrd draft.

[Kalela]

I am starting to like Kadary Richmond as an NBA prospect. He is an older guy but he is a solid (maybe even elite) defender who can create his own shot.

Texas Tech prospects looked good today.

The Celtics already worked out JT Toppin twice in the past.

[playa-hater]

OK, the always draft the BPA still applies, but Scheierman's performance of late makes me want getting a solid Bigger type of player > smaller wing types like Baylor, even more than ever. Baylor looks like he can be really good and still it will be hard to get him steady minutes.

[165bows]

I am starting to like Kadary Richmond as an NBA prospect. He is an older guy but he is a solid (maybe even elite) defender who can create his own shot.

Texas Tech prospects looked good today.

The Celtics already worked out JT Toppin twice in the past.

Idk anything about him but I've been wondering lately if the league isn't that great at scouting defense. Seems like some of the better defenders aren't rated that way ahead of time.

[brackdan70]

I am starting to like Kadary Richmond as an NBA prospect. He is an older guy but he is a solid (maybe even elite) defender who can create his own shot.

Texas Tech prospects looked good today.

The Celtics already worked out JT Toppin twice in the past.

Yeah. I am really surprised he is mocked in our range. I fully expect him to go higher, but If not I hope the Cs nab him.

[Hal14]

OK, the always draft the BPA still applies, but Scheierman's performance of late makes me want getting a solid Bigger type of player > smaller wing types like Baylor, even more than ever. Baylor looks like he can be really good and still it will be hard to get him steady minutes.

Agreed. I don't see us going for that wing shooter archetype..maybe with an UDFA pickup.

I don't see us drafting 2 guys in the top 32 picks. Even if we trim some payroll this summer, we're still going to be contenders and it's hard for rookies to get mins on a contender. So it's better to just draft 1 of them that high.

Brad's first 3 drafts he only drafted 1 guy. Then 2024 he drafts 2..well, what happened? He finally drafts 2 guys in 2024 but then Watson gets waived after the all star break. And the team said it was because they didn't see him cracking the rotation long term. Boom, there ya go. Only draft 1 guy when you're a contender that's got as much depth/talent as we do.

If it's only 1 guy, I see us going for a big. A 4, or a 5 or a 4/5 combo type. A lot of the mocks have us taking guys like Broome or Yaxel. Maybe we go Markovic. Maybe Condon, Wolf, maybe Sorber or Fleming. Maybe Toppin?

But Vecenie says he sees us going for someone who can shoot and someone who can defend. Sorber is a very suspect shooter so he is probably out. Condon is a pretty suspect shooter as well.

Wolf and Markovic can shoot (Markovic can shoot better) but those guys aren't as good defensively.

Maybe it's Yaxel or Fleming? Rumor has it, Brad was at a St Joe's game recently.

He was also at the St John's/Arkansas game..maybe looking at RJ Luis, a wing. Or Boogie Fland, a PG. For bigs in that game, there was Trevon Brazile and Zvonimir Ivisic. Brazile can kind of shoot. Ivisic can shoot & block shots but he's really slow and horrible defending in space. And limited on offense, besides hitting open 3's.

Yaxel putting up some monster numbers lately..and his 5/10 (50%) from 3 over his last 5 games. He might just be our guy. Maybe just draft him in the 28-32 range and call it a day..He's got size, he can put it on the floor, he's strong, can pass, defend..plays hard, with toughness and physicality. Yaxel is growing on me.

[Hal14]

I am starting to like Kadary Richmond as an NBA prospect. He is an older guy but he is a solid (maybe even elite) defender who can create his own shot.

Texas Tech prospects looked good today.

The Celtics already worked out JT Toppin twice in the past.

Yeah. I am really surprised he is mocked in our range. I fully expect him to go higher, but If not I hope the Cs nab him.

I think Toppin is a solid pick in the 24-34 range.

The reason why I wouldn't take him higher, and why he's not mocked higher than late 1st round/early 2nd round is:

-Measured 6'7" in shoes at the combine last year..also measured with a 7'0.5" wingspan and 221 lbs. So he's definitely undersized at the 5. And a decent but not great max vertical leap of 34". 
-Outside shot it getting better..he can *kind of* shoot but the volume is low and his FT% is only 70%, just 64% for his career.
-Offers very little playmaking, which is something that many teams, especially the celtics like in their bigs these days
-The limited shooting and mobility..plays more like a 5..but his size is more like a 4
-Defensively, he's decent. But he's just ok as a rim protector, not great..he's ok defending out on the perimeter but not great at that either
-Gets a lot of his points from tip-ins, put-backs, dunker's spot finishes, post ups, and some face up drives. But it's a lot of post ups, and and play types that you see more in college than the NBA. His game might be type where he's one of those guys who dominates college but isn't as good in the NBA..

[cloverleaf]

Other than Wemby, for obvious reasons, I am starting to think Cooper Flagg is the most hyped prospect since Lebron. Flagg > Zion, Wiggins, KD/Gregg Oden and whomever else I am forgetting. As of now, I actually think he lives up to it. Wish there was some way to get him. Even offering Tatum wouldn't get it done. In fact only Vic Wemby would make that trade possible.

No worries, playa--Brad already bagged us Rico!

With a 1st-rounder and near 1st-rounder this year, I'm guessing Brad wades in for his first big-man pick. They need someone besides Queta coming along and cheap.