2024-25 NBA Rookie Discussion Thread

[perempe20]

Watch on YouTube

full highlights where you can see the flaws and the potential also

[JLei]

we're getting some very strong performances from supposedly "tHe wEakEsT dRafT cLaSS eVeR".

I mean every single player in the top 13 has a negative BPM right now and to top that off no one has really shown shades of All-NBA potential yet. Which was always the criticism of this draft.

There are good players/ finds in every draft and this one was touted of having a lot of potential rotation players.

[Dangun]

Obviously, nobody taking Joker spot at the top.. there’s only Embiid and Wemby in the way atm, but Embiid gonna be fading away with even more injuries so that really just leaves Wemby gatekeeping that 2nd spot.. give Clingan 30 min a game from here on out and develop this dude offense because his passing game is on point. The dude is an absolute monster on defense and only playing part time cause of yuck ayton eww.. smh at Spurs, they could’ve teamed up an unbeatable modern day twin towers

[Iwasawitness]

I hope so because I took a chance on him in fantasy

[Effigy]

Obviously, nobody taking Joker spot at the top.. there’s only Embiid and Wemby in the way atm, but Embiid gonna be fading away with even more injuries so that really just leaves Wemby gatekeeping that 2nd spot.. give Clingan 30 min a game from here on out and develop this dude offense because his passing game is on point. The dude is an absolute monster on defense and only playing part time cause of yuck ayton eww.. smh at Spurs, they could’ve teamed up an unbeatable modern day twin towers

Maybe that was the plan and then Portland ruined it by drafting Clignan one spot ahead of them at 8, and that's when they decided to trade the pick?

[Jadoogar]

we're getting some very strong performances from supposedly "tHe wEakEsT dRafT cLaSS eVeR".

I mean every single player in the top 13 has a negative BPM right now and to top that off no one has really shown shades of All-NBA potential yet. Which was always the criticism of this draft.

There are good players/ finds in every draft and this one was touted of having a lot of potential rotation players.

idk why people are rushing to claim that the experts were wrong. The draft still looks weak, i don't see any potential all-nba yet. Every draft will have rotation players, even 2001 had some valuable rotation pieces. So far, the experts were right, the draft doesn't look good.

Trivia: Only one rookie has had multiple games scoring over 18 points so far.

[BNM]

we're getting some very strong performances from supposedly "tHe wEakEsT dRafT cLaSS eVeR".

I mean every single player in the top 13 has a negative BPM right now and to top that off no one has really shown shades of All-NBA potential yet. Which was always the criticism of this draft.

There are good players/ finds in every draft and this one was touted of having a lot of potential rotation players.

He hasn't shown 1st team All-NBA potential yet, but after last night Clingan has definitely shown 2nd or 3rd team All-NBA potential.

The most obvious comparison is Gobert, who has been 2nd team All-NBA once and 3rd team All-NBA three times.

In addition to out playing Gobert last night (18 points 12 rebounds and 8 blocks vs. 12 points, 10 rebounds and 0 blocks), rookie Clingan is a year younger than rookie Gobert.

Clingan posted 18 points and 8 blocks in his 13th NBA game. It took Gobert 109 NBA games before he recorded 18 points and 257 games until he posted an 8 block game.

Like Gobert, Clingan has a very raw offensive game, but his development is way ahead of where Gobert was at the same age. If Gobert can be 2nd team All-NBA and multiple times 3rd team All-NBA, I see no reason Clingnan can't be at least that, and quite possibly better.

[AFM]

Sarr hasn't shot well, but his potential is glaringly obvious.

Watch on YouTube

He is really coordinated for his size, I think a lot of players probably would have fouled Wemby on that play.

[MrBigShot]

Ngl I feel like we made a huge reach to pick holland, in a pretty weak draft as is. The pistons have mostly done a terrible job using the draft picks we've had the last 10 years.

[TheFire]

This draft seems void of future multiple-year all stars.

[BNM]

This draft seems void of future multiple-year all stars.

The center position has suddenly become very deep, especially in the Western Conference. Last year you had Wemby and Chet as rookies leading the charge, and this year you have Sarr, Clingnan, Edey and Missi .

With Wemby and Chet both in the West, it's going to be hard for guys like Clingan, Edey and Missi to make multiple all star teams.

After years of the trend to smaller, faster centers, the last two drafts have been top heavy with centers over 7' that are well suited to the modern game.

Edey may be a little old school, but his tremendous size and polished offensive game make him a solid drop coverage center in today's NBA. The others, are all well suited defensively to the modern NBA. It will be interesting to see how Sarr, Clingan and Missi develop on the offensive end of the floor.

I don't expect any of them to surpass Wemby, or even Chet, but it's really fun watching this new generation of NBA centers making an impact on the game. It's been a long time since we've seen so many quality young centers coming into the league at the same time.

[FrodoBaggins]

Had to share this great post about Edey. He's getting better every game. Over his last 8 games: 70% TS, 13.0 ppg in 22.4 mpg, 18.5 ORB%, 2.3 STL%, 5.3 BLK%. Needs to clean up his turnover issues and get that non-restricted area 2pt% closer to what it was in college.

I was obviously very high on Edey, my favourite comps predraft were jumbo+ better Zubac or Adams. I still consider that his median outcome.

I see some people say that these types of players can't possibly return top 10 value in a draft, but that just doesn't hold water to me. I know they aren't the 'sexy' pick, but I don't care about 'aesthetics'. Aesthetics will have you drafting guys like "Cody Williams" in the top 10. These 'unsexy' picks can return good value, even when drafted high.

Respective ranks in their draft class:
Plumlee: 4th in VORP, 4th in WS
Adams: 7th in VORP, 3rd in WS
Poetl: 9th in VORP, 4th in WS
Zubac: 11th in VORP, 3rd in WS
Ayton: 6th in VORP, 6th in WS

I think there are a lot of reductive arguments made today about what is 'acceptable' or 'playable' in the 'modern day' NBA, and people will try to cast away anyone who doesn't fit into that argument while overlooking other avenues players can actually make a positive impact.

For players like Edey (and players like Zubac, Poetl, Adams) their offensive value primarily will come from offensive rebounding, space creation and efficient scoring. I think this guy summarises the idea pretty succinctly. And agree that the biggest issue currently for Edey is his turnovers are negating the possession advantage he is creating via rebounds.

Read on Twitter

I suspect these turnovers will calm as he continues to get acclimated to the NBA pace and defenders.
Additionally there is very real potential of a respectable 3pt shot.
Edey in 12 games has made 4 threes, Plumlee, Adams, Poeltl and Zubac in 2575 games have combined to make 6 threes.
His stock rates haven't been too bad, 5th in C's for STL rate, 15th in NBA for BLK rate.

And also, defensively he really hasn't been haemorrhaging points in the way some people want us to believe. People can post as many individual/cherry picked clips as they want but Memphis has been a good team, both offensively and defensively, when he is on the court. Now, they have been a good team when he is not on the court too, so I'm not saying he's single-handedly driving all success, but the idea that he is some James Wiseman level unplayable scrub is just simply not backed up at all. Go look at how every team James Wiseman has ever been on has performed when he's on the court and get back to me.
That 'unplayable' or gimmick concept should be dead with him at this point, but it seems like a few are still going to die on that hill.

I will be very surprised if he isn't able to return a top 10 VORP in this class.

I'm interested to see how the rest of the season plays out, he's improved a lot since the first couple of games were he looked shellshocked and unconfident.

[Dan Z]

Kyle Filipowski with 14 points and 7 rebounds in a win over Dallas. I was surprised that he dropped as far as he did in the draft.

[NO-KG-AI]

we're getting some very strong performances from supposedly "tHe wEakEsT dRafT cLaSS eVeR".

Bro the best rookie right now is like an 11/6 average, I’d pump the breaks on taking a victory lap. Somebody dropping 13/5 and never making an all star game will probably end up ROY

[One_and_Done]

Obviously, nobody taking Joker spot at the top.. there’s only Embiid and Wemby in the way atm, but Embiid gonna be fading away with even more injuries so that really just leaves Wemby gatekeeping that 2nd spot.. give Clingan 30 min a game from here on out and develop this dude offense because his passing game is on point. The dude is an absolute monster on defense and only playing part time cause of yuck ayton eww.. smh at Spurs, they could’ve teamed up an unbeatable modern day twin towers

Maybe they should have drafted 4 Clingans, and started them all next to Wemby. Sorry, basketball doesn't work that way. Clingan would be nothing but a back up for the Spurs, because they need to start Wemby at the 5. On defense Wemby is a 5. Regardless of offense, so drafting Clingan was a non-starter.

[Dacost]

I know Sarr is nor there yet but the potential is there.

Clingang and Edey are both great at C.

[Billl]

we're getting some very strong performances from supposedly "tHe wEakEsT dRafT cLaSS eVeR".

Bro the best rookie right now is like an 11/6 average, I’d pump the breaks on taking a victory lap. Somebody dropping 13/5 and never making an all star game will probably end up ROY

yeah, if anything, all the talk about this being a historically weak draft class has been proven 100% correct so far.

Top 5 picks 11/4 , 10/6, 4/1, 7/3,6/3 All these guys are projects. Maybe someone breaks out, but there is no clear "this guy is a for sure all-star".

[Dangun]

Obviously, nobody taking Joker spot at the top.. there’s only Embiid and Wemby in the way atm, but Embiid gonna be fading away with even more injuries so that really just leaves Wemby gatekeeping that 2nd spot.. give Clingan 30 min a game from here on out and develop this dude offense because his passing game is on point. The dude is an absolute monster on defense and only playing part time cause of yuck ayton eww.. smh at Spurs, they could’ve teamed up an unbeatable modern day twin towers

Maybe that was the plan and then Portland ruined it by drafting Clignan one spot ahead of them at 8, and that's when they decided to trade the pick?

I meant using the pick they used on Castle.. they could’ve got Clingan and kept Dillingham

[Bornstellar]

Castle's numbers as a starter since Sochan went out: 12.4pts/4.0asts/2.4rb/1.2stl in 28mpg (5 games)

[Dangun]

Obviously, nobody taking Joker spot at the top.. there’s only Embiid and Wemby in the way atm, but Embiid gonna be fading away with even more injuries so that really just leaves Wemby gatekeeping that 2nd spot.. give Clingan 30 min a game from here on out and develop this dude offense because his passing game is on point. The dude is an absolute monster on defense and only playing part time cause of yuck ayton eww.. smh at Spurs, they could’ve teamed up an unbeatable modern day twin towers

Maybe they should have drafted 4 Clingans, and started them all next to Wemby. Sorry, basketball doesn't work that way. Clingan would be nothing but a back up for the Spurs, because they need to start Wemby at the 5. On defense Wemby is a 5. Regardless of offense, so drafting Clingan was a non-starter.

Sorry you’re clueless.. Wemby could start at the point and nada would change where he plays defense