2025 NBA Draft Prospect Part 2

[TNRaps4life]

https://youtu.be/DypG3ZA0Wos?si=n19Y96WynicgP33X

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[Reeko]

Updated Mock Draft:

1. Flagg
2. Harper
3. Bailey
4. Maluach
5. Edgecombe
6. Kasp
7. Johnson
8. Traore
9. Fears
10. Newell

Holy fk. What a loaded draft.

How do you justify Traore at 8? I don't think he's had a single good performance so far this year.

[deck]

Maybe we don't care, but the other consideration in a Harper vs JK conversation is Harper Sr. comments around not wanting his son to play in Utah. There may be similar reservations about playing in Canada.

Drafted players have much less leverage these days in this regard, but still something to consider.

[TNRaps4life]

Great draft take on Ace Bailey

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?s=19

[TNRaps4life]

Updated Mock Draft:

1. Flagg
2. Harper
3. Bailey
4. Maluach
5. Edgecombe
6. Kasp
7. Johnson
8. Traore
9. Fears
10. Newell

Holy fk. What a loaded draft.

Maluach is a lock for top 5

[Reeko]

Maybe we don't care, but the other consideration in a Harper vs JK conversation is Harper Sr. comments around not wanting his son to play in Utah. There may be similar reservations about playing in Canada.

Drafted players have much less leverage these days in this regard, but still something to consider.

Well why doesn't he want his son to play in Utah? Does he feel animosity towards the city and/or the franchise, after having played in two Finals against them in '97 and '98? Or is it that he feels his son won't get enough media exposure in Utah? Does he not like the direction the team is headed in with the talent that's already there? Either way, I'm not worried. His oldest son signed here as a UFA, and the organization is known to have one of the best front offices and player development programs in the league. As for exposure, I equate being a star in Toronto to being just below being a star on the Lakers or Knicks. You look at the history of stars that have moved on from the Raptors and for the most part they were never more popular than when they played for the Raps. O.G. is pretty much the only exception to this and that's because he went to the Knicks.

[deck]

Maybe we don't care, but the other consideration in a Harper vs JK conversation is Harper Sr. comments around not wanting his son to play in Utah. There may be similar reservations about playing in Canada.

Drafted players have much less leverage these days in this regard, but still something to consider.

Well why doesn't he want his son to play in Utah? Does he feel animosity towards the city and/or the franchise, after having played in two Finals against them in '97 and '98? Or is it that he feels his son won't get enough media exposure in Utah? Does he not like the direction the team is headed in with the talent that's already there? Either way, I'm not worried. His oldest son signed here as a UFA, and the organization is known to have one of the best front offices and player development programs in the league. As for exposure, I equate being a star in Toronto to being just below being a star on the Lakers or Knicks. You look at the history of stars that have moved on from the Raptors and for the most part they were never more popular than when they played for the Raps. O.G. is pretty much the only exception to this and that's because he went to the Knicks.

Ya, fair. It might be an outdated perspective at this point. And with the way the rookie scale extensions work now, it's much harder for a first rounder to force their way out.

[Jerry Lucas]

Maybe we don't care, but the other consideration in a Harper vs JK conversation is Harper Sr. comments around not wanting his son to play in Utah. There may be similar reservations about playing in Canada.

Drafted players have much less leverage these days in this regard, but still something to consider.

It's actually the opposite lol. The Raptors organization has a great relationship with the Harper family because of Wayne Embry.

[manjusaka]

Maybe we don't care, but the other consideration in a Harper vs JK conversation is Harper Sr. comments around not wanting his son to play in Utah. There may be similar reservations about playing in Canada.

Drafted players have much less leverage these days in this regard, but still something to consider.

It's actually the opposite lol. The Raptors organization has a great relationship with the Harper family because of Wayne Embry.

We had drafted Dylan’s older brother. That time Harper Sr. didn’t say anything. So it is a non issue.

[Reeko]

Maybe we don't care, buRt the other consideration in a Harper vs JK conversation is Harper Sr. comments around not wanting his son to play in Utah. There may be similar reservations about playing in Canada.

Drafted players have much less leverage these days in this regard, but still something to consider.

It's actually the opposite lol. The Raptors organization has a great relationship with the Harper family because of Wayne Embry.

We had drafted Dylan’s older brother. That time Harper Sr. didn’t say anything. So it is a non issue.

Ron Harper Jr was undrafted.

[niQ]

Absolute monster.
This dude has DPOY level potential. The positioning, his lateral quickness, mobility, footwork, ability to defend the perimeter, etc.

Watch on YouTube

Potential future Center rotation of Maluach and Chomche.

Hmm.. Both really raw but if one of them hits..

[UnbelievablyRAW]

Drafting Malauch kinda ensures another tanking season. I think some rookies can come in and contribute right away, but he's definitely a long term prospect.

A long term project in the top 8 is bad decision making, I’m sorry. Pretty much taking a guy who currently isn’t great at anything and hoping you can make him a great basketball player. Would absolutely be a flop of a pick barring some miraculous development story

I agree with that, but I also think it depends on the layout of the draft. E.g. in last year’s sucky draft, I wouldn’t mind take on a project in the top 8

At the same time, if a project’s floor is ok, then there’s nothing wrong with drafting them in the top 8. E.g. Suggs offensively was a bit of a project

In terms of Maluach, I would like to see if he can provide 1) mobile defense, 2) rebound/box out, 3) finish near the rim at the NBA level. If he can fit a Lively role while working on on his offense, he could be worth drafting, barring any red flags, like being unable to process the game quickly.

The difference is those guys had some high level skill coming into the league as a basis point. For Khaman it’s almost all just measurements and potential. Hasn’t actually shown much in reality

Getting Lively at 10 when you have Luka and Kyrie sounds fine. Getting Lively at 5-6 when you have our roster won’t be ideal. Even with Jakob we’re worse than mediocre. A rookie centre won’t have any impact for years

[UnbelievablyRAW]

Any buzz surrounding this guy?

Watch on YouTube

He can shoot it, pass it, block shots and take guys off the dribble. I'm impressed with his IQ.

Like honestly this guy will go bottom half of the first round and I think he would be a great C pickup. Getting Khaman with a top 5 pick with some of the names on the board would be doomsday scenario for me

[LoveMyRaps]

Absolute monster.
This dude has DPOY level potential. The positioning, his lateral quickness, mobility, footwork, ability to defend the perimeter, etc.

Watch on YouTube

Potential future Center rotation of Maluach and Chomche.

Hmm.. Both really raw but if one of them hits..

[NotMyKawhi]

Updated Mock Draft:

1. Flagg
2. Harper
3. Bailey
4. Maluach
5. Edgecombe
6. Kasp
7. Johnson
8. Traore
9. Fears
10. Newell

Holy fk. What a loaded draft.

How do you justify Traore at 8? I don't think he's had a single good performance so far this year.

These guys play kids. Traore outplayed Jak twice, beat him twice.

Harder playing against men compared to kids

[LoveMyRaps]

Updated Mock Draft:

1. Flagg
2. Harper
3. Bailey
4. Maluach
5. Edgecombe
6. Kasp
7. Johnson
8. Traore
9. Fears
10. Newell

Holy fk. What a loaded draft.

How do you justify Traore at 8? I don't think he's had a single good performance so far this year.

These guys play kids. Traore outplayed Jak twice, beat him twice.

Harder playing against men compared to kids

Exactly.
He outplayed Jak just a few months ago. Let's not forget that and he was dominating the international scene.
I'm gonna cut him some slack for playing in a grown man league, rather than against kids.
Although it's because of this dumb decision that he's fallen out of the top 5.
If he was playing in college right now, he'd be ahead of guys like Tre and Kasp for sure.

Read on Twitter

[LoveMyRaps]

Is that a Chomche x Maluach front court....

[Jstock12]

How do you justify Traore at 8? I don't think he's had a single good performance so far this year.

These guys play kids. Traore outplayed Jak twice, beat him twice.

Harder playing against men compared to kids

Exactly.
He outplayed Jak just a few months ago. Let's not forget that and he was dominating the international scene.
I'm gonna cut him some slack for playing in a grown man league, rather than against kids.
Although it's because of this dumb decision that he's fallen out of the top 5.
If he was playing in college right now, he'd be ahead of guys like Tre and Kasp for sure.

Read on Twitter

Both Jakucionis and Traore dropped big numbers on each other, both of those times. Once Traore's team upset Jak's, the other time Traore had a vastly superior supporting cast (France was the favorite to win the whole tournament, but failed) and Jakucionis still made it a very close game.

Jakucionis
34.0 ppg, 7.0 apg (3.0 TO), 5.5 rpg
Traore
37.0 ppg, 10.0 ast (5.5 TO), 4 rpg

You made it sound like Traore wiped the floor with Jak... I know you're making a case for Traore, but please stay objective. There's an argument to be made for Traore (I'm a believer in him as well) even without embellishing the facts. I'll repeat my previous sentiment - staying in Europe was the worst decision that Traore could have made for his draft stock, and I bet he would have gotten like 4-5 times more money with a college NIL deal as well. I'll include Ben Saraf too - I think he would have been a beast in college.

[Dalek]

I am really intrigued by Noa Essengue the more I watch him. He is playing on a pretty good team in Europe (Ulm is 2nd in German Bundesliga) and is playing men at age 18.

At 6'9 he has room to grow and has good form on his jumper (albeit results aren't there) but he is pretty great at finishing at the rim.

59 TS%
2.0 STL%
2.8 BLK%
21 3P%
69 FT%

He is a very long defender and he has confidence shooting and he is a good playmaker at his size. Numbers don't jump off the page but his film does. In many ways I see him as a guy comparable to Zachery Risacher last year. He is even younger, but has better advanced metrics. I really feel Noa ends up a high lotto guy because he is so toolsy, young and could fit into any system because he reads the game pretty well.

Watch on YouTube

;t=17s

Curiously, if Risacher was in this draft where would he rank?

[ATLTimekeeper]

Harper has better finishing ability and he's a true 3 lvl scorer. JK is going to face serious issues against length and rim protectors. He drives and kicks like Fred because he can't finish well in college. He goes to a standstill and gets crowded. He can grow but right now he's a DDV and his ceiling won't be especially high. I would project him as a bench piece.

Harper has 2 way potential due to his physical traits. He has a huge wingspan which matters for closing out, deflections, finishing, and other aspects of basketball.

Dude, even as a junior DDV wasn't as good in a limited role relative to 18 year old Jak Either you didn't watch him play, or you just grabbed a white guy on the bench to make your point.

I'm talking about DDV right now. He isn't an elite finisher, generally good finishers have massive wingspans that provide an advantage. JK generally stops on 2 feet, gets crowded, and throws up a crappy shot or bail out pass that resets the offense. It won't work in the big leagues.

Okay, but DDV has never had to run an offense. He's an off ball guard that can score in transition. Why even bring him up?