2025 NBA Draft Prospect Part 2

[Psubs]

That team is already going to be capped out, with the FGAs spoken for for the next decade. I don't see the Ingram thing as viable.

I think RJ would have to be outgoing for it to be even close to viable IMO, from both a future salary commitment and FGA perspective. But it would be pretty interesting if the acquisition cost is also ridiculously cheap.

RJ could be outgoing, or we could try to convince him and Quick to come off the bench. It’s A LOT of money off the bench, but it ensures you mop the floor with teams second units.

Have Scottie, BI, the pick this year, Jak and either Gradey or Kobe run the starting lineup, and let IQ, RJ and Gradey/Kobe come off the bench with the 26 Indy pick moving forward. Drool worthy.

If at some point you make one more move for a disgruntled superstar you’re laughing.

PG IQ - Shead - Jakobe
SG Barrett - Dick/Jakobe
SF Barnes - Dick - Battle
PF Zion - 1st pick - Mogbo
C Poeltl - 2nd pick/Chomche

[Mr Fitzhume]

I think RJ would have to be outgoing for it to be even close to viable IMO, from both a future salary commitment and FGA perspective. But it would be pretty interesting if the acquisition cost is also ridiculously cheap.

RJ could be outgoing, or we could try to convince him and Quick to come off the bench. It’s A LOT of money off the bench, but it ensures you mop the floor with teams second units.

Have Scottie, BI, the pick this year, Jak and either Gradey or Kobe run the starting lineup, and let IQ, RJ and Gradey/Kobe come off the bench with the 26 Indy pick moving forward. Drool worthy.

If at some point you make one more move for a disgruntled superstar you’re laughing.

PG IQ - Shead - Jakobe
SG Barrett - Dick/Jakobe
SF Barnes - Dick - Battle
PF Zion - 1st pick
C Poeltl - 2nc pick/Chomche

That’s a great ‘90s bully ball team without any serious 3pt shooting in 2025.

[Psubs]

RJ could be outgoing, or we could try to convince him and Quick to come off the bench. It’s A LOT of money off the bench, but it ensures you mop the floor with teams second units.

Have Scottie, BI, the pick this year, Jak and either Gradey or Kobe run the starting lineup, and let IQ, RJ and Gradey/Kobe come off the bench with the 26 Indy pick moving forward. Drool worthy.

If at some point you make one more move for a disgruntled superstar you’re laughing.

PG IQ - Shead - Jakobe
SG Barrett - Dick/Jakobe
SF Barnes - Dick - Battle
PF Zion - 1st pick - Mogbo
C Poeltl - 2nd pick/Chomche

That’s a great ‘90s bully ball team without any serious 3pt shooting in 2025.

That's why I want Condon or Zvonimir with the Portland 2nd.

Bigs are starting to evolve and make a comeback and you need to stop Wemby and Flagg.

Instead of trying to chase OKC and their smallball, be the bullyball team. The bench has Shead, Dick and Battle to shoot 3's.

[Ell Curry]

I think RJ would have to be outgoing for it to be even close to viable IMO, from both a future salary commitment and FGA perspective. But it would be pretty interesting if the acquisition cost is also ridiculously cheap.

RJ could be outgoing, or we could try to convince him and Quick to come off the bench. It’s A LOT of money off the bench, but it ensures you mop the floor with teams second units.

Have Scottie, BI, the pick this year, Jak and either Gradey or Kobe run the starting lineup, and let IQ, RJ and Gradey/Kobe come off the bench with the 26 Indy pick moving forward. Drool worthy.

If at some point you make one more move for a disgruntled superstar you’re laughing.

The problem is that as of now the Raptors only have about $37M in tax space heading into next season according to Spotrac. If Ingram is looking for around $40M per season on his next deal, plus you gotta factor in that our FRP this year will be on a top 6-ish rookie scale, some 2025-26 money would have to move out.

Between RJ, Kelly and Davion they would have to move out some 2025-26 salary from this group of players to make room under the tax for Ingram and our 2025 FRP (and I'm not sure just Kelly+Davion would be enough).

Olynyk would basically have to be in the deal to save us money. Like Brown + Olynyk + a couple of 2nd rounders for Ingram let's say. If it's Boucher in the deal, Olynyk still has to be dealt for an expiring (PJ Tucker, whoever). Either way, he can't be here post-deadline.

Then you can probably offer Ingram 38M a year or so and we sneak under the tax. I'm assuming we pick like 7th.

Also might as well move Mitchell for a 2nd and expiring in this scenario, we can't afford to keep him. Same for Boucher.

I think the real issue is just the lack of defense and physicality on the wing in this scenario. Also I don't really see it helping RJ's trade value, or his game here.

The one thing I'll say in this deal's favor is I've long thought trading for an injured guy while tanking makes sense.

[UnbelievablyRAW]

RJ could be outgoing, or we could try to convince him and Quick to come off the bench. It’s A LOT of money off the bench, but it ensures you mop the floor with teams second units.

Have Scottie, BI, the pick this year, Jak and either Gradey or Kobe run the starting lineup, and let IQ, RJ and Gradey/Kobe come off the bench with the 26 Indy pick moving forward. Drool worthy.

If at some point you make one more move for a disgruntled superstar you’re laughing.

The problem is that as of now the Raptors only have about $37M in tax space heading into next season according to Spotrac. If Ingram is looking for around $40M per season on his next deal, plus you gotta factor in that our FRP this year will be on a top 6-ish rookie scale, some 2025-26 money would have to move out.

Between RJ, Kelly and Davion they would have to move out some 2025-26 salary from this group of players to make room under the tax for Ingram and our 2025 FRP (and I'm not sure just Kelly+Davion would be enough).

Olynyk would basically have to be in the deal to save us money. Like Brown + Olynyk + a couple of 2nd rounders for Ingram let's say. If it's Boucher in the deal, Olynyk still has to be dealt for an expiring (PJ Tucker, whoever). Either way, he can't be here post-deadline.

Then you can probably offer Ingram 38M a year or so and we sneak under the tax. I'm assuming we pick like 7th.

Also might as well move Mitchell for a 2nd and expiring in this scenario, we can't afford to keep him. Same for Boucher.

I think the real issue is just the lack of defense and physicality on the wing in this scenario. Also I don't really see it helping RJ's trade value, or his game here.

The one thing I'll say in this deal's favor is I've long thought trading for an injured guy while tanking makes sense.

I’d rather go the other way and trade for injured Herb Jones and save money moving off RJ. Most of the top 7 sans Malauch are all sgs with 2 PGs there and Cooper. If we’re drafting another guard we would need to make a decision on Walter/Dick/RJ anyway. Let alone Shead and IQ as the only actual PGs from that crop of guards.

If we’re getting a high lottery guard prospect, I’m not burying them on the bench behind 2 other lottery picks and RJ. I made a mock proposal in the trade thread where we trade RJ and Bruce to end up with our own 2025 SRP, Was 2025 SRP from Detroit (who land Ingram) as well as Herb Jones (with expiring salary).

The draft capital can be used to move up into the late first round or get future picks. Can even use some of the saved cap space and extra picks + Walter or Gradey to get a star.

Regardless, we save a lot swapping RJ for Herb contract wise and also get our POA wing defender we need to pair with Scottie at the 4. We take a step back downgrading on RJ but I think it would line us up nicely for 2026 by also improving our tanking for this season


IQ/Shead
2025 FRP/Walter
Herb/Dick
Scottie/Mogbo
Poeltl/Kelly/Chomche

Fill out the rest of the rotation with 3 seconds at the top of the second round (or trade up and get another first this year). Either way I think this is a really promising roster that is also pretty cheap.

If we’re also moving Boucher and Kelly for seconds we have even more picks to play around with and package for another star

[BoyzNTheHood]

Is RJ a long term piece? If you can’t go right teams will lock you down when it matters.

[DreamTeam09]

Is RJ a long term piece? If you can’t go right teams will lock you down when it matters.

Has that ever stopped any right hand dominated player?

[Ell Curry]

I’d rather go the other way and trade for injured Herb Jones and save money moving off RJ. Most of the top 7 sans Malauch are all sgs with 2 PGs there and Cooper. If we’re drafting another guard we would need to make a decision on Walter/Dick/RJ anyway. Let alone Shead and IQ as the only actual PGs from that crop of guards.

If we’re getting a high lottery guard prospect, I’m not burying them on the bench behind 2 other lottery picks and RJ. I made a mock proposal in the trade thread where we trade RJ and Bruce to end up with our own 2025 SRP, Was 2025 SRP from Detroit (who land Ingram) as well as Herb Jones (with expiring salary).

The draft capital can be used to move up into the late first round or get future picks. Can even use some of the saved cap space and extra picks + Walter or Gradey to get a star.

Regardless, we save a lot swapping RJ for Herb contract wise and also get our POA wing defender we need to pair with Scottie at the 4. We take a step back downgrading on RJ but I think it would line us up nicely for 2026 by also improving our tanking for this season


IQ/Shead
2025 FRP/Walter
Herb/Dick
Scottie/Mogbo
Poeltl/Kelly/Chomche

Fill out the rest of the rotation with 3 seconds at the top of the second round (or trade up and get another first this year). Either way I think this is a really promising roster that is also pretty cheap.

If we’re also moving Boucher and Kelly for seconds we have even more picks to play around with and package for another star

I think the Pels would put a much higher price on Herb Jones (great contract, fantastic defender) than Ingram, so you've probably gotta add in a first (say the worst of the 2 2026 1sts) with RJ, but yeah he makes sense when you plug in a good O, bad D guard from this draft.

Poeltl 28 - MLE 20
Barnes 34 - Herb 14
Herb 16 - Agbaji 24 - Dick 8
ROOKIE - 18 - Dick 16 - Walter 14
Quickley 30 - Rookie 6 - Shead 12

if you plug in a combo guard like Jakucionis for example.

A center and one good defender out there at all times (Barnes/Herb) and then say 2 of the guards (presumably the 2025 pick and Quickley) need to develop into the offensive players we're hoping they do, and one of Dick/Walter/Shead into a quality bench guy and you've basically got your top 8 settled.

[UnbelievablyRAW]

I’d rather go the other way and trade for injured Herb Jones and save money moving off RJ. Most of the top 7 sans Malauch are all sgs with 2 PGs there and Cooper. If we’re drafting another guard we would need to make a decision on Walter/Dick/RJ anyway. Let alone Shead and IQ as the only actual PGs from that crop of guards.

If we’re getting a high lottery guard prospect, I’m not burying them on the bench behind 2 other lottery picks and RJ. I made a mock proposal in the trade thread where we trade RJ and Bruce to end up with our own 2025 SRP, Was 2025 SRP from Detroit (who land Ingram) as well as Herb Jones (with expiring salary).

The draft capital can be used to move up into the late first round or get future picks. Can even use some of the saved cap space and extra picks + Walter or Gradey to get a star.

Regardless, we save a lot swapping RJ for Herb contract wise and also get our POA wing defender we need to pair with Scottie at the 4. We take a step back downgrading on RJ but I think it would line us up nicely for 2026 by also improving our tanking for this season


IQ/Shead
2025 FRP/Walter
Herb/Dick
Scottie/Mogbo
Poeltl/Kelly/Chomche

Fill out the rest of the rotation with 3 seconds at the top of the second round (or trade up and get another first this year). Either way I think this is a really promising roster that is also pretty cheap.

If we’re also moving Boucher and Kelly for seconds we have even more picks to play around with and package for another star

I think the Pels would put a much higher price on Herb Jones (great contract, fantastic defender) than Ingram, so you've probably gotta add in a first (say the worst of the 2 2026 1sts) with RJ, but yeah he makes sense when you plug in a good O, bad D guard from this draft.

Poeltl 28 - MLE 20
Barnes 34 - Herb 14
Herb 16 - Agbaji 24 - Dick 8
ROOKIE - 18 - Dick 16 - Walter 14
Quickley 30 - Rookie 6 - Shead 12

if you plug in a combo guard like Jakucionis for example.

A center and one good defender out there at all times (Barnes/Herb) and then say 2 of the guards (presumably the 2025 pick and Quickley) need to develop into the offensive players we're hoping they do, and one of Dick/Walter/Shead into a quality bench guy and you've basically got your top 8 settled.

I’d be okay giving the worst of the 2026 FRPs to the Pels in this scenario. We’d have 4 picks this year in that trade (can use 2 seconds to get a first most likely) and that’s not accounting for any Kelly or Boucher trades that net is more seconds.

This is probably the last time we should expect the draft this high. Scottie will be on his 39 million dollar deal and IQ on year 2 of his 32.5 million dollar deal. We need to set the team up to be cohesive with winning talent.

I also suspect in the next year there will be teams that have to choose between giving a young player a rookie max or trading one of their expensive vets and that’s where we can swoop in.


For instance Indiana might have to choose between Mathurin and Turner. Mathurin probably feels he could be a featured player on a team and Indiana is already going to be paying Hali and Siakam 40+. If we can offer them Dick/Walter + depth pieces and some picks they may bite. Then we can extend Mathurin at a number he’d like and we’d able to afford it having only Scottie and IQ on contracts over 30 million.

Or move Poeltl and salary filler for Turner and pay him with the extra cap space we have from moving RJ

[aminiaturebuddha]

Is this the draft prospect thread or the trade proposal thread?

[Psubs]

Is this the draft prospect thread or the trade proposal thread?

Things will ramp up after the trade deadline when we know what picks have been acquired.

[PhilBlackson]

Lowkey dream scenario for me…trade either BB + whichever vet (or maybe even RJ) for Ingram. Trade Ochai to GSW for their first or to MIN for DET’s draft Rasheer Fleming with that pick and Maluach with our own. We’d suddenly have the size, height, shooting, defence to make noise in the not too distant future.

IQ/Mitchell/Shead
JaKobe/Gradey
Ingram/Fleming
Barnes/Fleming/Mogbo
Poeltl/Maluach/Chomche

Could experiment with a huge lineup except PG like IQ/Ingram/Barnes/Fleming/Maluach. I’m obviously snowballing a fantasy scenario lol but just all the size and potential Ingram, Fleming and Maluach would suddenly round out the roster where there would be no real weak points in the rotation with pretty damn good upside imo.

[BoyzNTheHood]

Is RJ a long term piece? If you can’t go right teams will lock you down when it matters.

Has that ever stopped any right hand dominated player?

Absolutely. Not sure what game you’re watching.

[ATLTimekeeper]

Is RJ a long term piece? If you can’t go right teams will lock you down when it matters.

Has that ever stopped any right hand dominated player?

Absolutely. Not sure what game you’re watching.

RJ can drive both ways, but he will switch back to the left to finish. It actually makes him a little harder to guard, which is why he gets a lot of FGA at the rim for a player his size. You're thinking of more of a line drive type driver.

Anyway, I wasn't arguing he is a long term piece. Is Ingram? That's another question. If you have 3 guys (Scottie, Ingram, IQ) that can't get to the rim with the ball in your hands, that means a lot of long 2s, and a lot of passing that will get scouted out in the playoffs.

Since this is the draft thread and I'm incorporating some team-building ideas here, let's assume RJ for Ingram is some kind of deal. That means we've locked in a core, and so guys like Tre and Ace would be redundant.

[BoyzNTheHood]

Has that ever stopped any right hand dominated player?

Absolutely. Not sure what game you’re watching.

RJ can drive both ways, but he will switch back to the left to finish. It actually makes him a little harder to guard, which is why he gets a lot of FGA at the rim for a player his size. You're thinking of more of a line drive type driver.

Anyway, I wasn't arguing he is a long term piece. Is Ingram? That's another question. If you have 3 guys (Scottie, Ingram, IQ) that can't get to the rim with the ball in your hands, that means a lot of long 2s, and a lot of passing that will get scouted out in the playoffs.

Since this is the draft thread and I'm incorporating some team-building ideas here, let's assume RJ for Ingram is some kind of deal. That means we've locked in a core, and so guys like Tre and Ace would be redundant.

Always going back to the same hand isn’t harder to guard, it’s predictable. Good defenders will feast on that and force him to use his right hand.

If BI is part of the core that’s fine with me, although I highly doubt Masai goes that route. We’re just brainstorming in case he does. We immediately become a tax team if it’s for a Bruce Brown package. I think RJ for BI makes us better, but is it so much better that we already go into the tax? I doubt it.

[ATLTimekeeper]

Absolutely. Not sure what game you’re watching.

RJ can drive both ways, but he will switch back to the left to finish. It actually makes him a little harder to guard, which is why he gets a lot of FGA at the rim for a player his size. You're thinking of more of a line drive type driver.

Anyway, I wasn't arguing he is a long term piece. Is Ingram? That's another question. If you have 3 guys (Scottie, Ingram, IQ) that can't get to the rim with the ball in your hands, that means a lot of long 2s, and a lot of passing that will get scouted out in the playoffs.

Since this is the draft thread and I'm incorporating some team-building ideas here, let's assume RJ for Ingram is some kind of deal. That means we've locked in a core, and so guys like Tre and Ace would be redundant.

Always going back to the same hand isn’t harder to guard, it’s predictable. Good defenders will feast on that and force him to use his right hand.

If BI is part of the core that’s fine with me, although I highly doubt Masai goes that route. We’re just brainstorming in case he does. We immediately become a tax team if it’s for a Bruce Brown package. I think RJ for BI makes us better, but is it so much better that we already go into the tax? I doubt it.

Once you're into the finishing move it's a lot harder to sit on. Especially if you have a lot of scoring craft like RJ has. The goal is to get by the first line of defense to manipulate the second. Once you do that, bodies are in reaction mode and more likely to foul or misread the angle. Also, RJ can pass when he's totally choked off.

The Raptors won't go into the tax, so that's not an issue. The issue is they will have committed to an existing core while tanking for, ideally, a core piece. It's a dumb way to use a tank season. You don't know what you're going to get in the draft. It's like getting married before going to college.

[BoyzNTheHood]

RJ can drive both ways, but he will switch back to the left to finish. It actually makes him a little harder to guard, which is why he gets a lot of FGA at the rim for a player his size. You're thinking of more of a line drive type driver.

Anyway, I wasn't arguing he is a long term piece. Is Ingram? That's another question. If you have 3 guys (Scottie, Ingram, IQ) that can't get to the rim with the ball in your hands, that means a lot of long 2s, and a lot of passing that will get scouted out in the playoffs.

Since this is the draft thread and I'm incorporating some team-building ideas here, let's assume RJ for Ingram is some kind of deal. That means we've locked in a core, and so guys like Tre and Ace would be redundant.

Always going back to the same hand isn’t harder to guard, it’s predictable. Good defenders will feast on that and force him to use his right hand.

If BI is part of the core that’s fine with me, although I highly doubt Masai goes that route. We’re just brainstorming in case he does. We immediately become a tax team if it’s for a Bruce Brown package. I think RJ for BI makes us better, but is it so much better that we already go into the tax? I doubt it.

Once you're into the finishing move it's a lot harder to sit on. Especially if you have a lot of scoring craft like RJ has. The goal is to get by the first line of defense to manipulate the second. Once you do that, bodies are in reaction mode and more likely to foul or misread the angle. Also, RJ can pass when he's totally choked off.

The Raptors won't go into the tax, so that's not an issue. The issue is they will have committed to an existing core while tanking for, ideally, a core piece. It's a dumb way to use a tank season. You don't know what you're going to get in the draft. It's like getting married before going to college.

I guess you could argue that trades always open up the possibility that you have never really committed to a core. It’s not like BI is Wemby or some generational piece. His value is at an all time low, so now is the time to get him. Then upgrade his value and maybe someone bites. It’s kind of like RJ. If you told me a couple of years ago that RJ could be used to get Brandon Ingram I’d call you crazy.

[ATLTimekeeper]

Always going back to the same hand isn’t harder to guard, it’s predictable. Good defenders will feast on that and force him to use his right hand.

If BI is part of the core that’s fine with me, although I highly doubt Masai goes that route. We’re just brainstorming in case he does. We immediately become a tax team if it’s for a Bruce Brown package. I think RJ for BI makes us better, but is it so much better that we already go into the tax? I doubt it.

Once you're into the finishing move it's a lot harder to sit on. Especially if you have a lot of scoring craft like RJ has. The goal is to get by the first line of defense to manipulate the second. Once you do that, bodies are in reaction mode and more likely to foul or misread the angle. Also, RJ can pass when he's totally choked off.

The Raptors won't go into the tax, so that's not an issue. The issue is they will have committed to an existing core while tanking for, ideally, a core piece. It's a dumb way to use a tank season. You don't know what you're going to get in the draft. It's like getting married before going to college.

I guess you could argue that trades always open up the possibility that you have never really committed to a core. It’s not like BI is Wemby or some generational piece. His value is at an all time low, so now is the time to get him. Then upgrade his value and maybe someone bites. It’s kind of like RJ. If you told me a couple of years ago that RJ could be used to get Brandon Ingram I’d call you crazy.

We traded Pascal for Bruce Brown and picks. Brandon Ingram isn't some massive upgrade over Pascal.

If Scottie, BI and IQ are the core, I think it could work but it would kind of pigeon hole how we think of this upcoming draft selections.

[RoteSchroder]

Always going back to the same hand isn’t harder to guard, it’s predictable. Good defenders will feast on that and force him to use his right hand.

If BI is part of the core that’s fine with me, although I highly doubt Masai goes that route. We’re just brainstorming in case he does. We immediately become a tax team if it’s for a Bruce Brown package. I think RJ for BI makes us better, but is it so much better that we already go into the tax? I doubt it.

Once you're into the finishing move it's a lot harder to sit on. Especially if you have a lot of scoring craft like RJ has. The goal is to get by the first line of defense to manipulate the second. Once you do that, bodies are in reaction mode and more likely to foul or misread the angle. Also, RJ can pass when he's totally choked off.

The Raptors won't go into the tax, so that's not an issue. The issue is they will have committed to an existing core while tanking for, ideally, a core piece. It's a dumb way to use a tank season. You don't know what you're going to get in the draft. It's like getting married before going to college.

I guess you could argue that trades always open up the possibility that you have never really committed to a core. It’s not like BI is Wemby or some generational piece. His value is at an all time low, so now is the time to get him. Then upgrade his value and maybe someone bites. It’s kind of like RJ. If you told me a couple of years ago that RJ could be used to get Brandon Ingram I’d call you crazy.

Knick fans claimed that RJ was more reliable than Randle during the 2023 playoffs

Ingram’s efficiency has also been up and down, especially from 3 and RJ’s been showing he can reach the same efficiency in a smaller role this past year. Ingram’s also been injury prone his entire career, plays bad defense and is older. I wouldn’t put his value above RJ.

[BoyzNTheHood]

Once you're into the finishing move it's a lot harder to sit on. Especially if you have a lot of scoring craft like RJ has. The goal is to get by the first line of defense to manipulate the second. Once you do that, bodies are in reaction mode and more likely to foul or misread the angle. Also, RJ can pass when he's totally choked off.

The Raptors won't go into the tax, so that's not an issue. The issue is they will have committed to an existing core while tanking for, ideally, a core piece. It's a dumb way to use a tank season. You don't know what you're going to get in the draft. It's like getting married before going to college.

I guess you could argue that trades always open up the possibility that you have never really committed to a core. It’s not like BI is Wemby or some generational piece. His value is at an all time low, so now is the time to get him. Then upgrade his value and maybe someone bites. It’s kind of like RJ. If you told me a couple of years ago that RJ could be used to get Brandon Ingram I’d call you crazy.

Knick fans claimed that RJ was more reliable than Randle during the 2023 playoffs

Ingram’s efficiency has also been up and down, especially from 3 and RJ’s been showing he can reach the same efficiency in a smaller role this past year. Ingram’s also been injury prone his entire career, plays bad defense and is older. I wouldn’t put his value above RJ.

Neither would I at this point. If we’re getting BI I’m hoping it’s for Brucey B