2025 Draft Thread

[Badgerlander]

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[Bernman]

Disagree on Fears going 3rd. He was bad in conference play vs better competition. 12ppg on 37% FG and 25% from 3, couldn't score on volume, unable to make shots of any kind, more turnovers than assists. Yeah his teammates aren't good, but flat out neither was he vs better competition. We don't get to just trash the rest of that team when Fears was also out there crapping his pants alongside them. That's not to say he doesn't have potential, just I wouldn't take a 6'2 PG who can't shoot right now, isn't a plus playmaker, and really struggled for a good portion of the season 3rd overall. Think 7th onwards is a better value for him.

The rest of the team sucking puts pressure on a guy to take tougher shots & have low asts. He tried to play more w/in the flow at times yesterday & we saw what happened. Showed off playmaking, some shot-making, under pressure, against a champion.

And everything needs to be put in context of being a re-classified hs senior. They all can't be Cooper Flagg. What Fears did in these contexts is tremendously impressive.

[mattg]

Disagree on Fears going 3rd. He was bad in conference play vs better competition. 12ppg on 37% FG and 25% from 3, couldn't score on volume, unable to make shots of any kind, more turnovers than assists. Yeah his teammates aren't good, but flat out neither was he vs better competition. We don't get to just trash the rest of that team when Fears was also out there crapping his pants alongside them. That's not to say he doesn't have potential, just I wouldn't take a 6'2 PG who can't shoot right now, isn't a plus playmaker, and really struggled for a good portion of the season 3rd overall. Think 7th onwards is a better value for him.

The rest of the team sucking puts pressure on a guy to take tougher shots & have low asts. He tried to play more w/in the flow at times yesterday & we saw what happened. Showed off playmaking, some shot-making, under pressure, against a champion.

And everything needs to be put in context of being a re-classified hs senior. They all can't be Cooper Flagg. What Fears did in these contexts is tremendously impressive.

I mean yeah, I still am saying he's a lotto pick. But at the same time, he's still a 6'2 PG who isn't a great playmaker, can't shoot 3s at all right now, and while he obviously has skills, hasn't been able to put it together on the court with any sort of consistency and was legitimately bad for the bulk of the season. Just can't imagine taking him 3rd in this draft. There's other guys who also play on bad teams who still manage to have much better individual numbers than Fears.

[Bernman]

I mean yeah, I still am saying he's a lotto pick. But at the same time, he's still a 6'2 PG who isn't a great playmaker, can't shoot 3s at all right now, and while he obviously has skills, hasn't been able to put it together on the court with any sort of consistency and was legitimately bad for the bulk of the season. Just can't imagine taking him 3rd in this draft. There's other guys who also play on bad teams who still manage to have much better individual numbers than Fears.

But how much do they make them bad teams? As was pointed out, Rutgers had a losing record. They were nowhere near the tourney, unlike Oklahoma. That's w/ both Harper & Bailey. I even had Harper over Fears in spite of that. But it's got to be a referendum on Bailey, who is projected 3rd, where I have Fears. He can't playmake worth a damn and was a bb terrorist w/out Harper. W/ him they still couldn't win much.

And both these guys were playing in their normal class. They didn't have to adjust up one all of a sudden to have more growing pains. One should project more improvement for Fears as a result. Look at Donovan Mitchell's freshman year. Less efficient, productive, in spite of being significantly older. Westbrook was similarly young and had a lost year before not clearly having a better year than Fears this one. Fears' trajectory is impressive.

I think you're also mischaracterizing his height.

After measuring at 6’1 barefoot in the summer of 2023 at the Nike Elite 100 camp, Fears is currently listed at 6’4 at Oklahoma and looks every bit of it.

https://www.sbnation.com/nba/2024/12/19/24324986/jeremiah-fears-scouting-report-nba-draft-breakdown-oklahoma-sooners

You're typically still growing at these ages. Doesn't look small to me.

[M-C-G]

This BYU Demin guy is like Russian Middleton.

[Frank Nova]

This BYU Demin guy is like Russian Middleton.

He’s really smooth, I like his game a lot. I know he’s being projected in the mid lotto and he should be but I’d really like to see him come back next year and play with Dybansta. BYU could be so good with those 2 next year.

[Bernman]

McNeeley's benefiting from high school hype. He needs to return to school & demonstrate he's added a physical component, while shooting much better. There's a lot of projecting going on here, off limited tools atm. I definitely wouldn't draft him in the 1st rd.

[German Athens]

Just starting to get into draft prep, and I really like Egor. I know he’s getting Giddey comps - nice vision and passing with a questionable shot, but I think his shot looks substantially more fluid and I think he looks better defending in space.

Some of the threes egor has made have actually been pretty ridiculous. He’s had a couple logo shots, and some off the dribble step backs. It looks decent.

Giddey, even though he lacks a physically imposing build, is a more physical driver, and it’s hard to have his vision and passing. That’s his elite trait.

Give me dudes with positional size, vision, and ball handling (He doesn’t have a super advanced handle, but I also don’t think his movements are limited due to a poor handle). That’s a lot to work with.

[ShootingtheJ]

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I'd love to see Giannis play with a good passing big. Heck, with Mids gone, I'm just hoping he gets to play with a great passer once more in his career.

[tski1972]

Do we know what pick the Bucks got in the Middleton trade? Seems no sites have it listed.

[German Athens]

Do we know what pick the Bucks got in the Middleton trade? Seems no sites have it listed.

I think it’s the second best of GSW, Detroit, or Phx’s 2nd rounder - so, mid-late 40’s.


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[emunney]

Do we know what pick the Bucks got in the Middleton trade? Seems no sites have it listed.

Most sites still have the Wizards with 3 2nds. Ours is the middle one.

[Ron Swanson]

Malik Dia really showed out last night. 6'9 forward that can do a little bit of everything. Fluid feet, can shoot, can put the ball on the floor. Doesn't turn 22 until next year. I haven't seen his name mentioned in any mocks but I think he's worth a mid-late 2nd round flier.

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[emunney]

For real though, is there a world in which we get Tugler? I just want to root for that guy. Get him on my team. Preposterous defender.

[Ron Swanson]

Yeah, I don't care if he can't shoot. Just give me 10-15 minutes a night of this dude wreaking havoc on opposing wings. Rodman-esque tenacity and vertical quickness.

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[emunney]

Yeah, I don't care if he can't shoot. Just give me 10-15 minutes a night of this dude wreaking havoc on opposing wings. Rodman-esque tenacity and vertical quickness.

Watch on YouTube

Opposing anybody, really. Dude is an absolute menace. I also think he's got a little hidden skill level. He doesn't look stupid putting the ball on the floor, and he makes good decisions. Lots of good throw-aheads in transition. 6-7 with a 7-6 wingspan... man is a living misprint.

[German Athens]

I like Bennett Stirtz as a second round option.

He has that typical question about his ability to impact the game when the athleticism jumps considerably, but he has really nice feel, and I buy his shooting touch.

He could be a nice backup pg.


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[ShootingtheJ]

Yeah, I don't care if he can't shoot. Just give me 10-15 minutes a night of this dude wreaking havoc on opposing wings. Rodman-esque tenacity and vertical quickness.

Watch on YouTube

Opposing anybody, really. Dude is an absolute menace. I also think he's got a little hidden skill level. He doesn't look stupid putting the ball on the floor, and he makes good decisions. Lots of good throw-aheads in transition. 6-7 with a 7-6 wingspan... man is a living misprint.

Yeah, draft him with our 2nd that looks like it will be around 53rd. Sign him to a 2 year 2 way, and send him to the G League to develop his offense.

[Badgerlander]

https://theswishtheory.com/2024-nba-draft/2023/10/jojo-tugler-the-case-for-pre-drafting-the-modern-pf/

The majority of Tugler’s time in EYBL was spent playing center, where Houston Hoops tasked him with playing a variety of coverages to account for inconsistent player availability. Tugler was not only able to play these coverages competently, but often excelled, and was frequently able to end possessions as evidenced by his 1.6 steals and 4.1 blocks per-40 minutes (over the course of 27 games) as tracked by Cerebro.

Key to Tugler’s projection as a scheme diverse big, one who is capable of detonating possessions as a help-side defender, is his ability to cover ground in a way that warps the geometry of the court. Tugler does a great job of balancing his responsibilities of covering his man while remaining cognizant of the conflicts the offense is placing his teammates in. Tugler is a player who is not only able to cover the ground necessary to compensate for breakdowns in the defense, but one who also possesses high-level pattern recognition, and can address these breakdowns before they cause a complete collapse in the defensive structure. These skills, in tandem, constitute the profile of a player who can potentially be a load-bearing structure of a defense.

[jakecronus8]

https://theswishtheory.com/2024-nba-draft/2023/10/jojo-tugler-the-case-for-pre-drafting-the-modern-pf/

The majority of Tugler’s time in EYBL was spent playing center, where Houston Hoops tasked him with playing a variety of coverages to account for inconsistent player availability. Tugler was not only able to play these coverages competently, but often excelled, and was frequently able to end possessions as evidenced by his 1.6 steals and 4.1 blocks per-40 minutes (over the course of 27 games) as tracked by Cerebro.

Key to Tugler’s projection as a scheme diverse big, one who is capable of detonating possessions as a help-side defender, is his ability to cover ground in a way that warps the geometry of the court. Tugler does a great job of balancing his responsibilities of covering his man while remaining cognizant of the conflicts the offense is placing his teammates in. Tugler is a player who is not only able to cover the ground necessary to compensate for breakdowns in the defense, but one who also possesses high-level pattern recognition, and can address these breakdowns before they cause a complete collapse in the defensive structure. These skills, in tandem, constitute the profile of a player who can potentially be a load-bearing structure of a defense.

I'm intrigued. Any chance he could develop into a non d*ckhead version of Draymond?