2025 NBA Draft Discussion Part 4

[WuTang_OG]

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Ujiri the Raps top official out at a random Real Madrid game. Who cares about the actual scouting? I think as a high level as Ujiri is, he is probably out there to meet up with Hugo Gonzalez, watch him practice and see who he is as a person. Real Madrid also has several former Raptors/905 (Serge Ibaka, Bruno Fernando, Walter Tavares) which can help in learning about the player.

Gonzalez was rated as high as fifth in prospect ranking by ESPN last year and he is well-known in Europe coming up through Real Madrid's system since age 9. He plays very limited minutes at RM so there isn't a lot to scout, mostly in an off ball role which is not ideal, but from previous years is a monster defender, excellent slasher, and has a developing jumper.

27.2% on 3s in three years combined in the Real Madrid system and for the Spanish youth national team
77.6% free throws

Reminder, his u18 Real Madrid team won the Euroleague Basketball Next Generation Tournament twice in a row and he was MVP last year. He a winner and a two-way player who plays in a high level European system. To me this draft lacks obvious NBA level athletes, and Gonzalez is a legit NBA level one at 6'6" with some star upside.

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Size: 6'7", weight unlisted

Age: 19

Nationality: Spain

Pro Comparison: Jonathan Kuminga

Back to playing under 10 minutes a game for Real Madrid, Hugo Gonzalez will likely have to wait until workouts to sell NBA teams.

He's had some promising sequences this year that highlight NBA wing size, athleticism around the basket, defensive energy and capable shotmaking. We haven't seen any of the development he previously started to show with his creation and shotmaking diversity.

He could easily be selected early by a team that is willing to put more stock into the U18 and FIBA tape. But it's also difficult to picture teams showing serious confidence in a prospect who spent the year averaging 3.3 points in 10.0 minutes a game.

[Indeed]

Honestly Maluach will not go out of the top 6 so we’re not even going to have the chance to to draft him anyway unless we win the third pick overall

I don’t know, I think he’ll be available up to 8. His numbers just don’t pop and skill wise not much star potential to look at. For tanking teams they want a marketable offensive star. Brooklyn and Philly and Utah will pass. Charlotte might just stick with Williams. New Orleans maybe but they need a guard. Washington will be drafting very high and need a big star, Mal just isn’t it imo. Probably if we didn’t do the Ingram trade I’d rather we go with someone else also, but now he fits really well.

Who knows when he’ll be drafted?!

I don’t see him falling past us and he certainly could be taken before especially if we very likely finish 8th. There could be a chance a team or two behind us jumps into the top 4 then we’re at 9-10.

But when teams start bringing Maluach to work out you can bet his shooting touch and some footwork etc he works on (ie/ that highlight of him doing a step back 3 in warmups)…it’s not hard to imagine teams starting to think/droll at the possibilities of his upside. Not saying it will happen with certainty but it’s definitely a real possibility.

It would be down to team needs.
Blazers may draft Maluach
Brooklyn doesn't need more C.
Philadelphia may draft Maluach and perhaps leaning more towards Queen or Tre Johnson instead.
New Orleans may draft Maluach, but may prefer scoring at guards
Charlotte may have better needs at other positions than Maluach
Utah may draft Maluach, but unlikely to drop below top 5
Washington may have better needs at other positions with Sarr already at center

Not seeing much need from other teams.

[WuTang_OG]

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Ujiri the Raps top official out at a random Real Madrid game. Who cares about the actual scouting? I think as a high level as Ujiri is, he is probably out there to meet up with Hugo Gonzalez, watch him practice and see who he is as a person. Real Madrid also has several former Raptors/905 (Serge Ibaka, Bruno Fernando, Walter Tavares) which can help in learning about the player.

Gonzalez was rated as high as fifth in prospect ranking by ESPN last year and he is well-known in Europe coming up through Real Madrid's system since age 9. He plays very limited minutes at RM so there isn't a lot to scout, mostly in an off ball role which is not ideal, but from previous years is a monster defender, excellent slasher, and has a developing jumper.

27.2% on 3s in three years combined in the Real Madrid system and for the Spanish youth national team
77.6% free throws

Reminder, his u18 Real Madrid team won the Euroleague Basketball Next Generation Tournament twice in a row and he was MVP last year. He a winner and a two-way player who plays in a high level European system. To me this draft lacks obvious NBA level athletes, and Gonzalez is a legit NBA level one at 6'6" with some star upside.

Read on Twitter

Size: 6'7", weight unlisted

Age: 19

Nationality: Spain

Pro Comparison: Jonathan Kuminga

Back to playing under 10 minutes a game for Real Madrid, Hugo Gonzalez will likely have to wait until workouts to sell NBA teams.

He's had some promising sequences this year that highlight NBA wing size, athleticism around the basket, defensive energy and capable shotmaking. We haven't seen any of the development he previously started to show with his creation and shotmaking diversity.

He could easily be selected early by a team that is willing to put more stock into the U18 and FIBA tape. But it's also difficult to picture teams showing serious confidence in a prospect who spent the year averaging 3.3 points in 10.0 minutes a game.

Maybe SG sized Kuminga with less hops? DND for me even with the Portland 2nd. Not even sure he'll be better than Lawson, better off drafting someone like Grunloh.

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de Larrea is a natural PG with comparable height and dunking ability.

[God Squad]

Drafting Hugo with our selection would be a fireable offense.

[Psubs]

I don’t know, I think he’ll be available up to 8. His numbers just don’t pop and skill wise not much star potential to look at. For tanking teams they want a marketable offensive star. Brooklyn and Philly and Utah will pass. Charlotte might just stick with Williams. New Orleans maybe but they need a guard. Washington will be drafting very high and need a big star, Mal just isn’t it imo. Probably if we didn’t do the Ingram trade I’d rather we go with someone else also, but now he fits really well.

Who knows when he’ll be drafted?!

I don’t see him falling past us and he certainly could be taken before especially if we very likely finish 8th. There could be a chance a team or two behind us jumps into the top 4 then we’re at 9-10.

But when teams start bringing Maluach to work out you can bet his shooting touch and some footwork etc he works on (ie/ that highlight of him doing a step back 3 in warmups)…it’s not hard to imagine teams starting to think/droll at the possibilities of his upside. Not saying it will happen with certainty but it’s definitely a real possibility.

It would be down to team needs.
Blazers may draft Maluach
Brooklyn doesn't need more C.
Philadelphia may draft Maluach and perhaps leaning more towards Queen or Tre Johnson instead.
New Orleans may draft Maluach, but may prefer scoring at guards
Charlotte may have better needs at other positions than Maluach
Utah may draft Maluach, but unlikely to drop below top 5
Washington may have better needs at other positions with Sarr already at center

Not seeing much need from other teams.

Portland has Clingan and trying to trade Ayton. I can see them taking Queen or Newell.
Philly maybe to replace Embiid eventually. That or PF.
New Orleans going to trade Missi? They need a PG badly.
Charlotte BPA.
Utah has Kessler, BPA.
Washington BPA.

I want most of the Florida Gators on my bench. Clayton, Condon and Haugh.

[TeamDisgruntled]

Maluach highest ceiling, lowest floor.

Newell perfect fit, does a bit of everything, appears to be high level defender. Not sure if he has star potential offensively as he hasn’t shown much in the way of dribbling ability. His shooting form looks excellent despite not shooting that well from 3.

Queen. Most polished, scoring looks smooth, shoots a great ft%. Appears to be able to move his feet well despite the lack of ups. The lack of burst/athleticism could prevent his game/defence from translating at the next level, Luka and Jokic prove you can make it work with elite feel and footwork, does Queen posses that? High bar to achieve.

I haven’t really looked into the 1/2/3’s so I won’t comment. This is it for us though, this pick has to click as I just can’t see us being this bad again for a while.

[REJECTEDBYCLARK]

baylor scheierman now officially tied 7th in vorp returns

p36 **** has been crazy early on over 263 mins

1.5 ORB/5.7 TRB
3.3 AST 0.7 TOV
1.4 STL 0.3 BLK

.791 3PAr

Was the rare old dude with a bag and quality multidimensional production

Dude is coming for Isaiah Joe, needs to settle in and get those %s up to what he's capable of

[Indeed]

Who knows when he’ll be drafted?!

I don’t see him falling past us and he certainly could be taken before especially if we very likely finish 8th. There could be a chance a team or two behind us jumps into the top 4 then we’re at 9-10.

But when teams start bringing Maluach to work out you can bet his shooting touch and some footwork etc he works on (ie/ that highlight of him doing a step back 3 in warmups)…it’s not hard to imagine teams starting to think/droll at the possibilities of his upside. Not saying it will happen with certainty but it’s definitely a real possibility.

It would be down to team needs.
Blazers may draft Maluach
Brooklyn doesn't need more C.
Philadelphia may draft Maluach and perhaps leaning more towards Queen or Tre Johnson instead.
New Orleans may draft Maluach, but may prefer scoring at guards
Charlotte may have better needs at other positions than Maluach
Utah may draft Maluach, but unlikely to drop below top 5
Washington may have better needs at other positions with Sarr already at center

Not seeing much need from other teams.

Portland has Clingan and trying to trade Ayton. I can see them taking Queen or Newell.
Philly maybe to replace Embiid eventually. That or PF.
New Orleans going to trade Missi? They need a PG badly.
Charlotte BPA.
Utah has Kessler, BPA.
Washington BPA.

I want most of the Florida Gators on my bench. Clayton, Condon and Haugh.

I forgot Clingan and Missi was drafted. I think there is lack of need to draft Maluach.

Even for Philly, I don't see Maluach can be the replacement of Embiid, who is being the offensive hub for Philly. I think they lean towards Queen, as they are not too worry on the defensive end with Embiid (or worry it afterward, and draft some big SF next year, since it is forward heavy draft)

[mademan]

If we get a pick in the 20's, i wouldnt mind Hugo. I prefer Yaxel or Flemming and especially Bryant if hes still there as we do have needs for a defensive forward, but i like Hugo's shiftiness. I think he'd be a good fit beside Scottie

[Psubs]

I don’t know, I think he’ll be available up to 8. His numbers just don’t pop and skill wise not much star potential to look at. For tanking teams they want a marketable offensive star. Brooklyn and Philly and Utah will pass. Charlotte might just stick with Williams. New Orleans maybe but they need a guard. Washington will be drafting very high and need a big star, Mal just isn’t it imo. Probably if we didn’t do the Ingram trade I’d rather we go with someone else also, but now he fits really well.

Who knows when he’ll be drafted?!

I don’t see him falling past us and he certainly could be taken before especially if we very likely finish 8th. There could be a chance a team or two behind us jumps into the top 4 then we’re at 9-10.

But when teams start bringing Maluach to work out you can bet his shooting touch and some footwork etc he works on (ie/ that highlight of him doing a step back 3 in warmups)…it’s not hard to imagine teams starting to think/droll at the possibilities of his upside. Not saying it will happen with certainty but it’s definitely a real possibility.

It would be down to team needs.
Blazers may draft Maluach
Brooklyn doesn't need more C.
Philadelphia may draft Maluach and perhaps leaning more towards Queen or Tre Johnson instead.
New Orleans may draft Maluach, but may prefer scoring at guards
Charlotte may have better needs at other positions than Maluach
Utah may draft Maluach, but unlikely to drop below top 5
Washington may have better needs at other positions with Sarr already at center

Not seeing much need from other teams.

Portland has Clingan and trying to trade Ayton. I can see them taking Queen or Newell.
Philly maybe to replace Embiid eventually. That or PF.
New Orleans going to trade Missi? They need a PG badly.
Charlotte BPA.
Utah has Kessler, BPA.
Washington BPA.

I want most of the Florida Gators on my bench. Clayton, Condon and Haugh.

[Psubs]

It would be down to team needs.
Blazers may draft Maluach
Brooklyn doesn't need more C.
Philadelphia may draft Maluach and perhaps leaning more towards Queen or Tre Johnson instead.
New Orleans may draft Maluach, but may prefer scoring at guards
Charlotte may have better needs at other positions than Maluach
Utah may draft Maluach, but unlikely to drop below top 5
Washington may have better needs at other positions with Sarr already at center

Not seeing much need from other teams.

Portland has Clingan and trying to trade Ayton. I can see them taking Queen or Newell.
Philly maybe to replace Embiid eventually. That or PF.
New Orleans going to trade Missi? They need a PG badly.
Charlotte BPA.
Utah has Kessler, BPA.
Washington BPA.

I want most of the Florida Gators on my bench. Clayton, Condon and Haugh.

I forgot Clingan and Missi was drafted. I think there is lack of need to draft Maluach.

Even for Philly, I don't see Maluach can be the replacement of Embiid, who is being the offensive hub for Philly. I think they lean towards Queen, as they are not too worry on the defensive end with Embiid (or worry it afterward, and draft some big SF next year, since it is forward heavy draft)

Philly could use a PF/C but by the time Maluach is ready Embiid should be near retirement or traded.
Philly may not be so bad next year and not that many 1st round C's. Could only be Cenac, Thiam and Zvonimir.

[REJECTEDBYCLARK]

Queen and McCain could feed families in a bit. Just get them 1 more guy with some on-ball juice and two plug and play defenders.

[Los_29]

I think it will take awhile for the Sixers to turn it around. Maxey isn’t that guy, Embiid and George are nearing the end of their careers and I don’t see any franchise altering players in this draft. They are in a lot of trouble.

[God Squad]

I'm a little down that I haven't locked into anyone at 7-8. I probably like Tre, Fears, and Maluach the most. I like Noa Essengue also, but it seems like a massive reach.

[REJECTEDBYCLARK]

I think it will take awhile for the Sixers to turn it around. Maxey isn’t that guy, Embiid and George are nearing the end of their careers and I don’t see any franchise altering players in this draft. They are in a lot of trouble.

They need to get away from Embiid and Maxey and nail their pick to pair with McCain. Embiid at this point is an unreliable injury prone perennial loser but I'm sure there are some teams that would empty coffers to gamble on him. If they make the right moves w/ Embiid and Maxey they can still be competitive pretty quickly. I just think Maxey-McCain backcourt doesn't work too well and McCain showed insane promise earlier in year. Created a ton OTD and got to the rim at 31.8% rate despite rim touch not being there. He'll figure out the touch with time IMO the ability to get to hole was super impressive.

I was thinking if they land Queen they could conceivably try assembling one of the best transition teams in the NBA given how good Queen is at grab and go + outlet passing and how elite of a transition shooter McCain is. I was thinking like try to dangle Embiid for Dyson Daniels or some elite swipe artist that would send their transition scoring through the roof so that teams would purposely send their guys back to set up HC D instead of going after ORBs. Given how many ORBs are generated by teams exploiting the 3pt shot with solid defensive rebounding and 3pt defense (two other areas such a team should be built around) it would make for quite the experiment.

But this is just all a theoretical exercise in teambuilding. Fun to envision.

[REJECTEDBYCLARK]

Tahaad Pettiford has really been doing an excellent job getting to the rim lately and it's changing my mind about what he could achieve in NBA. I'm gonna really have to weigh him against WCJ taking measurements and predraft stuff into account at end of year. Given the age difference and Pettiford recently flashing a bag to get downhill more reliably I could see myself favoring him now.

It's possible that for the most part Pettiford has just been asked to cook dudes and chuck 3 balls off bench for Bruce Pearl but that he actually has what it takes to get to the hole reliably, especially as he gets older.

[REJECTEDBYCLARK]

https://youtube.com/shorts/ZWFTGbPAP2w?si=QslzfyrhM5cQWnzL

Maybe he's gonna ace athletic testing and measure better than expected

[Dalek]

Drafting Hugo with our selection would be a fireable offense.

I think it would be a brave pick to make mainly because we haven't seen him much with Real Madrid. He is generously playing 10 mins a game and mostly in an off-ball role. I do think if we went to college he might have had a more productive year. He is a guy to watch at the Eurocamp that happens closer to draft time.

I do think it is interesting that many people project VJ Edgecombe top 5 and he looks smaller and has similar limitations offensively to HG.

If Hugo measures well and shows shot improvement, he could climb into lottery again.

[dballislife]

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watching queen highlights, he is impressive, but then in my mind im thinking ok imagine he has shooting over maluach on those moves...in college theres not a alot of maluach length to shoot over but in the nba theres plenty of big long centers to deal with nowadays...if masai and scouts believe he can do this at the next level he should definitely be a target