2025 Draft Thread

[nate33]

Thoughts on Walter Clayton Jr?

The guy was incredible in the semi-final. Nobody could stay in front of him. In 5 Tournament games so far, he is averaging 25 a game on a .727 TS% while living at the FT line (8.4 FTA's per game). He is a senior so that has obviously tanked his draft stock. Tankathon has him going 41st, which is right near where we pick in the 2nd round with the Phoenix pick.

[Dat2U]

Khaman Malauch is like if the Brendan Haywood template existed in 2k with all the sliders maxed.

Much better mobility, hands, touch ... shooting potential.

Defensive rebounding is weak. Offensive rebounding is near elite.

He and Sarr are not a great or natural fit, at least initially. One of the biggest is both are weak at defensive rebounding, Sarr's development as it entices him to become even more perimeter oriented and the lack of spacing and versatility offensively.

The pluses are that both Sarr & Malauch are high IQ players so they could make it work. Sarr is switchable and Malauch appears to be as well. Sarr is better suited to guarding smaller, quicker players, rather than legit bigs at the moment anyways.

Sarr is proving to be a viable 3 pt threat and Malauch has shooting potential. Maybe the Evan Mobley + Jarrett Allen model can work here with Malauch even having more offensive versatility than Allen who is a great finisher in his own right.

[Dat2U]

Thoughts on Walter Clayton Jr?

The guy was incredible in the semi-final. Nobody could stay in front of him. In 5 Tournament games so far, he is averaging 25 a game on a .727 TS% while living at the FT line (8.4 FTA's per game). He is a senior so that has obviously tanked his draft stock. Tankathon has him going 41st, which is right near where we pick in the 2nd round with the Phoenix pick.

I've been so low on the PGs outside of Jeremiah Fears, Clayton may be #2 on my list.

Jakucionis, Demin, Traore, Saraf all just don't pass the basic skillset needed for a lead ballhandler at this stage. I like Boogie Fland but he's a smaller Bub Carrington IMO. Labaron Philon feels like a Kris Dunn type. I don't know enough about Sergio De Larrea to have a strong opinion just yet.

[nate33]

Thought experiment:

Let's assume we land a top 4 pick and draft our #1 option scorer, whether it's Flagg, Harper, Bailey, or Edgecomb.

If Maluach was still on the board after our pick, would you trade Sarr for his draft rights? Would the team picking 5/6/7 and considering Maluach trade his rights for Sarr?

In short, what's more valuable? A potential unicorn stretch 5 like Sarr, but a guy who may not really have the strength and physicality to handle center full time; or a Gobert-like rim protector like Maluach who is a pretty good bet to be a difference-making defender with a well-defined role in today's NBA, but may not be much more than a roll man on offense?

[Wizardspride]

Thought experiment:

Let's assume we land a top 4 pick and draft our #1 option scorer, whether it's Flagg, Harper, Bailey, or Edgecomb.

If Maluach was still on the board after our pick, would you trade Sarr for his draft rights? Would the team picking 5/6/7 and considering Maluach trade his rights for Sarr?

In short, what's more valuable? A potential unicorn stretch 5 like Sarr, but a guy who may not really have the strength and physicality to handle center full time; or a Gobert-like rim protector like Maluach who is a pretty good bet to be a difference-making defender with a well-defined role in today's NBA, but may not be much more than a roll man on offense?

No, I wouldn't.

I just value Sarr more than you do.


Now if there was a way to have both of them....

[J-Ves]

Thought experiment:

Let's assume we land a top 4 pick and draft our #1 option scorer, whether it's Flagg, Harper, Bailey, or Edgecomb.

If Maluach was still on the board after our pick, would you trade Sarr for his draft rights? Would the team picking 5/6/7 and considering Maluach trade his rights for Sarr?

In short, what's more valuable? A potential unicorn stretch 5 like Sarr, but a guy who may not really have the strength and physicality to handle center full time; or a Gobert-like rim protector like Maluach who is a pretty good bet to be a difference-making defender with a well-defined role in today's NBA, but may not be much more than a roll man on offense?

I’d gamble on Sarr developing into a guy who can play the 5 reliably over swapping him out for a more traditional center prospect

[dckingsfan]

I don't know enough about Sergio De Larrea to have a strong opinion just yet.

In watching him, I would say he won't be a PG at the next level, rather a SG. He is really good at the hockey pass and a solid passer overall. But I don't think he will be able to break folks down at the next level as easily (I guess that is a duh for most players at the college or international level).

As a secondary ball handler, I think he will be really good. And I think his 3-point shooting is going to get even better. Running around screens without the ball and then finishing, taking the 3-point shot or moving the ball will be his net positive on offense. But he is going to need to be coached on that - it isn't what he does today.

On defense, he is long and can challenge 3-point shots. I think he will be better (maybe considerably better than Kispert (for example)). But he is never going to be a lockdown defender, the floor is a bad defender like Kispert.

Would he be a good pick at 25, for sure (IMO). In the second round it would be an absolute steal (again, IMO).

Ceiling: Starting SG.
Floor: Can't stay on the floor due to his D.

Added note: I think he is a legit 6'6 with a pretty decent wingspan.

[pcbothwel]

Thoughts on Walter Clayton Jr?

The guy was incredible in the semi-final. Nobody could stay in front of him. In 5 Tournament games so far, he is averaging 25 a game on a .727 TS% while living at the FT line (8.4 FTA's per game). He is a senior so that has obviously tanked his draft stock. Tankathon has him going 41st, which is right near where we pick in the 2nd round with the Phoenix pick.

Love Clayton. I was hoping we could pick him up with our second round pick, but his performances as of late will probably put him out of our range. To me, he easily profiles as a Poole caliber player, but he has a higher ceiling due to his play strength and athleticism.
I’m thinking Ben Gordon on the upside.

[Dat2U]

Rankings by position so far:

PGs
1. Jeremiah Fears
2. Walter Clayton Jr
3. Boogie Fland
4. Labaron Philon
5. Nolan Traore
6. Sergio de Larrea
7. Kam Jones
8. Tyrese Proctor
9. Mark Sears
10. Kadary Richmond

SGs
1. Dylan Harper
2. V.J. Edgecombe
3. Tre Johnson
Tie Jase Richardson
5. Kasparas Jakucionis
6. Nique Clifford
7. Egor Demin
8. Miles Byrd
9. Ben Saraf
10. Ian Jackson

SFs
1. Ace Bailey
2. Kon Knueppel
3. Noa Essengue
Tie Will Riley
5. Liam McNeeley
6. Noah Penda
7. Hugo Gonzalez
8. Alex Karaban
9. Sion James
10. Alex Toohey

PFs
1. Cooper Flagg
2. Collin Murray-Boyles
3. J.T. Toppin
4. Rasheer Fleming
5. Bogoljub Markovic
6. Asa Newell
Tie Carter Bryant
8. Adou Thierro
9. Jojo Tugler
10. Eric Dixon

Cs
1. Thomas Sorber
Tie Derik Queen
3. Khaman Malauch
4. Danny Wolf
5. Johni Broome
6. Alex Condon
7. Ryan Kalkbrenner
8. Maxime Raynaud
9. Hansen Yang
10. Joan Beringer

[Dat2U]

Thought experiment:

Let's assume we land a top 4 pick and draft our #1 option scorer, whether it's Flagg, Harper, Bailey, or Edgecomb.

If Maluach was still on the board after our pick, would you trade Sarr for his draft rights? Would the team picking 5/6/7 and considering Maluach trade his rights for Sarr?

In short, what's more valuable? A potential unicorn stretch 5 like Sarr, but a guy who may not really have the strength and physicality to handle center full time; or a Gobert-like rim protector like Maluach who is a pretty good bet to be a difference-making defender with a well-defined role in today's NBA, but may not be much more than a roll man on offense?

No. Flagg & Dylan are 1 & 2 but Sarr would be a strong candidate to go #3 in this draft.

[Dat2U]

I don't think this is a deep draft unless you like drafting in the 40-50s where there is a very of fringe NBA prospects and future G-league talent.

I count about 24 guys I would consider 1st round picks and even that feels like a stretch.

Maybe about 12 guys I would be comfortable with drafting in the lottery:

PGs
1. Jeremiah Fears

SGs
1. Dylan Harper
2. V.J. Edgecombe
3. Tre Johnson
Tie Jase Richardson

SFs
1. Ace Bailey
2. Kon Knueppel

PFs
1. Cooper Flagg
2. Collin Murray-Boyles

Cs
1. Thomas Sorber
Tie Derik Queen
3. Khaman Malauch

[closg00]

Thoughts on Walter Clayton Jr?

The guy was incredible in the semi-final. Nobody could stay in front of him. In 5 Tournament games so far, he is averaging 25 a game on a .727 TS% while living at the FT line (8.4 FTA's per game). He is a senior so that has obviously tanked his draft stock. Tankathon has him going 41st, which is right near where we pick in the 2nd round with the Phoenix pick.

Love Clayton. I was hoping we could pick him up with our second round pick, but his performances as of late will probably put him out of our range. To me, he easily profiles as a Poole caliber player, but he has a higher ceiling due to his play strength and athleticism.
I’m thinking Ben Gordon on the upside.

22 years old, but definitely has played is way up from the 2nd round, into the 1st.

[closg00]

Maluach may be taken off the board, I imagine that an exception will be made…but maybe not with this administration, Trump wants these darkies outta here.

Read on Twitter

[Benjammin]

That was not the Maluach I was looking for last night. One game doesn't determine a player but it was a big miss on his part.

Sent from my Pixel 9 Pro XL using Tapatalk

[payitforward]

I don't think this is a deep draft unless you like drafting in the 40-50s where there is a very of fringe NBA prospects and future G-league talent.

I count about 24 guys I would consider 1st round picks and even that feels like a stretch.

Maybe about 12 guys I would be comfortable with drafting in the lottery:

PGs
1. Jeremiah Fears

SGs
1. Dylan Harper
2. V.J. Edgecombe
3. Tre Johnson
Tie Jase Richardson

SFs
1. Ace Bailey
2. Kon Knueppel

PFs
1. Cooper Flagg
2. Collin Murray-Boyles

Cs
1. Thomas Sorber
Tie Derik Queen
3. Khaman Malauch

Well, with a little luck that means that we'll get a couple of guys whom you rate as R1 material, given that the Memphis pick should be @20-21. On top of which, we have 2 picks in the 40s where you see some NBA talent in pretty much every draft.

[AFM]

I wonder how far we could move up with our late 1st and all of our 2nds.

[GatherStepGuru]

With the draft lottery coming up, we have a good shot at Cooper Flagg. But theres a chance we fall to 2 or 3.
Personally, I wouldnt mind Dylan Harper, but then we have a glut with Smart, AJ Johnson, Kispert, JPoole, and Bub.

Just wanted to see thoughts on reasonable Plan B's if we miss on Coop. Do we trade the pick? Take the best player available?
Make any other moves?

[TheBlackCzar]

With the draft lottery coming up, we have a good shot at Cooper Flagg. But theres a chance we fall to 2 or 3.
Personally, I wouldnt mind Dylan Harper, but then we have a glut with Smart, AJ Johnson, Kispert, JPoole, and Bub.

Just wanted to see thoughts on reasonable Plan B's if we miss on Coop. Do we trade the pick? Take the best player available?
Make any other moves?

Take Harper and keep it moving....

[closg00]

It's all in the draft thread

[dckingsfan]

I wonder how far we could move up with our late 1st and all of our 2nds.

I think we only have one second left? Or do we have two (43 & 44)? Color me confused.