2025 Draft prospects - thread 2

[WindyCityBorn]

If anything Maluach will be a riser. Teams will see him hitting 3s and mid range jumpers in work outs and fall in love.

For sure. Happened with Mo Bamba who was a better athlete than Maluach. And Bamba does shoot 3s at 36% for his career and as high as 39% in his better seasons, so it wasn't a mirage he does hit 3s accurately in the NBA.

Bamba also produced more in college. 13 & 11, 3.7 bpg.
Maluach is 8 & 6 with 1.3 bpg.

Similar length, Bamba: 9' 6" standing reach Maluach: 9' 8" standing reach.

Bamba had way more potential upside. Just didn’t pan out.

[Chi town]

Surprise: Carter Bryant at #6

https://nbadraft.theringer.com/

Beringer and Penda both end of first round.

[Chi town]

I believe our top needs are defensive C, strong defensive wing, shooter microwave scorer.

If we stay at 10-11 im hoping Fears or Tre drop and we get them.

If we move to 15 I’m…
Beringer
Noa
Riley
CMB

In that order.

[Jcool0]

Agreed. No place for lead foot bigs on great defensive team in today’s NBA. Queen is even worse potential defensively.

Hes 7'2" what kind of athlete are you expecting? free throw line dunks?

I expect him to be able to move well enough that teams don’t treat him like Vuc on the perimeter. I don’t think here can. He’s a relic of the past. Maybe I’m wrong and he’ll be Gorbert, but I seriously doubt it.

Read on Twitter

[DuckIII]

Then they will learn that they think he's an African uber-athlete like Hakeem, Joel, and Dikembe, but in fact he's a poor man's Shawn Bradley. Oh, what am saying? Sean averaged 7.2 blocks and 0.9 steals per 40 as a college frosh. Maluach was at 2.5 and 0.4. He's not rich enough to be a poor man's Bradley.

Hes gong to be a top 10 pick. No one says you have to like it. Also no one is looking at his current stats and going future league MVP. They look at his physical profile & he will be 20 during his 2nd NBA season and picture what he will be in 4 years. He is an upside play, no one is claiming otherwise.

Has there been an update on his visa status? Will he be allowed to play here?

Come on man. No way in hell the Trump administration sends someone like him back abroad. Those who project wealth and status will always be allowed to stay and he would make for a high visibility story. That’s just how America is and has been for a long time.

[DuckIII]

Then they will learn that they think he's an African uber-athlete like Hakeem, Joel, and Dikembe, but in fact he's a poor man's Shawn Bradley. Oh, what am saying? Sean averaged 7.2 blocks and 0.9 steals per 40 as a college frosh. Maluach was at 2.5 and 0.4. He's not rich enough to be a poor man's Bradley.

Hes gong to be a top 10 pick. No one says you have to like it. Also no one is looking at his current stats and going future league MVP. They look at his physical profile & he will be 20 during his 2nd NBA season and picture what he will be in 4 years. He is an upside play, no one is claiming otherwise.

He will be switchd and isolated to death just like our current center. He is not a plus athlete. Just tall.

This isn’t accurate. Watch the Alabama game. There are legitimate reasons to prefer others over Maluach or to question his upside, but this is not one of them.

In addition to his massive size, his ability to be mobile enough defensively to guard the perimeter cover significant ground to recover at that size is really his only clear strength currently on display. He’s remarkably good at it.

[nomorezorro]

Hes gong to be a top 10 pick. No one says you have to like it. Also no one is looking at his current stats and going future league MVP. They look at his physical profile & he will be 20 during his 2nd NBA season and picture what he will be in 4 years. He is an upside play, no one is claiming otherwise.

Has there been an update on his visa status? Will he be allowed to play here?

Come on man. No way in hell the Trump administration sends someone like him back abroad. Those who project wealth and status will always be allowed to stay and he would make for a high visibility story. That’s just how America is and has been for a long time.

yeah the last thing this administration would do is invite the possibility of a high visibility negative story

[Jcool0]

Hes gong to be a top 10 pick. No one says you have to like it. Also no one is looking at his current stats and going future league MVP. They look at his physical profile & he will be 20 during his 2nd NBA season and picture what he will be in 4 years. He is an upside play, no one is claiming otherwise.

He will be switchd and isolated to death just like our current center. He is not a plus athlete. Just tall.

This isn’t accurate. Watch the Alabama game. There are legitimate reasons to prefer others over Maluach or to question his upside, but this is not one of them.

In addition to his massive size, his ability to be mobile enough defensively to guard the perimeter cover significant ground to recover at that size is really his only clear strength currently on display. He’s remarkably good at it.

Its a pretty legit thing to be like "i dont see him reaching his upside". He started playing basketball 5 years ago, if he never becomes a 20/10 guy it wont be all that shocking. But to knock him as just an unskilled not athletic big is just kind of a weird hill for them to die on.

[Jcool0]

Has there been an update on his visa status? Will he be allowed to play here?

Come on man. No way in hell the Trump administration sends someone like him back abroad. Those who project wealth and status will always be allowed to stay and he would make for a high visibility story. That’s just how America is and has been for a long time.

yeah the last thing this administration would do is invite the possibility of a high visibility negative story

[sco]

Has there been an update on his visa status? Will he be allowed to play here?

Come on man. No way in hell the Trump administration sends someone like him back abroad. Those who project wealth and status will always be allowed to stay and he would make for a high visibility story. That’s just how America is and has been for a long time.

yeah the last thing this administration would do is invite the possibility of a high visibility negative story

Right...LOL, but seriously, putting aside the right and wrong of the current situation, if there was ongoing uncertainty at the draft and you're a GM, are you taking that risk on a top 10 pick?

[Jcool0]

Come on man. No way in hell the Trump administration sends someone like him back abroad. Those who project wealth and status will always be allowed to stay and he would make for a high visibility story. That’s just how America is and has been for a long time.

yeah the last thing this administration would do is invite the possibility of a high visibility negative story

Right...LOL, but seriously, putting aside the right and wrong of the current situation, if there was ongoing uncertainty at the draft and you're a GM, are you taking that risk on a top 10 pick?

This will all be worked out before the draft. Last thing Trump wants is to give Stephen A his signature issue. Might have to send scouts to do private workouts though.

[MGB8]

The issue with Maluach may be similar to the issue with Wiseman… how much does he love the game? There are red flags with Maluach given his relatively small (at many times) impact as compared to his talent level.

[Jcool0]

The issue with Maluach may be similar to the issue with Wiseman… how much does he love the game? There are red flags with Maluach given his relatively small (at many times) impact as compared to his talent level.

What red flags? Sure he is pretty raw as a player given his little experience. But Duke limited him to a specific role and he played well in his role all year. He struggled against Houston. The numbers say they were the #2 team right behind Duke and the best defensive team in the county. He was also told about his visa issue before the game. I haven't watched every Duke game but i was pretty consistent in the last part of the year and to me the Houston game was a pretty big outlier compared to the other games. Wiseman played what 3 games at Memphis before being suspended for the year. We have no idea how he would of done over a full college season. So its not a great comparison. All you had to go off of with Wiseman was high school tape. We saw Eddie Curry who was supposed to be the next Shaq not live up to expectations.

[sco]

yeah the last thing this administration would do is invite the possibility of a high visibility negative story

Right...LOL, but seriously, putting aside the right and wrong of the current situation, if there was ongoing uncertainty at the draft and you're a GM, are you taking that risk on a top 10 pick?

This will all be worked out before the draft. Last thing Trump wants is to give Stephen A his signature issue. Might have to send scouts to do private workouts though.

LOL...c'mon, you serious?

[Jcool0]

Right...LOL, but seriously, putting aside the right and wrong of the current situation, if there was ongoing uncertainty at the draft and you're a GM, are you taking that risk on a top 10 pick?

This will all be worked out before the draft. Last thing Trump wants is to give Stephen A his signature issue. Might have to send scouts to do private workouts though.

LOL...c'mon, you serious?

Yesterday:

“I have no desire to be a politician. My life is pretty well" set up, Smith said as part of opening presentations at the sprawling media conference. “But I will no longer close the door.”

“I have no desire to do it,” Smith told his moderator, long-time media consultant Mike McVay. “You just articulated my contract extension. I’m living pretty good. I personally perceive politicians being professional beggars. You always have your hand out and people need something in return.”

But, Smith said, as more people approached him about the idea, “over the last few weeks, I had to get a little more serious about it.”

Smith acknowledged that he’d need to “hunker down for a couple of months” to study the finer points of many political issues. But he truly seemed excited about at least one part of the 2028 campaign: on-stage debates.

“Imagine me on a debate stage with these people, these politicians,” Smith said. “This is what I do for a living. I am not a politician. I don’t have a political record for them to lean on. I can challenge what you literally say (as politicians). They would all know more than me at this particular time, but they have a record to address."

[sco]

This will all be worked out before the draft. Last thing Trump wants is to give Stephen A his signature issue. Might have to send scouts to do private workouts though.

LOL...c'mon, you serious?

Yesterday:

“I have no desire to be a politician. My life is pretty well" set up, Smith said as part of opening presentations at the sprawling media conference. “But I will no longer close the door.”

“I have no desire to do it,” Smith told his moderator, long-time media consultant Mike McVay. “You just articulated my contract extension. I’m living pretty good. I personally perceive politicians being professional beggars. You always have your hand out and people need something in return.”

But, Smith said, as more people approached him about the idea, “over the last few weeks, I had to get a little more serious about it.”

Smith acknowledged that he’d need to “hunker down for a couple of months” to study the finer points of many political issues. But he truly seemed excited about at least one part of the 2028 campaign: on-stage debates.

“Imagine me on a debate stage with these people, these politicians,” Smith said. “This is what I do for a living. I am not a politician. I don’t have a political record for them to lean on. I can challenge what you literally say (as politicians). They would all know more than me at this particular time, but they have a record to address."

OK, gentlemen's bet that this issue isn't resolved before the draft. To clarify, I'm sure Smith will say a lot about it...it helps his brand. My point is that Trump didn't seem to care that he just upended the world economic order, but somehow he'd worry about what Smith had to say about some basketball player impacted by new US visa policy.

[Jcool0]

LOL...c'mon, you serious?

Yesterday:

“I have no desire to be a politician. My life is pretty well" set up, Smith said as part of opening presentations at the sprawling media conference. “But I will no longer close the door.”

“I have no desire to do it,” Smith told his moderator, long-time media consultant Mike McVay. “You just articulated my contract extension. I’m living pretty good. I personally perceive politicians being professional beggars. You always have your hand out and people need something in return.”

But, Smith said, as more people approached him about the idea, “over the last few weeks, I had to get a little more serious about it.”

Smith acknowledged that he’d need to “hunker down for a couple of months” to study the finer points of many political issues. But he truly seemed excited about at least one part of the 2028 campaign: on-stage debates.

“Imagine me on a debate stage with these people, these politicians,” Smith said. “This is what I do for a living. I am not a politician. I don’t have a political record for them to lean on. I can challenge what you literally say (as politicians). They would all know more than me at this particular time, but they have a record to address."

OK, gentlemen's bet that this issue isn't resolved before the draft. To clarify, I'm sure Smith will say a lot about it...it helps his brand. My point is that Trump didn't seem to care that he just upended the world economic order, but somehow he'd worry about what Smith had to say about some basketball player impacted by new US visa policy.

95% of the time these kind of things get worked out because no one wants to deal with the fall out. The government will say nice things to Trump and give in on a few things he wants and he will lift the ban.

[DuckIII]

Has there been an update on his visa status? Will he be allowed to play here?

Come on man. No way in hell the Trump administration sends someone like him back abroad. Those who project wealth and status will always be allowed to stay and he would make for a high visibility story. That’s just how America is and has been for a long time.

yeah the last thing this administration would do is invite the possibility of a high visibility negative story

You mean like the innocent but poor, tatted Hispanic family man that 55% of America doesn’t give a **** about? High profile athletes who went to Duke and project to be rich and famous will be treated much differently.

[sco]

Yesterday:

“I have no desire to be a politician. My life is pretty well" set up, Smith said as part of opening presentations at the sprawling media conference. “But I will no longer close the door.”

“I have no desire to do it,” Smith told his moderator, long-time media consultant Mike McVay. “You just articulated my contract extension. I’m living pretty good. I personally perceive politicians being professional beggars. You always have your hand out and people need something in return.”

But, Smith said, as more people approached him about the idea, “over the last few weeks, I had to get a little more serious about it.”

Smith acknowledged that he’d need to “hunker down for a couple of months” to study the finer points of many political issues. But he truly seemed excited about at least one part of the 2028 campaign: on-stage debates.

“Imagine me on a debate stage with these people, these politicians,” Smith said. “This is what I do for a living. I am not a politician. I don’t have a political record for them to lean on. I can challenge what you literally say (as politicians). They would all know more than me at this particular time, but they have a record to address."

OK, gentlemen's bet that this issue isn't resolved before the draft. To clarify, I'm sure Smith will say a lot about it...it helps his brand. My point is that Trump didn't seem to care that he just upended the world economic order, but somehow he'd worry about what Smith had to say about some basketball player impacted by new US visa policy.

95% of the time these kind of things get worked out because no one wants to deal with the fall out. The government will say nice things to Trump and give in on a few things he wants and he will lift the ban.

OK, we'll see.

[DuckIII]

Yesterday:

“I have no desire to be a politician. My life is pretty well" set up, Smith said as part of opening presentations at the sprawling media conference. “But I will no longer close the door.”

“I have no desire to do it,” Smith told his moderator, long-time media consultant Mike McVay. “You just articulated my contract extension. I’m living pretty good. I personally perceive politicians being professional beggars. You always have your hand out and people need something in return.”

But, Smith said, as more people approached him about the idea, “over the last few weeks, I had to get a little more serious about it.”

Smith acknowledged that he’d need to “hunker down for a couple of months” to study the finer points of many political issues. But he truly seemed excited about at least one part of the 2028 campaign: on-stage debates.

“Imagine me on a debate stage with these people, these politicians,” Smith said. “This is what I do for a living. I am not a politician. I don’t have a political record for them to lean on. I can challenge what you literally say (as politicians). They would all know more than me at this particular time, but they have a record to address."

OK, gentlemen's bet that this issue isn't resolved before the draft. To clarify, I'm sure Smith will say a lot about it...it helps his brand. My point is that Trump didn't seem to care that he just upended the world economic order, but somehow he'd worry about what Smith had to say about some basketball player impacted by new US visa policy.

95% of the time these kind of things get worked out because no one wants to deal with the fall out. The government will say nice things to Trump and give in on a few things he wants and he will lift the ban.

Well that’s not going to happen either. The current “government” effectively is Trump. What will happen is the administration will easily find - because they exist - a legal justification for him to stay. I

Maluach’s legal status is about as important to this discussion as his favorite color.