2025 NBA Draft Discussion Part 5

[MEDIC]

I'll be a believer in whoever Masai drafts because he's the best at it.

But man..... I just don't see us drafting Kasparas.

Why not?

As a PG he looks great and athleticism won't be a big issue there since he's got skills and size.

I don't know man. There is nothing about his game that screams "NBA talent" to me. Definitely not "NBA Allstar".

Hopefully the kid surprises me & shows out in the NBA, but I am just not seeing it.

Out of all of the prospects that have been rumoured to be in the top 10, he is the one that I feel like has the biggest bust potential. He looks like a 20's pick to me.

I would.take Kon over him 10/10 times. I would also take his teammate (Riley) over him.

[Psubs]

If Maluach wasn't African, would we be drafting James Wiseman 2.0?

The good rule of drafting, if the C is not consensus top 2 (maybe drop a bit due to injury), then might as well get one in the 20's.

[REJECTEDBYCLARK]

If Maluach wasn't African, would we be drafting James Wiseman 2.0?

The good rule of drafting, if the C is not consensus top 2 (maybe drop a bit due to injury), then might as well get one in the 20's.

No

[UnbelievablyRAW]

Lol I’m still not on the Khaman train. I feel like you can draft a centre with his skill set any draft. Yes he’s really tall and long but objectively he hasn’t been dominant. His draft stock has a lot to do with potential vs on court production.

We’re probably not drafting this high for a while so I’m more for taking a guy who has shown high level talent.

Queen, Fears, Kasparas, Tre Johnson fit that bill. Also CMB if you feel we can develop a jumper with him

I’m not sure I’d rather have Khaman definitely over Ware and Ware wouldn’t go top 5 this year

[REJECTEDBYCLARK]

Lol I’m still not on the Khaman train. I feel like you can draft a centre with his skill set any draft. Yes he’s really tall and long but objectively he hasn’t been dominant. His draft stock has a lot to do with potential vs on court production.

We’re probably not drafting this high for a while so I’m more for taking a guy who has shown high level talent.

Queen, Fears, Kasparas, Tre Johnson fit that bill. Also CMB if you feel we can develop a jumper with him

I’m not sure I’d rather have Khaman definitely over Ware and Ware wouldn’t go top 5 this year

He has been as dominant as an 18 year old center playing for a blue blood team that made final four should be. His on-court production was in fact excellent relative to his age. You're going to bring up the word "potential" with an 18 year old far more frequently than with a 19, 20, 21, 22 year old so I don't see the relevance.

In short I think your assessment is way off.

[DreamTeam09]

If Maluach wasn't African, would we be drafting James Wiseman 2.0?

The good rule of drafting, if the C is not consensus top 2 (maybe drop a bit due to injury), then might as well get one in the 20's.

By your logic, if you don't think the lottery big deserves to be in the lottery, and the big in the 20s has no shot at the lottery, how does that big in the 20s supposed to be impactful one day

Do yourself / us an exercise, list all the bigs who you think are good, and see where they were drafted at

[BoyzNTheHood]

Lol I’m still not on the Khaman train. I feel like you can draft a centre with his skill set any draft. Yes he’s really tall and long but objectively he hasn’t been dominant. His draft stock has a lot to do with potential vs on court production.

We’re probably not drafting this high for a while so I’m more for taking a guy who has shown high level talent.

Queen, Fears, Kasparas, Tre Johnson fit that bill. Also CMB if you feel we can develop a jumper with him

I’m not sure I’d rather have Khaman definitely over Ware and Ware wouldn’t go top 5 this year

Ware would absolutely deserve to go top 5 this year. I told everyone about Ware for 2 years, even when he was at Oregon, but people got caught up on the lack of production in his first year. He was/is light years ahead of Maluach as a prospect.

[UnbelievablyRAW]

Lol I’m still not on the Khaman train. I feel like you can draft a centre with his skill set any draft. Yes he’s really tall and long but objectively he hasn’t been dominant. His draft stock has a lot to do with potential vs on court production.

We’re probably not drafting this high for a while so I’m more for taking a guy who has shown high level talent.

Queen, Fears, Kasparas, Tre Johnson fit that bill. Also CMB if you feel we can develop a jumper with him

I’m not sure I’d rather have Khaman definitely over Ware and Ware wouldn’t go top 5 this year

He has been as dominant as an 18 year old center playing for a blue blood team that made final four should be. His on-court production was in fact excellent relative to his age. You're going to bring up the word "potential" with an 18 year old far more frequently than with a 19, 20, 21, 22 year old so I don't see the relevance.

In short I think your assessment is way off.

When compared to other C's drafted in the lottery in recent years his numbers don't reflect excellence. He's primarily a defensive C but doesn't hit a lot of the defensive markers like block% that high quality bigs had coming into the league (behind Clingan, Lively, Kessler, Holmgren, Duren). Arguably wasn't even the best defensive big on his team at Duke. I get rim deterrence, but I'd like to see how he fares against NBA level finishers who won't be afraid to challenge a rookie. Will that block% go up? Or will he foul a lot and end up being a taller Mitchell Robinson?

I don't think the potential to work in a switch defense is as viable as advertised either. I think he'd get cooked in an iso against most starting NBA guards

When I say its mostly potential with him, I mean in the same way it was with Cody Williams last year who didn't actually produce much in college but because of his measurements and theoretical potential, he goes top 10 but doesn't do much on a Utah team with all the opportunity in the world. He had good efficiency numbers in college because everything was low volume and spoon fed. In our current offense we require the C to be a decision maker and passer, if we want to play to his known strengths we'd have to change our offense to be more PnR heavy.

I could be way off on him, but I have a lot of reservation taking him in the top 10 in our position. If we were OKC or something I'd be less worried because we wouldn't need him to be a big part of our rotation in the near future. I can see the other guys I mentioned being high level contributors by the end of the season whereas Khaman would have to be a project. I also still think Chomche fits the archetype of who we'd want Khaman to be if he pans out

[Psubs]

If Maluach wasn't African, would we be drafting James Wiseman 2.0?

The good rule of drafting, if the C is not consensus top 2 (maybe drop a bit due to injury), then might as well get one in the 20's.

By your logic, if you don't think the lottery big deserves to be in the lottery, and the big in the 20s has no shot at the lottery, how does that big in the 20s supposed to be impactful one day

Do yourself / us an exercise, list all the bigs who you think are good, and see where they were drafted at

Ware, Jarrett Allen, Nikola Jokic, Isaiah Hartenstein, Alperen Sengun, Daniel Gafford, Ivica Zubac, Ives Missi, Clint Capela, Ives Missi and Rudy Gobert.

Take away those bigs drafted in the top 3 (Wemby, Chet, Embiid, AD, KAT, Evan Mobley), you can just wait until after the lottery instead of the rest of the lottery.

[earthtone]

If Maluach wasn't African, would we be drafting James Wiseman 2.0?

The good rule of drafting, if the C is not consensus top 2 (maybe drop a bit due to injury), then might as well get one in the 20's.

By your logic, if you don't think the lottery big deserves to be in the lottery, and the big in the 20s has no shot at the lottery, how does that big in the 20s supposed to be impactful one day

Do yourself / us an exercise, list all the bigs who you think are good, and see where they were drafted at

Ware, Jarrett Allen, Nikola Jokic, Isaiah Hartenstein, Alperen Sengun, Daniel Gafford, Ivica Zubac, Ives Missi, Clint Capela, Ives Missi and Rudy Gobert.

Take away those bigs drafted in the top 3 (Wemby, Chet, Embiid, AD, KAT, Evan Mobley), you can just wait until after the lottery instead of the rest of the lottery.

Here's every big drafted from 4-14 in the ten years:

2015: Porzingis, Myles Turner
2016: Dragan Bender, Jakob Poeltl, Domantas Sabonis, Papagiannis
2017: Zach Collins, Bam Adebayo
2018: JJJ, Mo Bamba, WCJ
2019: Jaxson Hayes
2020: Jalen Smith
2021: No One
2022: Jalen Duren
2023: Derek Lively
2024: Donovan Clingan, Zach Edey,

A ton of talent and important players for their franchises there. If a big is the BPA, no reason not to draft them in the lottery.

[Syd-TK3]

Tidjane Salaun might be the new 2 years away from being 2 years away

[sodmoraes]

Sergio Diarrhea seems like a sleeper pick.

Sent from my SM-G780G using RealGM mobile app

[UnbelievablyRAW]

By your logic, if you don't think the lottery big deserves to be in the lottery, and the big in the 20s has no shot at the lottery, how does that big in the 20s supposed to be impactful one day

Do yourself / us an exercise, list all the bigs who you think are good, and see where they were drafted at

Ware, Jarrett Allen, Nikola Jokic, Isaiah Hartenstein, Alperen Sengun, Daniel Gafford, Ivica Zubac, Ives Missi, Clint Capela, Ives Missi and Rudy Gobert.

Take away those bigs drafted in the top 3 (Wemby, Chet, Embiid, AD, KAT, Evan Mobley), you can just wait until after the lottery instead of the rest of the lottery.

Here's every big drafted from 4-14 in the ten years:

2015: Porzingis, Myles Turner
2016: Dragan Bender, Jakob Poeltl, Domantas Sabonis, Papagiannis
2017: Zach Collins, Bam Adebayo
2018: JJJ, Mo Bamba, WCJ
2019: Jaxson Hayes
2020: Jalen Smith
2021: No One
2022: Jalen Duren
2023: Derek Lively
2024: Donovan Clingan, Zach Edey,

A ton of talent and important players for their franchises there. If a big is the BPA, no reason not to draft them in the lottery.

The point of contention is if he’s actually BPA or if it’s a Tidjane type pick where the FO is really high on the guy even though he isn’t actually that great compared to comp.

[REJECTEDBYCLARK]

Lol I’m still not on the Khaman train. I feel like you can draft a centre with his skill set any draft. Yes he’s really tall and long but objectively he hasn’t been dominant. His draft stock has a lot to do with potential vs on court production.

We’re probably not drafting this high for a while so I’m more for taking a guy who has shown high level talent.

Queen, Fears, Kasparas, Tre Johnson fit that bill. Also CMB if you feel we can develop a jumper with him

I’m not sure I’d rather have Khaman definitely over Ware and Ware wouldn’t go top 5 this year

He has been as dominant as an 18 year old center playing for a blue blood team that made final four should be. His on-court production was in fact excellent relative to his age. You're going to bring up the word "potential" with an 18 year old far more frequently than with a 19, 20, 21, 22 year old so I don't see the relevance.

In short I think your assessment is way off.

When compared to other C's drafted in the lottery in recent years his numbers don't reflect excellence. He's primarily a defensive C but doesn't hit a lot of the defensive markers like block% that high quality bigs had coming into the league (behind Clingan, Lively, Kessler, Holmgren, Duren). Arguably wasn't even the best defensive big on his team at Duke. I get rim deterrence, but I'd like to see how he fares against NBA level finishers who won't be afraid to challenge a rookie. Will that block% go up? Or will he foul a lot and end up being a taller Mitchell Robinson?

I don't think the potential to work in a switch defense is as viable as advertised either. I think he'd get cooked in an iso against most starting NBA guards

When I say its mostly potential with him, I mean in the same way it was with Cody Williams last year who didn't actually produce much in college but because of his measurements and theoretical potential, he goes top 10 but doesn't do much on a Utah team with all the opportunity in the world. He had good efficiency numbers in college because everything was low volume and spoon fed. In our current offense we require the C to be a decision maker and passer, if we want to play to his known strengths we'd have to change our offense to be more PnR heavy.

I could be way off on him, but I have a lot of reservation taking him in the top 10 in our position. If we were OKC or something I'd be less worried because we wouldn't need him to be a big part of our rotation in the near future. I can see the other guys I mentioned being high level contributors by the end of the season whereas Khaman would have to be a project. I also still think Chomche fits the archetype of who we'd want Khaman to be if he pans out

I don't put any weight into where x or y or z player was drafted, in the end it's a reflection of highly subjective market perception of the player's value and not the inherent abilities of the player. Historical precedent is valuable when it comes to production and dimension data and hardly valuable when it comes to comparing draft slots.

For the record Cody ended up on my DND list last year and I laid out clear reasons why about a month before the draft when I saw the light. The idea that Khaman hardly impacts the game because of a lower USG rate like Cody who barely left his mark in games is not valid. Khaman positionally impacts the game at an extreme level on a per minute basis as evident by his absurdly high net RTG. He strongly manipulated the way defenses had to defend Duke's offense and contributed a solid rate of near automatic baskets at the rim per game while maintaining a pretty low turnover rate and operating quite effectively on defense. His presence on both ends presented complex challenges for opposing teams.

There is absolutely nothing in common with a fraudulent prospect like Cody and Khaman. Khaman is not going to be posting guys up and asked to use dribbling and post work and passing acumen to succeed in the NBA. I already pointed this out but I'll do it yet again, all Khaman needs to do in the NBA to be highly successful on offense is rim run, cut, crash off glass and run floor in transition. Those are pretty simple things and he has executed them at a very high level at Duke. I see absolutely zero reason he fails to execute those things very well at NBA level given how good he already is, his dimension/athleticism package and his work ethic.

Khaman looks like the real deal to me. His game is very simple, very repetitive and very efficient.

[DreamTeam09]

He has been as dominant as an 18 year old center playing for a blue blood team that made final four should be. His on-court production was in fact excellent relative to his age. You're going to bring up the word "potential" with an 18 year old far more frequently than with a 19, 20, 21, 22 year old so I don't see the relevance.

In short I think your assessment is way off.

When compared to other C's drafted in the lottery in recent years his numbers don't reflect excellence. He's primarily a defensive C but doesn't hit a lot of the defensive markers like block% that high quality bigs had coming into the league (behind Clingan, Lively, Kessler, Holmgren, Duren). Arguably wasn't even the best defensive big on his team at Duke. I get rim deterrence, but I'd like to see how he fares against NBA level finishers who won't be afraid to challenge a rookie. Will that block% go up? Or will he foul a lot and end up being a taller Mitchell Robinson?

I don't think the potential to work in a switch defense is as viable as advertised either. I think he'd get cooked in an iso against most starting NBA guards

When I say its mostly potential with him, I mean in the same way it was with Cody Williams last year who didn't actually produce much in college but because of his measurements and theoretical potential, he goes top 10 but doesn't do much on a Utah team with all the opportunity in the world. He had good efficiency numbers in college because everything was low volume and spoon fed. In our current offense we require the C to be a decision maker and passer, if we want to play to his known strengths we'd have to change our offense to be more PnR heavy.

I could be way off on him, but I have a lot of reservation taking him in the top 10 in our position. If we were OKC or something I'd be less worried because we wouldn't need him to be a big part of our rotation in the near future. I can see the other guys I mentioned being high level contributors by the end of the season whereas Khaman would have to be a project. I also still think Chomche fits the archetype of who we'd want Khaman to be if he pans out

I don't put any weight into where x or y or z player was drafted, in the end it's a reflection of highly subjective market perception of the player's value and not the inherent abilities of the player. Historical precedent is valuable when it comes to production and dimension data and hardly valuable when it comes to comparing draft slots.

For the record Cody ended up on my DND list last year and I laid out clear reasons why about a month before the draft when I saw the light. The idea that Khaman hardly impacts the game because of a lower USG rate like Cody who barely left his mark in games is not valid. Khaman positionally impacts the game at an extreme level on a per minute basis as evident by his absurdly high net RTG. He strongly manipulated the way defenses had to defend Duke's offense and contributed a solid rate of near automatic baskets at the rim per game while maintaining a pretty low turnover rate and operating quite effectively on defense. His presence on both ends presented complex challenges for opposing teams.

There is absolutely nothing in common with a fraudulent prospect like Cody and Khaman. Khaman is not going to be posting guys up and asked to use dribbling and post work and passing acumen to succeed in the NBA. I already pointed this out but I'll do it yet again, all Khaman needs to do in the NBA to be highly successful on offense is rim run, cut, crash off glass and run floor in transition. Those are pretty simple things and he has executed them at a very high level at Duke. I see absolutely zero reason he fails to execute those things very well at NBA level given how good he already is, his dimension/athleticism package and his work ethic.

Khaman looks like the real deal to me. His game is very simple, very repetitive and very efficient.

Yeah when I talk and envision Khaman, I'm noteven thinking about the possibilities of him growing and expanding his game. Just his 7'2 mobility, catch radius, rim running lob threat offensive rebounding hard screening aspects of his game. If he starts moving like how he played in the BAL we have something special on our hands. But if he's a healthy mark Williams I'd be happy

[REJECTEDBYCLARK]

When compared to other C's drafted in the lottery in recent years his numbers don't reflect excellence. He's primarily a defensive C but doesn't hit a lot of the defensive markers like block% that high quality bigs had coming into the league (behind Clingan, Lively, Kessler, Holmgren, Duren). Arguably wasn't even the best defensive big on his team at Duke. I get rim deterrence, but I'd like to see how he fares against NBA level finishers who won't be afraid to challenge a rookie. Will that block% go up? Or will he foul a lot and end up being a taller Mitchell Robinson?

I don't think the potential to work in a switch defense is as viable as advertised either. I think he'd get cooked in an iso against most starting NBA guards

When I say its mostly potential with him, I mean in the same way it was with Cody Williams last year who didn't actually produce much in college but because of his measurements and theoretical potential, he goes top 10 but doesn't do much on a Utah team with all the opportunity in the world. He had good efficiency numbers in college because everything was low volume and spoon fed. In our current offense we require the C to be a decision maker and passer, if we want to play to his known strengths we'd have to change our offense to be more PnR heavy.

I could be way off on him, but I have a lot of reservation taking him in the top 10 in our position. If we were OKC or something I'd be less worried because we wouldn't need him to be a big part of our rotation in the near future. I can see the other guys I mentioned being high level contributors by the end of the season whereas Khaman would have to be a project. I also still think Chomche fits the archetype of who we'd want Khaman to be if he pans out

I don't put any weight into where x or y or z player was drafted, in the end it's a reflection of highly subjective market perception of the player's value and not the inherent abilities of the player. Historical precedent is valuable when it comes to production and dimension data and hardly valuable when it comes to comparing draft slots.

For the record Cody ended up on my DND list last year and I laid out clear reasons why about a month before the draft when I saw the light. The idea that Khaman hardly impacts the game because of a lower USG rate like Cody who barely left his mark in games is not valid. Khaman positionally impacts the game at an extreme level on a per minute basis as evident by his absurdly high net RTG. He strongly manipulated the way defenses had to defend Duke's offense and contributed a solid rate of near automatic baskets at the rim per game while maintaining a pretty low turnover rate and operating quite effectively on defense. His presence on both ends presented complex challenges for opposing teams.

There is absolutely nothing in common with a fraudulent prospect like Cody and Khaman. Khaman is not going to be posting guys up and asked to use dribbling and post work and passing acumen to succeed in the NBA. I already pointed this out but I'll do it yet again, all Khaman needs to do in the NBA to be highly successful on offense is rim run, cut, crash off glass and run floor in transition. Those are pretty simple things and he has executed them at a very high level at Duke. I see absolutely zero reason he fails to execute those things very well at NBA level given how good he already is, his dimension/athleticism package and his work ethic.

Khaman looks like the real deal to me. His game is very simple, very repetitive and very efficient.

Yeah when I talk and envision Khaman, I'm noteven thinking about the possibilities of him growing and expanding his game. Just his 7'2 mobility, catch radius, rim running lob threat offensive rebounding hard screening aspects of his game. If he starts moving like how he played in the BAL we have something special on our hands. But if he's a healthy mark Williams I'd be happy

What you described is how Jarrett Allen earns his paycheck on offense. He does have a better post up volume and efficiency history but with post ups now comprising like 4.something percent of his total looks they are borderline irrelevant.

You can succeed in the NBA as a strong lob/cut/putback/floor runner at the 5. Don't need to be a good passer, don't need to be a good shooter (yet strong chance we add that on top of everything else). Khaman is biased towards offense, it's funny that people mostly speak of him as some kind of defensive prospect when the major impact with him occurs on the offensive end.

[mdenny]

Man....I REALLY want to see warriors v lakers in round 1. Must see TV.

[BoyzNTheHood]

What a 2026 class! Whoever owns multiple first next year is sitting on a gold mine.

Watch on YouTube

[REJECTEDBYCLARK]

i have such a problem with the notion khaman was spoonfed at duke

the way i see it, he spoonfed kon and flagg more than they spoonfed him

anyway we'll see in due time

[redraptor77]

Im feel like Khaman has a promise from the Raptors as high as 3 (after Flagg and Harper) or a trade will happen to drop down a bit for Khaman. With the Sudan visa situation, it will probably scare off a lot of teams. At least Khaman can practice and play home games in Toronto for the time being until it gets sorted out.

lol no offence but that sounds asinine we don’t even know where teams are picking
No measurements no interviews etc there is no chance in HLL that’s remotely true
There are four to five high potential players that have showcase better

My sources also confirm, that redraptor77 has a feeling that Raptors gave Khaman a promise at 3.

lol true story
Horrible pick for top five maybe even top ten
He hasn’t showcased any ability to post up or shoot
He’s like Mutumbo at best which is an outdated center