2025 NBA Draft Discussion Part 6

[TNRaps4life]

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[TNRaps4life]

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[Raptorfan2012]

My current rankings for right now

1. Cooper Flagg
2. Dylan Harper
3. VJ Edgecombe
4. Ace Bailey
5. Tre Johnson
6. Derik Queen
7. Jeremiah Fears
8. Kon Knueppel
9. Kasparas Jakucionis
10. Khaman Maluach
11. Jase Richardson
12. Asa Newell
13. Collin Murray-Boyles
14. Liam McNeeley

I would put Carter Bryant at 11 over guys like Jase, Asa, Collin, and Liam.

[Psubs]

My current rankings for right now

1. Cooper Flagg
2. Dylan Harper
3. VJ Edgecombe
4. Ace Bailey
5. Tre Johnson
6. Derik Queen
7. Jeremiah Fears
8. Kon Knueppel
9. Kasparas Jakucionis
10. Khaman Maluach
11. Jase Richardson
12. Asa Newell
13. Collin Murray-Boyles
14. Liam McNeeley

My current rankings for right now

1. Cooper Flagg
2. Dylan Harper
3. Carter Bryant
4. VJ Edgecombe
5. Tre Johnson
6. Ace Bailey
7. Derik Queen
8. Kon Knueppel
9. Collin Murray-Boyles
10. Jase Richardson
11. Jeremiah Fears
12. Asa Newell
13. Khaman Maluach
14. Kasparas Jakucionis

https://hoopshype.com/lists/carter-bryant-nba-draft-scouting-report-and-intel/

[Clutch0z24]

But it wasn't just an open gym, he hit them in the Olympics & BAL but haters will keep sweeping everything he did there under the rug.

But why wouldnt they? That's not a real competition. Against competent defenses at his own level, he hasnt been able to do anything but catch and finish plays

Olympics isn't real competition?! ok.

Problem with the Maluach hive is they look at the shots Maluach makes and says "He is a legit 3 point threat" Without watching the horrible misses he also has when shooting the ball.....Many air balls and shots that cling off the backboard, Missing badly.....You can't just look at a few shots hes made and say "Hes going to be a legit shooter one day" While there is video evidence out there as well where his shot looks bad as well.....

There is a reason Duke played him the way they did and it was to obviously hide his weaknesses and show his strengths.....The coaching staff at Duke are alot smarter than we are....They know if they let Maluach shoot alot of jumpshots, Create offense for himself....It would be a total disaster....

Not saying he can't develop it over time but it will take a long shot....We been down this road before with prospects that have all the physcial tools but don't reach the skill level to be elite..

Thing is the leagues he played in before his Duke career....I looked up his stats and they are still not good shooting wise and he also didn't take enoug jumpshots in a sample size to be confident in saying its going to translate to the NBA.....And he hardley shot the ball at Duke at all from Mid range or from 3 to warrent people saying he will for a fact be able to one day shoot the ball......Its like believing a fantasy which is why people who are pointing it out because you can get caught up in this "Fantasy" of what you want him to be vs what he actually is.

If all he ever is....Is a rim running big man who plays good defense....Thats still a usefull player....But i think where we are in the draft there will be players on the board still that posess a higher skill level and a higher ceiling.....If we are at 8 or 9 and all the better players are taken....Sure take a flyer on Maluach....But for me at 7 one of Tre/Fears/Queen would be available and im taking one of them over Maluach. If we move to top 4 Maluach is not on the table....But if we drop down and hes the last one left fine take the big swing and hope you hit.

[MainEvent]

thing with Maluach is you take him if you like him minus the theoretical 3 pointer, if it ever develops that is a bonus

[DreamTeam09]

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[Clutch0z24]

thing with Maluach is you take him if you like him minus the theoretical 3 pointer, if it ever develops that is a bonus

Yep i am down with that it depends where your taking him right....If you take Maluach over players in the draft who already posess and shown they can shoot the ball while also having high upsides i think that is a much more valuable pick for us....

Maluach if he does not space the floor....Its hard to see him fitting with the team we have on the offensive end....Because he can't pass, Can't shoot from the mid range, You won't trust him to be a 3 point shooter for many years im sure....Might just be a backup big for many years....After a year of tanking im just not sold on it....We need a player who can come in day 1 and make a impact....Not saying the skillset Maluach possess isn't needed for us because it certanly is....Just think using your high end pick you tanked for to get that kind of a player is not smart...Could prolly find it in the 2nd round or late firsts or a trade...

[mademan]

thing with Maluach is you take him if you like him minus the theoretical 3 pointer, if it ever develops that is a bonus

Literally all im saying, and these guys are upset that i dont see the infinite offensive potential he has. If you believe in the defense, he finishes well enough at the rim to be worth a top 10 pick. But dont post videos or one off games where he's hitting shots or dribbling the ball behind his back and ignore an entire college season. Guys becoming completely different players in the NBA than college is a rarity

[Clutch0z24]

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Every player looks good in an open gym lol....

[Pointgod]

thing with Maluach is you take him if you like him minus the theoretical 3 pointer, if it ever develops that is a bonus

Yep i am down with that it depends where your taking him right....If you take Maluach over players in the draft who already posess and shown they can shoot the ball while also having high upsides i think that is a much more valuable pick for us....

Maluach if he does not space the floor....Its hard to see him fitting with the team we have on the offensive end....Because he can't pass, Can't shoot from the mid range, You won't trust him to be a 3 point shooter for many years im sure....Might just be a backup big for many years....After a year of tanking im just not sold on it....We need a player who can come in day 1 and make a impact....Not saying the skillset Maluach possess isn't needed for us because it certanly is....Just think using your high end pick you tanked for to get that kind of a player is not smart...Could prolly find it in the 2nd round or late firsts or a trade...

In your opinion which players in the 7 range can do this?

[LoveMyRaps]

Final Pre-Lottery Mock Draft - 05/08:

1. Flagg
2. Harper
3. Bailey
4. Edgecombe
5. Maluach
6. Johnson
7. Queen
8. Knueppel
9. Traore
10. Fears
11. CMB
12. Bryant
13. Newell
14. Essengue
15. Richardson
16. Kasparas
17. Condon
18. Evans
19. Demin
20. Riley

[Clutch0z24]

thing with Maluach is you take him if you like him minus the theoretical 3 pointer, if it ever develops that is a bonus

Yep i am down with that it depends where your taking him right....If you take Maluach over players in the draft who already posess and shown they can shoot the ball while also having high upsides i think that is a much more valuable pick for us....

Maluach if he does not space the floor....Its hard to see him fitting with the team we have on the offensive end....Because he can't pass, Can't shoot from the mid range, You won't trust him to be a 3 point shooter for many years im sure....Might just be a backup big for many years....After a year of tanking im just not sold on it....We need a player who can come in day 1 and make a impact....Not saying the skillset Maluach possess isn't needed for us because it certanly is....Just think using your high end pick you tanked for to get that kind of a player is not smart...Could prolly find it in the 2nd round or late firsts or a trade...

In your opinion which players in the 7 range can do this?

Well for me there are a few players....At 7 you are pretty much locked to get one of Tre Johnson, Fears, Queen....I think all 3 of them players could make an impact....Fears would obviously be the more project out of the 3 but to me he has star like quality that would be hard to pass up on....

Could argue Kon should be there as well but i don't see Kons upside being as high as the 3 ^ above so i would take a flyer on Maluach over Kon for that reason....But at 7 give me one of Tre,Queen,Fears > Maluach is how im seeing it....Tre would be an elite 3 point shooter out the gate with go to player upside, Queen is just an overall better basektball player than Maluach is....Hes better at many many facets of the game including Passing, Ball handling, Shot making, Shot creation, Post up moves, Footwork, Basketball IQ and so on and so on.....Fears would be a guy who can handle the ball, create plays for himself and others , And is a big time gamer....

^ All 3 have me more excited than a potential rim running big man who has questions about his rebounding and shot blocking....Who has no offensive bag right now....And needs lots and lots of development time to get on if he can ever get there of a level of the 3 i named above....Defensivly Maluac is good but hes not good enough to ignore all the flaws he has and has to overcome at the next level....

Like i said if you want just a rim running big man who can play some defense go for it but i think you can get better players where we are picking....2nd round or late first round is where you should be picking players like Maluach....Or if you are a team with an elite passing PG like a Luka and want to pair him with a player like Mal it makes much more sense....Than a team like ours who does not have that kind of an elite Guard to get the best out of him.

[DG88]

My current rankings for right now

1. Cooper Flagg
2. Dylan Harper
3. VJ Edgecombe
4. Ace Bailey
5. Tre Johnson
6. Derik Queen
7. Jeremiah Fears
8. Kon Knueppel
9. Kasparas Jakucionis
10. Khaman Maluach
11. Jase Richardson
12. Asa Newell
13. Collin Murray-Boyles
14. Liam McNeeley

I would put Carter Bryant at 11 over guys like Jase, Asa, Collin, and Liam.

I think Carter Bryant can put himself in the lower end of the lottery just due to his defense but I see him as a 3+D guy. He doesn't have a handle or burst to get by players. He's great off the ball and the 3 point volume is fairly low.

[DG88]

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More Khaman proproganda

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Every player looks good in an open gym lol....

Open Gym workouts are fairly meaningless. The only thing teams get out of them are the interviews if they get them to know the player. NBA teams have intel on these players from their highschool years. They all have a pretty good idea of how good those players are at this point in their development. They key is projecting how much better will they become as they add and refine to their game.

[billy_hoyle]

Isn't the hardest thing to do with respect to scouting determining what will translate at the NBA level?

Like Siakam absolutely exploded in his 3rd season, but he showed all of those skills in college, and flashed some of them as a rookie.

Does Maluach translate his open gym and Olympic stuff, or is he going to struggle like Mo Bamba?

If there was an exact science behind this, you wouldn't see half the lottery bust every year.

I think we should all just take solace in the fact our front office is absolutely a top 5 FO with respect to the draft. They will likely pick a top 3 player available at that slot.

[Prestige]

In no way am I drafting Maluach in the top 10. Too much of an unknown, and not worth the risk of a high lottery pick after a painful year. And on top of that, what is his ceiling? I haven't seen even one write up where he's projected to be a star. More like productive starter, to backup big. No thanks.

Give me guys with star upside and actual skills today, like Queen, Johnson, even Fears etc at 7.

[Dalek]

Draft talk is at 53:36 on the Zach Lowe Show

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I love Zach Lowe because he comes at everything from an NBA lens that is really plugged in. Out of all the great discussion, the Jonathan Mogbo slight from Zach Lowe was telling. It justifies my own beliefs on that pseudo-Draymond every draft dude indulges in. Zach referenced Mogbo as probably the next guy that gets traded a few times and is out of the league in a few years.

He also mentioned guys like Queen, CMB and Fleming as guys who are fringey NBA guys in the same way as Mogbo and I kind of agree, although I am higher on Queen.

[Badonkadonk]

thing with Maluach is you take him if you like him minus the theoretical 3 pointer, if it ever develops that is a bonus

This. He's a unicorn defender. Dude has a standing reach 1" longer than Wemby's (though Wemby has him solidly beat on wingspan). This profile is going to become increasingly important as the league gets bigger, which is a constant.

Given his developmental path so far, his age and his athleticism, I think his ceiling is really high. I honestly do not expect him to be available at 7th, strictly based on his potential on the defensive end and his ability to finish as a lob threat alone. If he is, you take him and run imo.

[LoveMyRaps]

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