2025 NBA Draft Discussion Part 7

[DreamTeam09]

I could see Masai taking Noa Essengue at 9.

I sure hope not. There are will be high ceiling and high floor players available.

This is a fireable offense IMO.

??? lol how on earth can you say that's a fireable offense, no1 at 9 is a sure-fire stud, everyone has their pros n cons? What makes you Nostradamus here

[niQ]

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The masses are lost as usual.

How, all fair options, all fit a need, those are pretty rational from a fanbase perspective actually lol

Yea, I'd say it's fairly similar to a poll (albeit with less options) we had on realgm.

viewtopic.php?f=32&t=2448667

[mademan]

I think Bryant has more functional athleticism than Fleming but my goodness Fleming's measurements are insane. He might even be able to play some small ball 5 in the future

[Tripod]

Lots of options that fit spots if they hit.

KM- backup C for the next few years when we re-sign Yak. In 4 years we would have KM and Chomche at ages 23/24 as outlined top 2 C's for the next decade.

Queen- see above but can play with Yak and Chomche in the future.

Bryant/Fleming- fills that wing 3+D that we are missing since trading OG.

Fears/Jak- ball handling and creation at the PG spot. Can replace IQ at some point...and IQ could slide to a SG role who can also create.

Lots of options.

[Psubs]

I think Bryant has more functional athleticism than Fleming but my goodness Fleming's measurements are insane. He might even be able to play some small ball 5 in the future

Fleming is just more useful for the Raptors right away and someone to put in at the end of games.

Walter - Agbaji - Mogbo - Scottie - Fleming SHUT DOWN DEFENSE!!!

[MEDIC]

And someone please explain how is Knueppell higher than Jakucionis?
I personally have Knueppell lower.

because Kon is a better payer and had a significantly better season.

Before Jakucionis got injured, he was shooting better than Knueppel.
I am unsure how Knueppel is better, and even as you claimed to be significant, because stats wise he isn't.

Kon passes the eye test for me. Neither player will be 1st or 2nd option on a championship team, so they will need to be elite off the ball.. Jak played on ball most of the year, but he doesn't have the athleticism to be a great on ball player in the NBA. Kon has proven to be an elite off ball role player. I just haven't seen that from Jak.

Honestly.......I would draft his teammate Riley over Jakucionis. Just my opinion. I don’t see anything elite about his game that would give him any kind of advantage in the NBA.

[SpezNc]

I asked chat gpt for a list of players who weren’t projected to go top 10 but ended up sneaking into the top 10 late in the process. Not a bad list.

2023:
Bilal Coulibaly rose rapidly late in the process from outside the top 20 to being drafted 7th overall by the Pacers (traded to Wizards).
Taylor Hendricks was largely off preseason boards and ended up going 9th to the Jazz.
2022:
Jalen Williams (Santa Clara) was seen as a late first or second-rounder until workouts and combine; he went 12th (just outside top 10, but same pattern).
Dyson Daniels (G League Ignite) was not a lock for top 10 early in the year but rose to 8th overall.
2021:
Josh Giddey wasn’t a consensus top-10 pick early but climbed due to international performance and OKC’s interest, going 6th.
Franz Wagner was mocked in the 10–15 range most of the year but ended up 8th.
2020:
Patrick Williams was a mid-to-late first-round prospect in early mocks, went 4th overall after rising through combine and workouts.

Obviously his rise was not as dramatic as Coulibaly or other name that you listed but last year we can mention Zach Edey. At this stage he was mostly mock in the teens and some Raps fans were even debating whether to take him or not at #19. The closer we got to draft day it becomes clear he was not going to be around at #19 and could even sneak in the top10.

[KL78192020]

The masses are lost as usual.

How, all fair options, all fit a need, those are pretty rational from a fanbase perspective actually lol

Yea, I'd say it's fairly similar to a poll (albeit with less options) we had on realgm.

viewtopic.php?f=32&t=2448667

Masai always goes against the grain. It won't be who fans want.

[WuTang_CMB]

kasparas jakucionis could have the same type of year that JKW had where they started off strong and tapered off in 2nd half of year due to injury

6'6" with shoes
6'8" wingspan
35" max vert

I know the defense is a little suspect but this team desperately needs a creator at the top and get into the lane

If we stay at #9, I think this is the kind of player I'd want to take a chance on. He's at the top of my list followed by Fleming and Coward but I'm hoping we can acquire a later pick to grab one of those guys.

I just don't see him taking minutes from Walter/Shead. Coward may be a good bench scoring option right now and make take a while to get PT like Aaron Nesmith. A team like Brooklyn should take Coward with one of their picks in the 20's.

He will immediately get minutes. This team does not have a jumbo creator and neither Shead or IQ bring that.
Perfect fit for Darko's system and at the PG position will have ++ length/height to help on both ends.

[WuTang_CMB]

The Toronto Raptors fell from seventh to ninth in the lottery but have historically selected well in this position several times.

“Tracy McGrady. DeMar DeRozan. Jakob Poeltl,” as Raptors executive Masai Ujiri recounted previous Raptors selections at No. 9 overall. “We’ll be fine. I guarantee you we’ll be fine.”

With a healthy Brandon Ingram in the fold for next season, Ujiri and the organization are looking for a marked improvement.

“Continue to grow as a team,” Ujiri said regarding expectations for next season. “Everybody make a jump and see. Get BI (Ingram) back healthy and see how we all gel together. I think it’ll be great.”

Toronto will have some frontcourt decisions to make this offseason first, including what to do with RJ Barrett’s future, whether to extend center Jakob Poeltl, and whether or not they’ll re-sign Chris Boucher.

As previously reported on HoopsHype, the Raptors discussed trading Barrett in trade talks for Ingram before the Pelicans went with another package.

Poeltl is owed $19.5 million for the 2025-26 season and has a player option for the same figure for the 2026-27 season. Should Poeltl not get an extension done with Toronto, a team such as the Los Angeles Lakers – who are seeking an upgrade at center – could have trade interest. Poeltl has previously signaled he’d like to get an extension done and remain a Raptor, if possible, and Ujiri called him a “backbone” during his exit media availability.

Boucher, the longest-tenured Raptor, is valued and well-liked by many in Toronto’s organization. The question is if Ujiri wants to see more of what Jonathan Mogbo and Jamison Battle can do with more minutes, a scenario he also alluded to during his exit media availability.

With all this in mind, a rookie big man such as Derik Queen could make sense for Toronto.

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[OakleyDokely]

The (really) long boi's with 2025 stats.


C Coward, 6'5.25 height w/o shoes, 7'2.25 wingspan, 8'10 standing reach, 213 lbs, 21.7 years old, G/F
33.0 MIN, 17.7 PPG, 7.0 REB, 3.7 AST, 1.7 BLK, 0.8 STL, .557 FG (10.2 ATT), .400 3PT (5.0 ATT), .839 FT (5.2 ATT), .700 TS, 9.3 BPM, 22.1 USG

Y Lendeborg, 6'8.5 height w/o shoes, 7'4 wingspan, 9.0'5 standing reach, 234.6 lbs, 22.7 years old, F
33.6 MIN, 17.7 PPG, 11.4 REB, 4.2 AST, 1.8 BLK, 1.7 STL, .522 FG(12.3 ATT), .357 3PT(1.9 ATT), .757 FT(5.5 ATT), .592 TS, 11.2 BPM,23.9 USG

R Fleming, 6'8.25 height w/o shoes, 7'5.25 wingspan, 9'1.5 standing reach, 232.4 lbs, 20.9 years old, F/C
31.3 MIN, 14.7 PPG, 8.5 REB, 1.3 AST, 1.5 BLK, 1.4 STL, .531 FG (10.1 ATT), .390 3PT (4.5 ATT), .743 FT (2.9 ATT), .638 TS, 7.7 BPM, 21.2 USG

[Indeed]

because Kon is a better payer and had a significantly better season.

Before Jakucionis got injured, he was shooting better than Knueppel.
I am unsure how Knueppel is better, and even as you claimed to be significant, because stats wise he isn't.

Kon passes the eye test for me. Neither player will be 1st or 2nd option on a championship team, so they will need to be elite off the ball.. Jak played on ball most of the year, but he doesn't have the athleticism to be a great on ball player in the NBA. Kon has proven to be an elite off ball role player. I just haven't seen that from Jak.

Honestly.......I would draft his teammate Riley over Jakucionis. Just my opinion. I don’t see anything elite about his game that would give him any kind of advantage in the NBA.

I can't disagree Riley could be a better player eventually.

Meanwhile, I think championship teams need more than one handler, and Jakucionis would be the player on a championship team than Knueppel. We ended up with VanVleet over Green next to Lowry for that reason. Not many teams have a ball dominate guard these days to have the other guard being a pure shooter. And most of the shooters are at SF, where Knueppel may not be long enough to play that position (just another Dick to me).

[WuTang_CMB]

philly board post
BPM in related to draft

viewtopic.php?p=118573176#p118573176

[Brinbe]

espn2 showing the combine scrimmages now

schedule is also listing it on nba tv canada but it's not on there

[WuTang_CMB]

Combine games on now on espn 2

[BoyzNTheHood]

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The masses are lost as usual.

How, all fair options, all fit a need, those are pretty rational from a fanbase perspective actually lol

Maluach with a 20 vote advantage is wild. He’s not good.

[Brinbe]

lots of interesting prospects on team domercant

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[WuTang_CMB]

The masses are lost as usual.

How, all fair options, all fit a need, those are pretty rational from a fanbase perspective actually lol

Maluach with a 20 vote advantage is wild. He’s not good.

This is giving me Skal Labissiere vibes (not the comps) but how everyone was locked in on him and Masai said nah

[DG88]

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[Indeed]

If we stay at #9, I think this is the kind of player I'd want to take a chance on. He's at the top of my list followed by Fleming and Coward but I'm hoping we can acquire a later pick to grab one of those guys.

I just don't see him taking minutes from Walter/Shead. Coward may be a good bench scoring option right now and make take a while to get PT like Aaron Nesmith. A team like Brooklyn should take Coward with one of their picks in the 20's.

He will immediately get minutes. This team does not have a jumbo creator and neither Shead or IQ bring that.
Perfect fit for Darko's system and at the PG position will have ++ length/height to help on both ends.

If you are referring to Jakucionis, he is unlikely the defender you want at PG. I think the better option is Philon down the 1st.
Coward being senior could be in the late 1st by a playoff team.