NBA DRAFT LOTTERY GT, 12 MAY 2025, 6 PM CT, CHICAGO, ESPN

[The Box Office]

Always remember, Tyrese Haliburton was my number one pick. I wrote this, over and over, many times BEFORE that Draft. I repeated the mantra. This board dismissed Hali.

Jase Richardson is our guy at number 12 (if he's available). But y'all are dismissing him anyway.

[Red Larrivee]

I would love to have nabbed Hali instead, but I'm not mad at the PWill pick. They went for a high ceiling guy, but it was a high-risk/high-reward swing that missed. Those usually miss, but if you hit, it changes the franchise trajectory. I got more upset when the prior regime went for perceived high floor guys in Carter and Douggy.

the fact that williams busted and haliburton turned into a star kind of underscores how misguided the traditional framing of "high ceiling" prospects is. haliburton was the safe, solid high-floor/low-ceiling guy in that draft!

i'm fairly certain there are more stars in the league who fit into the haliburton mold of "well, they're good players at the college/international level, but there are physical/athletic limitations that will keep them from being a star in the NBA" than the williams mold of "nothing about their on-court play to this point suggests this person is a high-impact basketball player, but if you squint and look at their physical/athletic attributes you can envision how they could be if everything breaks right"

Finally someone said it. All this revisionist history about Haliburton is ridiculous. He was very much considered a safe, low ceiling prospect and people here were mocking the fact that Paxson would've taken him. There was a time where the criticism was that we didn't take enough high risk prospects.

Taking prospects with favorable median outcomes is a good thing. You can end up with Aldridge and Haliburton instead of Thomas and Williams.

[MrSparkle]

I liked Hali a lot, too. He was safe with great ceiling imo. Dropping to 12 made no sense. Hard for me to not get behind a guy with high 3P/FT%, handles, elite vision, and crazy length for a PG.

For the record, I think “safe picks are bad picks” is just the goofiest draft cliche. There is nothing safe about drafting a McDermott, Redick or whatever your idea of a safe pick is (3-4Y all-american ncaa stat stuffer type? NBA body?). That’s called a waste of a lotto pick. There are certainly dangerous picks (Poku, Bennett, Wiseman… also LaMelo - until he proved he’s legit talent!).

Any GM who deliberately drafts a ceiling roleplayer in the top-14 should be relieved of his duties. TBF some people thought Doug might translate into a star scorer. Rich man’s Korver. I was not on board at all. I got behind him, being a Bulls fan and all, but him totally busting was no surprise. Truth is, he had PF sandbag feet with SF size, and a midpost game that classically suited the NCAA, not the NBA.

[Indomitable]

I liked Hali a lot, too. He was safe with great ceiling imo. Dropping to 12 made no sense. Hard for me to not get behind a guy with high 3P/FT%, handles, elite vision, and crazy length for a PG.

For the record, I think “safe picks are bad picks” is just the goofiest draft cliche. There is nothing safe about drafting a McDermott, Redick or whatever your idea of a safe pick is (3-4Y all-american ncaa stat stuffer type? NBA body?). That’s called a waste of a lotto pick. There are certainly dangerous picks (Poku, Bennett, Wiseman… also LaMelo - until he proved he’s legit talent!).

Any GM who deliberately drafts a ceiling roleplayer in the top-14 should be relieved of his duties. TBF some people thought Doug might translate into a star scorer. Rich man’s Korver. I was not on board at all. I got behind him, being a Bulls fan and all, but him totally busting was no surprise. Truth is, he had PF sandbag feet with SF size, and a midpost game that classically suited the NCAA, not the NBA.

You pick up those guys once you built your team.

I want someone who has motivation and a high ceiling.

[Guru]

I think at this point my ideal draft is a trade down to accumulate 2 firsts and get Yaxel and Maxime