2025 Draft Thread - Part 2

[nate33]

I’d have a hard time taking Tre Johnson at #6. Richardson was significantly more productive while being almost a full year younger. Traore also has much higher upside. Gotta trade down in that spot.

Jase Richardson is good, but he is 6'-0.5" tall. That doesn't bother you? The guy is nowhere near the minimum prerequisite size to avoid getting constantly targeted on defense. He is not even Darius Garland sized. He is Trae Young sized.

[NatP4]

I’d have a hard time taking Tre Johnson at #6. Richardson was significantly more productive while being almost a full year younger. Traore also has much higher upside. Gotta trade down in that spot.

Jase Richardson is good, but he is 6'-0.5" tall. That doesn't bother you? The guy is nowhere near the minimum prerequisite size to avoid getting constantly targeted on defense. He is not even Darius Garland sized. He is Trae Young sized.

He also doesn't turn 19 until October, could still grow. Pretty similar size to Young/Brunson/Conley/Murray/Lowry. I don't see anything to be concerned about, was a great defender in college.

Another great fit next to a combo guard that can play off the ball that has SG size/length in Carrington.

[DCZards]

I’d have a hard time taking Tre Johnson at #6. Richardson was significantly more productive while being almost a full year younger. Traore also has much higher upside. Gotta trade down in that spot.

I like Tre. Great size for a SG and all sorts of potential as a scorer. Needs to play better defense but that’s mostly about effort because he has the physical tools to be a very good defender.

Was a little undisciplined offensively in college. But that often happens when you’re the team’s best and primary offensive weapon. That should improve with maturity and better teammates.

I also like Richardson and would have no problem drafting him if he were there at 18 or the Zards move up. He’s small but solidly built…not unlike Donovan Mitchell who is less than an inch taller than Jase, according to their combine numbers. He’ll need a better handle to play PG…but I see a lot of upside in him as a combo guard.

In fact, I’d be very happy with Maluach and Richardson with our FRPs.

[nate33]

I’d have a hard time taking Tre Johnson at #6. Richardson was significantly more productive while being almost a full year younger. Traore also has much higher upside. Gotta trade down in that spot.

Jase Richardson is good, but he is 6'-0.5" tall. That doesn't bother you? The guy is nowhere near the minimum prerequisite size to avoid getting constantly targeted on defense. He is not even Darius Garland sized. He is Trae Young sized.

He also doesn't turn 19 until October, could still grow. Pretty similar size to Young/Brunson/Conley/Murray/Lowry. I don't see anything to be concerned about, was a great defender in college.

Another great fit next to a combo guard that can play off the ball that has SG size/length in Carrington.

I like Richardson, but he just doesn't meet the minimum height requirements for this ride. I don't think you can win in this league with a diminutive PG. They're liabilities in the playoffs once you run into a team with a big playmaking wing.

Those are the type of guys you take with a late FRP with the assumption that they will be a quality 3rd guard. Once in a blue moon, those guys turn out to be MVP tier offensive players who can offset their defensive liabilities (like Brunson), but I just wouldn't bet on it. Mostly, they end up as regular season players who underperform in the playoffs (Trae Young, Darius Garland).

[Dat2U]

Jase Richardson is good, but he is 6'-0.5" tall. That doesn't bother you? The guy is nowhere near the minimum prerequisite size to avoid getting constantly targeted on defense. He is not even Darius Garland sized. He is Trae Young sized.

He also doesn't turn 19 until October, could still grow. Pretty similar size to Young/Brunson/Conley/Murray/Lowry. I don't see anything to be concerned about, was a great defender in college.

Another great fit next to a combo guard that can play off the ball that has SG size/length in Carrington.

I like Richardson, but he just doesn't meet the minimum height requirements for this ride. I don't think you can win in this league with a diminutive PG. They're liabilities in the playoffs once you run into a team with a big playmaking wing.

Those are the type of guys you take with a late FRP with the assumption that they will be a quality 3rd guard. Once in a blue moon, those guys turn out to be MVP tier offensive players who can offset their defensive liabilities (like Brunson), but I just wouldn't bet on it. Mostly, they end up as regular season players who underperform in the playoffs (Trae Young, Darius Garland).

I won't go that far. Trae's issue has alot to do the effort ... but didn't they just make the Conference Finals a few years back? Brunson is doing just fine. Its about the fight in the player more than the size.

I love Jase watching from a distance but the damning piece for me is he's not even a PG so you would still need a smallish player with him to handle the rock alongside him. I can't see him being a PG when he only has one hand.

[nate33]

I love CMB in the abstract as a small ball 5, but we can already go to the small ball 5 look with Sarr as a 5 so I don't really see the benefit. I think CMB makes a lot more sense on other rosters.

Looks like Sorber is going to be mostly a drop coverage 5 at the next level. Something like a Wendell Carter/Al Horford ceiling? Do you see Sarr as a long term 4? I think his true upside is as a rim protecting switch everything 5 with a vulnerability to low post/interior players& rebounding/boxing out.

The Wizards need to find a player that fits as an interior defender/rebounder, that can still allow them to play a switch heavy defense/function as a true PF/Wing. To me, that is CMB.

If the Wizards are going up against a stretch 5 or a non-offensive threat center, then I expect the Wizards to mostly roll with Sarr at the 5 while playing Sorber as the backup 5 for 18 minutes a night. But in match-ups against a real post center like Jokic, Embiid, Valanciunas, Sabonis or a massive offensive rebounder type like Robinson or Stevens, I think the Wizards will need a full-sized center to match up. That's where Sorber would play the 5 for 30 minutes a night and Sarr would play the remaining center minutes plus 15-20 minutes at the 4 spot. The combo of the two guys gives the team matchup versatility. If the Wizards only had Sarr and CMB as centers, they could certainly run small-ball switch-everything sets for 48 minutes, but they wouldn't really have an answer for the 8-10 teams with behemoth centers that can overpower our undersized centers.

[dckingsfan]

Interesting... I wonder what side the Wizard's FO is on? To diminutive or has the dog for the fight.

[dckingsfan]

I love CMB in the abstract as a small ball 5, but we can already go to the small ball 5 look with Sarr as a 5 so I don't really see the benefit. I think CMB makes a lot more sense on other rosters.

Looks like Sorber is going to be mostly a drop coverage 5 at the next level. Something like a Wendell Carter/Al Horford ceiling? Do you see Sarr as a long term 4? I think his true upside is as a rim protecting switch everything 5 with a vulnerability to low post/interior players& rebounding/boxing out.

The Wizards need to find a player that fits as an interior defender/rebounder, that can still allow them to play a switch heavy defense/function as a true PF/Wing. To me, that is CMB.

With respect to both of you. I think the player we want will either have to come from FA or in another draft.

I think we are looking for our backup C in this draft (with one of our later two picks). Of course, who we draft could surprise us! So there is that...

[nate33]

I like Richardson, but he just doesn't meet the minimum height requirements for this ride. I don't think you can win in this league with a diminutive PG. They're liabilities in the playoffs once you run into a team with a big playmaking wing.

Those are the type of guys you take with a late FRP with the assumption that they will be a quality 3rd guard. Once in a blue moon, those guys turn out to be MVP tier offensive players who can offset their defensive liabilities (like Brunson), but I just wouldn't bet on it. Mostly, they end up as regular season players who underperform in the playoffs (Trae Young, Darius Garland).

I won't go that far. Trae's issue has alot to do the effort ... but didn't they just make the Conference Finals a few years back? Brunson is doing just fine. Its about the fight in the player more than the size.

I love Jase watching from a distance but the damning piece for me is he's not even a PG so you would still need a smallish player with him to handle the rock alongside him. I can't see him being a PG when he only has one hand.

It's only viable if your undersized guard is an elite MVP-caliber offensive player so good that his elite offense can outweigh his detrimental impact on defense. Brunson is about the only guy that meets this threshold. (Maybe you can put younger Steph Curry in this category before he bulked up enough to hold up defensively in switches.) And, while I think Richardson is good, I'm not going to project Brunson-tier or Curry-tier offensive excellence on him.

EDIT: Oh, and that Trae Young semi-conference finals run was a fluke. The were substantially outscored over the course of the series but won 3 games over Philly by less than 5 points each. The Hawks haven't won a single playoff series in any of the other 6 years of Trae's career.

[NatP4]

Mike Conley? Kyle Lowry? Tony Parker? Chris Paul? Kyrie Irving? Free VanVleet? De’Aaron Fox? Jamal Murray?

Is anyone projecting MVP-caliber Brunson/Curry offense from him? Also, why would anyone compare Richardson to Trae Young defensively?

[TGW]

I really like Richardson as well, although his assist numbers are paltry. Great ast:to ratio though.

If the Wizards are serious about actually developing some winning habits, a CMB/Richardson draft would be it.

[nate33]

Mike Conley? Kyle Lowry? Tony Parker? Chris Paul? Kyrie Irving? Free VanVleet? De’Aaron Fox? Jamal Murray?

Is anyone projecting MVP-caliber Brunson/Curry offense from him? Also, why would anyone compare Richardson to Trae Young defensively?

Tony Parker was in a different era. Likewise, Conley's playoff success was mostly in the pre-switch-everything era. Kyrie Irving is 6'-2". Murray is 6'-5" in shoes (so probably 6'-3.5"). Fox is 6'-2" and hasn't won a playoff series.

I'll give you Lowry and VanVleet. But those guys are fire hydrants and manage to hold up in switches because they are impossible to back down. I'm not sure that Richardson has that body type.

Note, this is all in the context of drafting Richardson at #6. If he is available at #18, that's a different story entirely. As I said, I like him. I just don't want to spend our #6 pick on a guy that probably can't stay on the floor in a second round series of the playoffs. I need a legit starter who can start against any type of matchup.

[The Consiglieri]

I love CMB in the abstract as a small ball 5, but we can already go to the small ball 5 look with Sarr as a 5 so I don't really see the benefit. I think CMB makes a lot more sense on other rosters.

Looks like Sorber is going to be mostly a drop coverage 5 at the next level. Something like a Wendell Carter/Al Horford ceiling? Do you see Sarr as a long term 4? I think his true upside is as a rim protecting switch everything 5 with a vulnerability to low post/interior players& rebounding/boxing out.

The Wizards need to find a player that fits as an interior defender/rebounder, that can still allow them to play a switch heavy defense/function as a true PF/Wing. To me, that is CMB.

With respect to both of you. I think the player we want will either have to come from FA or in another draft.

I think we are looking for our backup C in this draft (with one of our later two picks). Of course, who we draft could surprise us! So there is that...

I wonder if one of the insiders will take this on or not, because to me, what do we really have exactly?

Sarr-4/5
Bilal-3
George-2
Bub-1/2

Wildcard:
AJ Johnson 1/2


I don't really feel like they are locked in on anyone of long term interest beyond Sarr, Bilal and Bub, AJ Johnson is the wild card, I'm not sure if they consider him high ceiling/low floor, a long term piece, a wild card or what. I know, or feel I know he's that guy that they're rolling the dice on, hoping he can become his high end result.

But honestly, are they really fixated at all on positional issues in this draft? Do they really care that much about what positions players play? I tend to think that 18 is probably a big man, not because they are trying to find their Center, but because the best talent projected to go in that 12-20 area are primarily bigs: CMB, Sorber, Queen, Beringer, Essengue, Wolf, Newell, Lendenbourg, even Carter Bryant, the only smalls in that zone are the two guys everyone hates (Demin and Kasparas), and Traore and McNeely.

I have a hard time they would be so short sighted as to want to find a positional fit at 18 (or a traded up pick) rather than the best option they can find in terms of talent, period. We might have 3 guys here, right now, tops 4, who are likely to be here four years from now, I really hope they aren't going to look at 18 as a pick to solve a positional problem, but rather as an asset to try and acquire the most talented player possible, at slot, period.

To be sure, I have no idea who that guy is going to be, but for now anyway, there's about 8-9 guys that are bigs or near bigs, and only 3-4 guys that are Guards. I'm hoping that after their evals, the target is simply the guy that they think will be the best player, for sure, taken in that zone, regardless of position. If it's one of the few guards, take him, if it's a big, take him, but do not worry about out fit right now, because we don't have much of a core to begin with, and zero stars, we don't know what the best version of this team will look like by August '27, but only then should we really care about positional fits, to me anyway, right now, we need talent, period, and the best talent possible, we can always trade for fit, draft for ceiling/talent.

[nate33]

Looks like Sorber is going to be mostly a drop coverage 5 at the next level. Something like a Wendell Carter/Al Horford ceiling? Do you see Sarr as a long term 4? I think his true upside is as a rim protecting switch everything 5 with a vulnerability to low post/interior players& rebounding/boxing out.

The Wizards need to find a player that fits as an interior defender/rebounder, that can still allow them to play a switch heavy defense/function as a true PF/Wing. To me, that is CMB.

With respect to both of you. I think the player we want will either have to come from FA or in another draft.

I think we are looking for our backup C in this draft (with one of our later two picks). Of course, who we draft could surprise us! So there is that...

I wonder if one of the insiders will take this on or not, because to me, what do we really have exactly?

Sarr-4/5
Bilal-3
George-2
Bub-1/2

Wildcard:
AJ Johnson 1/2

A player's position is who he can guard. George is a 3/4, not a 2.

We have:
Carrington - 1/2
AJ Johnson - 1/2
Bilal - 2/3
Champagne - 3
George - 3/4
Sarr - 4/5

I agree with you that fit is a much lower priority than talent. I don't really care what position we draft with any of our picks as I'm only convinced that one young player on the roster is sure to pan out as a starter on a playoff team (Bilal). Don't get me wrong, I think all of our young guys have a chance at panning out as starters, particularly Bub and Sarr, but I don't consider it a sure thing. Those guys might just pan out to be rotation players: 5th-8th men.

I do think that the middle of this draft is shaping up to be strong with big men: 4's, 5's and 4/5's. With that the case, and with our lack of any beefy bigs on the roster, I think it might be a great opportunity to add one.

[The Consiglieri]

With respect to both of you. I think the player we want will either have to come from FA or in another draft.

I think we are looking for our backup C in this draft (with one of our later two picks). Of course, who we draft could surprise us! So there is that...

I wonder if one of the insiders will take this on or not, because to me, what do we really have exactly?

Sarr-4/5
Bilal-3
George-2
Bub-1/2

Wildcard:
AJ Johnson 1/2

A player's position is who he can guard. George is a 3/4, not a 2.

We have:
Carrington - 1/2
AJ Johnson - 1/2
Bilal - 2/3
Champagne - 3
George - 3/4
Sarr - 4/5

I agree with you that fit is a much lower priority than talent. I don't really care what position we draft with any of our picks as I'm only convinced that one young player on the roster is sure to pan out as a starter on a playoff team (Bilal). Don't get me wrong, I think all of our young guys have a chance at panning out as starters, particularly Bub and Sarr, but I don't consider it a sure thing. Those guys might just pan out to be rotation players: 5th-8th men.

I do think that the middle of this draft is shaping up to be strong with big men: 4's, 5's and 4/5's. With that the case, and with our lack of any beefy bigs on the roster, I think it might be a great opportunity to add one.

I defer to your understanding of the game, pretty obviously, I just think some people, heck a lot of people, are thinking at this from the wrong angle: how to solve positional weaknesses, when what I don't even think that's really going to be any priority whatsoever until the 2nd pick used in '26 at the earliest. I also think you're right on the core.

Bilal is a guy with a high enough floor, and that defensive side to be a core piece.

I think Bub is either an averages starter, or a top end bench option, but I also just am not sure at what his ceiling is, considering his growth and performance during the season, if he fixes his inside issues, he has a lot of potential, same with Sarr, but they are both if's large enough that you simply can't count on them.

And yeah, in terms of bigs, I agree, where I disagree w/people, and its probably more from a product of what I'd do, then being certain its what they'd do, is that I don't think they're trying to solve certain issues from the team offensively or defensively and more a product of them just targeting who they think the best player is, 5+ years from now, from that pile of bigs, and Traore and the other guards. It is in my view, the proper way to build in a league like this. Aim high, period, don't draft for fit when you have a roster like ours, swing for the fences. The only quibble I can give creedence to is the fact that sometimes a player of moderate upside, and high floor can just be valuable as a trade asset.

Will be interesting to see where they go. A year ago, I thought the George and Bub picks weren't terribly upsides, but I think guys like you knew better, they both simply had assets I did not recognize. Not sure who would be that this cycle round, but yeah, I expect them to swing really big. I don't want floor options, I don't want guys that can perform a role, I want guys that a have a chance to be truly great, even if its only a 5-10, or 15% chance, hell, that was our odds of winning the lottery anyway or close to it.

[DCZards]

Consig, I think most here would agree that talent and not positional fit or need should be the priority for the Zards.

Having said that, if, for example, Maluach is the #6 pick, I would not want the Zards to pick another big like Sorber with the 18th pick.

Be kinda hard to try to develop Sarr, Maluach and Sorber simultaneously. I would prefer to take a swing at a guard like Richardson or a SF/PF like Fleming or Coward or Riley with that 18th pick.

[9 and 20]

Maluach and and Coward seems like very Dawkins-esque draft. Two very big swings. I'm good with it!

[Dat2U]

Maluach and and Coward seems like very Dawkins-esque draft. Two very big swings. I'm good with it!

Long athletic guys that can dribble, pass & shoot.

Sarr, Carrington, Coulibaly & George all have these traits.

I guess Malauch is long & athletic and Coward is long and can shoot.

I honestly don't know enough about Coward to have a real opinion yet. I'm naturally skeptical about a guy who wasn't on anyone's radar until Duke signed him some weeks back but I will do a deep dive on him soon.

But who fits all 5 markers? Who in this draft is long, athletic, can shoot, pass & dribble?

[mhd]

Maluach and and Coward seems like very Dawkins-esque draft. Two very big swings. I'm good with it!

Long athletic guys that can dribble, pass & shoot.

Sarr, Carrington, Coulibaly & George all have these traits.

I guess Malauch is long & athletic and Coward is long and can shoot.

I honestly don't know enough about Coward to have a real opinion yet. I'm naturally skeptical about a guy who wasn't on anyone's radar until Duke signed him some weeks back but I will do a deep dive on him soon.

But who fits all 5 markers? Who in this draft is long, athletic, can shoot, pass & dribble?

Which is why I’m very happy to trade 6 away for a better future unprotected first(s)

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Dream scenario is Tre Johnson at #6, Danny Wolf at #18, and absorb a bad contract or something to move up from #40 to the late 20's and grab Yaxel.

PG Carrington/AJ
SG Tre Johnson/Poole
SF Bilal/Champagnie
PF Kyshawn/Yaxel
C Sarr/Wolf

(And our veterans: Smart, Kispert, Middleton)

That's a team with length and athleticism at every position. There's no superstar, but there's a bunch of good young guys who could become quality two-way players. I suppose Sarr, Tre, and Bilal have at least a remote chance of becoming true stars.

Yeah, I'd very happy with that as well. I think Wolf returns top 10 value if he shoots it well enough. He's a 'straw that stirs the drink' type that is offensive ceiling raiser at C.

Tre is just a rock solid prospect for me. The best and most complete shooter in the draft (C&S, off the dribble & movement shooting - coming off screens & curls) has a 6-11 wingspan and solid handle. I'm in, I'm not going to over think it. The defensive concerns can be addressed with effort. The role and shot selection concerns can be managed by coaching and better teammates. I'm not concerned. As he gets stronger, he can even improve as a finisher.

As much as I like Queen, Johnson really is a rock sold prospect.

He killed it as a scorer in the SEC as a freshman. He killed it at the NBA combine.

I guess the Wizards will just have 8 guards. Poole can be invisible. Bub and AJ can fuse into the same player. Ideas like Coulibaly and George being primary ball handlers at PG and SG can be shelved in infancy.

Johnson is BPA. Fit be damned. Queen fits, but to heck with that.