2025 Draft Thread - Part 2

[dorianwrite]

Muluach free throw shooting coordination tells me his hands are going to develop. His form is Very rare for a 7-2 guy. He shows really good bbiq.
His FT shooting.. it looks more coordinated than Shaqs, Dikembe.
Muluach free throw shooting reveals his unlicked potential. Very hard to get to where his with that form from a muscle memory perspective for a big.
Rare to find this trait in a young shot blocking big. So FT form of Muluach catapults him to top 5.

The only problem is that he actually doesn’t block many shots for a rim protector

That must be part of his "unlicked potential."

[NatP4]

Watch on YouTube

Watch on YouTube

[TGW]

Carter Bryant scored in double digits 5 times in 37 games. He also took no foul shots in almost half of the games played. Those are massive red flags. You better be a stud at everything else if you're this much of a self-check offensively.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Muluach free throw shooting coordination tells me his hands are going to develop. His form is Very rare for a 7-2 guy. He shows really good bbiq.
His FT shooting.. it looks more coordinated than Shaqs, Dikembe.
Muluach free throw shooting reveals his unlicked potential. Very hard to get to where his with that form from a muscle memory perspective for a big.
Rare to find this trait in a young shot blocking big. So FT form of Muluach catapults him to top 5.

Muluach free throw shooting coordination tells me his hands are going to develop. His form is Very rare for a 7-2 guy. He shows really good bbiq.
His FT shooting.. it looks more coordinated than Shaqs, Dikembe.
Muluach free throw shooting reveals his unlicked potential. Very hard to get to where his with that form from a muscle memory perspective for a big.
Rare to find this trait in a young shot blocking big. So FT form of Muluach catapults him to top 5.

Khaman Maluach shoots with great form from the free throw line. His shot reminds me of that of Robert Parish.

[WizarDynasty]

Muluach free throw shooting coordination tells me his hands are going to develop. His form is Very rare for a 7-2 guy. He shows really good bbiq.
His FT shooting.. it looks more coordinated than Shaqs, Dikembe.
Muluach free throw shooting reveals his unlicked potential. Very hard to get to where his with that form from a muscle memory perspective for a big.
Rare to find this trait in a young shot blocking big. So FT form of Muluach catapults him to top 5.

Muluach free throw shooting coordination tells me his hands are going to develop. His form is Very rare for a 7-2 guy. He shows really good bbiq.
His FT shooting.. it looks more coordinated than Shaqs, Dikembe.
Muluach free throw shooting reveals his unlicked potential. Very hard to get to where his with that form from a muscle memory perspective for a big.
Rare to find this trait in a young shot blocking big. So FT form of Muluach catapults him to top 5.

Khaman Maluach shoots with great form from the free throw line. His shot reminds me of that of Robert Parish.

His shooting form is better than Parish's form. Getting a Parish clone would be a god send for this team. Muluach doesn't match anything close to Parish body movement speed shifting your shoulders quickly and under control, parish could do finger rolls at the rim, and foot coordination speed. Maluach does have better shooting coordination than Parish on his jumpshot for sure.

A player we know pretty well. Javale McGee. Muluach shows a much stronger base than javale. Shows much more upper body strength when banging against bigs. Muluach seems to have a better frame for pick and rolls than javale did. Javale never had the strengths to catch the ball consistently on the block and score inside. He would always gets push off his spot due to his weak base? Does Muluach have this same problem in the future?

[AFM]

Muluach free throw shooting coordination tells me his hands are going to develop. His form is Very rare for a 7-2 guy. He shows really good bbiq.
His FT shooting.. it looks more coordinated than Shaqs, Dikembe.
Muluach free throw shooting reveals his unlicked potential. Very hard to get to where his with that form from a muscle memory perspective for a big.
Rare to find this trait in a young shot blocking big. So FT form of Muluach catapults him to top 5.

Muluach free throw shooting coordination tells me his hands are going to develop. His form is Very rare for a 7-2 guy. He shows really good bbiq.
His FT shooting.. it looks more coordinated than Shaqs, Dikembe.
Muluach free throw shooting reveals his unlicked potential. Very hard to get to where his with that form from a muscle memory perspective for a big.
Rare to find this trait in a young shot blocking big. So FT form of Muluach catapults him to top 5.

Khaman Maluach shoots with great form from the free throw line. His shot reminds me of that of Robert Parish.

His shooting form is better than Parish's form. Getting a Parish clone would be a god send for this team. Muluach doesn't match anything close to Parish body movement speed shifting your shoulders quickly and under control, parish could do finger rolls at the rim, and foot coordination speed. Maluach does have better shooting coordination than Parish on his jumpshot for sure.

Are you going to tell us who the possible engines are in this draft? Like who are the top 5 with engine potential?

[nate33]

I think I'm leaning toward Maluach at #6 assuming Johnson is off the board. He is excellent in pick-and-roll defense with his ability to guard both the ball handler and roll-man with his huge frame and long arms. I figure his floor is a Donovan Clingan/Jakob Poeltl tier defensive stalwart drop big. That may not that great value at #6, but at least there's very little bust potential.

Then you have to factor the upside. He is a reliable FT shooter which might open up a Robert Parish type of midrange game (nod to CCJ). And he is so young with so much physical development and coordination improvement ahead of him, it's hard to project how agile he will become. He has Rudy Gobert potential defensively, and he has shown a few flashes of a turnaround jumper and perhaps some 3-point range. And by all accounts, he is a smart guy and a quick learner.

If it comes down to Maluach versus Fears or Knueppel, I think I'm going with Maluach. To me, the only other guy that has enough star upside to intrigue me is Essengue. I suck at evaluating guys from foreign leagues because I don't have a good sense of how the leagues compare, so I will defer to others on him. But if Dawkins and Co. like him, I'm open-minded about it.

[WizarDynasty]

Khaman Maluach shoots with great form from the free throw line. His shot reminds me of that of Robert Parish.

His shooting form is better than Parish's form. Getting a Parish clone would be a god send for this team. Muluach doesn't match anything close to Parish body movement speed shifting your shoulders quickly and under control, parish could do finger rolls at the rim, and foot coordination speed. Maluach does have better shooting coordination than Parish on his jumpshot for sure.

Are you going to tell us who the possible engines are in this draft? Like who are the top 5 with engine potential?

I don't see any players that shot .50 percent with high volume at the top of the draft. Harper, maybe but he is going 2nd. Maybe there are some foreign players that we can develop like a Giannis Clone. Not sure. Very hard to trade for a 25 year old engine unless he is giving his team serious problems.

[mhd]

I think I'm leaning toward Maluach at #6 assuming Johnson is off the board. He is excellent in pick-and-roll defense with his ability to guard both the ball handler and roll-man with his huge frame and long arms. I figure his floor is a Donovan Clingan/Jakob Poeltl tier defensive stalwart drop big. That may not that great value at #6, but at least there's very little bust potential.

Then you have to factor the upside. He is a reliable FT shooter which might open up a Robert Parish type of midrange game (nod to CCJ). And he is so young with so much physical development and coordination improvement ahead of him, it's hard to project how agile he will become. He has Rudy Gobert potential defensively, and he has shown a few flashes of a turnaround jumper and perhaps some 3-point range. And by all accounts, he is a smart guy and a quick learner.

If it comes down to Maluach versus Fears or Knueppel, I think I'm going with Maluach. To me, the only other guy that has enough star upside to intrigue me is Essengue. I suck at evaluating guys from foreign leagues because I don't have a good sense of how the leagues compare, so I will defer to others on him. But if Dawkins and Co. like him, I'm open-minded about it.

My first option is to trade away 6 all together for future first round picks. The Spurs got a future minny unprotected first and top 1 swap rights for 8 last year.

If we can’t get that type of deal, then I’m looking to Orlando to see if they want Frears and will give us their swap rights to the worst of Phoenix and our pick (after we exercise our swap rights).

If no one wants to trade up to 6, reluctantly, I’ll probably take Maluach.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

The draft I want for the Wizards ....

#6. Carter Bryant
#18 Drake Powell
#40 Yanic Konan Niederhauser


Bring in these 3 rookies, all athletic, defense first, positional size, length, high motor, team oriented, hard working, high upside.

Not players who will come in and shoot it every time they touch it. Not players who will not give effort on D or can't defend. Not players who will go ISO and dribble the air out the ball til 5 seconds on shot and go 1 on 3 while everyone stands and watches. NO.

Bring in these 3. Deal Poole + Kispert to a team looking for offense for 1 expiring (+ future 2nds?).

This season is DEVELOPMENT, with Coach Keefe. Focus is team defense. Defense and defense. Ball movement. Everybody eats. Not watch Poole do all the scoring. Move the ball. Players like Bub, Kyshawn, AJ, Bryant, Bilal, Sarr will have to learn to score, learn to get their shot off. Set screens. Off ball movement, cutting to the basket, making the defense work. Making your shots. Getting rebounds, boxing out, getting loose balls, playing defense, getting turnovers to create fastbreaks, playing UPTEMPO. Out hustling the opponent.

THAT IS THE FOCUS OF THIS SEASON. Development. Culture. Establishing a mindset of TEAM and DEFENSE and SHARING THE BALL and HUSTLE. Play the young players full time with the vets/mentors to supplement.

C - Sarr, Tristan, Niederhauser
PF- Sarr, Bryant, Kyshawn, JC
SF- Bryant, Kyshawn, Bilal, JC
SG- Bilal, Powell, Colby Jones
PG- Bub, AJ

Work in Smart, Middleton, Bey enough to teach by doing, to show they are healthy, to stay in game shape and stay healthy, and produce enough with the intention of moving at deadline for draft capital.

The intention of the season is developing youth, establishing the culture of hustle and hunger, team and defense. Don't back down. This will ensure a top 5 pick in an extremely talented at the top draft to get our build around player and bring him in to a strong foundation already in place of youth and defense.

This draft is where that foundation is cemented.

Watch on YouTube

Watch on YouTube

Watch on YouTube

This is the way.....

Dude wants to draft 3 non-engines.

Carter Bryant scored in double digits 5 times in 37 games. He also took no foul shots in almost half of the games played. Those are massive red flags. You better be a stud at everything else if you're this much of a self-check offensively.

I'm old school. Forget how he looks on video, how high he jumps, or how he runs and pivots in a gym. BASKETBALL GAME STATISTICS matter the most.

https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/players/carter-bryant-1/gamelog/2025

Bryant had low offensive production. Non-engine and self-check offensively apply. His game logs and game scores show Bryant is flat out bad on offense. On the positive side, CB posted 2+2=4 stocks per 100 possessions. His rebound numbers pop. His strength is defense as a wing. However, he's not a #6 pick. Btryant played 37 games and AVERAGED 6.5 points, 4 rebounds.

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

Nah, man. Bryant at #18 is fine, but that's who Bilal is supposed to be.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Drake Powell?

https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/players/drake-powell-1/gamelog/2025

37 games. 25.6 mins/game. 7.4 points. 3.4 rebounds, 1.1 assists in the weak ACC.

https://nbadraftroom.com/drake-powell/

Come on, man!

Drake Powell??? Shania Twain put it best. "That don't impress me much."

If a player runs, jumps, and defends multiple positions, that's all that matters, apparently. That's only one side of the court.

The Wizards draft caboose players. They wonder why they lose. Non-engines all the way. Powell belongs in the first round, but I believe he's not dissimilar to Kyshawn George and Bilal Coulibaly. They are green and unskilled.

Why not draft a complete player who defends and is skilled offensively?

By skilled, I mean they are three-level scorers who are not defensive liabilities.

[nate33]

I think I'm leaning toward Maluach at #6 assuming Johnson is off the board. He is excellent in pick-and-roll defense with his ability to guard both the ball handler and roll-man with his huge frame and long arms. I figure his floor is a Donovan Clingan/Jakob Poeltl tier defensive stalwart drop big. That may not that great value at #6, but at least there's very little bust potential.

Then you have to factor the upside. He is a reliable FT shooter which might open up a Robert Parish type of midrange game (nod to CCJ). And he is so young with so much physical development and coordination improvement ahead of him, it's hard to project how agile he will become. He has Rudy Gobert potential defensively, and he has shown a few flashes of a turnaround jumper and perhaps some 3-point range. And by all accounts, he is a smart guy and a quick learner.

If it comes down to Maluach versus Fears or Knueppel, I think I'm going with Maluach. To me, the only other guy that has enough star upside to intrigue me is Essengue. I suck at evaluating guys from foreign leagues because I don't have a good sense of how the leagues compare, so I will defer to others on him. But if Dawkins and Co. like him, I'm open-minded about it.

My first option is to trade away 6 all together for future first round picks. The Spurs got a future minny unprotected first and top 1 swap rights for 8 last year.

If we can’t get that type of deal, then I’m looking to Orlando to see if they want Frears and will give us their swap rights to the worst of Phoenix and our pick (after we exercise our swap rights).

If no one wants to trade up to 6, reluctantly, I’ll probably take Maluach.

Sure. A trade would be fine too. It would have to be a trade where we are rewarded for our patience though. A #6 in this draft should be worth a #5 or a #4 in a future draft. And it's hard to pick a trade partner who will reliably be so bad in a future year who is also willing to give up a pick.

I don't want to trade our #6 and then have our trade partner pull off a Detroit Pistons type of turnaround and end up sticking us with the #17 pick. I'd probably play it safe and just trade down to #8 with Brooklyn plus another future pick (presumably a later FRP).

[tontoz]

@ Bryant being "bad" on offense when most of his shots are 3s and he has a 59% TS. Just because he played only 19 minutes per game doesn't mean he is a self check.

[AFM]

His shooting form is better than Parish's form. Getting a Parish clone would be a god send for this team. Muluach doesn't match anything close to Parish body movement speed shifting your shoulders quickly and under control, parish could do finger rolls at the rim, and foot coordination speed. Maluach does have better shooting coordination than Parish on his jumpshot for sure.

Are you going to tell us who the possible engines are in this draft? Like who are the top 5 with engine potential?

I don't see any players that shot .50 percent with high volume at the top of the draft. Harper, maybe but he is going 2nd. Maybe there are some foreign players that we can develop like a Giannis Clone. Not sure. Very hard to trade for a 25 year old engine unless he is giving his team serious problems.

Maybe not 50 percent but Johnson can shoot 40% from 3 on high volume.

[TGW]

:lol: @ Bryant being "bad" on offense when most of his shots are 3s and he has a 59% TS. Just because he played only 19 minutes per game doesn't mean he is a self check.

He has the usage rate of a rim running / dunker's spot center as a wing. In the nba, wings like that are a liability.

[tontoz]

:lol: @ Bryant being "bad" on offense when most of his shots are 3s and he has a 59% TS. Just because he played only 19 minutes per game doesn't mean he is a self check.

He has the usage rate of a rim running / dunker's spot center as a wing. In the nba, wings like that are a liability.

Oh really? Here are the 3&D guys i see in the conference finals.

Dort
Naz
Caruso
McDaniels
Nesmith
OG

I am probably forgetting some guys. Are any of these guys a liability?

Arizona was 3rd in the NCAA in scoring. They didn't need him to score. Just because he played a limited role as a freshman behind upper classmen on a good team doesn't make him a self check.

[nate33]

:lol: @ Bryant being "bad" on offense when most of his shots are 3s and he has a 59% TS. Just because he played only 19 minutes per game doesn't mean he is a self check.

He has the usage rate of a rim running / dunker's spot center as a wing. In the nba, wings like that are a liability.

I think "liability" is overstating it. But the likelihood is that he pans out as a Danny Green/Shane Battier type of 3&D wing. Those guys can certainly help a team, but do you draft them at #6?

I guess there's an argument. I believe Battier went #6 in the Kwame draft and turned out to be one of the better picks in that draft. At some point in a draft, the guys with star potential are gone and it's time to draft for reliable role players instead.

I guess what I'm saying is that drafting Bryant is probably only justified based on pessimism on the rest of this draft. I wouldn't draft Bryant with the expectation that he could be a star.

[WizarDynasty]

Are you going to tell us who the possible engines are in this draft? Like who are the top 5 with engine potential?

I don't see any players that shot .50 percent with high volume at the top of the draft. Harper, maybe but he is going 2nd. Maybe there are some foreign players that we can develop like a Giannis Clone. Not sure. Very hard to trade for a 25 year old engine unless he is giving his team serious problems.

Maybe not 50 percent but Johnson can shoot 40% from 3 on high volume.

An Engine produces high volume points at .50 or above. Volume 3's get canceled out by reduction in free throws. Now if he were shooting volumes three and lead the league in FTA, then we could consider him as possible engine but his overall fg% should be close to or above .50.
Kevin Durant is a prime example of a high volume 3 point shooter who shoots above .50 percent. Stick to the rule of shooting .50 with high volume and you escape alot of problems.
3 point shooting is always a by product of someone else forcing your man to leave you open from a drive. The player who is scoring volume and .50 is the one creating opportunities for your high volume 3 point shooter. If Johnson isn't leading the nation at getting to the line as a guard, then he isn't an engine especially if he is not shooting volume at .50 percent.
So again, rarely are you getting a steph curry volume 3 point shooter and even curry had to be in a special system with special players before he could reach .50 shooting with volume. He did it 2014 to 2016 where he was dropping 2,000 points at .50 shooting.

[80sballboy]

Givony gave his top 100 this morning. No real shockers early with Tre at No. 5, Maluach at No. 6, Kon at 8, Egor at 11, Bryant at 12, Queen at 13 and Sorber at 18. Said Knueppel is slated for athletic testing in the coming weeks since he didn't do it at the combine due to an injury. Assuming he's running a lot of sprints to take some of that baby fat off
.
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/41662748/2025-nba-draft-big-board-rankings-top-100-prospects-players

[tontoz]

Givony gave his top 100 this morning. No real shockers early with Tre at No. 5, Maluach at No. 6, Kon at 8, Egor at 11, Bryant at 12, Queen at 13 and Sorber at 18. Said Knueppel is slated for athletic testing in the coming weeks since he didn't do it at the combine due to an injury. Assuming he's running a lot of sprints to take some of that baby fat off
.
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/41662748/2025-nba-draft-big-board-rankings-top-100-prospects-players

Interesting that he has Fleming at 26 and Coward at 29.