2025 NBA Draft Discussion Part 8

[dagger]

I''m putting this video of Noa Essengue here because he's clearly a draft riser according to Givony who now has him #9 among draft candidates. I have no view on the Raptors drafting him, but he is at least one guy still playing meaningful games in a respected league. These highlights are from earlier this week when ULM eliminated Euroleague team ALBA Berlin in the German league quarters. He's a young 18, an FOW (Friend of Wemby) and we know the Raptors have been watching him all season, and as ULM is still playing, we may get more fresh video as the playoffs there progress.

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[Gavin_TDThree]

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Beautiful shooter and he doesn't look like the typical small guard...Hes got bounce...

Other than YT highlights I haven't watched a lot of Jase, can he play PG at the NBA level? If we can create advantages for his teammates and set the table then I see the appeal for sure

He played the PG position his whole career other than College season....He talked about it here in the Blazers workout vid about how he is going back to being a PG in the NBA so thats a good sign...

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Coach Izzo put him as a primary scorer because they had an already established 2 year PG in Fears .....He avrgd 5 Asts in HS and he has a pretty elite AST/TO Ratio....So that means hes pretty good at handling the ball and not turning it over much....He had 68 Ast and only 30 TO in this college season while not being asked to run the PG spot i think thats a positive sign for his Ast to improve...

He has a good handle and when you do see him pass he throws some nifty passes after breaking his man down off the dribble...I think he translates into a PG pretty easily especially if you give him lots of reps as the Primary Ball handler....As you can see in this pass highlight vid he looks comfortable with the ball in his hands and finding players for nifty dimes....

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If he were a full time SG that would be a little less appealing but i think since he has experience being the PG he has the ability to shift to the PG and be good at it...

Unreal response and super detailed! Really appreciate you taking the time to expand on this, thank you!

If he has a full-time PG in him that makes him a lot more interesting for sure

[niQ]

Lol

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[DG88]

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[WuTang_CMB]

9. Toronto Raptors: Cedric Coward, G, Washington State

Many executives around the NBA expect the Raptors to lean toward selecting a player that can help the team win games in the short-term with this pick, rather than a raw project. A number of choices would make sense here, but none more than Coward, who will be 22 years old as a rookie and has the maturity of a grown man, in part due to his fascinating journey: Coward has gone from a Division III player to a potential first-round pick in just a few years behind his rapid development into a prospect with a valued 3-and-D skill-set. At the draft combine, he was one of the biggest risers measuring in at 6-foot-5 barefoot with a 7-foot-2 wingspan, while shooting the hell out of the ball. And Coward brings even higher upside thanks to his passing vision. For more on Coward, watch or listen to my one-on-one interview with him.

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[dozo]

Lol

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Demin's combine increased his stock into the top 10. This is the trade opportunity raps mgmt should explore. I would try expand it to include Coby White.

Demin's reminds of Hedo Turkoglu.

Off topic: Cedric Coward reminds of a poor man's Joe Johnson.

[nowayguy]

KOC has moved Coward all the way up to 5 on his big board. I wonder if the update is based on things he's hearing or just him falling in love with a prospect.

[Dalek]

KOC has moved Coward all the way up to 5 on his big board. I wonder if the update is based on things he's hearing or just him falling in love with a prospect.

Reminder about KOC: "Why Killian Hayes Is the 2020 NBA Draft’s Top Prospect"
https://www.theringer.com/2020/04/15/nba-draft/nba-draft-killian-hayes-2020-top-prospect

[Yallbecrazy]

KOC has moved Coward all the way up to 5 on his big board. I wonder if the update is based on things he's hearing or just him falling in love with a prospect.

Reminder about KOC: "Why Killian Hayes Is the 2020 NBA Draft’s Top Prospect"
https://www.theringer.com/2020/04/15/nba-draft/nba-draft-killian-hayes-2020-top-prospect

Killian was almost good last season. Yes, he was the worst player in the NBA for a while before that.

[Psubs]

No he is not switchable, most draft scouting has him as drop coverage.
His lane agility and other quickness test are pretty much at the bottom.

Just hype.

Just watch some games of his? Duke were definitely not a team reliant on drop coverage, and had Maluach out on the perimeter quite often. He will of course get burned by a guy like Quickley, for example, if on an island but you ask him to switch for a few seconds on a small? That's what he was doing for a lot of the season and why people get excited when they watch him defensively.. this is not Hasheem Thabeet.

He may be at his BEST in drop coverage, but one of the attractive things about him is that he is mobile and you can run different defensive sets with him on the floor and he will cover an enormous amount of the court.

Look how much of the court he is covering here, just as an example -
https://www.reddit.com/r/NBA_Draft/comments/1hzk6dk/highlight_khaman_maluach_showcases_his_defensive/#:~:text=While%20he%20may%20not%20have,to%20the%207%2D12%20range.

The whole allure of KM is that he can defend and recover from the perimeter, its all over the scouting report and the tape. In 2025 no one's in love with a drop big.

I would take Rasheer Fleming before Maluach as Fleming can guard 2-5.

[Psubs]

Lol

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Demin's combine increased his stock into the top 10. This is the trade opportunity raps mgmt should explore. I would try expand it to include Coby White.

Demin's reminds of Hedo Turkoglu.

Off topic: Cedric Coward reminds of a poor man's Joe Johnson.

White and Buzelis might be the keepers to build with Demin. They more likely trade Ayo but I don't think Ayo takes minutes away from JaKobe.

[RapsFanInOhio]

My tiers right now:

Home Run:
Flagg, Harper, Bailey, Johnson, Edgecomb, Maluach

Would Be Excited:
Fears, Knueppel, Jak, Jase, Coward

Skeptical, But Fine (Trusting The FO):
Bryant, Essengue, Queen, McNeely, Sorber

Do Not Want:
CMB, Demin, Newell

[Psubs]

What if neither Carter or Fleming are your targets. I don’t like the offensive potential of Fleming or Carter. If you’re getting two picks, at least one of them should have some proven upside.

For Indiana, Boston, OKC, Knicks, you generally have 4 out of 5 guys who are offensively versatile. Even OG worked on his game a ton to be a solid #5 guy on offense, there are more facets to his offense than just catch and shoot.

The Raptors traded for Brandon Ingram. Just make another trade. KD?

TBH I don't think this team needs any more offensive creators.

Right now, that primary role will be given to Ingram and the secondary role should be given to Barrett, as they are the best on the team creating off the bounce and in the half court. Scottie and Quickley should be the main playmakers and tertiary scorers.

What we need here is a quality bench who can at least hold the fort down while the starting lineup is resting. There's also enough guys that you can stagger them. We have Shead at PG, Walter/DIck/Agbaji on the wings but the PF and C position are shaky. This is why we need to go with Fleming to service that back up PF spot along with Mogbo and trade Dick for a C if you can't pick one up with #39.

Besides all of that, if we stay at #9, the only guy that COULD be available there is Kasp. I like him and I think he could be good but I think the collective impact of say Fleming AND Coward is likely to be more valuable than Kasp. That's why I'd prefer to go for them.

If we can hit two doubles here, that will go a long way to helping us add a potential star down the road, much like how we did in era leading up the championship. Stack quality talent, keep our long term picks and consolidate these assets when the right deal comes along. If there's a guy in the draft we have access to who we're reasonably sure will be a star then of course you take that chance but right now I don't see that kind of player at #9.

KD is still at least and average defender and a top 10 offensive player that is clutch. Don't need him as a creator, need him as a finisher.

[Pointgod]

KOC has moved Coward all the way up to 5 on his big board. I wonder if the update is based on things he's hearing or just him falling in love with a prospect.

Reminder about KOC: "Why Killian Hayes Is the 2020 NBA Draft’s Top Prospect"
https://www.theringer.com/2020/04/15/nba-draft/nba-draft-killian-hayes-2020-top-prospect

KOC strikes me as the kind of guy that cares more about being right than his approach to evaluating prospects. I could see him throwing this out there for clicks and to run a victory lap if Coward hits

[WuTang_CMB]

KOC came out with a hype piece today. Coward player comp is Kawhi with no other low side comp lol

[OakleyDokely]

I'd take Coward at 9.

[junot111]

Where is this coming from? Slow? He's one of the only legit 7'+ big men with true NBA C size in college actually playing effective switch defence, almost all of the other lumbering bigs stand in the paint whole possessions which can't happen in the NBA. Can't play in the 4th quarter? He makes his free throws at a good rate unlike a ton of other big men in the league who get played off the floor in the 4th like our own current starting C Jakob Poeltl. Can't rebound? Merely has per 40 minute rebound numbers as good as some of the best rebounders in the NBA had in their freshman seasons in college when they were older. Stone hands? He's one of the most effective lob threats in college at the age of 18 and finishes around the rim at crazy percentages even on bad passes.

Just posted, having 20% defensive rebounding rate is bad, and everyone know rebounding translate to the NBA.

His quickness and leaping are bottom 5 in this class, close to Queen, so I am unsure how he is not described as slow. He is described as drop big, not switch. And his stone hands are legitimate concern if you even watch full games. Many scouting reports have his hands as concern, though his measurement isn't bad for his hand, which seems more to be his basketball IQ.

It shocks me how many people will fight tooth and nail to say Maluach is this elite player when he's really really raw and not NBA ready right now

Can he develop into an all-star calibre C? Maybe... But I think he's in the traditional C model like Hasheem Thabeet or James Wiseman with upside of Gobert. These guys just don't work in the new modern NBA. At C you want agile, switchable defensive guys like Lively, Chet or Wemby or elite skill guys like Jokic, Embiid, Sengun

That's why I'd rather just take Fleming over KM if we want a big. Who's realistically going to close a game? An athletic and mobile 6'9 guy with a 7'5 wingspan or a lumbering 7'2 guy? Even Gobert doesn't close games over Naz Reid

[Psubs]

Just posted, having 20% defensive rebounding rate is bad, and everyone know rebounding translate to the NBA.

His quickness and leaping are bottom 5 in this class, close to Queen, so I am unsure how he is not described as slow. He is described as drop big, not switch. And his stone hands are legitimate concern if you even watch full games. Many scouting reports have his hands as concern, though his measurement isn't bad for his hand, which seems more to be his basketball IQ.

It shocks me how many people will fight tooth and nail to say Maluach is this elite player when he's really really raw and not NBA ready right now

Can he develop into an all-star calibre C? Maybe... But I think he's in the traditional C model like Hasheem Thabeet or James Wiseman with upside of Gobert. These guys just don't work in the new modern NBA. At C you want agile, switchable defensive guys like Lively, Chet or Wemby or elite skill guys like Jokic, Embiid, Sengun

That's why I'd rather just take Fleming over KM if we want a big. Who's realistically going to close a game? An athletic and mobile 6'9 guy with a 7'5 wingspan or a lumbering 7'2 guy? Even Gobert doesn't close games over Naz Reid

I'm glad that people also see it. Also on offense because he can hit the 3, and when the defense is in rotation is a lob threat. Also can just send him to the offensive glass and everyone else run back.

[WuTang_CMB]

this guys a raptor fan
good breakdown

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[Pointgod]

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