2025 NBA Draft Discussion Part 8

[Psubs]

Big Board Time

1. C Flagg
2. D Harper
3. T Johnson
4. J Fears
5. C Coward
6. K Maluach
7. R Fleming
8. K Knueppel
9. K Jackucionis
10. V Edgecombe
11. A Bailey
12. N Essengue
13. C Bryant
14. C M-Boyles
15. D Queen
16. J Richardson
17. T Sorber
18. A Thiero
19. E Demin
20. J Watkins

1. Flagg
2. Harper
3. Johnson
4. Edgecombe
5. Coward
6. Fleming
7. Bailey
8. Jakucionis
9. Fears
10. Knueppel
11. Bryant
12. Richardson
13. Sorber
14. Maluach
15. Queen
16. CMB
17.Thiero
18. Demin
19. Clayton Jr.
20. Traore/Clifford

1. C Flagg
2. T Johnson
3. D Harper
4. V Edgecombe
5. K Knueppel
6. J Fears
7. A Bailey
8. C Bryant
9. E Demin
10. K Maluach
11. R Fleming
12. N Essengue
13. K Jackucionis
14. C M-Boyles
15. D Queen
16. J Richardson
17. C Coward
18. N Traore
19. T Sorber
20. A Newell

[MEDIC]

I think the idea is that RJ goes out (I don't see what other salaries make sense). Cam is definitely the better fit, and I don't think the downgrade in draft position means much in terms of talent available (assuming there are no droppers @9). That said, I would ask that they swap 26 with 39 as well.

That's a horrible trade. Drop 10 draft spots just to swap RJ & Cam Johnson. Highway robbery for the Nets

Cam > RJ for our team, so I guess it depends on your evaluation of this draft's talent? Unless someone like Fears or Kneuppel drop, I'm not overly enthused by any of the other selections and think you can get pretty much equal value @19. Exactly who do you think we'd be missing out on? Also, @26 you can secure one of Yang or Markovic, or snap up any obvious fallers.

Even the age difference between Cam & RJ makes the trade poor value. RJ is yet to hit his prime.& I think he has some.development left in him. He has shown improvement in 3 point shooting, passing & defense.

[grant101]

That's a horrible trade. Drop 10 draft spots just to swap RJ & Cam Johnson. Highway robbery for the Nets

Cam > RJ for our team, so I guess it depends on your evaluation of this draft's talent? Unless someone like Fears or Kneuppel drop, I'm not overly enthused by any of the other selections and think you can get pretty much equal value @19. Exactly who do you think we'd be missing out on? Also, @26 you can secure one of Yang or Markovic, or snap up any obvious fallers.

Even the age difference between Cam & RJ makes the trade poor value. RJ is yet to hit his prime.& I think he has some.development left in him. He has shown improvement in 3 point shooting, passing & defense.

Sounds like you’re far more optimistic about RJ and his development than I am. Even with improvement, I don’t think RJ ever becomes as consistent and dynamic a shooter as Cam, nor will he create the same kind of spacing. I think RJ is asked to play a lot more off the ball next year, so if you’re asking both to be a role player, I just think Cam is better suited for the role.

Also don’t think the age difference is that big a deal. Cam just turned 29 and RJ is turning 25 next week. We would be getting Cam in his prime on a better contract.

[BoyzNTheHood]

Read on Twitter

?t=MzggiVEWO3CYz8sPWNpDXg&s=19

Read on Twitter

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Dillon Brooks is that you

Dillon Brooks wishes he had this length

[billy_hoyle]

That's a horrible trade. Drop 10 draft spots just to swap RJ & Cam Johnson. Highway robbery for the Nets

Cam > RJ for our team, so I guess it depends on your evaluation of this draft's talent? Unless someone like Fears or Kneuppel drop, I'm not overly enthused by any of the other selections and think you can get pretty much equal value @19. Exactly who do you think we'd be missing out on? Also, @26 you can secure one of Yang or Markovic, or snap up any obvious fallers.

Even the age difference between Cam & RJ makes the trade poor value. RJ is yet to hit his prime.& I think he has some.development left in him. He has shown improvement in 3 point shooting, passing & defense.

Doesn't Cam play the same position as our two best players? Dude is a 3/4

[grant101]

Cam > RJ for our team, so I guess it depends on your evaluation of this draft's talent? Unless someone like Fears or Kneuppel drop, I'm not overly enthused by any of the other selections and think you can get pretty much equal value @19. Exactly who do you think we'd be missing out on? Also, @26 you can secure one of Yang or Markovic, or snap up any obvious fallers.

Even the age difference between Cam & RJ makes the trade poor value. RJ is yet to hit his prime.& I think he has some.development left in him. He has shown improvement in 3 point shooting, passing & defense.

Doesn't Cam play the same position as our two best players? Dude is a 3/4

Same situation as with RJ. I think you'd move BI to 2 and play Cam at 3.

[earthtone]

Even the age difference between Cam & RJ makes the trade poor value. RJ is yet to hit his prime.& I think he has some.development left in him. He has shown improvement in 3 point shooting, passing & defense.

Doesn't Cam play the same position as our two best players? Dude is a 3/4

Same situation as with RJ. I think you'd move BI to 2 and play Cam at 3.

RJ is best at the 2, and I expect him to play a lot of minutes as the lead guard with the bench line-up this year. I think BI's an underrated defender, but. I don't want him guarding the 2 full-time.

Whether Cam Johnson is an upgrade over RJ is debatable, but I think he's definitely not worth trading down from #9 to #19 for.

[Dalek]

Jeremiah Fears may be the pick because we know the Raptors will take a swing on talent even if the analytics aren't perfect. Ja'Kobe Walter had an inefficient college season shooting, but they believed in him as a shooter and liked how he drew fouls. This is very similar to Fears. He is elite at drawing contact and not adverse to being aggressive.

His shooting numbers are scary for a guard:

53% at the rim
28% three point
46% two point

Excellent indicators:
52% FTR
85% FT
29 AST%

Best comp to me is Collin Sexton who also played in the SEC but was a year older:
57% at the rim
34% three point but on low volume
40% two point

58% FTR
78% FT
28 AST%

My swing factor for Fears is that from February to March he really upped his play in pressure situations. Now, as we get close to the draft we a transformation - he has the braids and a cool swag about him. If you carry yourself like he does in this video, it seems like he has the star mentality. Compare him with Kasparas who looks like he wants to say all the right things and be a pleaser, I kind of lean towards the kid that projects himself with confidence.

Watch on YouTube

Picking him for his cool swag is an interesting choice

The way a person carries themselves says a lot to me. If people looks phased by cameras and the spotlight then they may not handle the NBA well.

[Gavin_TDThree]

Big Board Time

1. C Flagg
2. D Harper
3. T Johnson
4. J Fears
5. C Coward
6. K Maluach
7. R Fleming
8. K Knueppel
9. K Jackucionis
10. V Edgecombe
11. A Bailey
12. N Essengue
13. C Bryant
14. C M-Boyles
15. D Queen
16. J Richardson
17. T Sorber
18. A Thiero
19. E Demin
20. J Watkins

1. Flagg
2. Harper
3. Johnson
4. Edgecombe
5. Coward
6. Fleming
7. Bailey
8. Jakucionis
9. Fears
10. Knueppel
11. Bryant
12. Richardson
13. Sorber
14. Maluach
15. Queen
16. CMB
17.Thiero
18. Demin
19. Clayton Jr.
20. Traore/Clifford

1. C Flagg
2. T Johnson
3. D Harper
4. V Edgecombe
5. K Knueppel
6. J Fears
7. A Bailey
8. C Bryant
9. E Demin
10. K Maluach
11. R Fleming
12. N Essengue
13. K Jackucionis
14. C M-Boyles
15. D Queen
16. J Richardson
17. C Coward
18. N Traore
19. T Sorber
20. A Newell

You think the rap would pass on KM? Although there are other players I'd prefer I'd have to think if KM is there at 9 we are taking him without a doubt

[billy_hoyle]

Doesn't Cam play the same position as our two best players? Dude is a 3/4

Same situation as with RJ. I think you'd move BI to 2 and play Cam at 3.

RJ is best at the 2, and I expect him to play a lot of minutes as the lead guard with the bench line-up this year. I think BI's an underrated defender, but. I don't want him guarding the 2 full-time.

Whether Cam Johnson is an upgrade over RJ is debatable, but I think he's definitely not worth trading down from #9 to #19 for.

Agreed RJ is a 2 and can play the 3 in spurts based on matchups.

Ingram is like 6'9, lanky and not particularly quick. He ain't a two. You really want him checking Donovan Mitchell? Blow byes all day long.

[WuTang_OG]

Read on Twitter

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[HumbleRen]

Cam Johnson is such an upgrade on RJ that it isn’t even funny lol.

Dropping 10 picks it too steep though, we need more guys to contribute to winning basketball on rookie contracts.

[Yeezus_]

Cam Johnson is such an upgrade on RJ that it isn’t even funny lol.

Dropping 10 picks it too steep though, we need more guys to contribute to winning basketball on rookie contracts.

Ya he’s a much better fit on teams on both ends and his shooting is much needed on the Raptors specifically.

I dont think that Nets deal is THAT bad if the Raptors value a player that can be available at 19 as a lottery pick. I guess it depends on who’s available. The team would need to make a subsequent RJ trade if that ever happened though.

[Raptors Realtor]

That's a horrible trade. Drop 10 draft spots just to swap RJ & Cam Johnson. Highway robbery for the Nets

Cam > RJ for our team, so I guess it depends on your evaluation of this draft's talent? Unless someone like Fears or Kneuppel drop, I'm not overly enthused by any of the other selections and think you can get pretty much equal value @19. Exactly who do you think we'd be missing out on? Also, @26 you can secure one of Yang or Markovic, or snap up any obvious fallers.

Even the age difference between Cam & RJ makes the trade poor value. RJ is yet to hit his prime.& I think he has some.development left in him. He has shown improvement in 3 point shooting, passing & defense.

Ya not to mention Cam has a history of injuries/missing time.

[niQ]

Cam > RJ for our team, so I guess it depends on your evaluation of this draft's talent? Unless someone like Fears or Kneuppel drop, I'm not overly enthused by any of the other selections and think you can get pretty much equal value @19. Exactly who do you think we'd be missing out on? Also, @26 you can secure one of Yang or Markovic, or snap up any obvious fallers.

Even the age difference between Cam & RJ makes the trade poor value. RJ is yet to hit his prime.& I think he has some.development left in him. He has shown improvement in 3 point shooting, passing & defense.

Ya not to mention Cam has a history of injuries/missing time.

Pairing BI with Cam with their injury history is... questionable.

[S.W.A.N]

Same situation as with RJ. I think you'd move BI to 2 and play Cam at 3.

RJ is best at the 2, and I expect him to play a lot of minutes as the lead guard with the bench line-up this year. I think BI's an underrated defender, but. I don't want him guarding the 2 full-time.

Whether Cam Johnson is an upgrade over RJ is debatable, but I think he's definitely not worth trading down from #9 to #19 for.

Agreed RJ is a 2 and can play the 3 in spurts based on matchups.

Ingram is like 6'9, lanky and not particularly quick. He ain't a two. You really want him checking Donovan Mitchell? Blow byes all day long.

Scottie was taking all the hard defensive assignments already. Moving RJ for Cam balances out the roster much better as Dick and Walter are also 2s. I think there has to be a little more draft capital, but if we can't do Giannis this is a very intriguing trade as long as we comfortable drafting 19th.

A wing rotation of BI Cam Scottie to go with Dick and Walter gives us a lot of options and balance that we don't have with RJ. And the extra salary would allow us to add more depth

[billy_hoyle]

RJ is best at the 2, and I expect him to play a lot of minutes as the lead guard with the bench line-up this year. I think BI's an underrated defender, but. I don't want him guarding the 2 full-time.

Whether Cam Johnson is an upgrade over RJ is debatable, but I think he's definitely not worth trading down from #9 to #19 for.

Agreed RJ is a 2 and can play the 3 in spurts based on matchups.

Ingram is like 6'9, lanky and not particularly quick. He ain't a two. You really want him checking Donovan Mitchell? Blow byes all day long.

Scottie was taking all the hard defensive assignments already. Moving RJ for Cam balances out the roster much better as Dick and Walter are also 2s. I think there has to be a little more draft capital, but if we can't do Giannis this is a very intriguing trade as long as we comfortable drafting 19th.

A wing rotation of BI Cam Scottie to go with Dick and Walter gives us a lot of options and balance that we don't have with RJ. And the extra salary would allow us to add more depth

I don't think you are balancing the lineup better.

You now having the three best players as 3/4s.

As of right now our three best players (of positional concern) are:
Scottie a 4/3, Ingram a 3/4 and RJ a 2/3.

Scottie is a bit of a rover defensively, which is great, but I don't want him guarding Mitchell either.

The fact we have Dick a 2, Walter a 2 and Ochai a 2/3 all a tier below those three players doesn't really help optimize balanced line-ups.

If we could Sign and trade Boucher and Dick + 9 for 19 + Cam + 26. I think that would balance the lineup. Basically trade from our SG depth that ISN'T part of the 3 best players.

IQ, Shead
RJ, Walter, Ochai
Ingram, Cam, Battle
Barnes, Mogbo, Chomche
Poeltl

19, 26 and 39 to grab a falling C and PG
You could conceivably get:
Traore/Walter Clayton Jr at 19
Yang/Kalkbrenner at 27
Zikarsky at 39

[PushDaRock]

Jeremiah Fears may be the pick because we know the Raptors will take a swing on talent even if the analytics aren't perfect. Ja'Kobe Walter had an inefficient college season shooting, but they believed in him as a shooter and liked how he drew fouls. This is very similar to Fears. He is elite at drawing contact and not adverse to being aggressive.

His shooting numbers are scary for a guard:

53% at the rim
28% three point
46% two point

Excellent indicators:
52% FTR
85% FT
29 AST%

Best comp to me is Collin Sexton who also played in the SEC but was a year older:
57% at the rim
34% three point but on low volume
40% two point

58% FTR
78% FT
28 AST%

My swing factor for Fears is that from February to March he really upped his play in pressure situations. Now, as we get close to the draft we a transformation - he has the braids and a cool swag about him. If you carry yourself like he does in this video, it seems like he has the star mentality. Compare him with Kasparas who looks like he wants to say all the right things and be a pleaser, I kind of lean towards the kid that projects himself with confidence.

Watch on YouTube

Picking him for his cool swag is an interesting choice

The way a person carries themselves says a lot to me. If people looks phased by cameras and the spotlight then they may not handle the NBA well.

Or maybe you should consider that English isn't Kasparas' first language and that might be why he isn't comfortable enough or able to show off the "cool swag" you are looking for because of that.

[S.W.A.N]

Agreed RJ is a 2 and can play the 3 in spurts based on matchups.

Ingram is like 6'9, lanky and not particularly quick. He ain't a two. You really want him checking Donovan Mitchell? Blow byes all day long.

Scottie was taking all the hard defensive assignments already. Moving RJ for Cam balances out the roster much better as Dick and Walter are also 2s. I think there has to be a little more draft capital, but if we can't do Giannis this is a very intriguing trade as long as we comfortable drafting 19th.

A wing rotation of BI Cam Scottie to go with Dick and Walter gives us a lot of options and balance that we don't have with RJ. And the extra salary would allow us to add more depth

I don't think you are balancing the lineup better.

You now having the three best players as 3/4s.

As of right now our three best players (of positional concern) are:
Scottie a 4/3, Ingram a 3/4 and RJ a 2/3.

Scottie is a bit of a rover defensively, which is great, but I don't want him guarding Mitchell either.

The fact we have Dick a 2, Walter a 2 and Ochai a 2/3 all a tier below those three players doesn't really help optimize balanced line-ups.

If we could Sign and trade Boucher and Dick + 9 for 19 + Cam + 26. I think that would balance the lineup. Basically trade from our SG depth that ISN'T part of the 3 best players.

IQ, Shead
RJ, Walter, Ochai
Ingram, Cam, Battle
Barnes, Mogbo, Chomche
Poeltl

19, 26 and 39 to grab a falling C and PG
You could conceivably get:
Traore/Walter Clayton Jr at 19
Yang/Kalkbrenner at 27
Zikarsky at 39

Replacing RJ with Dick is interesting, but I don't think we can do that trade? Can you sign and trade while going over the first apron?

RJ is the only easy salary to move. RJ is also the guy long term who's fit is still in question. His next contract and role on team have to be decided soon.

If we going to have to trade RJ because he doesn't want to be a 6th man it might be worth doing now.

But if we have faith that his defense can be good enough, then ya keeping RJ would be optimum if legal. The more I watch the playoffs the more I'm inclined to remove guys like Dick and RJ if they can't defend.

And considering Brooklyn's goal is to get the lottery pick, we can look at 3 team trades to balance roster out better (Move Dick or RJ to a third team like Orlando that really needs scoring)

[Dalek]

Picking him for his cool swag is an interesting choice

The way a person carries themselves says a lot to me. If people looks phased by cameras and the spotlight then they may not handle the NBA well.

Or maybe you should consider that English isn't Kasparas' first language and that might be why he isn't comfortable enough or able to show off the "cool swag" you are looking for because of that.

I mean I am not solely judging off swag but looking confident and articulate is important for a lead guard. There were many elite Euroleague guards who never made it in the NBA and lack of comfortability, communication all played a part.

When things tightened up on KJ he looked bad having 6 turnovers in two of his last couple games. I still am interested in him, but I get the feeling he won't be the same type of player in the NBA. He might be more like Bogdanovic more than a lead PG. Not a primary engine but a good role player.