2025 NBA Draft Thread, Part 2 – Capture the Flagg

[brackdan70]

NBA Draft Net mock has us taking Missouri guard Tamar Bates with pick #32.

https://www.nbadraft.net/players/tamar-bates/

Also has us taking Collin Murray-Boyles with pick #28.

https://www.nbadraft.net/players/collin-murray-boyles/

The picks would leave Maxim Reynaud, and Ryan Kalkbrenner on the board (their board). Of course, Brad might not end up drafting any of these players, and perhaps may trade our draft picks away. Nothing to do but speculate, and see what happens. What fun!

That’s about as low as I’ve seen Murray - Boyles mocked. The other dude isn’t on my radar.

[165bows]

NBA Draft Net mock has us taking Missouri guard Tamar Bates with pick #32.

https://www.nbadraft.net/players/tamar-bates/

Also has us taking Collin Murray-Boyles with pick #28.

https://www.nbadraft.net/players/collin-murray-boyles/

The picks would leave Maxim Reynaud, and Ryan Kalkbrenner on the board (their board). Of course, Brad might not end up drafting any of these players, and perhaps may trade our draft picks away. Nothing to do but speculate, and see what happens. What fun!

That’s about as low as I’ve seen Murray - Boyles mocked. The other dude isn’t on my radar.

I’d love it if they could grab Colin Murray-Boyles.

[brackdan70]

NBA Draft Net mock has us taking Missouri guard Tamar Bates with pick #32.

https://www.nbadraft.net/players/tamar-bates/

Also has us taking Collin Murray-Boyles with pick #28.

https://www.nbadraft.net/players/collin-murray-boyles/

The picks would leave Maxim Reynaud, and Ryan Kalkbrenner on the board (their board). Of course, Brad might not end up drafting any of these players, and perhaps may trade our draft picks away. Nothing to do but speculate, and see what happens. What fun!

That’s about as low as I’ve seen Murray - Boyles mocked. The other dude isn’t on my radar.

I’d love it if they could grab Colin Murray-Boyles.

Right!!! He’d be a great fit I think. Better than Tillman aspiring to be a Horford.

[djFan71]

Weird for the Mogbo cheerleader to be down on CMB, but I am. I just don't think his best skills are things he'll get to do, esp on offense. And his D is pretty cool, but not elite enough to overcome that for me. Very prepared to be wrong, and he could be a useful 8-10 guy, but I'm not leading the train this time.

[return2glory]

I think we can do better than Murray-Boyles. For the people that think he is better that Tillman must have forgotten about Tillman in college.

In Tillman's final year at Michigan St, he was the only player in Division 1 other than Tim Duncan in 1996-97 and Bo Outlaw in 92-93 to average 13.0 points, 10.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 2.0 blocks per game.

Tillman was named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year and was named on the All-Big Ten second team in his junior season.

Tillman was holding his own with Memphis vs Anthony Davis in the playoffs. Brad got him to Boston but Boston's head coach is Joe Thibodeau. Joe's brother Tom, also has a very short player rotation. Or should I say, Tom HAD a short player rotation.

[playa-hater]

OK My Draft Hopefuls remain the same in Wolf and/or Fleming but a NEW Binkie has emerged ... Johnathan Pierre!

Ok I will admit I barely looked at his videos (Yet) and he may or may not even be drafted. Listed around 6'8?? (but had huge shoulders) and I guess is touted as a Wing/point forward with an extreme Wingspan.

But none of that makes him my Binkie.. The reason is, he was at my Son's travel team game and apparently was Coached in HS and travel team since 4th grade by my Son's coach. He stayed and watched with us for 2 games and spoke to the team about his journey from middle school to HS, to D2 to Memphis and then to Belmont. He shared quite a few amazing stories along the way. At some point I will share some of his "NIL" stories and how it really works. Will just add there is an official Payment of NIL and then there is much more incentives and penalties added.

But what I found so admirable was how soft spoken/Humble/upbeat/positive and intelligent he was. He mentioned the list of questions asked to him by NBA scouts/personnel with the draft Process. He did work out for about 10? NBA teams, But stated Boston was NOT one of them. He hinted at Memphis really liking him the most. Portland might be the other. My thinking is Portland found a Gem 2 years ago with Toumani Camara and Pierre has some similarities.

The Thing Pierre said he was most Proud of was being able to (already) buy his parents a "real home" just with the NIL money earned.

So by my recent Bias, I will now be pulling for this kid. Good luck young man.

[165bows]

I think we can do better than Murray-Boyles. For the people that think he is better that Tillman must have forgotten about Tillman in college.

In Tillman's final year at Michigan St, he was the only player in Division 1 other than Tim Duncan in 1996-97 and Bo Outlaw in 92-93 to average 13.0 points, 10.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 2.0 blocks per game.

Tillman was named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year and was named on the All-Big Ten second team in his junior season.

Tillman was holding his own with Memphis vs Anthony Davis in the playoffs. Brad got him to Boston but Boston's head coach is Joe Thibodeau. Joe's brother Tom, also has a very short player rotation. Or should I say, Tom HAD a short player rotation.

Tillman was a pretty solid 35th pick until this past year. Not sure how much of that was knee related but him saying publicly he needs to warm up like an old man at 25 years old wasn’t a good sign.

All that said I think Murray-Boyles is a better prospect than Tillman was.

[Smart2Nesmith43]

I think we can do better than Murray-Boyles. For the people that think he is better that Tillman must have forgotten about Tillman in college.

In Tillman's final year at Michigan St, he was the only player in Division 1 other than Tim Duncan in 1996-97 and Bo Outlaw in 92-93 to average 13.0 points, 10.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 2.0 blocks per game.

Tillman was named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year and was named on the All-Big Ten second team in his junior season.

Tillman was holding his own with Memphis vs Anthony Davis in the playoffs. Brad got him to Boston but Boston's head coach is Joe Thibodeau. Joe's brother Tom, also has a very short player rotation. Or should I say, Tom HAD a short player rotation.

The top two players in minutes played in the entire league were on the Knicks. In fact they had three guys play more than anybody on the Celtics. Not even remotely comparable. Tatum was 12th in total minutes played during Stevens' last season (would have been much higher if he hadn't missed games due to covid too), 4th during Udoka's year and 7th, 16th and 14th during Mazzulla's years. Funny how only one of those coaches gets blame for overplaying his guys.

[165bows]

That’s about as low as I’ve seen Murray - Boyles mocked. The other dude isn’t on my radar.

I’d love it if they could grab Colin Murray-Boyles.

Right!!! He’d be a great fit I think. Better than Tillman aspiring to be a Horford.

Oddly enough I compare it to the Kornet situation. Ie, a guy that can score efficiently inside the arc, set screens and move the ball. Then fill a solid role on defense. But instead of lobs and drop/rim protection it’s scoring on the move and being a mobile big guy. And I know he was a better player in college than Kornet

[Bill Lumbergh]

I finally got around to watching Hunter Sallis after listening to Noa and KOC talk about him. Wow, does he have some great highlights. He damn near does some Ja-like stuff attacking the rim. His listed height is 6'5, but he looks more like 6'2 out there. (Just saw that he measured 6'3.75 w/o shoes at the combine, so I guess 6'5 with them, with a 6'10 wingspan.) Our squad could use an infusion of real high level athleticism. At the very least, he's intriguing. I guess he doesn't shoot the three well, though, but 80.4% from the FT line.

After a little more thought...

I suppose taking him, you'd have to buy that he could develop a 3, and in three of his 4 years, he was very bad at it. He does have some nasty dunks, though (6:38 and 7:30 in the video below.) I got a little carried away with watching him attack the rim, which is damn good, but that shot is probably too big a risk, so after all that, I still say I'd be happy coming away with Kalkbrenner and Lanier, because Lanier's shot looks like something you can bank on.

Watch on YouTube

[Dogen]

A little nit-pick of a trade, as Brooklyn is loaded with 'em this draft: Celtics trade 28 and 32 for Nets 26 and 36. Celtics move up a couple of spots (basically a wink-wink with Brooklyn). They get a slightly better pick.

Maybe Sorber or Coward are there at 26, or one of the other bigs, assuming Nets drafted one at 19.

At 36, Brad may even trade back farther for a future second, and end up in the 40's for a Javon Small, or Hunter Sallis, or Alijah Martin?

[return2glory]

I think we can do better than Murray-Boyles. For the people that think he is better that Tillman must have forgotten about Tillman in college.

In Tillman's final year at Michigan St, he was the only player in Division 1 other than Tim Duncan in 1996-97 and Bo Outlaw in 92-93 to average 13.0 points, 10.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 2.0 blocks per game.

Tillman was named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year and was named on the All-Big Ten second team in his junior season.

Tillman was holding his own with Memphis vs Anthony Davis in the playoffs. Brad got him to Boston but Boston's head coach is Joe Thibodeau. Joe's brother Tom, also has a very short player rotation. Or should I say, Tom HAD a short player rotation.

The top two players in minutes played in the entire league were on the Knicks. In fact they had three guys play more than anybody on the Celtics. Not even remotely comparable. Tatum was 12th in total minutes played during Stevens' last season (would have been much higher if he hadn't missed games due to covid too), 4th during Udoka's year and 7th, 16th and 14th during Mazzulla's years. Funny how only one of those coaches gets blame for overplaying his guys.

Lot of our wins were blow outs. So, if the games were over, Joe Thibodeau would have played his starters more.

[Smart2Nesmith43]

I think we can do better than Murray-Boyles. For the people that think he is better that Tillman must have forgotten about Tillman in college.

In Tillman's final year at Michigan St, he was the only player in Division 1 other than Tim Duncan in 1996-97 and Bo Outlaw in 92-93 to average 13.0 points, 10.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 2.0 blocks per game.

Tillman was named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year and was named on the All-Big Ten second team in his junior season.

Tillman was holding his own with Memphis vs Anthony Davis in the playoffs. Brad got him to Boston but Boston's head coach is Joe Thibodeau. Joe's brother Tom, also has a very short player rotation. Or should I say, Tom HAD a short player rotation.

The top two players in minutes played in the entire league were on the Knicks. In fact they had three guys play more than anybody on the Celtics. Not even remotely comparable. Tatum was 12th in total minutes played during Stevens' last season (would have been much higher if he hadn't missed games due to covid too), 4th during Udoka's year and 7th, 16th and 14th during Mazzulla's years. Funny how only one of those coaches gets blame for overplaying his guys.

Lot of our wins were blow outs. So, if the games were over, Joe Thibodeau would have played his starters more.

Yet Thibodeau is notorious for not pulling his starters in blow outs so clearly even you know deep down that's a silly nickname. Besides the Celtics played 24 games decided by 20+ points and the Knicks 19, it's not like the difference is even that relevant. But, but Joe Mazzulla only plays 8 guys and Brad Stevens was a genius at utilizing the bench.

Percentage of minutes played by the top 8 guys in the rotation
2024-2025: 81.1%
2023-2024: 83.9%
2022-2023: 82.1%
...
2018-2019: 83.4% (last non-COVD year for Stevens)
Oops.

[ThePigeon]

None of those guards are as good or as experienced as Davison and would cost just as much. Stupid mock.

Yeah
AI has a long way to go when it comes to sports

[brackdan70]

A little nit-pick of a trade, as Brooklyn is loaded with 'em this draft: Celtics trade 28 and 32 for Nets 26 and 36. Celtics move up a couple of spots (basically a wink-wink with Brooklyn). They get a slightly better pick.

Maybe Sorber or Coward are there at 26, or one of the other bigs, assuming Nets drafted one at 19.

At 36, Brad may even trade back farther for a future second, and end up in the 40's for a Javon Small, or Hunter Sallis, or Alijah Martin?

Why would Brooklyn do this?

[dortmunder]

my perfect draft now, as long as coward is in the teens and raynaud range is 20-25, is clearly fleming - kalkbrenner.
would be really happy to get those two.
athletic 6,9" PF that can run, jump, shoot and rebound.
experienced big 7,1" C who can bang, defend, get some boards, score and even shoot some three. luke kornet insurance policy.

[Curmudgeon]

Spoiler:

I still like the French math major from Stanford, still only 22. Show me another 20-10 center in college basketball. Reminds me alot of Kornet, who they probably can't afford any more. Actually I think he's a better passer than Kornet.

Watch on YouTube

[Smart2Nesmith43]

None of those guards are as good or as experienced as Davison and would cost just as much. Stupid mock.

Yeah
AI has a long way to go when it comes to sports

It's not that it has a way to go, it's that not built for the job it's asked to do here. Anybody with even the faintest idea of how LLMs work would know how silly it is to use it in this context. It's like using a screwdriver to eat soup, it's just not the right tool for the job.

[playa-hater]

Most on here focus on the players we like that may be around our current picks of 28 and 32. But maybe we should take a closer look at players between 8 thru 20 since in theory there is a chance that Jrue (+ maybe 28) gets us much higher than we anticipate. I haven't read too much on who we or Brad may like at let's say 10. (example Jrue+28 to Houston for FVV +10.) Orlando or the Wolves at 16 and 17 respectively as well.

[redslastlaugh]

Brett Siegel from clutchpoints drops an indepth intel mock today.

https://clutchpoints.com/nba/nba-stories/2025-nba-mock-draft-76ers-ace-bailey-third-pick-dilemma

Celts take:
28. Maxime Raynaud
"Maxime Raynaud has been one of the highest risers and biggest winners during the pre-draft process. It is possible he goes before the Boston Celtics are ready to pick, but if Raynaud is available, this would be a slam dunk of a selection for Brad Stevens to replace either Kristaps Porzingis or Al Horford in the frontcourt.

This season at Stanford, Raynaud averaged 20.2 points and 10.6 rebounds per game while shooting 34.7 percent from the perimeter. His size and shooting abilities make him the ideal frontcourt talent for a team like the Celtics, who will be making roster changes this offseason.

As reported on ClutchPoints, the Celtics haven't indicated that they will move Derrick White. While it's possible Jrue Holiday could be moved, Boston would prefer to keep their backcourt together to make another championship push. That is why adding depth to the frontcourt with Raynaud, especially given Porzingis' unknown future, can pay off tenfold."

32. Chaz Lanier
Chaz Lanier enters the 2025 NBA Draft as one of the most NBA-ready players due to his 3-and-D presence on the wing, and he is drawing comparisons to Luguentz Dort among some scouts due to his defensive toughness. With all the uncertainty surrounding Boston's future, Lanier could provide immediate depth as a consistent shooting guard for the Celtics.
---

I'd be fine with Raynaud. I don't think he's gonna be a center in the pro's tho, I think he's a shooting 4man, like a Andrea Bargnani type and I just don't see a world where he is keeping 5men off the boards. But I like him as a prospect.
Chaz Lanier seems like a too much a reach for pick #32 imo. I know he has his fans but other than the shooting, I don't see what he brings to the table for a pick that high. I'd like higher feel players and players that are advantage creators more than just adding shooting imo