2025 Draft Thread - Part 3

[payitforward]

OTOH, I'd put Knueppel on a level above either Johnson or Fears. If we take him at 6, I'm not going to be crying about it.

[AFM]

Watch on YouTube

A rumor that may or may not have any reality behind it...

[tontoz]

If he eventually excels at something he sucks at, sure. But you can make that argument for a lot of guys. If their weakness becomes a strength then they look much better as prospects.

If Kon doesn’t become an off the dribble scorer, he will still be an elite off the ball player/one of the best shooters in the NBA, and high level secondary playmaker with 99th percentile basketball IQ&compete. He’ll be incredibly efficient with his shooting&rim finishing. He also draws FTs at a really solid clip.

His defense is passable/average at worst right now with potential to be above average with his frame/strength. His positioning and feel on that end is elite.

Again, this isn’t some spot up shooter 22 year old upperclassman that has reached his ceiling. He was a 5 star top 20 ranked recruit that led the EYBL in scoring. Was the 2nd best player on the best NCAA team, put up some of the best numbers of a 19 year old freshman guard in the last decade.

His defense is passable in college. As one of the slowest wings tested in recent years with only a +1 wingspan i have to question how good he will be in the pros. He is slightly smaller and much slower than Kispert.

[J-Ves]

Just realized after this draft that we may have drafted/traded for the entire starting lineup + some bench guys and still maybe not have identified our first option:

Hypothetical after draft:

Fears(?)/Bub/Bilal/Keyshawn/Sarr
Queen(?)/Kispert/Johnson

Can assume Kispert is gone, but I think you do enter weird territory from a team building standpoint if you reach this point without having identified your franchise player. You end up in a position where your draft odds probably worsen, roster size starts to become a concern, etc. You end up kind of feeling pressured to try to get the best free agent you can get and make the playoffs.

The Bulls are probably the best example of a team that has succumbed to this. I don't think we Wizards fans have actually faced this in decades given the movement from Arenas -> Wall -> Beal.

I think if we don’t draft “the guy” next year we can officially consider this rebuild bunk and look forward to a decade of mediocre basketball

[AFM]

Jeff Teague interviews Dylan Harper, Derik Queen, Tre Johnson, Thomas Sorber ahead of NBA Draft

Watch on YouTube

[AFM]

Jeff Teague interviews Dylan Harper, Derik Queen, Tre Johnson, Thomas Sorber ahead of NBA Draft

Watch on YouTube

Sorber literally looks like a giant sitting on that couch. Look at how huge his legs are. Kevin Seraphin tree trunk mobility bowleggedness. We need a WizD analysis ASAP!!!!

[gambitx777]

If he eventually excels at something he sucks at, sure. But you can make that argument for a lot of guys. If their weakness becomes a strength then they look much better as prospects.

If Kon doesn’t become an off the dribble scorer, he will still be an elite off the ball player/one of the best shooters in the NBA, and high level secondary playmaker with 99th percentile basketball IQ&compete. He’ll be incredibly efficient with his shooting&rim finishing. He also draws FTs at a really solid clip.

His defense is passable/average at worst right now with potential to be above average with his frame/strength. His positioning and feel on that end is elite.

Again, this isn’t some spot up shooter 22 year old upperclassman that has reached his ceiling. He was a 5 star top 20 ranked recruit that led the EYBL in scoring. Was the 2nd best player on the best NCAA team, put up some of the best numbers of a 19 year old freshman guard in the last decade.

His defense is passable in college. As one of the slowest wings tested in recent years with only a +1 wingspan i have to question how good he will be in the pros. He is slightly smaller and much slower than Kispert.

I remember plenty of people saying these same things about clay.

Sent from my SM-S926U1 using RealGM mobile app

[FAH1223]

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

Ace Bailey has DC on his preferred destinations. Troy says the Wizards love Fears.

[The Consiglieri]

Just realized after this draft that we may have drafted/traded for the entire starting lineup + some bench guys and still maybe not have identified our first option:

Hypothetical after draft:

Fears(?)/Bub/Bilal/Keyshawn/Sarr
Queen(?)/Kispert/Johnson

Can assume Kispert is gone, but I think you do enter weird territory from a team building standpoint if you reach this point without having identified your franchise player. You end up in a position where your draft odds probably worsen, roster size starts to become a concern, etc. You end up kind of feeling pressured to try to get the best free agent you can get and make the playoffs.

The Bulls are probably the best example of a team that has succumbed to this. I don't think we Wizards fans have actually faced this in decades given the movement from Arenas -> Wall -> Beal.

I think if we don’t draft “the guy” next year we can officially consider this rebuild bunk and look forward to a decade of mediocre basketball

That's the thing though, if we don't get the guy, we just suck and keep trying, it's not like we suddenly have built a 38-42 win team, if we get hosed in the lottery again and don't get a dart throw superstar at 5 or 6 or whatever this year and next, we're just going to still be bad, and we will have another high lottery pick in '27, multiple picks in 2 of the following 3 drafts, as well as multiple swaps.

It doesn't just circle the drain, it really just depends upon how Leonsis deals with the reality of getting potentially no luck out of '24-'26, if he's a moron, he quits tanking and aims for what the team was perpetually doing '98-'22: ie, sucking --- and accomplishing little to nothing 70% of the time, and winning 40-45 games the other 30% of the time. Why on earth would anyone do that?

The answer to me is just keep trying, the way these guys built '24-'30, they piled up assets almost out of nothing in terms of firsts, swaps, and 2nds to give us piles of ammo to keep swinging in every single draft class from '24-'30. Seems simple enough to me: keep trying to find that guy, no quick fix bull----, but some people apparently couldn't get enough of the total --- that was 1980-2022 for some reason and can only stomach 3 tanking seasons, which, I've got to be honest, strikes me as totally asinine and 1000% moronic. Keep trying, simple as that. We know playing for 39-43 wins is a fools errand Because we spent freaking 42 years doing it and the best team it ever built was a second round loser, and the vast majority of the teams won either 16-29 games, or in good years, 30-42. Why are so many people enamored with that over 15-22 wins, and trying, and trying again to find the answer is utterly beyond me. 30-42 win teams are the absolute worst place to be in the NBA, bar none, no hope whatsoever unless the NBA decides to rig the lottery for you apparently. Straight pass. I could lose 67 games a year for the next 3, 4, 5 years and not bat an eyelash at it if it meant we were legit trying to land those long term answers. Zero interest in them scrapping this program for a 30-42 win morass, I think I'd just give up and walk away entirely from the NBA if they went back to Dan Snyder/Abe Pollin/Ted 1980s to 2022 bull----, there are plenty of other sports to watch in such a scenario with actual hope involved.

[tontoz]

I remember plenty of people saying these same things about clay.

Sent from my SM-S926U1 using RealGM mobile app

You probably don't remember that Klay was almost a full second faster than Kon in the lane agility test. Klay was also taller with a +3 wingspan as well.

You also apparently don't remember how to spell his name lol.

[payitforward]

Just realized after this draft that we may have drafted/traded for the entire starting lineup + some bench guys and still maybe not have identified our first option:

Hypothetical after draft:

Fears(?)/Bub/Bilal/Keyshawn/Sarr
Queen(?)/Kispert/Johnson

Can assume Kispert is gone, but I think you do enter weird territory from a team building standpoint if you reach this point without having identified your franchise player. You end up in a position where your draft odds probably worsen, roster size starts to become a concern, etc. You end up kind of feeling pressured to try to get the best free agent you can get and make the playoffs.

The Bulls are probably the best example of a team that has succumbed to this. I don't think we Wizards fans have actually faced this in decades given the movement from Arenas -> Wall -> Beal.

I think if we don’t draft “the guy” next year we can officially consider this rebuild bunk and look forward to a decade of mediocre basketball

I can't imagine why you'd write something like that. These guys took over a completely moribund, stuck-in-the-mud franchise 2 years & 2 weeks ago. I'm blown away by how much they've done & how successful their moves have been overall.

These guys are trying to build a sustainable 21st century NBA franchise. So far so good, but it's going to take a while -- quite a while -- to become a contender.

[closg00]

Every analyst is in-love with Kon, would I take him over Tres, Ace, and Jeremiah? No, but he will fit perfectly on some teams.

[NatP4]

His defense is passable in college. As one of the slowest wings tested in recent years with only a +1 wingspan i have to question how good he will be in the pros. He is slightly smaller and much slower than Kispert.

Fair. Little compare and contrast:

Defense starts at 46:25:

Watch on YouTube

Defense starts at 2:01:35:

Watch on YouTube

Knueppel looks like a significantly better defender to me. Kispert was a liability even in college, despite playing against much weaker competition/lesser athletes.

[tontoz]

I am not watching a 2+ hour vid on Kon, unless i need some help falling asleep

[AFM]

Kispert is significantly more handsome than Knueppel. It's really not even close. And IIRC his girl is fine too.

[NatP4]

I am not watching a 2+ hour vid on Kon, unless i need some help falling asleep

It takes 5 minutes of watching the defense portion of each video to see the difference between the two. The Kispert comparisons are incredibly lazy on every level.

[Benjammin]

I don't want to be yelling Konnnnnnnnnnnn!! tomorrow after we pick. I'd take Maluach over him. I don't know about Fears. Hopefully it's Bailey.

Sent from my Pixel 9 Pro XL using Tapatalk

[awolfinwater]

A lot of movement in the betting markets. For those that like to be surprised come draft night, I'll put the following in a spoiler.

Spoiler:

#3 pick: Edgecombe is now -350
#4 pick: Kneuppel is now -230

I would say the draft is now starting at pick #5

[The Consiglieri]

I think I'll put my preferences with our top pick as:
1.) Harper
2.) VJ
3.) Bailey
4.) Maluach
5.) Fears

At slot 18.) It's harder to do this one because so many different guys could fall, or go way earlier than expected, so I'm gonna plug them in from top to bottom:

Tier 1: Probably a trade up, but it would be insane for these guys to fall far enough to justify it.
1.Maluach (Trade up)
2. Fears (Trade up)
2B. Not Essengue

Tier 2: Love the upside, or simply locked in skill sets mix:
3. Nolan Traore
4. Carter Bryant
5. Joan Beringer
6. Cedric Coward

Tier 3: Really happy to get them at 18, or with tiny move up:
7. Thomas Sorber
8. CMB
9. Liam McNeely

Tier 4: Probably getable in a trade down:
10. Rasheer Fleming
11. Egor Demin
12. Drake Powell
13. Ben Saraf

Tier 5: PIF Special: Acknowledging that PIF's dream of a billion picks in the 15-55 zone has validity in this super deep bunch of guys available around 15-45...includes some of the above guys (probably Powell, and Saraf go 25-35) and the below....
14. Adou Thiero
15. Walter Clayton-Violating my age rule
16. Noah Penda
17. Will Riley

There's probably more guys than this that I need to dig into, but if one thing is clear, this draft is just chock full of guys probably 20-30 deep, that typically go 15-30 in most drafts, but will go 20-40 in this one. This is a great, great, great draft to have multiple picks in the 15-35 zone in particular.

If there's one thing I'd definitely consider doing, and it 1000% violates my "too many 18-22 year olds on the roster rule), it's try to trade some future 2nds to get into the early 2nd round to vacuum up scraps that fall into that 25-40 area.

My favorites of them that appear in mocks in that zone in no particular order:
Clayton Jr
Drake Powell
Fleming (he falls that far in latest athletic mock)
Penda
Saraf
Thiero
Raynaud
Yanic Niederhouse

I do think the fall off probably starts somewhere in that 40-45 area, so what I'd love us to do personally, is trade a future 2nd and our current 2nd to climb into the 25-35 zone, or at worst, trade down from 18 if our targets are gone for goodies in the 25-35 zone (like two picks there instead of one).


Yes, PIF, for once, I am actually on the same page in terms of what I see as the HUGE value of the class (which is primarily 1-5 in this one, and probably around 12-35 as well, there's a zone between around 10-14 that lasts to 35 that is just stuffed to the gills in guys that seemingly always go in most drafts 8-20, an absolute ton of guys that are top 20ish in average classes to me....so if we could have two dart throws between 15-35, rather than the 18 and the 40, I'd be really happy. Hell, I'd take 3, if they could be like 18, 25 and like 33 or something. Would love, love, love to steal a Saraf, a Powell, or a Thiero in particular in the early 2nd (maybe Penda too).

Two weird guys to me lately are Fleming and Traore who I've seen in two different mocks in the last week in the 25-30 zone, when I had seen Traore climbing the past 2 months, and Fleming I'd always assumed was locked into 15-25, but it appears he's fallen more to 20-35.

[AFM]

Uh oh Doc, Spurs want your boy Maluach

Watch on YouTube