2025 Draft Thread - Part 3

[tontoz]

What does 2026 cap space have to do with the Wizards?

They aren't going to the Finals next in 2027 unfortunately.

The Cavs got the number 1 pick (which they used on Kyrie) just by having the cap space to take on a bad contract.

We got the 18th pick this year just by taking on Smart's contract.

[TGW]

Oh shi-t. Just traded Jordan Poole for CJ McCollum with 40th pick.

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Terrible Trade

Unless the Wizards are getting the 10th pick or 3rd pick from 76ers or Suns without giving up the 6th pick.. this is pretty bad and a waste.

Could have waited and got I don't know an actual first round pick?

2026 is too early to get cap space because they don't need a big FA signing right now.

You live in a fantasy world. Wake up.

[JAR69]

Another ‘why?’ trade that I hope makes sense later. Usually as part of a different move.

Does suggest we are looking at a guard in the draft. Or a high usage gunner like Ace.

Wondered that, too. Seems more likely to be opportunistic - chance to shave a year from Poole.

Again, good use of FA signing. First, JV, now Bey. A little extra value for trades.

[Hidden Eye]

Oh shi-t. Just traded Jordan Poole for CJ McCollum with 40th pick.

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Terrible Trade

Unless the Wizards are getting the 10th pick or 3rd pick from 76ers or Suns without giving up the 6th pick.. this is pretty bad and a waste.

Could have waited and got I don't know an actual first round pick?

2026 is too early to get cap space because they don't need a big FA signing right now.

You live in a fantasy world. Wake up.

Poole and Bey is worth more than McCollum and Kelly.

This move does nothing m.

Cap space in 2026 does absolutely nothing.

I already woke up how about you wake up?

[BMagic]

Seems like they'll use the cap space next summer to sign guys to trade later like J-Val or take in more bad money next summer for picks.

[dobrojim]

Another ‘why?’ trade that I hope makes sense later. Usually as part of a different move.

Does suggest we are looking at a guard in the draft. Or a high usage gunner like Ace.

I just noticed we sent out 2 players, got 2 back
but also traded our 40th pick (2025) for a future 2nd rnd.
So in terms of players we're minus one this year.
Hard to say what the implications of that are yet.

[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)

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.

Great work, Consig.... This is one of those drafts where I really do wish I could come away with 5 guys! But, 3 will be good as well!

I don't see Essengue on any of your lists, btw -- I'd put him up there with Beringer....

He was originally tier 1 after Fears but I forgot his first name and then chopped him out entirely in my edit by accident.

[payitforward]

wrong thread....
None of the 4 guys in the trade have any relevance to our future or the Pels future. Jordan has had 6 seasons to show what he's capable of. He hasn't shown enough to think there's any success in his future. Bey is a below average player coming off an injury. Not likely to be long for the league..

For that matter, the 2 guys we got for them are no more valuable.

The net of the trade was clearing salary $$ in return for turning the #40 pick this year into a R2 pick in the future.

A perfectly sound move -- might make us better sooner, or not, but can't hurt anything now. & if we get something for McCollum will be a plus. If we can move him right away, great.

[JAR69]

FWIW, my realistic preferences with our top pick (swings with a not-insane chance of becoming a centerpiece):
1) Bailey w/out trade (big risk/reward, but the talent and attitude are there)
2) VJ (does anyone else see some Westbrook here?)
3) Maluach (sold by Doc, agree the quiet is deafening)
4) Bailey small trade up (as much as the #18 if we get something back)

I'll take it but I don't love it:
5) Carter Bryant trade down (don't care about the handle - he knows how to move on the court)
6) Fears (really hard to project)

That said, my guy from the beginning has been Maluach. Beyond Flagg and Harper, I think he has the most upside potential in the draft. So much depends on things we can't know, but hopefully the FO learned about in research and interviews. I still put him 3rd because Bailey's and VJ's upsides are almost as high, but they have higher floors.

Two more lists.

Not-quite-a-lottery-ticket big swings for #18 or small trade up (all the development pieces would have to fall into place) (also, bonjour!):
1) Essengue
2) Berringer
3) Traore
4) Coward

Guys I don't like as much as some do:
1) Sorber (just don't like the way he moves around the basket)
2) Johnson (seen him before - never really moves the needle)

[Frichuela]

Destiny is all!

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?s=46

[NatP4]

Is this real???

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[Kanyewest]

Is this real???

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Yup - full article here. Also notable that he had the asthma attack vs Maryland where he scored 4 points.

https://www-nj-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.nj.com/sports/2025/06/diamond-in-the-dirt.html?amp_gsa=1&amp_js_v=a9&outputType=amp&usqp=mq331AQIUAKwASCAAgM%3D#amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&aoh=17507723859741&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&ampshare=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nj.com%2Fsports%2F2025%2F06%2Fdiamond-in-the-dirt.html

[dcPress]

I’d rather not trade up for anyone but Dylan, and would prefer Tre over Ace. His media stuff and shot selection are fine for a 6’10” Durant type but not at 6’7”. Johnson with the first pick and Essengue with a trade up would be a great draft.

[DANNYLANDOVER]

I've been team Maluach the entire time! Hope he's the pick!
Here's my preference in order:
Trade up to 2 to get Dylan Harper (hopefully, without giving up Bilal)
Draft Maluach
If Ace falls, take him at 6, but don't trade up
Draft Tre Johnson

[nate33]

I've been team Maluach the entire time! Hope he's the pick!
Here's my preference in order:
Trade up to 2 to get Dylan Harper (hopefully, without giving up Bilal)
Draft Maluach
If Ace falls, take him at 6, but don't trade up
Draft Tre Johnson

This is pretty much where I’m at too. I want either Ace or Maluach. If they’re both available at #6, I guess I’ll take Ace; but frankly, I’m not in position to know enough about Ace’s character issues. If they passed on Ace, I would understand.

[payitforward]

I’d rather not trade up for anyone but Dylan, and would prefer Tre over Ace. His media stuff and shot selection are fine for a 6’10” Durant type but not at 6’7”. Johnson with the first pick and Essengue with a trade up would be a great draft.

Tre in particular?

What about Edgecombe, Maluach, Fears or Knueppel? Would you also take one of them over Ace?

[payitforward]

I've been team Maluach the entire time! Hope he's the pick!
Here's my preference in order:
Trade up to 2 to get Dylan Harper (hopefully, without giving up Bilal)
Draft Maluach
If Ace falls, take him at 6, but don't trade up
Draft Tre Johnson

This is pretty much where I’m at too. I want either Ace or Maluach If they’re both available at #6, I guess I’ll take Ace, but frankly, I’m not in position to know enough about Ace’s character issues. If they passed on Ace, I would understand.

This is my position as well. Except I would phrase it as Ace's maturity level rather than his character. There's a lot of seemingly childish decision-making out of his camp.

Not every 19 year old is mature enough to flourish in as demanding a context as professional sports.

[PaulinVA]

Not impressed with this interview:

Bailey was then asked if he thought people had the wrong perception of him after his decision to not attend pre-draft workouts.

"I feel like I can only control what I can control. I mean, you can think how you think but I can control what I can control," Bailey said.

https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/ace-bailey-addresses-decision-to-not-work-out-for-teams-prior-to-nba-draft-im-just-working-on-basketball/

[AFM]

I mean he's clearly extremely immature. But at 18 I was doing kegstands in frat basements. Running from the Baltimore police because we used to fill trash cans up with water and then throw them out the window at whoever was unlucky enough to be below us on the sidewalk.

The fact that his "agent" isn't actually an agent but a coke dealer with a dismissed murder charge, probably isn't helping either.

[Benjammin]

If the Nets with all their first round picks want Ace then so be it.

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