2025 NBA Draft Thread 2.0

[thelead]

Ryan Nembhard should be the guy we called immediately about a 2 way deal.

agreed

[RookieStar]

Ryan Nembhard should be the guy we called immediately about a 2 way deal.

agreed

He gone

[J-Mezzy]

I guess we found our new JI

Steep price

some late 2nds is a steep price?

4 second round picks to move up 14 spots for a second round pick is steep

I don’t mind it but it is steep

[thelead]

Ryan Nembhard should be the guy we called immediately about a 2 way deal.

agreed

He gone

of course

[magicfan217]

I guess we found our new JI

Steep price

some late 2nds is a steep price?

4 second round picks to move up 14 spots for a second round pick is steep

I don’t mind it but it is steep

There is basically zero value of picks in the back half of the 2nd round.

[JF5]

Next season... not just strong but long who will shoot over you... im thinking of Jokic Embiid Vic Zubac Kat KP Mobley etc etc

There is realistically only one guy who is going to kill you in that list and that's Jokic. Everyone else are 3rd tier stars at max and have their own flaws.

Embiid kills us all the time.

Zubac demolishes and grabs infinite offensive rebounds evry time i saw them play.

KAT also scores at will but we negate it because we also score at will against him.

KP always seemed unstoppable against us.

Embiid is coming off a serious/degenerative knee injury turning 32 years of age when he returns. He's not going to be the same player.

Zubac is in the Western Conference...

KAT is shooter who isn't strong enough to bang in the post consistently.

KP has been injury prone for years and hasn't played a full season/post season ever.

What you're suggesting is absolutely overblown. Especially given how the game is played in today's NBA.

[thelead]

I think his body could go either direction depending on what the organization envisions for him long-term.

He's already basically 245 at 20 years old. If he continues to get bigger, I could see him settle into more of a Draymond Green kind of role where he plays PF, but then downshifts into a small ball 5.

But if he loses weight, he could go the other way and he's a PF who upshifts to the 3 when the opportunity presents itself.

Guys like Looney, Bogut, ZaZa, etc are always forgotten And let's not also forget that Draymond works because he plays with the best shooter of all time. It makes sense to have a playmaking (illegal-screen-setting) big alongside that type of talent. I guess we can recreate the splash brothers and Draymond with Penda, Bane, and Suggs...

I think the view you're having is a bit limited. His passing to cutting players/drive and kick ability adds another dimension to player movement offball in general and easier shots in totality.

Don't get me wrong, I like the idea... I just don't think Mosley is going to implement anything remotely close to him playing the 'playmaking center' role.

[RookieStar]

There is realistically only one guy who is going to kill you in that list and that's Jokic. Everyone else are 3rd tier stars at max and have their own flaws.

Embiid kills us all the time.

Zubac demolishes and grabs infinite offensive rebounds evry time i saw them play.

KAT also scores at will but we negate it because we also score at will against him.

KP always seemed unstoppable against us.

Embiid is coming off a serious/degenerative knee injury turning 32 years of age when he returns. He's not going to be the same player.

Zubac is in the Western Conference...

KAT is shooter who isn't strong enough to bang in the post consistently.

KP has been injury prone for years and hasn't played a full season/post season ever.

What you're suggesting is absolutely overblown. Especially given how the game is played in today's NBA.

We will see... i just see a lot of 7ft Cs just overpowering wcj who is 6'10 at best and probably 270lbs.

I dont have confidence that a 6'8 guy can do better

[zaymon]

We needed a bigger body and we got one. It was debatable if we needed big PF more or center. I guess it depends on Mo recovery.
Aside from the player i like the process. So many times we missed on good players in the second round becouse we didnt want to use assets and teams jumped right in front of us... so this year was our time.
I like smart players with big frames so i like the pick. If he is also as competetive as they say we really changed our outlook from soft players to tough competitors.
What i also like is that both our picks allow us to play with more ball movement. Until now every presser we heard we need to move the ball, but we just didnt have the players to do that. Bane, Richardson and Penda are all about that. They could change our rotation in time.
I doubt both Jase and Noah play much at the beginning of the season.
We really didnt have anyony outside Paolo to bang down low against forwards. Isaac is not reliable and thin, TDS i dont see as a 4 becouse he is really thin. We could draft a center and trade Goga but current option also works.

[Black and Blue]

Sorry I love so many of you…but so many of you are not recognizing the real worth in this draft.

7…SEVEN…separate team forums were all dying to draft Penda as he is reliable, has amazing instincts, and has that dog in him that teams pray for. He is an incredibly hard worker. This team is creating a “hardest worker in the room” identity and he fits right in.

So many other teams were pissed we got him. Chill and enjoy this.

Which forums are those?

Jeez now I gotta provide receipts.

Miami
Portland
Charlotte
San Antonio
Denver
Sacramento
Houston

And I’ll add in there that posters on Boston and New York Knicks forums were high on Penda and figuring out how to trade in for him. The Blazers forum had multiple people aghast with the Yang pick saying that a Penda second rounder would salvage the draft for them.

He is just a guy who provides intangibles that many teams love, and if he is a sure fire roster guy you can get in the second round then wow you did your job.

No one has been more critical of Weltman than me this past few years for his inactivity, but him and his team are killing it right now. I don’t know if Paolo complained or he read our comments, but something has ignited beast mode in Weltman and Parker. You all are going to love these picks for years to come.

…and this is coming from a guy who was not a fan of the AB and Jett picks.

Eat, drink, be merry. This draft and larger offseason was a home run for Magic fans.

From the Blazers forum:

2 scouts I talked to think we still have first round grades on 5 guys. I think it’s Penda, Fleming, Pate and ???

Penda was talked about A LOT as one of the most NBA ready contributors still around in round 2. He will be one of those people this team actually utilizes, as opposed to our friend “cash considerations”.

[fendilim]

Summer league will be fun.

Get ready your kai sotto jersey

Kid got acl last January

[Knightro]

Read on Twitter

[Black and Blue]

I didn't love Weltman's drafts when we we star hunting in the lottery....but I thought the TDS pick was solid (and he had a good enough rookie year!) and I like both Jase and Penda. He's clearly looking for connector/role pieces now and it seems like he's been able to identify those types of players. Time will tell but it feels like we added two guys who can be in the rotation (eventually) of an NBA playoff team.

You are one of the few who get it. And 1.

[fendilim]

Weltman's non-lotto strategy has always been guys with pedigree or high marks or whatever that fall down the charts for various reasons. He wants to see if there's still some of that lightning in a bottle people saw originally, like Cole before college or Jace before the combine measurements.

Credit to him for doing something in the second round. Whether he's overpaying or not, I like that he seems to have a sense of urgency now at least. Someone lit a fire under him. No more wasted years on evaluations.

Right!!! The organic days are behind us finally.

Not exactly. He has done that since he arrived. Briscoe and Khem Birch too

[RookieStar]

Sorry I love so many of you…but so many of you are not recognizing the real worth in this draft.

7…SEVEN…separate team forums were all dying to draft Penda as he is reliable, has amazing instincts, and has that dog in him that teams pray for. He is an incredibly hard worker. This team is creating a “hardest worker in the room” identity and he fits right in.

So many other teams were pissed we got him. Chill and enjoy this.

Which forums are those?

Jeez now I gotta provide receipts.

Miami
Portland
Charlotte
San Antonio
Denver
Sacramento
Houston

And I’ll add in there that posters on Boston and New York Knicks forums were high on Penda and figuring out how to trade in for him. The Blazers forum had multiple people aghast with the Yang pick saying that a Penda second rounder would salvage the draft for them.

He is just a guy who provides intangibles that many teams love, and if he is a sure fire roster guy you can get in the second round then wow you did your job.

No one has been more critical of Weltman than me this past few years for his inactivity, but him and his team are killing it right now. I don’t know if Paolo complained or he read our comments, but something has ignited beast mode in Weltman and Parker. You all are going to love these picks for years to come.

…and this is coming from a guy who was not a fan of the AB and Jett picks.

Eat, drink, be merry. This draft and larger offseason was a home run for Magic fans.

From the Blazers forum:

2 scouts I talked to think we still have first round grades on 5 guys. I think it’s Penda, Fleming, Pate and ???

Penda was talked about A LOT as one of the most NBA ready contributors still around in round 2. He will be one of those people this team actually utilizes, as opposed to our friend “cash considerations”.

Naaah. Im not doubting. Just gonna visit them to see why and what they saw ij him when he was all but unknown to us here

[tooler]

Weltman's non-lotto strategy has always been guys with pedigree or high marks or whatever that fall down the charts for various reasons. He wants to see if there's still some of that lightning in a bottle people saw originally, like Cole before college or Jace before the combine measurements.

Credit to him for doing something in the second round. Whether he's overpaying or not, I like that he seems to have a sense of urgency now at least. Someone lit a fire under him. No more wasted years on evaluations.

Right!!! The organic days are behind us finally.

Not exactly. He has done that since he arrived. Briscoe and Khem Birch too

Yeah sorry, to be clear those were two separate points. For the non-lotto guys it doesn't seem to usually work out.

And then separately, at least things are happening.

[fendilim]

Love the pick. Are we sure he's going to be in Orlando this year, and not going to play in France another year?

Yeah, during broadcast Jonathan Givony did say this.

[Black and Blue]

Which forums are those?

Jeez now I gotta provide receipts.

Miami
Portland
Charlotte
San Antonio
Denver
Sacramento
Houston

And I’ll add in there that posters on Boston and New York Knicks forums were high on Penda and figuring out how to trade in for him. The Blazers forum had multiple people aghast with the Yang pick saying that a Penda second rounder would salvage the draft for them.

He is just a guy who provides intangibles that many teams love, and if he is a sure fire roster guy you can get in the second round then wow you did your job.

No one has been more critical of Weltman than me this past few years for his inactivity, but him and his team are killing it right now. I don’t know if Paolo complained or he read our comments, but something has ignited beast mode in Weltman and Parker. You all are going to love these picks for years to come.

…and this is coming from a guy who was not a fan of the AB and Jett picks.

Eat, drink, be merry. This draft and larger offseason was a home run for Magic fans.

From the Blazers forum:

2 scouts I talked to think we still have first round grades on 5 guys. I think it’s Penda, Fleming, Pate and ???

Penda was talked about A LOT as one of the most NBA ready contributors still around in round 2. He will be one of those people this team actually utilizes, as opposed to our friend “cash considerations”.

Naaah. Im not doubting. Just gonna visit them to see why and what they saw ij him when he was all but unknown to us here

Cheers brother Honestly I went into tonight hearing Penda’s name left and right so when the Magic traded up to pick him it made sense based on the massive amount of hype, but I had to read why afterward. I think he just fits the profile of “a Magic player” in this new regime, which is a hardworking, intelligent dog who will work to be the best version of himself.

[RookieStar]

Jeez now I gotta provide receipts.

Miami
Portland
Charlotte
San Antonio
Denver
Sacramento
Houston

And I’ll add in there that posters on Boston and New York Knicks forums were high on Penda and figuring out how to trade in for him. The Blazers forum had multiple people aghast with the Yang pick saying that a Penda second rounder would salvage the draft for them.

He is just a guy who provides intangibles that many teams love, and if he is a sure fire roster guy you can get in the second round then wow you did your job.

No one has been more critical of Weltman than me this past few years for his inactivity, but him and his team are killing it right now. I don’t know if Paolo complained or he read our comments, but something has ignited beast mode in Weltman and Parker. You all are going to love these picks for years to come.

…and this is coming from a guy who was not a fan of the AB and Jett picks.

Eat, drink, be merry. This draft and larger offseason was a home run for Magic fans.

From the Blazers forum:



Penda was talked about A LOT as one of the most NBA ready contributors still around in round 2. He will be one of those people this team actually utilizes, as opposed to our friend “cash considerations”.

Naaah. Im not doubting. Just gonna visit them to see why and what they saw ij him when he was all but unknown to us here

Cheers brother Honestly I went into tonight hearing Penda’s name left and right so when the Magic traded up to pick him it made sense based on the massive amount of hype, but I had to read why afterward. I think he just fits the profile of “a Magic player” in this new regime, which is a hardworking, intelligent dog who will work to be the best version of himself.

Funny though. I thought he fit into our old mentality of longboi wing that cant shoot. Lol

Well.. he is a 2nd rounder so i really dot expect big minutes from him unless we get hit with injuries.

[Black and Blue]

Naaah. Im not doubting. Just gonna visit them to see why and what they saw ij him when he was all but unknown to us here

Cheers brother Honestly I went into tonight hearing Penda’s name left and right so when the Magic traded up to pick him it made sense based on the massive amount of hype, but I had to read why afterward. I think he just fits the profile of “a Magic player” in this new regime, which is a hardworking, intelligent dog who will work to be the best version of himself.

Funny though. I thought he fit into our old mentality of longboi wing that cant shoot. Lol

Well.. he is a 2nd rounder so i really dot expect big minutes from him unless we get hit with injuries.

I think the draft spot is important. This FO doesn’t care about most second rounders, so when they go after someone it’s clear the context is “wait, these picks are useless but this actually a potentially super useful player.” Going all in on Penda is less about thinking he is a superstar and more about wow there is major value here and we feel comfortable taking a swing.

That said yeah his shooting isn’t optimal, but they are gambling on a player fighting hard to improve there.

This draft is a SUPER WEIRD one in that no one is saying Jase and Penda are starters, but you can see the two of them being major contributors on a finals team. It’s the kind of pickups you get where you are good for once.