2025 Draft Thread

[closg00]

About the W last night, meh, the team with the worst record has gotten the #1 pick 1 out of the last 10 drafts, so I’m not worried, we just need to land in the Top-3, picking 4-5 would give me serious heartburn if VJ is gone at 3, then I would seriously consider swinging on Maluach. But, Queen is now being mocked as high as 5, dare we take him at 5? We know what AFM and CCJ would say
Tonight may determine DQ’s draft stock.
https://sports.yahoo.com/nba/article/2025-nba-mock-draft-cooper-flagg-at-no-1-no-doubt-but-who-else-is-a-first-round-pick-203049384.html

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

So much of the NBA draft is about projection. Trying to understand and navigate the mindset of 18 and 19 year olds. How will they respond when they get money and have success. I'd argue that just as important as a players skills and physical ability is a players "theory of self." This is why when scouting players I always seek out interviews where they talk about their game. I want to know why basketball is important to them. I want to know who they pattern their game after. As young men, how they play basketball is directly tied into the player they are working towards and eventually hope to be.

I say all of this because, #1 and #2 options on championship teams are cut from a different cloth than everyone else. When you're a #3 option/role player you can afford to go with the flow. You can get by not forcing the issue. In fact if it's probably better for everyone that you do not force the issue. But when you're a #1 or #2 option, you are expected to take responsibility for the outcome of the game. It tells me a lot about these prospects when I watch them play and the game is slipping away and they are just out there playing their role.

I watched Baylor lose to Duke. Never once did I feel like Edgecombe was trying to take over the game. Granted the game wasn't close but it was almost like Edgecombe - on a subconscious level - understood that he was a role player. I have a hard time drafting someone with that mentality over a guy like Ace. One of the reasons I believe in Ace is because through his interviews, post game press conferences, mannerisms on the court I have concluded that Ace see's himself as that guy. When the team is struggling he wants the ball in his hands. When the game is on the line, he wants to be the one shooting the ball.

These are the guys that change cultures. When a team loses there's no laughter or joy in the locker room. When the team wins a playoff series, that guy lets it be known that the job isn't finished. This person doesn't measure their success or failure according to their stat line but according to their peers and to the great ones that came before them. Most of all, they are willing to work harder than anyone else on the team. Finding players with this mentality is way more important than what's actually happening on the court because 1) it's so rare and 2) they have the ability to change the direction of your organization.

Either an organization has a player like this or they are looking for a player like this. When I listen to Ace talk, when I see Ace play, I see a player at 18 who's taking responsibility for leading a college team. Did he struggle? Yes. Does he have to improve his game? Yes. But, what I care about is the mindset because with that kind of mindset comes a commitment to the work on your game that is way greater than your average role player. We have drafted a lot of guys over the years. Wall, Beal, Porter Jr, Brown Jr Rui Avdija, Bub, Sarr, George and many more. I have taken my time and watched them all. I have never seen any of them react to not getting the ball when the team is struggling the way Ace Bailey reacts. Ace is like a great WR who doesn't get the ball thrown to them. There's going to be problems. Maybe Wall would have reacted this way but he was the pg so the ball was already in his hands.

I watched as much as I could stand of Fduke vs. Baylor. The free throw differential at half at was 19 to 2. Guess which teams shot how many, respectively?

Edgecombe was saddled by ticky-tac fouls in the first half. He couldn't showcase his skills on the bench.

The refs made the disparity appear to be fair by the end of the game. The second half free throw attempts went Duke 4, Baylor 8. The finish: Duke 23 FTAs, Baylor 10 FTAs. Twenty-three to ten as opposed to thirty-eight to four.

As for my evaluation of Edgecombe, he's got it. His athleticism is next level. But is he that much better than AJ Johnson?

The guy who looked the best to me that game was Maluach. He protects the rim like prime Dikembe Mutombo, Alonzo Mourning, and Patrick Ewing. His shooting mechanics remind me of Robert Parrish.

Cooper Flagg reminds me of (I read this elsewhere, too) Scottie Pippen or Andrei Kirilenko. Also, Bobby Jones and Tom Chambers. Most impressively, he posts up smaller players at the rim, and he gets fouled or finishes like Larry Bird.

Hey, maybe I just contradicted myself! That Flagg kid is pretty good, too.

[pancakes3]

Maybe it's the Duke comp but Flagg strikes me as Tatum but better. They have mirror skills but Flagg is (1) much more willing to take it to the hole and not settle for 3's - yes, even college Tatum, watched him dismantle UVa in college with catch-and-shoot 3's; and (2) gets more production via playmaking/passes because he plays inside the arc and draws more double teams due to style of play.

We've all seen Tatum be effective when he focuses on getting to the rim and playing inside of the FT line extended, but we've also seen Tatum jack up 10+ 3's a game and take himself out of the game. Flagg rarely if ever takes himself out of the game by settling for 3's. And Flagg is always playing hard. I don't think there's been a game yet where I see him post-game and his floppy moptop isn't dripping in sweat. He's active on offense, moving without the ball, and he's active on defense. It's a frenetic energy that we would see out of Kobe/Jordan, as opposed to the effortless game of Steph/Jokic.

I don't think there are any direct comps, but Prime had said that he does everything without a standout skill - that's true. But I think that's more due to how he plays vs his actual skills. He gets a ton of assists for being an off-ball wing. I would say Durant as a comp, but Durant was a 25/11 guy as a true freshman and Flagg is a 18/8 guy - maybe the comp is a 3/4 facsimile of KD. Blurry Durant.

[DCZards]

I agree there were Baylor games where VJ should have been more assertive. But towards the end of the season I saw him takeover down the stretch of close games and he was damn near unstoppable.

VJ strikes me as a player who doesn’t know yet how good he can be. When he gets to the next level and grows in confidence he’ll be far more than a role player.

I’m a fan of Bailey as well and would be fine with him at 3. But prefer VJ be because of his crazy athleticism and strong body…both of which remind me of Ant.

[The Consiglieri]

About the W last night, meh, the team with the worst record has gotten the #1 pick 1 out of the last 10 drafts, so I’m not worried, we just need to land in the Top-3, picking 4-5 would give me serious heartburn if VJ is gone at 3, then I would seriously consider swinging on Maluach. But, Queen is now being mocked as high as 5, dare we take him at 5? We know what AFM and CCJ would say
Tonight may determine DQ’s draft stock.
https://sports.yahoo.com/nba/article/2025-nba-mock-draft-cooper-flagg-at-no-1-no-doubt-but-who-else-is-a-first-round-pick-203049384.html

That's the thing though, problems like last night, to me at least, are not about the first pick, we all should know by now that the odds of landing 1.01 suck, and that the top 2-3 odds also suck. Last night was bad because it increased the odds of falling to 5 or 6, and included the 6th pick as a possible fall down spot, which isn't so if we have the worst record. I don't have 6 guys I view as worth the pain of being the worst the Wizards have ever been this season (and next for that matter), I have about 4-5 guys I'd be okay with. If we can fall to 6, and finishing 2nd worst makes that a 1 in 5 possibility, that ----ing sucks, after being the worst team, record wise, in the NBA for five straight freaking months only to win 7 or 8--- damned games in March (potentially the equal of what we won October-February combined) to throw away the locked in odds for a 1-5 win? Beyond infuriating, hopefully we're lucky and it doesn't matter, we land the 1.01 odds band anyway, and hopefully if we don't, we just luck into a top 3, or at worst, a top 5 pick anyway, but wins like last night make 1.06 possible, and that would be utter ---- in my view, complete and utter ----. I'm beyond infuriated that #1 this team did what I'd feared it would do (start winning games late as other teams joined up on quitting in the season) and #2 that the league does far more than I realized to really go after teams for sitting guys (which is equally asinine. What the ---- business is theres, how we distribute minutes? Are they not self-satisfied enough that the Knicks, Celtics, and Lakers are great again, due they need to step on the necks of poor DC, Charlotte, and New Orleans even harder? Utter bull----. How I, if I were a GM, decided would be the best way to effectively build a long term winner, is none of their business or prerogative, and if it turns out I am a terrible owner or GM, that destroys the value of a franchise, like that idiot in Dallas, or that guy in the eighties that sold off like 10 future firsts or whatever, you can have the owner fire the idiot, and failing that, Dan Snyder or Donald Sterling him, but if I'm tanking, in a league that requires bad teams in cities no NBA player wants to play in, to tank to have any hope at all, ---- the commish and the rest of those ---holes trying to ruin the sole route through which some GM has the best opportunity to build an actual winner).

I find this league just infuriating.

[pcbothwel]

But prefer VJ be because of his crazy athleticism and strong body…both of which remind me of Ant.

Sorry...but what? Ant is an inch taller, 40 lbs heavier, and with 3+ inches more in wingspan.... All while being 13 months younger than VJ at the draft.
Thats the difference between Jordan Poole and Miles Bridges...Night and Day

[DCZards]

But prefer VJ be because of his crazy athleticism and strong body…both of which remind me of Ant.

Sorry...but what? Ant is an inch taller, 40 lbs heavier, and with 3+ inches more in wingspan.... All while being 13 months younger than VJ at the draft.
Thats the difference between Jordan Poole and Miles Bridges...Night and Day

You’re right on all counts…except the Poole-Bridges comparison.

But give VJ 2-3 yrs and you’ll see what I mean with the athleticism and strong body comparison.

[dckingsfan]

Michael Ruzic was a really solid rotation player for Joventut in the ACB/eurocup competition at 17 years old. Can shoot the lights out and has legit PF size.

Noa Essengue has top 5 talent.

Collin Murray-Boyles would’ve been drafted top 10 in 2024, elected to go back. If he shows the shooting touch, he’ll go top 10.

Class is loaded at the 2/3/4 positions. Shallow at the PG&C positions.

Just at the 2/3/4 you have: Harper, Edgecombe, Bailey, Flagg, Gonzales, Demin, Tre Johnson, Murray-Boyles, McNeeley, Ruzic, Essengue, Powell, Bethea, Ian Jackson. Still a crazy amount of blue chip recruits after that.

Nolan Traore is in a tier all by himself.

If you are Brooklyn, you have to be dancing right. I mean they will pick and develop 4 FRPs. We aren't too shabby either with 2.

[pcbothwel]

But prefer VJ be because of his crazy athleticism and strong body…both of which remind me of Ant.

Sorry...but what? Ant is an inch taller, 40 lbs heavier, and with 3+ inches more in wingspan.... All while being 13 months younger than VJ at the draft.
Thats the difference between Jordan Poole and Miles Bridges...Night and Day

You’re right on all counts…except the Poole-Bridges comparison.

But give VJ 2-3 yrs and you’ll see what I mean with the athleticism and strong body comparison.

Im sure he is a great athlete and quite strong, but I'm talking projection. Neck, shoulder width/wingspan, hand size, hips and lower body... all below average. He is built similar to a mix of Jared Butler (Narrow) and Anfernee Simons (Thin).

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

About the W last night, meh, the team with the worst record has gotten the #1 pick 1 out of the last 10 drafts, so I’m not worried, we just need to land in the Top-3, picking 4-5 would give me serious heartburn if VJ is gone at 3, then I would seriously consider swinging on Maluach. But, Queen is now being mocked as high as 5, dare we take him at 5? We know what AFM and CCJ would say
Tonight may determine DQ’s draft stock.
https://sports.yahoo.com/nba/article/2025-nba-mock-draft-cooper-flagg-at-no-1-no-doubt-but-who-else-is-a-first-round-pick-203049384.html

That's the thing though, problems like last night, to me at least, are not about the first pick, we all should know by now that the odds of landing 1.01 suck, and that the top 2-3 odds also suck. Last night was bad because it increased the odds of falling to 5 or 6, and included the 6th pick as a possible fall down spot, which isn't so if we have the worst record. I don't have 6 guys I view as worth the pain of being the worst the Wizards have ever been this season (and next for that matter), I have about 4-5 guys I'd be okay with. If we can fall to 6, and finishing 2nd worst makes that a 1 in 5 possibility, that ----ing sucks, after being the worst team, record wise, in the NBA for five straight freaking months only to win 7 or 8--- damned games in March (potentially the equal of what we won October-February combined) to throw away the locked in odds for a 1-5 win? Beyond infuriating, hopefully we're lucky and it doesn't matter, we land the 1.01 odds band anyway, and hopefully if we don't, we just luck into a top 3, or at worst, a top 5 pick anyway, but wins like last night make 1.06 possible, and that would be utter ---- in my view, complete and utter ----. I'm beyond infuriated that #1 this team did what I'd feared it would do (start winning games late as other teams joined up on quitting in the season) and #2 that the league does far more than I realized to really go after teams for sitting guys (which is equally asinine. What the ---- business is theres, how we distribute minutes? Are they not self-satisfied enough that the Knicks, Celtics, and Lakers are great again, due they need to step on the necks of poor DC, Charlotte, and New Orleans even harder? Utter bull----. How I, if I were a GM, decided would be the best way to effectively build a long term winner, is none of their business or prerogative, and if it turns out I am a terrible owner or GM, that destroys the value of a franchise, like that idiot in Dallas, or that guy in the eighties that sold off like 10 future firsts or whatever, you can have the owner fire the idiot, and failing that, Dan Snyder or Donald Sterling him, but if I'm tanking, in a league that requires bad teams in cities no NBA player wants to play in, to tank to have any hope at all, ---- the commish and the rest of those ---holes trying to ruin the sole route through which some GM has the best opportunity to build an actual winner).

I find this league just infuriating.

Winning last night was profoundly idiotic for the Wizards.

[gesa2]

Hard to out tank the Sixers when they are giving major minutes to players who aren’t even good G leaguers, and we’re still giving Poole Champagnie and Sarr 30 min each

[AFM]

https://www.baltimoresun.com/2025/03/27/maryland-basketball-star-derik-queen-scores-sweet-deal-with-dairy-queen/

Maryland basketball star Derik Queen scores sweet deal with Dairy Queen


When memes become reality

[Benjammin]

That Cooper Flagg guy is pretty, pretty good...

Sent from my Pixel 9 Pro XL using Tapatalk

[Tyrone Messby]

Flagg is insane

[Benjammin]

Maluach goes out and Arizona goes on a run...

Sent from my Pixel 9 Pro XL using Tapatalk

[Frichuela]

Imagine a Bilal-Flagg-Sarr front court in a couple years, with George-Champagnie coming off the bench. Flagg is a beast, offensively and defensively.
He will make the rest of the team much more competitive just by sheer will and talent.

Read on Twitter

?s=46&t=GWeuz7j_sc5cBYZzdD92Tw

14% probability…We are a franchise that suffered GM malpractice for years. So now that we finally have a competent front office, we are owed some luck, right?

[Frichuela]

Just tried 5 Tankathon simulations for giggles and got:

#4
#2
#6
#3
#2

I hope we have more luck come draft lottery day...

[prime1time]

The best attribute of Flagg is that he just keeps on getting better. Yesterday was a very impressive game. I felt like early on in the year he was very deferential and kind of just coasting. Then he got to ACC league play and the conference was terrible. Yesterday, against a solid team, he asserted himself and took leadership of the team. For the game Duke shot 60% from the field. Cooper went only 9/19. So not incuding cooper Duke went 24/36 or 66%. Several years from now we are going to look back and realize that this Duke team is up their with the most talented college teams of the last 25 years. Everything Coop does is so textbook. He makes the right decisions, time and time again. When the lob is there he throws it. When the defense is leaving a 3-point shooter open he passes it. When he his mismatch onto a small defender he takes them into the low post. When he's being guarded by a bigger slower defender he takes them to the hoop.

The combination of b-ball iq, skillset, talent, athleticism and competitiveness is a joy to watch. It reminds me of watching KD at Texas. Competent high iq teammates. Everyone bought in and solely focused on winning. And the young freshman at the center of it all, put in the ideal situation to display his talents. Cooper Flagg will get a lot better but you might never see him in a situation more conducive for his success. He already had the #1 pick locked up but this performance yesterday just cemented it with a cherry on top. If we got the #1 pick I would still trade down to #2 and draft Harper but I would no longer trade down from 1 to 3 to draft Ace.

The reason being that watching Ace is the game never slowed down for him the way the game slowed down for Flagg. Granted Ace was in a terrible situation, and I don't know how Flagg would have feared if he found himself in a situation. I do feel like Flagg like Harper would have found a way to get the most out of their teammates while Ace kind of just pounded his head on the wall all year long.

[doclinkin]

No GM in the league would trade away the #1 pick this year. No team owner would allow it. If Harper is your guy you have to hope we land the 2nd pick. Drafting Flagg is worth too much to any franchise that lands him. He’s been more hyped than Wemby. On the public radar for longer.

[prime1time]

Imagine a Bilal-Flagg-Sarr front court in a couple years, with George-Champagnie coming off the bench. Flagg is a beast, offensively and defensively.
He will make the rest of the team much more competitive just by sheer will and talent.

Read on Twitter

?s=46&t=GWeuz7j_sc5cBYZzdD92Tw

14% probability…We are a franchise that suffered GM malpractice for years. So now that we finally have a competent front office, we are owed some luck, right?

Flagg is a beast but we should put his success in context. He is in an ideal situation. Not inlcuding Flagg Duke shot 66% from the field. I just feel like we're seeing Flagg in an ideal situation and I question how good his offense will be when he gets to the NBA and he finds himself #1 on an opposing teams scouting report. Like what is the ceiling on Flagg's offense? Look at how many easy/great looks Flagg got yesterday. In competitive NBA games, against skilled wings I have questions about Flagg's ability to create offense when easy looks are taken away. And not just doubts of 18 year old Cooper Flagg, but doubts concerning prime Cooper Flagg.

When you're playing Boston and they are locked in defensively so all the layups and wide-open 3's disappear and they have 4 great defenders that are going to make you earn every bucket that you get, I have questions about Flagg's offense. With KD the offensive upside was always clear. He gets to his spot and he can rise up. He's an elite 3-point shooter even at high volume. And his size and length make him very tough to cover. KD's rookie year he shot 43/28/87. But the elite offensive upside was always there. And the great thing about KD is that he had no problem creating offense out of nothing and doing it efficiently.