Event 2025 NBA DRAFT LOTTERY, COMBINE, AND DRAFT

i'm remembering last year when koc started putting reed sheppard #1 'just to mix things up' last year (his words). i'd be a bit surprised if the board fell this way and a lot of these rankings feel like koc trying to create ownable predraft narratives or something.

things that are true though: coward, essengue and bryant all seem to be rising up the boards like salaun and risacher did last year.

 

This guy has Bailey at 8 and Egor at 11. (which I would not do based on who is left)

 

anybody know if teams can ask for drug testing after workouts? seeing what seems to be a lot of acne on guys in the draft pics and the steroids era comes to mind. maybe just younger piayers, maybe they have better enhancement drugs today

 

Interesting. I kinda see it the opposite. Picking nits but I don't think either are 2's, but I see Tou is a 3/4 and Carter a 4/3, at least right now. Carter is obviously way younger so things could change, but Toumani showed more as a driver in high school and then transitioned into becoming more of a big man at Georgia and Dayton.

Carter has shown very little as a driver in high school and college. Had like three drives total at Arizona in half court.

I also think Tou is more flexible and is more able to guard down the lineup.

Carter is much further along as a shooter shooter and pull-up shooter though.

 

Valid points.
I would counter that because Tou is about 10 lbs heavier, and I think stronger, is therefore better suited to guard the 4 spot, although there is no doubt he can guard SGs as well.

I don't think either has the handles to effectively take a guard off the dribble and attack the basket regularly, but as you pointed out, Carter is much further along as a pull-up shooter, thus, I think he could play the 2 a little bit better.

Either way, Carter is now the one I am leaning towards at 11, unless someone unexpectedly slips to us.
I would not mind Fleming as well. I do have another 25 days to flip-flop some more, however.

 

carter bryant's data is so noisy and strange because of tommy lloyd's rotations though (he really did think he could just keep him another year by not playing him!).

I feel like GMs are going to weight private workouts heavier than the data.

 

I'd be cool with Carter.

Probably going to end up with Rasheer as a borderline top 25 guy so he's more trade down guy for me but still wouldn't be excited. Biggest thing for me is he is a pretty overrated athlete and has some real movement problems defensively. Just doesn't read the game at a super high level for a 21-year-old on either end.

And I think people underrate where the NBA is going and how much is asked of every player on the floor. You don't see very many limited non-ball handlers on the floor these days, even at the bigger positions.

I don't know, I hope he proves me wrong but decent shooting and crazy measurements is not enough for me to believe he'll be a good NBA player.

 

Possibly.

We are working with a very limited film sample but even then you could see how uncomfortable he was handling the ball in the open floor and in his pick and roll opportunities which he got about 25 of.

It's tough with Carter, because I actually do really like his passing.

Ball handling is one of the toughest things to develop to a high degree, but that's where he's going to unlock his outlier outcomes. He's got the building blocks everywhere else.

 

I've already called Coward the next Patrick Williams, but really Bryant fits better - a sixth man on a good team drafted on potential. (Coward was at least a starter on a D1 for a few games, otherwise the correct snarky comparison is Devean George.)

 

I believe a lot more in Carter's athleticism and shooting to at least be rotation level.

Patrick didn't have a bankable basketball skill and was a pretty weird athlete.

 

11. Portland Trail Blazers: Liam McNeeley, F, Connecticut
The Trail Blazers could be targeting a shooter with this pick after ranking 24th in 3-point percentage and in the middle of the pack in attempts last season. McNeeley is a sharpshooting wing with superb instincts moving without the ball and the touch to splash from deep ranges. Though he doesn’t project as a primary shot creator, his feel as a connective passer gives him the skill to fit into any type of offense.

 

No doubt that the dude can shoot. (despite his stats)

 

I wish @SlyPokerDog had the authority to drug test after 98% of these fools on here post!!!

 

I think I saw ESPN's latest mock had him conspicuously at #16... Orlando's pick. I'd be surprised if the Blazers took him at #11 but can definitely see him with a second pick.

And the same mock had Demin at 11 again...

 

Lots of interesting stuff in here, although it was obviously made before Pettiford withdrew:

 

Looks like Noa is going to be picked before 11.
He had another very good game today...
Wonder what it would take to trade up and snag him...

 

Are you sure he is worth trading up a couple of spots for? Is he that much better than who we will get at 11, especially since Noa would push someone else down to us? Most Euros are tougher to gauge IMO.

 

Yep. He's #5 on my big board.

I was really happy when Queen & CMB & Fears were all mocked higher -> so we could get the better player at 11... but now Noa is getting more notoriety.

I think the target should be the Nets at 8 to get in front of Raptors and Rockets

 

do we want essengue though? I've watched a ton of essengue tape and he has some serious weaknesses that will probably give gms pause. notably: before this weekend's game he was shooting 14.8% from 3 over the last 10 games. not great, bob.