ESPN on the top international prospects in the next draft... https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/42608168/nba-draft-2025-top-10-international-players-need-know STOMP
Why do we need to “replace” Scoot? Harper is like 6’6 in shoes and could either play alongside him at SG/SF or come in for him at PG. I’m all for drafting Harper. I want him with Scoot.
Draft best player available please. I don't care about anything other than greatest odds of becoming All NBA.
This draft looking right now like four guys that could be special pretty quickly. Harper looks better than originally presented. Bailey looks like he might take a little longer to put it all together. Egor's really elevated himself and I wonder if his game trends to a Doncic direction. I've read Dwyane Wade comparisons on Edgecomb a couple of places -- anxious to see him play.
I worry about Edgecomb cause, while I’m sure his ceiling is a lot higher than Malik Monk, he looks like he is just one of those guys, like Johnny Davis. How much better will he be than Bradley Beal?
I’m going to pretend like Flagg isn’t there. Outside of Harper, Demin is who I want. Camara, if nothing else, will continue to develop into a strong 3-D player, I’m hoping a taller and better shooting Bruce Bowen. Deni is starting to shoot better, 40% from 3 the last six games, and 37% the entire season if you don’t include the terrible first five game stretch. He’s a real two way point forward who is cheap for another three seasons. That is already a better forward duo than at any point in the Dame era. Combine that with Murray who looks like he will be a real contributor and Rupert who could be a good 3-D player one day, we have plenty of size and shooting potential at the forward positions. Demin/Shae/Camara/Deni/Clingan I really would be curious how this lineup does. Is there still not enough shooting in this lineup? Or will the switch-ability offset a lot of the shooting concern?
I don't know. Bradley Beal was pretty good for a while there. The big thing for me is the Wade comparison. When someone says they think he could be that type of player, it gets my attention, because that's a difference-maker. We're talking about a guy that was the leader of his team when one of his teammates was LeBron, a guy LeBron went to play with. I recognize he's probably not Wade, but if he's in that stratosphere, he's going to make a lot of players better and win a lot. I want to see more of him to assess it myself.
I wonder if Scoot has much "trade up" value. Like if we got the #6 pick, could we package it with Scoot to move up to #4 to get a guy like Demin. We turned Telfair into Brandon Roy.
Watching Demin right now against NC State. Yeah, similar to Luka. Moves the same way. Great, great, great passing eye. Phenomenal court vision. First 5 minutes he threw a no-look skip pass out of the middle post for a wide-open corner 3, then he drove down the lane for a lefty dunk over somebody, then at the other end he blocked a layup. He's getting coached by the former Suns assistant BYU hired, so he's being prepared for the NBA.
The problem with Edgecombe as the next Wade is that his wingspan is ridiculously short, 6'5" on a 6'4" body. When you look at Wade, he was 6'11" on a 6'4" body. A similar SG like Carter was also 6'11" and so was Harden. Guys like Kobe and Jordan (and Shaedon) were around 7'. Then, players like Roy or Edwards were 6'9" and a Zach Lavine is 6'8". Not saying Edgecombe is doomed but he might be more like a taller and more explosive Rajon Rondo than Wade. His jumper is quite inconsistent like Rondo, for example. Bankteller stated that might make him like Malik Monk and when you look at Monk, he's also similarly proportioned....6'3" tall and a 6'4" wingspan. OJ Mayo was similar, too (6'4" tall and 6'6"). So, I think it's worth watching him but I'd be cautious about comparing him to the next great SG prospect.
Maybe. When I think of Wade, though, I don't think of wingspan. I think of a guy that had a tremendous feel for the game, toughness, a versatile skillset, leadership ability and explosiveness. Like I said, I want to see him to make my own appraisal.
What I like about Demin as a prospect better than Doncic the player is that he can play without the ball. Demin and Avdija together would be too much skill combined at that size for a lot of opposing teams. Forget Scoot and Shae, Demin/Deni/Murray/Camara/Clingan Even THAT lineup could be potentially scary in ‘26-‘27.
I’ve watched Edgecombe a few times and he looks super athletic but not refined whatsoever. I think when Wade was a freshman at Marquette he was pretty much unknown nationally.
I’d like to see us go after some shot creators in the 2nd round of this draft. We have got the roster much better as far as length and defense in the past couple years. Our second unit needs shot creation and shooters.
As Rondo is one of my fave NBA players ever, this is not putting me off Edgecombe. But I have to doubt that he can pass like Rondo.
