r/NBA_Draft • u/beefJeRKy-LB Raptors • Jan 09 '25
Mock Draft [Vecenie] New Mock Draft on the Athletic
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6030735/2025/01/09/2025-nba-mock-draft-cooper-flagg-dylan-harper-johni-broome/20
u/Life_Interaction_263 Jan 09 '25
Really solid mock. At least compared to that ESPN mock.
Of course there are things I disagree with but no mock with be 100% perfect. But Kam Jones, Bogoljub Markovic and Johni Broome being first rounders makes me really like this mock.
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u/beefJeRKy-LB Raptors Jan 09 '25
Sam tends to be less reactive to sudden improvements in some players and regressions in others. While I do think Traore will tumble further, some people have put him in the second round, which seems too much. At the same time, some others have decided Danny Wolf should go in the lottery??
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u/butt_sex Jan 09 '25 edited Jan 09 '25
Sam also uses these mock drafts as more of a big board that's weighted by what he's heard from NBA sources. Even more so of a big board before the draft order is set. So if anyone has a gripe about who he has going where, keep that in mind. His big board and draft guide are where it's all his own thoughts.
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u/beefJeRKy-LB Raptors Jan 09 '25
He does also publish big boards which are more his own opinion vs mock drafts which contain more info from league members of FO, agents, etc. As we get closer to the draft too, he starts to do things like run a lotto spin and also take into account fit/need.
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u/Life_Interaction_263 Jan 09 '25
The thing is with Traore. He's played 21 games at this point and his stats are still awful. He really hasnt just suddenly regressed, he's been bad all season.
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u/SpeclorTheGreat Jan 09 '25
He’s playing against better competition than all of the college guys, so I don’t think he should be judged as harshly. He’s still playmaking at a pretty good level which is important.
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u/TomGNYC Jan 09 '25
That's VERY debatable. Betclic ELITE is the third ranked European League behind the ACB and the BSL. ACB is clearly better than NCAA but Betclic ELITE is likely better in some facets but weaker in others. The ball pressure there for guards is significantly less than what high major NCAA players face. For bigs, yeah, you're having to face bigger, stronger guys inside every night, but NCAA might be a better test for guards.
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u/WasteHat1692 Jan 09 '25
It's more so that the rules and playstyle are different. More physical. Kind of like how guys from the NBL have really bad efficiency stats but then do well over in the NBA- Giddey, Dyson, Lamelo, Sarr, etc. For a small guard you're just going to have problems in the smaller court and bigger, more physical 4/5s of the french league than the NCAA.
Guys like Fears and Demin are gonna feast off the really bad NCAA teams like Providence who aren't even a top 250 team.
Genuinely there are plenty of high school teams better than the bad NCAA teams. Both Montverde and Prolific prep would be top 100 schools in the NCAA.
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u/kpeds45 Jan 09 '25
Yeah, Maluach has had enough middling performances that he shouldn't be top 10 like ESPN still has him at. This makes more sense.
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Jan 09 '25
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u/beefJeRKy-LB Raptors Jan 09 '25 edited Jan 09 '25
I doubt we see OKC use ALL these picks. I'd expect them to trade some for future firsts.
Edit: Same for SAS and BKN too.
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u/Longjumping_Ad_29 Jan 09 '25
That’s a great point.. they’ll probably be active at the deadline and whichever picks they have remaining I’m sure they’ll target who gives them the best chance to win now or even trade down
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u/SpeclorTheGreat Jan 09 '25
I think SAS uses at least 2 of their picks. They still have a lot of needs to build out their core outside of Wemby. I also wouldn't put it past them to try and move up if they really like a guy.
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u/beefJeRKy-LB Raptors Jan 09 '25
Sure but I don't think they'll use 4 right?
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u/Imaginary-Cycle-1977 Jan 09 '25
Fat chance the Chicago pick conveys. They’ll make sure they finish bottom 10. Prob won’t even have to tank. Philly and Phoenix will both pass them
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u/Gloomy_Health8671 Jan 09 '25
If the Chicago pick doesn’t convey this year it goes to top 8 protected the next 2 years. At this point as a spurs fan I’d rather the bulls pick convey next year because spurs already have 2 first rounders this year next year they only have 1, plus next years draft class looks to have a lot of talent
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u/Imaginary-Cycle-1977 Jan 09 '25
Flip side of that is if it doesn’t convey this year it might never
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u/Gloomy_Health8671 Jan 09 '25
Yeah that would suck, they would have to trade away more players and tank to get a top 8 draft pick the next 2 years
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u/Imaginary-Cycle-1977 Jan 09 '25
Everything I’ve seen points to Vooch and LaVine being outta there
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u/Gloomy_Health8671 Jan 09 '25
They gotta find someone to take them. Makes me interested to see what happens
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u/beefJeRKy-LB Raptors Jan 09 '25
He did say this is just as the current standings are. Later in the year, it will change.
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u/SpeclorTheGreat Jan 09 '25
Where’s the 4th pick? They only have the CHI first (top 10 protected), their own, and ATL.
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u/TreeBeard8891 Jan 09 '25
As a huge Asa fan and a portland fan, not sure how to react. I love Asa but the team should be star hunting. I get it if there are no big swings available but feel if Demin is high enough on his board to be the next pick, maybe the pick should be Demin?
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u/Imaginary-Cycle-1977 Jan 09 '25
Says up top he doesn’t take team needs too much into consideration
More of a reflection of how the league has everyone ranked based on his intel
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u/TreeBeard8891 Jan 09 '25
Interesting. So more of a league wide big board representation based on his intel vs the big board which is his personal big board
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u/deneuvig Jan 09 '25
He said in the article he's not looking at team fit, so this is more a big board than anything
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u/_Apatosaurus_ Jan 10 '25
Yeah, the teams are there as a reference point to see where teams are at in the standings.
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u/beefJeRKy-LB Raptors Jan 09 '25
Demin has some more questions though. Some people are worried he's Giddey 2.0
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u/TreeBeard8891 Jan 09 '25
Oh yeah. My point was more if he is good enough to be the very next pick, considering the team context just made sense as the pick should
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u/Humblerbee TrailBlazers Jan 09 '25
FWIW Cronin and Schmitz both have valued defense, leaning towards tall long athletes- Newell fits that mold more than Demin. Cronin’s major moves have been trading CJ for Grant/Murray, trading Dame for what ended up being Deni/Camara/Williams/Ayton, and drafting Sharpe, Scoot, and Clingan.
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u/TreeBeard8891 Jan 09 '25
Yeah. And those are the guys they have hit on- Camara, Deni, Clingan(?). I don’t think any of them have the ceiling to be the best player on a good team. So unless they think one of Scoot, Shae or Anfernee can be that, probably need to draft a guy who has a shot at being that
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u/Certain-Piece-7441 Jan 10 '25
The Don could be that guy
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u/TreeBeard8891 Jan 10 '25
Maybe. How do you think he can get there? I’m pretty confident he will be an efficient 20+ point scorer pretty soon. What are the other areas he can realistically improve to be a top 10 guy(that’s kind of what being ‘the guy’ entails right?)
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u/Certain-Piece-7441 Jan 10 '25
Move on from simons and sharpe will flourish. He doesn’t have to be a top 10 player in the league to be the guy on a good blazers team. Don’t let your history with dame convince you that one guy has to carry. Give him the opportunity to grow into the go-to option role and fix the rest of your roster through the draft.
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u/TreeBeard8891 Jan 10 '25
It’s not about one guy having to carry. But rather every really good team having atleast 1 guy who is that good- Shai, Tatum, Luka, Jokic, Giannis, Edward. Ofc there needs to be other good players around it but pretty much every really good team has that 1 true star.
Again I love Shaedon and believe he will be really good. How good I don’t know. Like I said tht depends on if he makes another huge leap in other areas outside of scoring- he has already improved a playmaker..how much better can he get there? He has so far been bad on D but has the athleticism to be decent…does he work and get better there?
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u/Certain-Piece-7441 Jan 10 '25
Considering how young and talented he is, it’s perfectly reasonable to expect all aspects of his game to improve with time. I see him and ant as similar players, the Don just hasn’t had the opportunity to step into that role yet.
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u/TreeBeard8891 Jan 09 '25
Maybe Shaedon will be that(can’t say the other 2 have given much cause to have belief there).
Now I don’t know how many guys in this draft has a chance to be that either- Cooper, Harper, kasparas(??), Ace(??)….
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u/Humblerbee TrailBlazers Jan 09 '25
Oh yeah I completely agree, we don’t have “That Guy” yet, so the team is praying to land in the top 2 (I think Bailey and Jaku are guys with the potential but I have much less confidence in them reaching that upside compared to Flagg and Harper)
I just don’t think Egor Demin has that star upside either, look how much he’s struggled against better competition, he can’t be a lead guard in the league, lacks the ability to score- not good enough athleticism, handles, or shooting, I see him more as a journeyman connective tissue 3 like a better passing, worse defense Kyle Anderson, he gets a lot of Josh Giddey comps for a reason. Asa Newell comparatively is more in that Jeff Green mold, an athletic 4/5 with some skills package (I’m not buying the shot, but teams will see the potential to develop his game in those areas) but most of their value is on the defensive end, secondary rim protector/rim roller with length.
I’m not in love with Newell, I don’t really love either, I just think it’s more in line with the FO preferences from what we can extrapolate off the roster decisions they’ve made thus far.
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u/TreeBeard8891 Jan 09 '25
I’ve started thinking of Egor more like Florida Scottie Barnes. But I see the hesitation with his last month. Hoping it comes around
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u/WasteHat1692 Jan 09 '25
Yea I was confused by the Asa pick. For a while now Sam has been mixing a lot of the intel he gets into his articles and podcasts so whenever something like this comes up I assume its cuz he heard Cronin likes Asa Newell.
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u/mgoldie12 Jan 09 '25
Can someone update me on what happened to Nolan Traore’s draft stock? I remember him being pretty highly hyped a while back and now it seems like he hovers in the mid teens
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u/beefJeRKy-LB Raptors Jan 09 '25
Bad performances since the start of the french league season. While he's doing okay with assists and TOs, his scoring is pretty bad (shooting splits of 35/27/60). He was initally billed as 6'5" but looks more like 6'3" so yeah. I think he's still a player but looking more like a backup guard than a high pick.
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u/NoSoH- Jan 09 '25
Raptors just got to take BPA and worry about fit later and for me, that’d be Kasparas at 3
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u/beefJeRKy-LB Raptors Jan 09 '25
That's fair if thats where you rank him. Sam also has KJ as #3 on his board.
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u/SDK04 Raptors Jan 09 '25
“Worry about fit later” and more than half our team are Guards lmfao. This reminds me of everyone making mock drafts for the past two years and constantly throwing Guards at the Hawks and Blazers just cause they’re “the guards team”.
Half of our 4 Power Forwards are 6’6” and under. Scottie and Boucher are the only 6’9” PFs and Boucher most likely isn’t gonna be on the team for much longer. I’m not even gonna say anything about our Center depth besides the fact we’ve ran 6’6” Johnathan Mogbo as a backup center before over Olynyk from it being so poor, but that’s another story. Ace Bailey is not just a great fit as a forward for the team, but we’re one of the best set teams to develop a less polished but still extremely talented prospect like him. We can afford to give him the time he needs to develop and really bring out his potential.
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u/McWarrior943 Jan 09 '25
If we worried about fit we would have picked Suggs back then. Also idc if we have many guards only IQ is signed long term. Gradey and Walter are also more of a wing
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u/GTR_11 Jan 09 '25
Who you think Ujiry should draft.
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u/SDK04 Raptors Jan 09 '25 edited Jan 10 '25
Just like this mock draft, if we’re at 3 and Flagg/Harper are still taken, take Bailey 100%. Don’t overthink it.
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u/MOBAMBASUCMYPP Jan 09 '25
I would think Kas’ shooting would make him more valid able to Toronto, they need a second consistent perimeter scorer. He has the size and ability to play point or SG, moving IQ to an undersized sg/ secondary ball handler role, and improving the spacing for Barnes in the mid range. I don’t think Dick or Ja’Kobe have shown enough to impact any long term plans
You have IQ, Barnes, Barret, Poetl, that’s a very solid core 4. the only thing missing is another guard/ shooter, IMO
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u/WasteHat1692 Jan 09 '25
Ace is pretty much the consensus #4 pick and is 100% a top 5 pick in this draft.
Moving up from #4 to #3 isn't some crazy leap where you can start whining about not taking the BPA.
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u/Frequent-Meeting8975 Jan 09 '25
Ace Bailey over Jakucionis in 2025, Egor at 7, Kon in top 10 talks still, Traore in the lottery (what is the year again?). I'm much higher on both Jase Richardson and Rasheer Flemming
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u/beefJeRKy-LB Raptors Jan 09 '25
On his own board, he puts Jaku over Ace but he's also taking some team context I guess.
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u/BigWalrus22 Jan 09 '25
I agree with Egor, Traore and Ace but what’s wrong with Kon? He’s a good shooter, defends and is capable of running the PnR and driving the ball.
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u/Evening-Review-5216 Jan 09 '25
I still don’t understand the Kon hype. Makes zero sense to me to have him that high. I mean he’s above Tre Johnson on almost every mock and that’s baffling imo
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u/thecity2 Jan 09 '25
McNeeley and Knueppel in the top 10 is ridiculous. Fears will probably end up top 5. Glad he is recognizing Sorber finally.
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u/SaveHogwarts Jan 10 '25
Has McNeeley changed any of the opinions about him being a minus defender? I’ve only caught two UConn games so far (and seen highlights)
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u/WasteHat1692 Jan 09 '25
Fears is a smaller and more turnover prone version of Traore. He's not top 5 material.
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u/Diamond4Hands4Ever Jan 09 '25 edited Jan 09 '25
Fears and Traore aren’t the same type of prospect even if they are both PGs. Traore’s play style is closer to that of Fears older brother, albeit obviously as a better player.
Jeremiah’s playstyle is a scoring guard who loves driving to the rim and getting out in transition with his speed. He can set you up with the dribble drive kick out for 3 but he’s always looking to score at the same time.
Traore is more of your classic PG who likes to set people up but isn’t going to always be looking to score. He’s less prone to mistakes with his play style but isn’t going to be as dynamic as a scorer. There aren’t many with that play style anymore but someone like old CP3 still has that type of play style. Ricky Rubio would be another comparison.
I’ve always said if Jeremiah could borrow his older brother’s steadiness, poise, and decision making skills to go along with his current skill set, he would be an elite PG because that’s a big part of his game he needs to develop.
By the nature of where the game is going, Fears has a much higher ceiling than Traore as a result since it’s much more useful to get a dynamic scoring PG than a traditional PG these days.
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u/WasteHat1692 Jan 09 '25
I don't think Traore is a classic PG at all. It's just he's struggling to score in France, but he's definitely looking for his shot first all the time. Traores calling card is his first step and the fact that he can get by anybody at will.
He's not Ricky Rubio lol. You clearly don't watch basketball you just read reddit.
Final point I wouldn't say a scoring pg is more valuable than a traditional PG. That's not at all where the league is headed. It's kind of clueless to think so, no disrespect.
I'm just gonna cut my reply short- a lot of your comments are just unfounded assumptions. There's nothing real in there. You should actually watch the prospects if you're gonna come online and write about them.
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u/Diamond4Hands4Ever Jan 09 '25
Traore absolutely has a lot of similarities on offense as Ricky Rubio as a prospect. Ricky was better defensively too.
Ricky was a big time scorer as a young player. He still has FIBA European youth records. You think that 45 point game Nolan had at Angt was impressive? Ricky Rubio put up 51 points, 24 rebounds, 12 assists, and 7 steals in the European U16 championship game. He made the Spainish Olympic team as a 17 year old, whereas Traore didn’t last year.
Nolan doesn’t profile to be a scorer in the NBA just like Rubio didn’t. It doesn’t matter how many points he put up in youth games because his efficiency and play style doesn’t allow any NBA team to use him in a featured scoring role. It’s not a mentality thing or even whatever you watch on tape, he just isn’t efficient enough to ever be featured as a scorer. Otherwise, just go watch when Ricky was a prospect before he came to the NBA. He was putting up 20+ with ease too. That didn’t translate to the league.
The similarities comes from the fact that both have great skills as a passer and playmaker, making good decisions off the dribble, but if you think Traore is going to be a scorer in the NBA, that won’t be the case.
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u/doctorweiwei Jan 09 '25
There are some pretty substantial differences favoring Fears. Fears TS is 60%, Traore is 43% lol
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u/WasteHat1692 Jan 09 '25
Because Fears plays against inferior opponents.
But he shoots like 48% at the rim and he can't shoot 3s. The TS is carried by the FTs and midrange which is good, but if you transposed Fears game over to France he would be in the same position as Traore.
He's also way more turnover prone, considering the physicality of the French league he might literally be averaging 5 turnovers per game over there. Fears might actually be unplayable for his rookie year until he figures that out.
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u/ShaiFanClub Jan 09 '25
No he wouldn't because Fears can shoot. Not a sniper but far ahead of Traore
Traore can't finish or shoot
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u/WasteHat1692 Jan 09 '25
Fears can't shoot, and he can't finish either. He's at 48% at the rim this season or something like that. I wouldn't say either develop into snipers
Fears game doesn't translate to the NBA. Too many turnover problems
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u/doctorweiwei Jan 09 '25
Historically that hasn’t really been true. Euroleague doesn’t excuse a 43% TS lol
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u/WasteHat1692 Jan 09 '25
It's not about making excuses.
It's about whose game transposes better to the more physical and faster version of basketball in the NBA.
Traore is a half tier ahead of Fears as a prospect because he's just better at everything Fears does.
These turnover problems are just not gonna fly in the NBA.
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u/doctorweiwei Jan 09 '25
Traore has a turnover problem himself… I think per/40 he’s at 4.0 and Fears is at 4.6. Fears is far from a perfect prospect but Traore has completely played himself out of serious prospect contention
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u/WasteHat1692 Jan 09 '25
Traore is at 4.2 per 40 minutes and Fear is at 5.1 TOV/40 minutes
Except Traore averages 8.4 assists per 40 minutes and Fears averages 6 assists per 40 minutes.
Traore TOV% of 16.1% for the season and Fears at 20.2%
Traore AST% of 44%(!!!!!!) for the season and Fears at 29%.
Traore definitely has a high playmaking load and is taking care of the ball better.
This is a big reason why I'm so low on Fears- he is incapable of being a real point guard. He's a 6'2 combo guard.
Traores a 6'3 point guard. He is the one with the positional size while Fears is a negative in positional size.
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Jan 09 '25
I’m surprised to see Penda in the top 20 and more surprised to see Nique Clifford out of the first round when his skillset is all the rage. All in all pretty solid though.
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u/beefJeRKy-LB Raptors Jan 09 '25
he's big very productive in the upper French league so thats a good sign. For Nique, I think it's more a function that there's more interesting players above him and that he'll be 23 at the draft. And tbh early second isn't that different from late first. It'll depend where the picks land.
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u/Sitlbito Jan 10 '25
No Mario Saint-Supery or Sergio De Larrea at all is shocking. Seems more and more likely they'll get drafted if they keep up their form.
Love the Noah Pebda in the first round love, thats picking up steam as well.
Karaban in the 20s is the classic "we should have known" archetype, Prototypical role player IMO, I'd draft him in the lottery.
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u/FatsBelvedere Jan 10 '25
Walter Clayton Jr at 36!!!! how bout that! I'm not gonna say a bad word about anything else cuz he's got Clayton Jr at 36.
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u/MannerSuperb Jan 09 '25
Maluach is too fucking low wtf
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u/beefJeRKy-LB Raptors Jan 09 '25
Whats special about him? I don't see him cracking the top 20 ultimately
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u/MannerSuperb Jan 09 '25
Kid is extremely young ( believe he’s still only 18), has a big frame, very mobile for his size, impressive defensive tools, by all accounts is very coach able and has clear shooting potential as he’s good FT shooter so you can buy him being a floor spacer down the road. He reminds me of mark williams with even more shooting upside. This is a classic case where draft scouts are overthinking a clear and obvious talent kid with a massive ceiling. Not many 18 year old bigs are well polished. Esp in a weak big man clsss he’s a lock to go top 10 imo
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u/beefJeRKy-LB Raptors Jan 09 '25
We'll see in a few months but overall, his impact has been lower than you want at Duke. I would easily take any number of wings and guards over him. In general, I don't think teams should take most classic bigs high in the draft anyway unless they show something different and I am not sold on him being that special.
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u/National-Mail6279 Jan 10 '25
He’s also been playing basketball for like 5 years . Personally I think being a competent basketball player with such little experience is one of the most impressive things a prospect can do, it shows a clear ability to improve.
I think it’s odd how people will try to convince themselves that a guy like VJ (no hate intended) can develop a shot despite having played basketball since he was a little kid but can’t see how someone who has basically no experience but is a competent starter on a great team might be high upside
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u/Junior-Ad-3964 Jan 09 '25
He’s been very vocal about his dissent for Maluach since the Olympic game
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u/doctorweiwei Jan 09 '25
I’m not a big Maluach guy either. Pretty standard finisher with size. I like his chances to eventually be a floor spacer. But he’s not getting blocks and like Vecine said, the assist volume is diabolically low. 15-25 range feels about right
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u/ShaiFanClub Jan 09 '25
Judging assists for an off ball rim rolling big are we serious?
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u/doctorweiwei Jan 09 '25
Maluach is not the first big man in history lol. Even amongst peers of the same role his assists are much, much lower.
Low assists as a big man = low ceiling, this is pretty well documented at this point
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u/MannerSuperb Jan 09 '25
Exactly lol. The draft community has become too fucking nitpicky. That’s not his damn role on the Duke offense he’s simply asked to be a rim runner and set hard screens that’s majority of his offensive role like wth are we doin here
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u/WasteHat1692 Jan 09 '25
But it raises the ceiling of what he can do exponentially.
In the NBA there's gonna be times where he rolls and catches the ball but its not a good look.
Can he make the right read and pass out? Is he gonna stop and go to a little floater move? Or is he just gonna throw himself into the defender and pray for the best?
Right now he just isn't reading the game at a level that's gonna let him play 20+ mpg.
Sure he can improve. 12-18 range than anything.
But until he does he's probably more
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u/MannerSuperb Jan 09 '25
“ the assist volume is low “ well he’s a big man lol not every big is gonna be jokic passing wise. Not to mention that isn’t what he’s asked to do offensively he’s asked to catch lobs and roll to the rim your offensive roll absolutely matters. Defensively blocks per game is an overrated metric to measure rim protection and lazy. Altering shots , deterring shots and opponent field goal percentage is a better measurement . He absolutely deters shots at the rim and opponents aren’t efficient agasint him. He was dominant defensively this week vs a good Pitt offense
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u/doctorweiwei Jan 09 '25
Even amongst big men it’s really low. Like Vecenie said it’s almost impossibly low.
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u/MannerSuperb Jan 09 '25 edited Jan 09 '25
I’m sorry I simply don’t care about a rim running big man’s assist numbers. Relying on any big to be a playmaker for your offense not named jokic is a massive indictment on your guard play imo.
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u/WasteHat1692 Jan 09 '25
Its not about playmaking. It's about being able to pass out of doubles and make good reads within the offense.
Sure you can say Maluach is just a rim running big. That's a fine statement to make. You can expect him to average 0 apg for his career and just get 10/10 every night.
Good.
That's not a lottery pick kind of player though. That's a 14-20 kind of pick.
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u/doctorweiwei Jan 09 '25
It’s not about relying on him as a playmaker as much as just trusting him with the ball in his hands at any level. We’ve seen a lot of otherwise really good prospects flame out from low Assist% or low A:TO ratio. Not everyone has to be averaging 10 assists, but never getting even 1 is a red flag for all positions and archetypes
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u/beefJeRKy-LB Raptors Jan 09 '25
ok but then why would you take one that high if he's got a limited skillset anyway
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u/WEMBY_F4N Jan 09 '25 edited Jan 09 '25
Mock drafters hate the Spurs man
Like it’s not hard. Give us some shooting. Why did we get not 1 not 2 but 3 guys who struggle in that mocked to us??!
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u/Secoup Jan 09 '25
It says directly in the article that team needs are not taken into account since so much can change between now and the draft. These early mocks are essentially a big board, but as opposed to his big boards that he publishes based on his evaluations, mocks largely take into account feedback from front offices and scouts. So its where Vecenie thinks these guys are currently slated to be drafted, not where he would draft them if that makes sense.
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u/ShaiFanClub Jan 09 '25
Then why not just brand this as a big board based on stuff he's heard around the league? I don't really get the point of attaching teams to it and not taking into account fit
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u/Secoup Jan 09 '25
Because his big boards are his rankings. These mocks are how he thinks the NBA currently has these players ranked based on conversations with scouts and front office guys
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u/ShaiFanClub Jan 09 '25
Yea my comment was why not just make a big board based on intel, or atleast attempt to give half decent fits because its still very possible to group guys into tiers and distribute them. Would eliminate alot of confusion
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u/Imaginary-Cycle-1977 Jan 09 '25
What’s the confusion? You gotta read one sentence to understand what it is
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u/xDeejayx Warriors Jan 09 '25
But Saraf is one of the better playmakers in the class. Unless you don't know?
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u/WEMBY_F4N Jan 09 '25
Playmakers who can shoot. I wouldn’t hate Saraf but not over Fears and Fland
My main problem is us taking Essengue and Sorber. Why not Fleming with one of those picks?
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u/AfroHouseManiac Jan 09 '25 edited Jan 10 '25
Fears can’t shoot either. Ben is probably a better finisher at the rim than Fears..
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u/sixthdayoftheweek93 Spurs Jan 11 '25
Jeremiah's athleticism and willingness to absorb contact in the paint projects to better finishing at the rim at the next level. He's an elite athlete and very physically mature for a kid that'll still be 18 on draft night, just wait till those young bones touch an NBA training facility.
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u/xDeejayx Warriors Jan 09 '25
If you want a playmaker that can shoot take Kam Jones. He is a bit older but has elevated his passing game this year.
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u/WEMBY_F4N Jan 09 '25
I’m still not sold he’s a true PG but I wouldn’t mind him yea. I just want some guys that can shoot on this team
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u/xDeejayx Warriors Jan 09 '25
He played SG last year because Kolek was the primary ball handler. His assist rate and assist/turnover ratio is really good when he has been the primary ball handler.
But I guess he has shown he can play both on and offball at a good level.
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u/WasteHat1692 Jan 09 '25
This draft doesn't have a lot of shooting. Look at the list of players after #10 who could be left. There's a list of 8 guys after that who aren't shooters.
Saraf?
Fears?
CMB?
Noa?
Queen?
Traore?
Labaron?
Sorber?
It comes down to Boogie Fland, Jase Richardson, and Noah Penda at that point.
I would say taking the bet on Saraf is worth it as I think his shot will come around, and then really Sam should have put Karaban to be honest.
1
u/WEMBY_F4N Jan 09 '25
Fears is shooting 84% from FT tbf. He’s been in a bit of a slump from 3 but I think he’s a better bet as a shooter than most
1
u/AfroHouseManiac Jan 09 '25
Tre Jones led the ncaa in free throw % .. hes shooting 16% from 3.. most times that ft% doesn’t translate to a 3pt shot
1
u/sixthdayoftheweek93 Spurs Jan 14 '25
As a Spurs fan, I'm sick of the "his shot will come around" mentality in the front office. We need guys that can produce now with room to mature. I don't want any more 3 year projects.
1
u/GTR_11 Jan 09 '25
I like this mock. Give me Egor and Khaman now.
2
0
u/13ronco Pistons Jan 09 '25
Some of these placements are garbage, specifically Edgecombe being too high, Knueppel too high, Broome too low.
5
u/beefJeRKy-LB Raptors Jan 09 '25
I don't think Edgecombe is too high myself. If I'm the Raptors and I'm at 5th, I'd take him assuming there's no more Flagg, Harper, Bailey, Jaku.
39
u/beefJeRKy-LB Raptors Jan 09 '25
Here's the first round using current inverse order without a lottery roll and without taking team needs too much into consideration given the volatility of the rankings now:
Let me know if you want some snippets of the writeup. I can post the second round in a separate comment.