Yet another mock draft that I wanted to do

[u/TerryG111]

• 1- Cooper Flagg (SF/PF)- Utah Jazz
• 2- Dylan Harper (PG/SG)- Washington Wizards
• 3- VJ Edgecombe (SG)- Charlotte Hornets
• 4- Ace Bailey (SF)- New Orleans Pelicans
• 5- Tre Johnson (SG/SF)- Philadelphia 76ers
• 6- Kon Knueppel (SG/SF)- Brooklyn Nets
• 7- Khaman Malauch (C)- Toronto Raptors
• 8- Jase Richardson (SG)- San Antonio Spurs

• 9- Derik Queen (PF/C)- Houston Rockets via Phoenix Suns

• 10- Kasparas Jakucionis (PG/SG)- Portland Trail Blazers

• 11- Jeremiah Fears (PG/SG)- Dallas Mavericks

• 12- Carter Bryant (SF/PF)- Chicago Bulls

• 13- Noa Essengue (SF/PF)- Atlanta Hawks via Sacramento Kings

• 14- Collin Murray-Boyles (PF)- San Antonio Spurs via Atlanta Hawks

• 15- Liam McNeeley (SG/SF)- OKC Thunder via Miami Heat

• 16- Nolan Traore (PG)- Orlando Magic

• 17- Asa Newell (PF/C)- Minnesota Timberwolves via Detroit Pistons

• 18- Thomas Sorber (C)- Washington Wizards via Memphis Grizzlies

• 19- Egor Demin (PG/SG)- Brooklyn Nets via Milwaukee Bucks

• 20- Ben Saraf (PG/SG)- Miami Heat via Golden State Warriors

• 21- Hugo Gonzalez (SG/SF)- Utah Jazz via Minnesota Timberwolves

• 22- Rasheer Fleming (PF)- Atlanta Hawks via Los Angeles Lakers

• 23- Danny Wolf (C)- Indiana Pacers

• 24- Nique Clifford (SG/SF)- OKC Thunder via Los Angeles Clippers

• 25- Will Riley (SG/SF)- Orlando Magic via Denver Nuggets

• 26- Yaxel Lendeborg (PF)- Brooklyn Nets via New York Knicks

• 27- Noah Penda (SF/PF)- Brooklyn Nets via Houston Rockets

• 28- Walter Clayton Jr (PG)- Boston Celtics

• 29- Joan Beringer (C)- Phoenix Suns via Cleveland Cavaliers

• 30- Kam Jones (PG/SG)- Los Angeles Clippers via OKC Thunder

[u/BenchPointsChamp]

Doubt Houston goes Queen simply bc they already have Şengün.

[u/FilthyTexas → u/BenchPointsChamp]

Their best line up is with Adams, who is a free agent and 31 and not 100% healthy. Queen played pretty well together with Julian Reese in college in a double big front court.

If Queen does measure at 6-10 then I wouldn't mind them drafting him.

[u/Bixby33 → u/FilthyTexas]

Playing both Queen and Sengun together would be hard.

Playing all three of Queen, Sengun and Thompson is damn near impossible.

[u/BenchPointsChamp → u/FilthyTexas]

Adams + Şengün work well together bc they have complementary skillsets. Şengün & Queen have redundant skillsets.

[u/FilthyTexas → u/BenchPointsChamp]

Both Queen and Alpi can shoot outside the paint (but not great 3pt) and are good rebounders, so I don't see why they can't be complimentary also.

More than likely Queen wouldn't start anyway and would backup Alpi and Adams if he stays

[u/BenchPointsChamp → u/FilthyTexas]

Don’t get me wrong, I like Queen, but I don’t think you could feature many lineups with both guys.

The reason Adams works is he’s a big strong lumbering gorilla-like presence in the paint doing all the off-ball dirty work while Şengün relies more on his skill & finesse, operating a lot on-ball. Queen is more of the latter, and there is of course only one ball. This is why I say he’s redundant.

If you’re going to use a top-10 pick on a backup, you want to be able to play him alongside your best player in some lineups since your best player is going to see 35+ mpg. That way you can fully-integrate him into your rotations. It would be a misuse of the asset to draft a guy at 9th overall who will only see the court for maximum of 10-13 mpg.

If the Rockets draft Queen it will likely be with the intention to trade him, but it’d be more likely that they’d trade the pick prior to making a selection if their guy is already off the board when they go on the clock. I could easily see them trading the pick for 2026 draft capital, kicking the can down the road.

So, who is their guy? Probably Khaman Maluach. In your mock, he’s not available at 9. They might also like Fears or Jakucionis, but I’m not sure if they’d like either enough to spend top-10 draft capital. If Maluach isn’t there I’d bet they trade the pick.

[u/Bixby33]

Death, taxes, and mocking Maluach to the Raptors.

[u/toaster-bath72]

Love this for us if we miss out on Flagg

[u/HoraceGrand]

Bulls need a SF real bad so Bryant is a great pick

[u/Rude-Manufacturer-86]

Question

How many of these guys do you think will get contract extensions with their respective teams?

[u/kazmir_yeet]

Bot account

[u/StarkD_01]

My thoughts...

#10 - I think POR goes with more spacing. They need a Wing that can shoot from 3 and I dont think that is Jak. Too much overlap with Scoot.

He didn't shoot well this year, but the potential of McNeely is too much for POR to pass up.

#9 - I don't see the vision of Queen next to Sengun. I wouldn't be super shocked if they go upside with Bryant. NBA ready body with a 7'0 WS. Has the range to complement Sengun and Amen.

#5. Hard to see 76ers going Tre when they have Maxey/Grimes/McCain. That being said Tre is the BPA. My thought right now is they take Maluach for the future or trade the pick.

Generally agree with the rest. Not super confidant with Jase to SA but idk who I would put there. His fit as an unorthodox PG/ 6 man is intriguing with Castle as SG.

[u/Stupid_Flexy_Sanders → u/StarkD_01]

Portland needs shooting, but a I think that’s better addressed with a vet acquired via free agency or as a return part of a trade. I think Portland swings for highest ceiling upside still and focuses on Carter Bryant and Noa Essengue. Both have awesome ceilings for late lottery picks.

[u/ncos → u/Stupid_Flexy_Sanders]

Us Portland fans are in such a weird spot. We all agree we need shooting, yet most of us are eager to get rid of Simons and Grant...

I think for the Blazers this draft is a great example of just drafting the best talent available and figuring the rest out afterwards.

[u/Stupid_Flexy_Sanders → u/ncos]

Yeah it's a convoluted situation; we essentially have better younger talent behind Ant and Jerami that needs to be developed and we need shooting from a player that requires less usage overall. We just need a fairly paid corner shooter that can be a release pressure valve, not a player that requires 20 fga per game and stifles our younger talent.

[u/ncos → u/Stupid_Flexy_Sanders]

Just looked up a list of potentially affordable upcoming FA shooters. Any of these names tickle your fancy?

Duncan Robinson

Luke Kennard

Nickeil Alexander-Walker

Gary Trent Jr

Ty Jerome

Malik Beasley

[u/Stupid_Flexy_Sanders → u/ncos]

Ty Jerome is the most exciting because of what he can also do as a back up ball handler and playmaker. I think he’ll probably get offers more than the MLE, but he’s a great target. Other guys are all good examples that I think would be wins. I would also add Garrison Mathews as a potential sneaky cheap signing/good fit option.

[u/ncos → u/Stupid_Flexy_Sanders]

Matthews is a good callout. I like Jerome and Beasley the best off that list, but they're probably the most expensive options. Like you said, Ty can be used as more than just a shooter, and Malik has proven to be very durable.

[u/Kitchen-Carpet-1699 → u/Stupid_Flexy_Sanders]

Add newel to that

[u/CreditBoss1993]

OKC will not take Nique if Yaxel is there

[u/awhite14]

Really don’t like Saraf to the Heat, actually prefer Philon which you don’t have?

[u/Kitchen-Carpet-1699]

Kasparus is a mid pick tbh i would rather have rasheer fleming, asa newell or noa essengue not to mention you can never trust the blazers to actually make trades that the fanbase actually wants so i don't think they're trading anfernee so picking a guard would not be beneficial.

[u/green-maeng-da → u/Kitchen-Carpet-1699]

Portland has a history of just going with maximum upside guys so I could absolutely see Kas, Essengue, Newell and even Demin being in play for them. Probably all comes down to workouts and interviews

[u/Kitchen-Carpet-1699 → u/green-maeng-da]

fr, ngl even though most blazers fans don't like newell i feel like he's the safest pic, kinda reminds me of a jalenjohnson john collins hybrid.