Event 2025 NBA DRAFT LOTTERY, COMBINE, AND DRAFT

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cheesehoff said:
You have said about a dozen different names that they should select. Will you narrow that down by draft day?
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I have said AT MOST 3 or 4. I'll rank 'em:

Collin Murray-Boyles
Hugo Gonzalez
Nique Clifford

I'm sure I'll add a couple when I get truly obsessed with watching YouTube between now and the draft. Stay tuned!
 
Wizard Mentor said:
If we "somehow" get the 16th pick (currently held by Orlando), who would you select?

I'd be very interested in Sorber.
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I think if we take a guard at 11 (Demin, Richardson, etc.) then we take a more mobile or small ball 5 at 16 and if he's there, I'd take Fleming, if he's gone, there are other guys like Lendeborg who should be available or maybe Queen or Newell slide that far and even though I'm not a huge Queen fan, I think he'd have good value outside of the lotto.

So ideally, Demmin with 11 and Fleming with 16.
 
International prospects are rising

Egor…

Rocco…

and now:



He’s in play to be selected in the lotto
 
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Vecenie just said Fleming doesn't know where to be on defense and likely to be there in the early 20s. Also, he can't dribble much.


Good value at 27. Wouldn't take him at 16.

Take one of Kasparas, Queen, Demin at 11

Take one of Coward, Carter, Clifford, Essengue, Lex at 16
 
Sheldon Shape said:
Vecenie just said Fleming doesn't know where to be on defense and likely to be there in the early 20s. Also, he can't dribble much.


Good value at 27. Wouldn't take him at 16.

Take one of Kasparas, Queen, Demin at 11

Take one of Coward, Carter, Clifford, Essengue, Lex at 16
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He reminds me way too much of Jerami.

Not on my radar at all.
 
42N8Bounce said:
Nope. I'm only stating what I stated. "Honest question - if they are such good NBA prospects, why didn’t Rutgers do better, and why weren’t they individually recognized?"

I didn't watch any Ruter games this year, so I was a bit surprised to see 2 top NBA prospects on the same team, and that team have a losing record.

I recognize the B1G conference has a ton of 5 and 6 year seniors that will get many of these awards, and their college production won't translate to the NBA. With that being said, I would have though that a #2 and #3 draft pick would have gotten a bit more recognition than 'honorable mention'.
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The rest of Rutgers roster was really, really bad. Well below the rest of the conference. The Big Ten had eight NCAA teams and four Sweet 16 teams. The three freshmen that did make the all-conference team also are going to be lottery picks who play on traditional national powers and I think all of their teams went to the Sweet 16. And, finally, Bailey still plays like a guy sometimes still trying to figure it out ... his upside is off the charts, but he's one of those players that can do so much that understanding what he can and should do possession to possession is a learning process, but there is nobody in this draft class, not even Flagg, who has Bailey's ceiling.
 
SlyPokerDog said:
i

11. Portland Trail Blazers
Egor Demin, PG/SG, BYU
Freshman | TS%: 51.3

Combine measurements:
Height without shoes: 6-9¼ | Weight: 199
Standing reach: 8-9½ | Wingspan: 6-10¼

Intel and fit: Demin had a positive week at the combine in Chicago, measuring bigger than expected at 6-9½ in shoes and then putting on one of the most impressive pro day performances we've seen in some time, causing even the most skeptical of NBA evaluators to acknowledge his undeniable talent.

Demin has made significant gains with his body and will continue to fill out, while making a barrage of 3-pointers with picture-perfect mechanics and a lightning-quick release that offered significant room for optimism despite hitting 27% of his 3-pointers in his lone season at BYU. Also, NBA teams raved about his interviews in Chicago.

The Trail Blazers can go in several directions with this pick, and adding a big guard with a strong feel for the game who can slide into different roster configurations could be interesting long term. -- Givony

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id...ks-post-combine-cooper-flagg-dallas-mavericks
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If anyone goes back into the archives, early in the season, before Demin's 3-point % scared off draftniks, I said this was a draft with 4 elite prospects, and he was one of the 4. His floor is Josh Giddey. His ceiling is Luka who doesn't shoot it as well but defends much better. Honestly, I was surprised his below average 3-pt numbers dropped him so much during the season, because his shot doesn't look bad, he was THE guy who took the tough shots for a very good BYU team, he shot better than 55% from 2 (very good at taking smaller defenders into the post and punishing them), he defends several positions and he's the best passer I've seen coming into the league in the last several drafts.

He's also been coached by an NBA guy. I don't think it takes him long to be a solid rotation player because this season he's been taught what he needs to do and he has other tools that play well while he figures out the offensive end. His passing is soooo good, though, and players like that typically make the players around them a lot better. He will get his teammates open and then he'll get them the ball.

I think he's one of those guys that was a victim of being over-evaluated, maybe a bit like Bailey. Fans and maybe even some evaluators got so caught up in him not being everything he could be that they've neglected what he already is, what he can be, and the chances he has to reach that potential.

I think people that like Deni will like Demin. They both have very well-rounded games and both push the ball and both are huge, especially huge for guys that handle the rock as well as they do. Demin doesn't have Deni's motor, but no one else has Deni's motor. On the other hand, I think Demin is a better facilitator than Deni and won't be turning it over as much as Deni does..

But, yeah, I'd be happy with Demin. Aside from obviously Flagg and Bailey, he was the guy I really liked early in the season and Essengue, after I saw him play the Blazers and following him, was the guy I thought we could get if we were late in the lottery who I'd be thrilled to add to this mix (see him as a poor man's Flagg but with so much yet-to-be-tapped offensive potential). Knueppel has really grown on me everytime I watch him play, and he has a skill that the Blazers need; McNeeley is the poor-man's Knueppel in this draft. I look at Murray-Boyles as intriguing because he MIGHT be Draymond without being the head case, but the odds that he is are small because so few players with that size and game produce like Draymond and Millsap have in the current NBA. Yaxel is my lottery ticket if the Blazers either got an extra 1R pick or just got unlucky and everyone we like already got selected when it was our time to pick. I like Richardson a lot but I don't think his size fits with how we're putting together this roster. Asa Newell is basically my safety pick, a guy who I doubt ever becomes a starter/special talent but who I think is good enough to be a rotation player for a decent/good team ... a guy that won't elevate your team but won't kill your team.
 
Fleming's become a polarizing prospect, I think.

His measurables are outstanding. His stats are very, very good.

The thing is, he plays in a conference in the part of the country where I live. I've watched him. He's a third-year player in one of the best programs in a second-tier league and his game just doesn't pop off for me. He doesn't look special enough. He doesn't take over games the way I'd expect. St. Joe's sometimes went to other players in crunch time and I wondered why.

A bit like Queen. I just see his potential as sus. I read the scouting reports and it sounds like Ayton without Ayton's upside. Questions about his motor. That concerns me. I just think of how this board and Blazer fans in general crucify Ayton and I think if you pick Queen in three years it's going to be rinse and repeat as fans crush Queen for the same reasons as Ayton for being good and not great. The Blazers need to clear out the logjam at 5 before I'd think of picking him, which, admittedly, they very well might do, but there are other players in this draft that I like better that are just as good as Queen IMO with more upside who are better fits on this roster.
 
I understand the preference of trading the 11th pick plus assets to get an upgrade. To put that aside for a moment and not even really speak about previous veteran starters …

Which of Clingan, Deni, or Toumani will be surpassed by a draftee selected at 11? That would be an outstanding result if it happened, IMHO. I don’t see that center. Or versus Deni or Toumani, but maybe …

Scoot or Shaedon being surpassed?

If the answer is none, then it’s drafting a back-up in the short term. Now, I still want the pick used, so the calculation on swinging big is still in play. Why play safer and selective with a pick? It’s a good thing having 5 young guys to root for and watch grow; HOWEVER, this team needs more talent and the draft — even with lesser odds of success at 11 — is a prime opportunity.

So while Cronin said very measured things about the pick and about other possibilities — I’m in the camp believing he full well knows he needs to trade at least 2 of Grant, Ant, Ayton AND needs to swing for a high potential draftee. IMHO.
 
PCmor7 said:
If anyone goes back into the archives, early in the season, before Demin's 3-point % scared off draftniks, I said this was a draft with 4 elite prospects, and he was one of the 4. His floor is Josh Giddey. His ceiling is Luka who doesn't shoot it as well but defends much better. Honestly, I was surprised his below average 3-pt numbers dropped him so much during the season, because his shot doesn't look bad, he was THE guy who took the tough shots for a very good BYU team, he shot better than 55% from 2 (very good at taking smaller defenders into the post and punishing them), he defends several positions and he's the best passer I've seen coming into the league in the last several drafts.

He's also been coached by an NBA guy. I don't think it takes him long to be a solid rotation player because this season he's been taught what he needs to do and he has other tools that play well while he figures out the offensive end. His passing is soooo good, though, and players like that typically make the players around them a lot better. He will get his teammates open and then he'll get them the ball.

I think he's one of those guys that was a victim of being over-evaluated, maybe a bit like Bailey. Fans and maybe even some evaluators got so caught up in him not being everything he could be that they've neglected what he already is, what he can be, and the chances he has to reach that potential.

I think people that like Deni will like Demin. They both have very well-rounded games and both push the ball and both are huge, especially huge for guys that handle the rock as well as they do. Demin doesn't have Deni's motor, but no one else has Deni's motor. On the other hand, I think Demin is a better facilitator than Deni and won't be turning it over as much as Deni does..

But, yeah, I'd be happy with Demin. Aside from obviously Flagg and Bailey, he was the guy I really liked early in the season and Essengue, after I saw him play the Blazers and following him, was the guy I thought we could get if we were late in the lottery who I'd be thrilled to add to this mix (see him as a poor man's Flagg but with so much yet-to-be-tapped offensive potential). Knueppel has really grown on me everytime I watch him play, and he has a skill that the Blazers need; McNeeley is the poor-man's Knueppel in this draft. I look at Murray-Boyles as intriguing because he MIGHT be Draymond without being the head case, but the odds that he is are small because so few players with that size and game produce like Draymond and Millsap have in the current NBA. Yaxel is my lottery ticket if the Blazers either got an extra 1R pick or just got unlucky and everyone we like already got selected when it was our time to pick. I like Richardson a lot but I don't think his size fits with how we're putting together this roster. Asa Newell is basically my safety pick, a guy who I doubt ever becomes a starter/special talent but who I think is good enough to be a rotation player for a decent/good team ... a guy that won't elevate your team but won't kill your team.
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I like your eval here.

You picked out a lot of the same guys that are on my target list.

What are your thoughts on Nique, Theiro, Powell, Hugo, and Yang?
 
HoopsFanAZ said:
I understand the preference of trading the 11th pick plus assets to get an upgrade. To put that aside for a moment and not even really speak about previous veteran starters …

Which of Clingan, Deni, or Toumani will be surpassed by a draftee selected at 11? That would be an outstanding result if it happened, IMHO. I don’t see that center. Or versus Deni or Toumani, but maybe …

Scoot or Shaedon being surpassed?

If the answer is none, then it’s drafting a back-up in the short term. Now, I still want the pick used, so the calculation on swinging big is still in play. Why play safer and selective with a pick? It’s a good thing having 5 young guys to root for and watch grow; HOWEVER, this team needs more talent and the draft — even with lesser odds of success at 11 — is a prime opportunity.

So while Cronin said very measured things about the pick and about other possibilities — I’m in the camp believing he full well knows he needs to trade at least 2 of Grant, Ant, Ayton AND needs to swing for a high potential draftee. IMHO.
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Very solid post.
 
CJ_is_Gone said:
I like your eval here.

You picked out a lot of the same guys that are on my target list.

What are your thoughts on Nique, Theiro, Powell, Hugo, and Yang?
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Without going deep into any of those four guys, none of them excite me like the prospects I talked about. I haven't watched a lot of Yang yet, though. I haven't gotten to watch a lot of Coward, either, and he seems to be getting some helium right now so I want to look into him a little more.

Clifford is kind of in a similar boat to Fleming for me. I think Clifford's performed better but Fleming has more tools with which to work. If you like what you see in Fleming and trust your developmental staff, you probably give him the edge. If we picked either of them over, say, Essengue, I'd be disappointed and a little surprised. I wonder sometimes if that game with Ulm in the preseason was arranged because Schmitz and the Blazers already knew about Essengue and wanted to get an up-close look at him.
 
PCmor7 said:
Without going deep into any of those four guys, none of them excite me like the prospects I talked about. I haven't watched a lot of Yang yet, though. I haven't gotten to watch a lot of Coward, either, and he seems to be getting some helium right now so I want to look into him a little more.

Clifford is kind of in a similar boat to Fleming for me. I think Clifford's performed better but Fleming has more tools with which to work. If you like what you see in Fleming and trust your developmental staff, you probably give him the edge. If we picked either of them over, say, Essengue, I'd be disappointed and a little surprised. I wonder sometimes if that game with Ulm in the preseason was arranged because Schmitz and the Blazers already knew about Essengue and wanted to get an up-close look at him.
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Sorry - should have clarified.... the 4 I asked about would be as a late 1st/early second if we can snag a pick in that range
 
CJ_is_Gone said:
Sorry - should have clarified.... the 4 I asked about would be as a late 1st/early second if we can snag a pick in that range
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Gotcha.

Let's say the Blazers got a pick between 18-22 and all these guys and a couple of the others I mentioned all were available and I was ranking them, just off the cuff I'd probably go ...

Landeborg
Coward (again, going by what I'm hearing/reading but not having seen much yet)
McNeeley
Newell
Fleming (probably off the board by that point but say he drops)
Clifford
Yang (provided we clear out our glut of 5s)
Powell
Thiero
Gonzalez (he's a poor man's Demin, IMO; if you pick Demin at 11, I don't know where Gonzalez gets minutes).

Like AZ said, I think you have to look at where our current young players are and imagine we're still playing them, so I'm looking a bit at either what positions are thin, who has a skill those 5-8 players lack, or who has upside. What is getting Clifford, Powell, Thiero or Gonzalez on the floor if we draft Demin, for instance? Are any of those guys going to be better than Rayan Rupert, who can't get minutes right now? If you aren't sure if Thiero's clearly better than Rupert, then I probably am not picking him.
 
I might also throw Dink Pate in there with some of those 6-6 wings. There's not a lot of separation with those players. What sets them apart from each other that you think makes them crack the rotation and make the Blazers better?

With McNeeley and Coward, it's easy for me. They can shoot the 3. There's a niche for them to fill on this roster. I don't see that necessarily with those other wings. They're good players who I think are kind of redundant on our team right now.
 
42N8Bounce said:
Nope. I'm only stating what I stated. "Honest question - if they are such good NBA prospects, why didn’t Rutgers do better, and why weren’t they individually recognized?"

I didn't watch any Ruter games this year, so I was a bit surprised to see 2 top NBA prospects on the same team, and that team have a losing record.

I recognize the B1G conference has a ton of 5 and 6 year seniors that will get many of these awards, and their college production won't translate to the NBA. With that being said, I would have though that a #2 and #3 draft pick would have gotten a bit more recognition than 'honorable mention'.
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You lost me at ,” I didn’t watch any Rutgers game”.
 
Got a chance to watch a bit of Coward. Liked what I saw. Reminds me of Desmond Bane.
 
PCmor7 said:
Fleming's become a polarizing prospect, I think.

His measurables are outstanding. His stats are very, very good.

The thing is, he plays in a conference in the part of the country where I live. I've watched him. He's a third-year player in one of the best programs in a second-tier league and his game just doesn't pop off for me. He doesn't look special enough. He doesn't take over games the way I'd expect. St. Joe's sometimes went to other players in crunch time and I wondered why.
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yeah, his stats are very good, bordering on excellent. But I haven't seen him play, and even if I had I'm not good at translating a college player's game to the NBA

the one area his stats are suspect is in his passing...I wish there were more statistical details available to better gauge passing skill AND willingness to pass. This last season, he averaged 10.1 FGA and 1.3 assists. That's a FGA/assist rate of 7.8. Dillon Brooks, at Oregon, had a rate of 4.4. Camara had a rate of 5.9 in college. Grant's rate was 6.0. I suppose it doesn't matter if it's passing ability or passing willingness, the impact is the same
 
wizenheimer said:
yeah, his stats are very good, bordering on excellent. But I haven't seen him play, and even if I had I'm not good at translating a college player's game to the NBA

the one area his stats are suspect is in his passing...I wish there were more statistical details available to better gauge passing skill AND willingness to pass. This last season, he averaged 10.1 FGA and 1.3 assists. That's a FGA/assist rate of 7.8. Dillon Brooks, at Oregon, had a rate of 4.4. Camara had a rate of 5.9 in college. Grant's rate was 6.0. I suppose it doesn't matter if it's passing ability or passing willingness, the impact is the same
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That's a tough one because if your teammates can't make a bucket you're not going to get many assists...
 
Phatguysrule said:
That's a tough one because if your teammates can't make a bucket you're not going to get many assists...
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if his teammates couldn't make buckets, his team would be losing lots of games. They were 43-27 over the last 2 seasons so I don't think poor shooting from his team was a real factor. He had that 7.8 FGA/Assist rate; this season, Ayton had a 7.3 rate; Grant had a 5.8 rate; Sharpe 5.5
 
JDC said:



Physical Comp: Kawhi Leonard
* Shorter but same demensions (3/4" shorter with a 3/4" shorter wingspan)
*Same standing reach
*Cedric has very big hands for his size but aren't as freakish as Kawhi's

Cedric Coward
Hand Length: 9.25"
Hand Width: 10.00"
Height w/o Shoes: 6' 5.25''
Wingspan: 7' 2.25''
Standing Reach: 8' 10''
Weight: 213lbs

Kawhi Leonard
Hand Length: 9.75"
Hand Width: 11.25"
Height w/o Shoes: 6' 6''
Wingspan: 7' 3"
Standing Reach: 8' 10''
Weight: 227.4lbs

Stylistic Comp: Timid Kawhi Leonard with better range on the jumper
Tends to blend in, but plays with similar footwork and balance. Likes to get to similar spots in similar ways. Like Kawhi, lacks the blow by speed and explosion at rim as a driver, but gets wins with length, strength, footwork and a high release. Not as developed as a ball handler or triple threat player as Kawhi was at same age, but might have had better mid range touch although Kawhi took a lot more tough 2's (Kawhi 156/429: 36.4%) (Cedric 51/87: 58.6%)
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I love cedric coward, the tape looks great.

<pause>

he played 6 out of conference games before he got hurt this year.

last year his best game was against Portland Bible. Portland Bible!

no shade to cedric, he looks incredible and his interviews have been awesome. but there's a strength of schedule grain of kosher salt one should digest when considering him in the nba draft lottery.
 
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