2025 NBA Draft

[spurraider21]

some of my favorite fits in the draft

Derrick Queen to Bulls. They need a center to replace Vucevic who will be on an expiring deal and once again a trade candidate. Gives them another interesting offensive chess piece alongside Giddey, White, Buzelis. matas provides some weakside shotblocking making the Bulls one of the teams who can overcome Queen's lack of rim protection

Thomas Sorber to Hawks. In desperate need of a center that can provide some rim presence on either end, set good screens. Isn't some lumbering stiff and fits with their theme alongside these young athletic wings. i dont see him getting past them

Jeremiah Fears to Miami. in desperate need for a real point guard. Rozier has been a monumental bust for them. i think its either him or Jakucionis, but Fears feels like a "heat culture" player. he is young and needs time, but Bam is still 27, Herro is 25.

VJ to Charlotte. none of lamelo, bridges, or miller are particularly good defenders. even williams has underperformed. VJ can give them a difference maker on that end and somebody who will fly in transition with their fast paced offense. should be a nice complement to LaMelo and a good connective piece on a team with some talented scorers but in need of some maturity

[rascal]

Probably they don't view them as backups necessarily because they look at things beyond "how high can he jump." That's just a guess, though...

Spurs are interested in positional size and if you don't have it you better be able to jump.

[scott]

some of my favorite fits in the draft

Derrick Queen to Bulls. They need a center to replace Vucevic who will be on an expiring deal and once again a trade candidate. Gives them another interesting offensive chess piece alongside Giddey, White, Buzelis. matas provides some weakside shotblocking making the Bulls one of the teams who can overcome Queen's lack of rim protection

Thomas Sorber to Hawks. In desperate need of a center that can provide some rim presence on either end, set good screens. Isn't some lumbering stiff and fits with their theme alongside these young athletic wings. i dont see him getting past them

Jeremiah Fears to Miami. in desperate need for a real point guard. Rozier has been a monumental bust for them. i think its either him or Jakucionis, but Fears feels like a "heat culture" player. he is young and needs time, but Bam is still 27, Herro is 25.

VJ to Charlotte. none of lamelo, bridges, or miller are particularly good defenders. even williams has underperformed. VJ can give them a difference maker on that end and somebody who will fly in transition with their fast paced offense. should be a nice complement to LaMelo and a good connective piece on a team with some talented scorers but in need of some maturity

What are your favorite fits for Flagg, Harper and Bailey? Excluding the Spurs of course.

[spurraider21]

What are your favorite fits for Flagg, Harper and Bailey? Excluding the Spurs of course.

hard to find a poor fit for Flagg . and because these top 4 have the most unpredictable landing spots, you cant really gauge if a team is or isnt likely to draft them. if somebody gets 1, theyre picking flagg. if they pick 2, theyre taking harper, etc.

to be fair VJ is in that class but charlotte screams like an obvious fit so i included him.

for Harper i'd say Washington. they have a handful of interesting pieces but really need somebody to just put it together and run the ship. none of Sarr, Coulibaly, or Carrington looks like guys that an offense would really run through, so they'd benefit a ton from a floor general.

for Flagg, Brooklyn. the nba needs another star in the east. brooklyn doesnt have anything really resembling a foundational piece right now. utah is also bad but lauri is a real player. collier has looked nice. filipowski has been solid. kessler has trade value. they just seem slightly less desperate

for Bailey... Philly. at this point he's a shotmaker, and playing off Maxey, Embiid, McCain, George should make life easy on him early. go out and run in transition, disrupt on defense, and make shots for them.

[baseline bum]

for Flagg, Brooklyn. the nba needs another star in the east. brooklyn doesnt have anything really resembling a foundational piece right now. utah is also bad but lauri is a real player. collier has looked nice. filipowski has been solid. kessler has trade value. they just seem slightly less desperate

I gotta go Charlotte for Flagg. A team with him, Miller, and LaMelo would be really interesting and we wouldn't have to see Flagg carry a roster full of nobodies. Especially with things looking grim for keeping Giannis in Milwaukee the East desperately needs another team with some talent ac ulation.

[LeBowen]

if Jakucionis is there at #8 you gotta get him. We'd just run a 3-guard rotation of Fox/Castle/Jakucionis and would have our Fox replacement already on the roster for 2030

Yeah, BPA is the way to go.
We need everything, tbh.

Wemby, Castle and Fox are the only guaranteed long-term pieces.

Playmaking? We need another point guard until Castle proves otherwise.
Shooting? Barnes is the only great shooter on the team.
Driving and paint penetration? Fox and Castle, noone else is reliable, Keldon's drives are like spinning the roulette.
Perimeter defense? Castle and Jeremy are the only ones who look like they could be all-NBA defenders.
Wings? We have no reliable wings other than Barnes who's turning 33.
Bigs? It's just Wemby and scrubs.

The only achetype we shouldn't be looking at are non-shooters unless they're really good in other aspects of the game. But then Jeremy has to go.

[TD 21]

You're pushing right wing propaganda right now acting like Harris was running on trans athletes. You guys are so good at manufacturing these bull issues in election season, just like critical race theory in 2022. Also if you haven't noticed it, a lot is changing. Pretty sure if Harris was president we wouldn't be discussing whether we should skip drafting a guy because everyone from his nation is subject to deportation.

That and the notion of, if only the Democrats had a decent candidate run, are either excuses from these people or speak to the level of ignorance.

Like '16, this shouldn't have been about the other candidate/party, it should have been about anyone but him. With him out of the picture for good, then those could have become considerations again.

The way I see it, I'm always going to take the better player even if the fit is trickier. In the ideal situation, both Castle and CMB shoot credibly well and you have two well rounded two way stars that you can build from. I can always get 3 and D players later in the draft or in free agency, and I'm drafting for 4-5 years down the road so I don't really care that much about the fit with an age 32 Fox who may very well be declining by that time. I don't really expect rookies to become high leverage starters for 3-4 years on average, so any improvements in the Fox era with regards to starters should come from trades and free agency.

If we directly compare CMB to Fleming, I think that it is more likely that CMB can become a Barnes than Fleming can become a Camara. And if at that point the fit is tricky and Castle has truly blown up but still has a very questionable shot, I think most teams in the league would give up a Camara for a Barnes. It's different from the way you approach things I know, but I'm taking talent over fit in the draft a vast majority of the time.

Fair enough, but it's almost never as easy to get 3 and D player with positional size as many seem to think and building 4-5 years down the road is often a fools errand in this league now.

With a potential future GOAT candidate centerpiece who has already suffered a serious health ailment, the goal should be trying to win a championship as quickly as possible.

Post Fox addition, I longer care if player x has a supposedly higher ceiling than player y, if the former can't help towards the goal (either due to fit, being a project or both) in relatively short order.

Murray-Boyles only makes sense if Sochan is getting traded, which is highly unlikely.

[Mr. Body]

I gotta go Charlotte for Flagg. A team with him, Miller, and LaMelo would be really interesting and we wouldn't have to see Flagg carry a roster full of nobodies. Especially with things looking grim for keeping Giannis in Milwaukee the East desperately needs another team with some talent ac ulation.

Charlotte would be a disaster for Flagg and the NBA. They don't even have a real fan base in their own city or region. And with Lamelo they're never going to be a serious franchise. I can't think of a worse place for him. Even Washington would be better.

[scott]

hard to find a poor fit for Flagg . and because these top 4 have the most unpredictable landing spots, you cant really gauge if a team is or isnt likely to draft them. if somebody gets 1, theyre picking flagg. if they pick 2, theyre taking harper, etc.

to be fair VJ is in that class but charlotte screams like an obvious fit so i included him.

for Harper i'd say Washington. they have a handful of interesting pieces but really need somebody to just put it together and run the ship. none of Sarr, Coulibaly, or Carrington looks like guys that an offense would really run through, so they'd benefit a ton from a floor general.

for Flagg, Brooklyn. the nba needs another star in the east. brooklyn doesnt have anything really resembling a foundational piece right now. utah is also bad but lauri is a real player. collier has looked nice. filipowski has been solid. kessler has trade value. they just seem slightly less desperate

for Bailey... Philly. at this point he's a shotmaker, and playing off Maxey, Embiid, McCain, George should make life easy on him early. go out and run in transition, disrupt on defense, and make shots for them.

Agree on WAS for Harper and Bailey for Philly, though I think Bailey also would fit well in BKN as well. Both BKN and PHI would have that "homegrown" Rutgers connection as well.

I still like NOP as the best on the court fit for Flagg. Valid concerns about how the Pels have been able to manage the talent they've been delivered, but I think a DJM/Trey/Flagg/Herb/Missi lineup would be super fun, assuming NOP could flip Zion elsewhere.

[spurraider21]

Agree on WAS for Harper and Bailey for Philly, though I think Bailey also would fit well in BKN as well. Both BKN and PHI would have that "homegrown" Rutgers connection as well.

I still like NOP as the best on the court fit for Flagg. Valid concerns about how the Pels have been able to manage the talent they've been delivered, but I think a DJM/Trey/Flagg/Herb/Missi lineup would be super fun, assuming NOP could flip Zion elsewhere.

yeah its hard to figure out who the best fit is for NOP since i have no idea what their plan is. i think they keep Zion, but still seems like a question mark. what do they do with murray? are they just gonna play out one more year of mccollum and let him walk?

murphy and herb are really nice, and Missi has been solid for them. but i still dont know what that team is

[LeBowen]

Aside from Spurs moving into top4, I'd like to see the following...

Jazz: Flagg. Up until now the only franchise that never lost 60 games, they never had a #1 pick. They seem to be competent and would surely develop him into a superstar.
Nets: Harper. He's from Jersey and he'd be a great starting piece for them. I kind of feel bad for their fanbase because they somehow keep getting ed over.
Hornets: Edgecombe. Seems like a perfect complement to Lamelo and they already have their wings in Miller and Bridges. If they still can't work it out, just relocate the team.
Wizards: Bailey. KD never came home, maybe this kid can be the star wing they never had.
Pelicans: Jakucionis. They need a point guard badly, but to me they're the most useless Western team. As if they haven't had enough top picks to finally figure it out.
Sixers: them, if it wasn't OKC getting their pick, I'd be hoping they lose it. Knueppel seems like a perfect fit there.

[rjv]

i'd much rather see flagg in the east if the spurs don't strike lightning twice. it would also help the east to get better. the better the east is, the more difficult it is for the hawks.

[spurraider21]

Aside from Spurs moving into top4, I'd like to see the following...

Jazz: Flagg. Up until now the only franchise that never lost 60 games, they never had a #1 pick. They seem to be competent and would surely develop him into a superstar.
Nets: Harper. He's from Jersey and he'd be a great starting piece for them. I kind of feel bad for their fanbase because they somehow keep getting ed over.
Hornets: Edgecombe. Seems like a perfect complement to Lamelo and they already have their wings in Miller and Bridges. If they still can't work it out, just relocate the team.
Wizards: Bailey. KD never came home, maybe this kid can be the star wing they never had.
Pelicans: Jakucionis. They need a point guard badly, but to me they're the most useless Western team. As if they haven't had enough top picks to finally figure it out.
Sixers: them, if it wasn't OKC getting their pick, I'd be hoping they lose it. Knueppel seems like a perfect fit there.

agreed with all of this

i could see them taking Tre Johnson though

[rankingtear]

I don't know if there's enough evidence either way. Zollins is the only true big who shared any meaningful time with Wemby, and that was all last season. I think whatever big plays next to Wemby has to be a spacer, either through shooting or as a vertical spacer, and Zach was neither. On defense, teams are going to do whatever they can to pull Wemby out of the paint so the other big is going to have to be able to defend the rim. Mamu seems to fit offensively, but isn't enough of a rim protector. Bassey is a good rim protector but not a good offensive fit.

Naz Reid is pretty much the ideal fit which is probably why the Spurs have been linked to a possible offer this offseason. In terms of the draft, Fleming is the only one who fits the archetype of the prospects you mentioned, but some have concerns about his shooting transferring. The other two in the draft who fit that are Bailey (who's probably out of range) and Maluach.

No one is going to defender the rim either way if your 2nd rim protector is the one they are attacking. Is it just better to have 4 POA defenders in that scenario like BOS or OKC. We already half way there with the Fox and Castle backcourt. With no top option to hide on defense why bring in a second rim protector in the SL.

[scott]

Aside from Spurs moving into top4, I'd like to see the following...

Jazz: Flagg. Up until now the only franchise that never lost 60 games, they never had a #1 pick. They seem to be competent and would surely develop him into a superstar.
Nets: Harper. He's from Jersey and he'd be a great starting piece for them. I kind of feel bad for their fanbase because they somehow keep getting ed over.
Hornets: Edgecombe. Seems like a perfect complement to Lamelo and they already have their wings in Miller and Bridges. If they still can't work it out, just relocate the team.
Wizards: Bailey. KD never came home, maybe this kid can be the star wing they never had.
Pelicans: Jakucionis. They need a point guard badly, but to me they're the most useless Western team. As if they haven't had enough top picks to finally figure it out.
Sixers: them, if it wasn't OKC getting their pick, I'd be hoping they lose it. Knueppel seems like a perfect fit there.

I also like the idea of Flagg to Utah for the reasons you mentioned and also the hilariousness of Utah being the home of all the white boys.

In all seriousness, I kind of like the idea of the balance of power in the west shifting towards SA/OKC/UTA while the major market teams fade into a secondary stature. I'd be all in for an era where the NBA's top teams were SA/OKC/UTA v CLE/IND/MIL. Doesn't appear like MIL is going to be able to join the party though.

[baseline bum]

Agree on WAS for Harper and Bailey for Philly, though I think Bailey also would fit well in BKN as well. Both BKN and PHI would have that "homegrown" Rutgers connection as well.

I still like NOP as the best on the court fit for Flagg. Valid concerns about how the Pels have been able to manage the talent they've been delivered, but I think a DJM/Trey/Flagg/Herb/Missi lineup would be super fun, assuming NOP could flip Zion elsewhere.

Give me Flagg to Miami if the Spurs can't land pick #1 so he gets to develop under a top coach and also knock the Hawks down a peg.

[baseline bum]

I also like the idea of Flagg to Utah for the reasons you mentioned and also the hilariousness of Utah being the home of all the white boys.

In all seriousness, I kind of like the idea of the balance of power in the west shifting towards SA/OKC/UTA while the major market teams fade into a secondary stature. I'd be all in for an era where the NBA's top teams were SA/OKC/UTA v CLE/IND/MIL. Doesn't appear like MIL is going to be able to join the party though.

Houston's gotta be in that mix too. Already have a of a team with tons of room for Amen to grow as well as a lot of draft capital and an S Tier coach.

[rankingtear]

Big thing with these post tourney mocks is Fears and Queen moving up and Jaku possibly being available with our pick.

[scott]

First spin of the Tankathon today... we got #2... but HOU got #1

[scott]

Houston's gotta be in that mix too. Already have a of a team with tons of room for Amen to grow as well as a lot of draft capital and an S Tier coach.

Houston... BUUUUUUT... I would like to see a return of our classic 90s rivalries. Utah, Houston, Portland. We'll count OKC as Seattle I guess. That would be fun.

[baseline bum]

First spin of the Tankathon today... we got #2... but HOU got #1

On mine Philly got Flagg, Washington Harper, Spurs Bailey, and then Houston got #4 and tankathon had them taking that dude about to get deported.

[Ice009]

So what are these deportation rules? I haven't had a chance to look into any of this . Is it going to affect any current players in the league?

[Vienna]

So what are these deportation rules? I haven't had a chance to look into any of this . Is it going to affect any current players in the league?

likely all who refuse to kiss the ring. or the tie. or whatever Caligula calls appropriate. and you have to buy a cybertruck. for 10 million. or 30. depending on the holes in the companies balance.

[BatManu20]

[rascal]

If the Spurs don't move up into the top 4 it's looking like Knueppel and McNeeley from the draft.

I'm sure the Spurs are looking to use Atlanta's pick on McNeeley. Add a backup 5 and that's it for the off season moves I'm expecting from the Spurs and run it back with the core intact.