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For me without a second thought.
If the Spurs were to get pick 3, I could see them choosing Edgecombe over Bailey.
For me without a second thought.
I’m actually impressed at how much the pre/early season board has held together. Hugo Gonzalez is the biggest faller, but for the most part the names in the lottery have pretty much stayed the same.
Jahlil Bathea caught my eye, but yes definitely. Somehow that one list didn't realize Johnny Furphy was drafted last year.
Gonna be interesting to see what they do.
Currently 9 guys under contract if Randle opts in, Naz declines option, and they cut Garza/Miller/Minott with about $34M under the 2nd Apron, but only $21M under the 1st to retain Naz and add 5 other guys.
NWA is a FA and they don't have a starting PG, with Conley at best a 1/2 time player now, entering his 38y/o season.
I don't think the Spurs are a good trade partner as we don't have a PG to offer them and they'd want to take as little salary back as possible, but the 14th pick for a Sign&Trade isn't bad return.
We could do a S&T with McLaughlin. He’d be cheap, and he’s spent time in Minny for parts/all of 5 seasons. They could use pick 14 on BPGA, and develop one. Barnes could be the salary ballast.
Could someone better at this than me lay out some of the key upcoming dates— lottery sorting, combine, when workouts start, international player declarations, last day to withdraw from draft?
I believe someone did that last year and I found it super useful.
https://www.nba.com/news/nba-draft-faq
- April 26: NBA Early Entry Deadline (11:59 p.m. ET)
- May 9-11: NBA G League Combine
- May 11-18: NBA Draft Combine
- May 12: NBA Draft Lottery presented by State Farm
- June 15: NBA Early Entry Withdrawal Deadline (5 p.m. ET)
- June 25: 2025 NBA Draft First Round
- June 26: 2025 NBA Draft Second Round
Is VJ a better or worse prospect than Cason Wallace coming out?
Cason:
Better defender - sounds blasphemous, but major concerns with VJ size and frame guarding up, especially when strength and wingspan are both underrated aspects of predicting a good defender
Better handle - VJ has a looong way to go as a ballhandler
More of a point guard (?)
Moves better east-west
VJ:
More athletic - vertical athleticism, north-south; has some issues staying with guys going side to side
Better at generating defensive events
Similar shooting profiles, negligible difference in feel
Overall I feel like Cason might have a slightly higher median outcome and will probably be the better defender at the next level, but VJ's offensive potential is way higher if his handle gets significant development to allow him to leverage his athleticism
It’s hard for anyone not to have recency bias but to me, VJ looks like he has the “it” factor while Cason obviously does not.
VJ worst case: Lonnie Walker
middle case: smaller Kuminga
Current best case: smaller Amen Thompson
his swing skill is his feel for the game
Awesome
Always skeptical of players dinged on “feel for the game” no matter how they want to dress it up (“swing skill”)
Uhh you don’t think that’s a thing or what? You think everybody has feel for the game? Come on man, there are clearly NBA players who don’t know what the they’re doing lmao
Swing skill isn’t “dressing up” the feel-for-the-game term. Swing skill by definition means the skill that’s going to make or break the player’s path to success. It has nothing to do with feel. Smh
This seems pretty fair to me. I confess I didn't watch Wallace much in college. I do think he's a better all-around defender. It makes sense to call him a higher median guy. Great platoon player. I'm not quite sure you want him as a full-time starter, but he serves that role for OKC as they roll out a lot of perimeter defense. He does seem like more of a point guard and VJ maybe on the outside a 2/3 swing.
VJ -- The vid I posted above is right, I think, that his role isn't entirely set at this point, but he is at least malleable. Meaning that if he doesn't hit a certain role, it's not the end for him.
- He's more of a disruptive team defender than a man-to-man defender at this point.
- Slight of frame and doesn't attack the rim against defenders well.
- Handles need vast improvement.
Possibilities/Questions
- His shooting has been better than advertised, actually pretty good.
- His playmaking is pretty good, but not exceptional. Willing passer just not excellent.
- Baseline I think he can be a disruptive defender with good offense. His motor is great.
- If he learns a handle and how to attack defenses, he's so quick he's potentially nasty.
- If he can bulk up a tad and get better skilled as a man defender, he could be more of a threat there, too.
Wallace I think is topping out as a great platoon player on a top team. I'm not sure he's gonna be Gary Payton at this point or anything.
Edgecombe, if he works out... it's hard to say the comps. I sort of see a Drexler type with a bit different athleticism plus a ball hawking, weak-side blocking defense. If he really hits, as a second or third option (or fourth?) he's a monster or at least a massive headache.
As a note, he blows Wallace away in advanced stats in college, take it as you will.
EDIT: Well, I overstated the advanced stats. They're pretty similar except for on offense, where Edgecombe is much better. https://tankathon.com/players/compar...-cason-wallace
One of the many unfortunate things about Zhaire Smith's near fatal allergic reaction was that we never got to see how his career turned out - he is probably one of the more similar prospects to VJ that I can think of
Yes, and we’ve drafted plenty who have earned millions, but that people still on using language like “low bbiq…”
At 14 fine (maybe even 8-9), but if we luck into the top 4 I really dont want to be discussing a play whose “swing skill” is “feel for the game.” Thats just a ty ding for an early lotto player, which explains why many of us here are low on Bailey despite, on paper, processing all the needed tools.
Ah so you’d deny that there have been past early lotto players who wasn’t as successful as their peers because they had no feel? That’s not reality at all and if you want to keep your head in the sand about the true outcomes for these types of players, that’s on you. If the Spurs get into the top 4, great. That’s not to say they can’t make the wrong choice because all the players mocked in the top 4 means they’re guaranteed a player who will pass all the checkmarks. This is how you end up with busts.
also, saying that he has all the tools on paper is another lie. He meets a few preferred tools that most people would like to see in a prospect, but that’s it. He’s inefficient on paper. That’s not even a lie.
Im mean yeah. I think players get drafted in the Top 5 all the time whose “swing skill” is “feel” (lol i just think that branding is hilarious)— Bagley, Thabiet, Wiseman, Ayton, Wiggins, Bennet, Kuminga, Bamba, Knox….
I pray it’s not us if picking in the Top 5.
I really don't enjoy the trend of these old ass freshmen whose parents held them back for years so they could beat up on children or they were just unusually unintelligent and needed the extra years to not slobber on themselves while tying their shoes.
Fleming the junior: 20.9
Meanwhile
Queen: 20.5
Knueppel 19.9
Edgecombe 19.9
McNeely 19.7
Newell 19.7
Bryant 19.6
Even last year it was the same crap. As much as I liked Sheppard I didn't like that he was a 20 year old on draft night
Swing skill, feel for the game...
I feel an important part of those overlap in the Venn Diagram for BBIQ. I'm big on BBIQ and think that's a key differentiator for those who excel and thrive vs those who don't.
The average age of freshmen entering the NBA draft is 19.5 years. This is much ado about nothing.
Cooper is the youngest of this draft class at 18.51 years, and his case is rare. In other years the youngest is around 18.7+. And this is comparing them to the youngest of the class. Point of the matter is that most freshmen do enter the draft at 19.5. Children? They’re only a year older than these guys. Big whoop.
The more I look at this draft the more I want the Spurs to trade down/out for future draft capital unless they land Flagg tbh. Use some of their second rounders stashed to move up into the late first to take a shot at someone who falls.
Knueppel feels like this year’s Sheppard to me — a guy with underwhelming physical tools, but is loved by statistical models. He currently ranks #2 in Pelton’s models, just behind Flagg.
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