2025 NBA Draft

[spurraider21]

He can easily replace Sochan. He looks to be quicker and with a longer reach, more athletic. Plays tough defense and looks smooth finishing around the rim.

Agree Spurs should trade Sochan for a wing that can shoot and draft this guy with their pick if they fall outside the top 10.

you could have same the same thing about jarace walker when he was drafted, but he hasnt panned out

[BackHome]

I am really hoping we can get someone who could take the starting SF position and other picks to find legit backups who may be able to start in a few years. For me I am just trying to find player better then Collins, Branham, Ingram, and Tre, and I think we can do that with this draft.

First Picks:
Asa Newel - PF - 6’11- I really like his game and he can backup Sochan at PF or Wemby at Center
Traore - PG - 6’4 - I am kind of torn as he looked good but stock is falling due to his shooting and rim finishing
Liam McNeeley - SF -6’7 - Perfect fit for us

Atlanta Pick:
Ben Saraf - PG/SG - 6’6 - A ball handling guard I think he could work really well with Castle and Wemby
Noa Essengue - SF/PF - 6’9 - One of the youngest players betting on potential like Traore
Hugo Gonzales - SF - 6’7 - He hasn’t gotten much playing time but did have a good game 14pts I still like his potential

Second Round: I am looking at seasoned college/International players and would like a big to develop
Kam Jones - SG -6’6 - a good player who seems to be a clutch player
Nique Clifford - PG/SG - 6’6 - another older vet who game has really improved reminds me of White
Danny Wolf - C - 7’0 - I really like his handles and he is a good rebounder lots to work with skill wise
Bogoljub Markovic - PF - 6’11 - Has good handles and plays fast not a bad shooter either
Maxime Raynaud - C - 7’1 - Has nice outside game need to add 15pds of muscle which I think he could

* I think Fears and Philon are going to move up to lottery and VJ maybe dropping

[Bruno]

^ Raynaud studying path is quite interesting.

French prospects, when they are about 14 years old, usually go to basketball oriented high school. In these high schools, teenagers studies with a specific schedule and play a lot of basketball. The basketball side is managed by a professional team or even directly by french basketball federation.

Raynaud turned down going in these high schools. He instead went to, arguably, the best academic high school in France (Henry IV) and prioritized his studies. As a result he played way less basketball than other french prospects between 14 and 18 years old. He then picked Stanford not for the basketball program but also the their high level academic cursus.

Raynaud being somewhat late in his development is understandable given his story. His main issue is that he isn't a rim protector. For Spurs, do we want to have that kind of player to backup Wembanyama?

[exstatic]

^ Raynaud studying path is quite interesting.

French prospects, when they are about 14 years old, usually go to basketball oriented high school. In these high schools, teenagers studies with a specific schedule and play a lot of basketball. The basketball side is managed by a professional team or even directly by french basketball federation.

Raynaud turned down going in these high schools. He instead went to, arguably, the best academic high school in France (Henry IV) and prioritized his studies. As a result he played way less basketball than other french prospects between 14 and 18 years old. He then picked Stanford not for the basketball program but also the their high level academic cursus.

Raynaud being somewhat late in his development is understandable given his story. His main issue is that he isn't a rim protector. For Spurs, do we want to have that kind of player to backup Wembanyama?

I’m not trying to denigrate the young man, but it sounds like basketball is pretty far down his totem pole, and I want no part of that.

It reminds me of a running back out of Ohio State, Robert Smith. He really wanted to be a doctor, so he played for only 7 NFL seasons, quitting after being selected for his second ProBowl in three years. While it’s probably better for society to have another doctor, it’s not better for the Minnesota Vikings.

[Dejounte]

Harrison Barnes is a forward who can get to the rim, post up, and shoot 3’s. His switchability is OK, much better than your traditional C’s like Collins or Bassey (which is probably what matters most to the Spurs). He’s 6’9” or 6’8”.

^ that’s the archetype people should be looking for in the draft for backup C’s tbh.

Seems the Spurs would play Egor Demin at the C if they were able to draft him.

I don’t think CMB, Newell, Derik Queen, Malauch are in play at all now.

[Dejounte]

I’m putting all my bets on Karaban to be the Spurs’ 1st round draft pick. He’s going to be a forward that slides to C when Wemby sits.

if Karaban was plugged into the current 9 man lineup, he’d replace Keldon:

PG: Paul/ Tre
SG: Vassell/ Castle (slides to PG)
SF: Barnes (slides to PF when Sochan sits)/ Champagnie
PF: Sochan/ Karaban (slides to C when Wemby sits)
C: Wemby

[mo7888]

I’m putting all my bets on Karaban to be the Spurs’ 1st round draft pick. He’s going to be a forward that slides to C when Wemby sits.

if Karaban was plugged into the current 9 man lineup, he’d replace Keldon:

PG: Paul/ Tre
SG: Vassell/ Castle (slides to PG)
SF: Barnes (slides to PF when Sochan sits)/ Champagnie
PF: Sochan/ Karaban (slides to C when Wemby sits)
C: Wemby

I'm not sure Karaban would go that high with any other team, but he does fit here. I'm not ready to pick a guy at this point, but guys I think will be in discussion for our top 2 picks where they are currently projected are:

McNeely
Fland
Riley
Karaban
Gonzales

I could see a world where we trade Devin and slide Castle into that spot and draft Fland to play alongside him.

[Mr. Body]

I'm not sure Karaban would go that high with any other team, but he does fit here. I'm not ready to pick a guy at this point, but guys I think will be in discussion for our top 2 picks where they are currently projected are:

McNeely
Fland
Riley
Karaban
Gonzales

I could see a world where we trade Devin and slide Castle into that spot and draft Fland to play alongside him.

The propensity of this board to think that you can just draft a guy and have him slide in to where an actual NBA player is playing astounds me.

[exstatic]

I'm not sure Karaban would go that high with any other team, but he does fit here. I'm not ready to pick a guy at this point, but guys I think will be in discussion for our top 2 picks where they are currently projected are:

McNeely
Fland
Riley
Karaban
Gonzales

I could see a world where we trade Devin and slide Castle into that spot and draft Fland to play alongside him.

Karaban is a smart player with some real good qualities, but he’s a pretty clear second rounder, and is mocked there by most. Drafting him in the first would likely lead you down the Chris Duarte/Podiemski/Knecht path where they have a good to great rookie year, but then fall off a ing cliff because their skill set was overrated by staying in college forever, and overmatching 18-19 year olds.

[Mr. Body]

Karaban is a smart player with some real good qualities, but he’s a pretty clear second rounder, and is mocked there by most. Drafting him in the first would likely lead you down the Chris Duarte/Podiemski/Knecht path where they have a good to great rookie year, but then fall off a ing cliff because their skill set was overrated by staying in college forever, and overmatching 18-19 year olds.

To me Karaban is more of a Jacquez type to go in the 20s and be pretty effective.

[mo7888]

The propensity of this board to think that you can just draft a guy and have him slide in to where an actual NBA player is playing astounds me.

Your assumption that I'm talking about sliding Fland into a starting spot on Day 1 astounds me.

[mo7888]

Karaban is a smart player with some real good qualities, but he’s a pretty clear second rounder, and is mocked there by most. Drafting him in the first would likely lead you down the Chris Duarte/Podiemski/Knecht path where they have a good to great rookie year, but then fall off a ing cliff because their skill set was overrated by staying in college forever, and overmatching 18-19 year olds.

I think he'll be higher than a 2nd rounder by draft time (probably 20-25). He's not who you puck of you're looking for upside, but he's a quality rotation potential guy who fits if you have your main pieces in place or at least have a path to having them in place.

[Mal]

Atlanta Pick:
Ben Saraf - PG/SG - 6’6 - A ball handling guard I think he could work really well with Castle and Wemby

I want Saraf so badly

[Strategic]

I’m regularly seeing timelines emphasized on this site. This draft I think choosing a more mature player would be ok. I’d like to see the Spurs draft someone 6’10” that can hit a free throw and make a layup, and not so raw. Oh, and play D.

[Mr. Body]

Your assumption that I'm talking about sliding Fland into a starting spot on Day 1 astounds me.

Nah, that's not it.

It's this idea that you trade away a player while drafting his ostensible replacement. How does this make sense in anyone's head. It makes no sense on any level.

[mo7888]

Nah, that's not it.

It's this idea that you trade away a player while drafting his ostensible replacement. How does this make sense in anyone's head. It makes no sense on any level.

I said nothing about trading a player to draft his replacement. Trading Devin is to have Castle be his replacement.

[scott]

Wasn't very impressed with Karaban when I saw him up close and personal. Would be a fine SRP though (but seems like he'll be more in that late first, early second kind of range). Just strikes me as the stereotypical try-hard white guy archetype. A taller Doug McBuckets with less of a deadeye. That could be a useful addition to our bench with an SRP. Kind of a Joel Wisenheimer kind of pick.

[exstatic]

Wasn't very impressed with Karaban when I saw him up close and personal. Would be a fine SRP though (but seems like he'll be more in that late first, early second kind of range). Just strikes me as the stereotypical try-hard white guy archetype. A taller Doug McBuckets with less of a deadeye. That could be a useful addition to our bench with an SRP. Kind of a Joel Wisenheimer kind of pick.

He’s 6’8”, shoots 42.1% from 3, and blocks 1.8 shots per game. Doesn’t sound like Wieskamp to me.

In addition, he’s coming out of the UConn program, so he knows how to play. If he weren’t going to be well past 22 YO on draft night, I’d say he’d go in the lottery. His age will limit his upside, but he does have an interesting and varied array of tools,so maybe he’ll have enough when he comes into the league to stick for a while even if he doesn’t develop any more.

[BackHome]

Yeah, I think he will be picked in the range of 24 to 32 and he would be a good bench player for a good team.

[scott]

He’s 6’8”, shoots 42.1% from 3, and blocks 1.8 shots per game. Doesn’t sound like Wieskamp to me.

Wieskamp was a junior coming out of college, 6'6", shot 46% from 3 and averaged 1 steal per game. Different types of players and builds, but the appeal would be largely focused around the same characteristic: 3P shooting. (Also, Karaban's blocks kind of came out of nowhere this year, I wonder what spurred that. Wonder if he is being put in different defensive situations. Obviously UConn lost Clingan. I was impressed by Tarris Reed in person, but he definitely doesn't have Clingan's interior presence)

I'll admit I've watching exactly 1 UCONN game this year (the one I was at personally) but I watched him and McNeely both pretty intently. Karaban came off to me as comparatively unathletic (far less so than McNeely) but put in your typical upperclassman leader kind of performance... the kind that usually doesn't translate to NBA success because it is based mostly on game smarts and physical maturity in comparison to everyone else on the court. These aren't bad things, but the reason that upperclassmen (like the ones you mentioned) typically look good their rookie seasons is because they aren't going through the same learning curve as younger rookies who eventually surpass them because they're just better, more skilled athletes.

So, that's what I mean by a "Joe Wieskamp" type pick - a well-shooting upperclassman with limited ceiling. Worth taking a flyer on, but only in the second round for me (but like I said, he'll probably go late first, early second).

If he were 19, I still don't think he'd be a lottery candidate. At that point, you're comparing him against McNeely, who appears significantly quicker and more athletic to me.

[Mr. Body]

Karaban vs. Wieskamp in their junior years:

https://tankathon.com/players/compar...--joe-wieskamp

Karaban is a tick better in advanced categories. I didn't realize Wieskamp shot .677 from the line that year, a good bit worse than his previous years.

I remember Wieskamp was advertised in some quarters as a budget Corey Kispert. Here's Kispert v. Karaban v. Wieskamp v. McNeeley:

https://tankathon.com/players/compar...--joe-wieskamp

Those in their draft years. McNeeley is a good bit worse, but is two to three years younger than the rest of them. Honestly, I don't think the archetype is great, although a guy like Gradey has popped.

From what I've seen from Karaban, he's just alright as a prospect to me. He has won a couple college championships though.

[Dejounte]

Riley Minix is another guy that fits the mold I described earlier and who the Spurs could thrust into that backup C role. This would allow them to focus on talent on the guard/ wing spots in the draft. This actually makes more sense since backup C shouldn’t be a heavy investment, and they should continue shuffling through guys until they get a Champagnie type find for that spot.

[Dejounte]

And actually, Harrison Ingram fits that role too… hmmm…

[exstatic]

Wieskamp was a junior coming out of college, 6'6", shot 46% from 3 and averaged 1 steal per game. Different types of players and builds, but the appeal would be largely focused around the same characteristic: 3P shooting. (Also, Karaban's blocks kind of came out of nowhere this year, I wonder what spurred that. Wonder if he is being put in different defensive situations. Obviously UConn lost Clingan. I was impressed by Tarris Reed in person, but he definitely doesn't have Clingan's interior presence)

I'll admit I've watching exactly 1 UCONN game this year (the one I was at personally) but I watched him and McNeely both pretty intently. Karaban came off to me as comparatively unathletic (far less so than McNeely) but put in your typical upperclassman leader kind of performance... the kind that usually doesn't translate to NBA success because it is based mostly on game smarts and physical maturity in comparison to everyone else on the court. These aren't bad things, but the reason that upperclassmen (like the ones you mentioned) typically look good their rookie seasons is because they aren't going through the same learning curve as younger rookies who eventually surpass them because they're just better, more skilled athletes.

So, that's what I mean by a "Joe Wieskamp" type pick - a well-shooting upperclassman with limited ceiling. Worth taking a flyer on, but only in the second round for me (but like I said, he'll probably go late first, early second).

If he were 19, I still don't think he'd be a lottery candidate. At that point, you're comparing him against McNeely, who appears significantly quicker and more athletic to me.

I would want to use a SRP to get him, and sign him to a 2+1 deal, so that unlike a FRP, you don’t have to make the choice for year 3 immediately after year 1. If he stiffs in year 2, you cut him loose. If he’s OK, you,pick up year 3, and you have Bird rights. It’s the contract structure and pick up dates that makes me not want to use even a later first on him.

[Dejounte]

Sorry to go cutewizard on you guys but here’s my third and last consecutive post:

Brian Wright has pursued/ drafted super versatile guys like Sochan, Castle, Primo… i think that’s what they’ll do again in this draft.