It’s seemed, at least through the early stages so far, that we’ve had a bit of separation at the top. Specifically, Dylan Harper, Cooper Flagg, and Ace Bailey have been talked about as a top 3 and there has been a consistent grouping of those guys as the ones in play for the first pick.

Who all do you have still in the top half of the lottery besides those guys? Still early days, but which prospects are you bookmarking as top of the class, aside from the trio that tends to dominate conversations around this class?

Almansa was excellent yesterday helping a nuclear bryce cotton score a record breaking 59 points in the 40 minute era. Looked much more confident driving and getting rough.

Most people don’t care about prospects as much as NBA stars so they tend to use it to mean a prospect who has a chance to be a generational player rather than a prospect who is generationally good as a prospect. Which tends to be a more generous definition than the latter, hence a lot of the confusion.

7 foot 2 shot blocker with a great stroke who is active on both ends, getting his hands into passing lanes and knocking down shots... what am I missing here? I understand he's on the older side, bad rebounder for his size, and has an atrocious ast:to rate but, as a Hawks fan, he feels like the exact big we need and for him to be slotted at the end of the 2nd round seems absurd.

• 1- Cooper Flagg (SF/PF)- Philadelphia 76ers; 76ers here win the Draft Lottery and they "Trust The Process" by taking Flagg here #1 overall but imagine putting Cooper Flagg with Maxey, Embiid, and Paul George? Especially if the Sixers embrace the tank and deliberately tank on purpose to get Flagg?

• 2- Dylan Harper (PG/SG)- Washington Wizards; Wizards get Harper #2 overall to pair him up with Jordan Poole in the backcourt; moves Poole to shooting guard and Harper at point guard with this young Wizards team it may actually be a good look especially with Harper, Poole, Coulibaly, Kuzma and Sarr

• 3- Airious "Ace" Bailey (SG/SF)- Toronto Raptors; Raptors here at 3rd overall take Ace Bailey and with Bailey he has All Star potential/super Star potential and you put him in a city like Toronto especially with Scottie Barnes, RJ Barrett, Immanuel Quickley, Gradey Dick and company they actually would be pretty decent

• 4- Egor Demin (PG/SG)- Utah Jazz; Jazz get another Russian player; first since Andrei Kirilenko but with Demin you have a kid, a point guard with size but also one who can pass the basketball effectively; create for himself and others but if he works on his shot more; he would be scary in terms of Star potential

• 5- VJ Edgecombe (SG/SF)- New Orleans Pelicans

• 6- Nolan Traore (PG)- Chicago Bulls

• 7- Kon Knueppel (SG/SF)- Charlotte Hornets

• 8- Tre Johnson (SG)- Indiana Pacers

• 9- Noa Essengue (SF/PF)- Portland Trail Blazers

• 10- Asa Newell (PF)- Brooklyn Nets (via Milwaukee Bucks)

• 11- Liam McNeeley (SF)- San Antonio Spurs

• 12- Khaman Malauch (C)- Sacramento Kings

• 13- Will Riley (SG/SF)- Dallas Mavericks

• 14- Boogie Fland (PG)- OKC Thunder (via Los Angeles Clippers)

• 15- Ben Saraf (SG)- Brooklyn Nets

• 16- Rocco Zikarsky (C)- San Antonio Spurs (via Atlanta Hawks)

• 17- Kasparas Jakucionis (PG)- Minnesota Timberwolves (via Detroit Pistons)

• 18- JT Toppin (SF/PF)- OKC Thunder (via Miami Heat)

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

• 20- Hugo Gonzalez (SG/SF)- Orlando Magic

• 21- Alex Karaban (SF/PF)- Memphis Grizzlies

• 22- Carter Bryant (SG/SF)- Utah Jazz (via Minnesota Timberwolves)

• 23- Josan Sanon (SG)- Brooklyn Nets (via New York Knicks)

• 24- Dink Pate (SG)- Orlando Magic (via Denver Nuggets)

• 25- Michael Ruzic (PF/C)- Brooklyn Nets (via Houston Rockets)

• 26- Collin Murray-Boyles (PF)- Atlanta Hawks (via Los Angeles Lakers)

• 27- Mackenzie Mgbako (SF)- Los Angeles Clippers (via OKC Thunder)

• 28- Donnie Freeman (PF)- Golden State Warriors

• 29- Nique Clifford (SG/SF)- Boston Celtics

• 30- Adou Thiero (SF)- Utah Jazz (via Cleveland Cavaliers)

https://nbadraftroom.com/2025-nba-mock-draft/

Link is below

2 PTS

4 REB

5 AST

1-9 FG

0-3 3FG

2 TO

13 MINS

He is currently shooting below 35% fg and below 30% from 3.

I hate to say he is another Killian Hayes cause he’s a lightskin Frenchmen but the similarities seem too strong to ignore. Traore is a solid passer who struggles to score, much like Hayes.

He's leading college basketball in scoring by a good margin, shooting 44% from three with 5 makes per game, almost has 50/40/90 splits, going 51/44/86, pretty good rebounder for a guard, and averages 3 assists, while not turning the ball over TOO much. He is putting these numbers up against pretty decent competition too, as he has played against and had great games against Ohio state, and Oklahoma state (also played against providence but had a down night on the offensive end).

As for his age, he won't be too terribly old, as he will only be 23 on draft night.

Plays pretty good defense too, there's just not a lot of bad things about his game really, but there is one thing I noticed:

He is pretty slow, but very fundamental and can shoot from half court and in.

He is pretty average sized for a shooting guard, as he is 6'5 and weighs 200 pounds.

Just wondering what y'all's evaluation on him is, I personally think he could go undrafted but have a decent career in the NBA.

Talk about what games/players you've been watching this past week or are looking forward to next week. Give us your thoughts on what players catch your attention, either positive or negative! Big board posting is encouraged in this thread as well.

​

Reminder: we also have a [Discord channel](https://discord.gg/PKTkzXnVWs) you can join and chat in during games!

Every year some goober says some dude is generational and it drives me nuts. A generation to me is 20 years and there has been two since 2000, LeBron and Wemby. Cooper Flagg is not a generational prospect, he’s a very good prospect. When Dylan Harper dropped two very good games the last week or so people were flinging around that word again. Oden, Zion and Wiggins were fantastic prospects but NOT generational. The word means nothing now due to overuse and it’s a real pet peeve of mine and I’m sure many other people here.

Which prospects can you see coming over or you heard buzz about coming over already?

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10143527-2026-nba-draft-prospect-rankings-top-20-players-right-now

LIST

1. Darryn Peterson (6'6 SG) (USA)

2. AJ Dybantsa (6'9 Wing) (USA)

3. Cameron Boozer (6'9 Combo Forward)(USA)

4. Nate Ament (6'9 Wing) (USA)

5. Koa Peat (6'8 PF) (USA)

6. Chris Cenac Jr (6'11 C) (USA)

7. Jasper Johnson (6'4 SG) (USA)

8. Isiah Harwell (6'6 Wing) (USA)

9. Jayden Quaintance (6'9 PF) (USA)

10. Caleb Wilson (6'9 F) (USA)

11. Miikka Muurinen (6'9 Stretch Big) (FINLAND)

12. Maleek Thomas (6'4 Wing) (USA)

13. Brayden Burries (6'4 SG) (USA)

14. Darius Acuff (6'3 PG) (USA)

15. Cayden Boozer (6'4 PG) (USA)

16. Jalen Haralson (6'7 Wing) (USA)

17. Shon Abaev (6'8 Wing) (USA)

18. Karim Lopez (6'9 Wing) (Mexico)

19. Braylon Mullins (6'4 Guard) (USA)

20. Dash Daniels (6'5 Guard) (Australia)

----

Yes, Most are Americans. Mostly 6'8-6'9 Wings or Combo Forwards.

Only 3 are International

Miikka Muurinen is like his fellow Countryman Lauri Markannen. Not because they are both Finnish and Stretch Big. But their playstye kinda similar.

Not familiar much about Karim Lopez from Mexico.

As for Dash Daniels. Yes, you guessed it right. He is the younger brother of Dyson Daniels. And like his Older Brother. He is a lockdown Perimeter defender too.

I was looking at old NBA drafts and sort of something that’s caught my eye is that there have been a bit of a lack of variety and where a lot of international players come from in comparison to how it used to be. I don’t know if it’s because of some countries used to have better basketball federations for youth development or something else of the sort, because I remember in certain NBA draft we used to be getting a lot more players from countries like Brazil, Russia and Ukraine respectively, Poland, and any other country that just so happened to pop out a 7 footer in any given year. But nowadays there is a lot more predictability where your top international prospects will come from. Whether it be France, Former-Yugoslavia, Spain, Aus,etc. Is this a testimony of just how strong live these countries have gotten in the basketball development? and if so, we have other countries really failed in that department. Or am I off base with my question?

*Note this also doesn’t mention the Various Canadian and African college prospects because a lot of their development is a lot more tied to US basketball, concerning coming here to play.

His absurd shot choice makes me think he’s going to be both a future superstar, and the most inefficient rookie wing scorer in recent times. This game against A&M was a masterclass in shooting anything and everything, 14 yr old lamelo style. Wonder what ur guys opinions on his future are.

These 3 young players are balling. Ant is only 23, Paolo is 22, Wemby is only 20. Yes, those are their ages.

Ant is literally in Conversation for Best SG with Mitchell and Booker (who are both in their absolute prime (28 yrs old)). And YES, Ant is 5 years younger than both of them. But he is in the same stratosphere as them.

Paolo is 22, and he is right there with Zion and Siakam. Not counting SF who plays PF (But really SF like KD, Lebron, Tatum), Paolo is probably above Siakam and Zion at this point.

Wemby as a 20 yrs old is a Top 5 Center no doubt. Jokic, AD, and Healthy Embiid are the only Centers above him right now. Then Wemby has an argument over Bam, Sabonis, KAT, etc. I personally have Wemby as 4th.

Interestingly,

2020 #1 Draft Pick - Ant

2022 #1 Draft Pick - Paolo

2023 #1 Draft Pick - Wemby

(2021 is Cade. But he is kinda not showing superstar potential. Let alone Top 5 in His position)

So, GMs are kinda cooking in picking #1 Draft pick this decade. (Too early to decide for Risacher in 2024)

PS:.

Idk if you guys stil believe Cade is best payer in 2021. Or considering players like Franz, Alperen, Mobley, and Scottie.

I just can't help but feel like the team around them just isn't good apart from Williams and Sommerville. Do you guys think Rutgers has a legitimate shot of making March Madness?

Harper has been way better at getting by people than Cade was at Oklahoma. Even without screens he's getting to the basket at will. For a guy who gets comp'd a lot to Cade it makes me wonder, is his first step/acceleration just that much better than Cade's?

This is just a thought experiment, don't yell at me about the Sixers would never do this, etc.

Let's say Sixers get the 1st overall pick.

And they wanted to leverage that pick to get as much young first rounders that they can draft/play immediately.

Is there any salary cap restrictions for the Sixers to trade their 1st overall pick on draft night to Brooklyn for all four of Brooklyns first round picks in the 2025 draft?

I get that each pick carries a cap hold, but would they be allowed to do this trade with them already being in the 1st Apron? Wouldn't the salary slots push the Sixers to the 2nd Apron?

The 2024-25 Sixers are firmly in the 1st Apron with $181.5M team salary

2nd Apron for 2024-25 is $188.9M, obviously this limit will increase a bit each year.

Let's say with the trade the Sixers get the below picks and these accompanying salary slots: #10 = $4.5M #18 = $3M #20 = $2.7M #28 = $2.1M Roughly $12.3M in drafted Cap Hold salary slots

Would the Sixers be allowed to make this trade since each draft pick carries a cap hold? And if they were allowed, this trade seems to push them into the 2nd Apron (depends on limits), so then would the Sixers even necessarily want to do this trade?

Jackson: 16.3 ppg 7.4 rpg 3.0 apg. 1.7 spg 1.1 bpg. Jackson was even more efficient than Flagg too: 51%/38%.

Jackson was often times compared to Iggy, Jack of all trades player that was a super athlete. Inconsistent on offense yet projected to be elite at defense. Honestly lot of the same analysis for Flagg tbh. I know folks here have their Flagg comparisons but think Flagg’s weaknesses somewhat mirror Jackson’s (except being a head case)

Not the best performance from Flagg, who did most of his work on the offensive glass and transition. Sluggish game overall from Duke who still have yet to click offensively, though a comfortable win.

Still the guaranteed lock for #1?