Lofty player comparisons for the five elite talents at the top of the 2025 NBA Draft Rebuilding NBA teams and their fans all have their eyes on Cooper Flagg, the best prospect in the 2025 draft, but only one lucky team will land the dynamic two-way forward from Duke. But there are at least four other elite talents in the 2025 draft class and so teams landing anywhere in the top 5 of the lottery next May will have a chance to change the fortunes of their franchise. Between now and next June a lot will change and surely a few other names will rise into top 5 consideration. As it stands now, I s ..read more

Adding forward Deni Avdija and center Donovan Clingan reshape the franchise I’m still surprised that Clingan fell to no.7 and the Blazers were able to land their prized center without having to trade up. Clingan is a monster defender who shuts down the lane and has a defensive impact that goes way past what the counting stats would indicate. He’s also a perfect fit with this team and will be a key cog in the Blazers future success. The only reason I can think of for Clingan falling to no.7 is his history of foot injuries. It’s never a good thing for a 7-footer to have foot injuries and teams ..read more

There were many good picks made in the first round of the NBA Draft last night but among the 30 selections there were a few that really stood out to me. These non-lottery players have a chance to out-play their draft positions and could look like steals a few years down the line. These are all players with a lot of development left to do, it’ll take some time, but I think these are all good values/upside swings and just made sense from a fit/team building perspective. Jared McCain To The 76ers At No.16 McCain brings his elite shooting to a 76ers team that will be looking to win now and is loo ..read more

The first round of the draft is in the books and there is still plenty of talent on the board. Here are the best remaining prospects for Thursday’s second round: # Player Bio 1 Tyler Kolek PG – Marquette – HT: 6-3 – WT: 190 – WING: 6-2 3/4 – Jr 2 Johnny Furphy  SG – Kansas (Australia) – HT: 6-8 – WT: 202 – WING: 6-8 – Fr 3 Kyle Filipowski PF – Duke – HT: 7-0 – WT: 230 – WING: 6-10 1/2 – So 4 Tyler Smith PF – G League Ignite – HT: 6-10 – WT: 224 – WING: 7-1 5 Nikola Durišić SG – Mega Mozzart (Serbia) – HT: 6-7 – WT: 209 – WING: 6-8 – Int.04 6 Bobi Klintman  PF – Cairn ..read more

Here’s an exercise in predicting the draft range of the top 20 prospects on my board, giving each player a three pick range. The top of the list seemed fairly easy to predict but things quickly became difficult. My hope is to get at least half of these right. It’ll be fun to look back at these predictions after the first round to see how many were right and how many were wrong. And how many were way off. I’ll mark the correct predictions in green and the incorrect ones in red. So check back later for the full results. 3-Pick Draft Ranges Zaccharie Risacher – SF – France Picks 1-3 – This one f ..read more

The Nets did the right thing. Let’s be real, the Nets were stuck in no-man’s land and weren’t going to be competitive anytime soon. But a full rebuild was not a great option since Houston owned their 2026 first round pick (more below). In trading away Mikal Bridges to the Knicks the Nets received four unprotected first round picks from the Knicks (2025, 2027, 2029, 2031) plus the Bucks first round pick in 2025, which was owned by New York. In a separate deal the Nets got the Rockets to cancel their pick swap with the Nets for 2025 and the Nets got back their 2026 first rounder from the Rocket ..read more

While the 2024 draft class has been panned as being weak it’s also one of the most interesting and intriguing drafts in recent memory. There are a handful of fascinating story-lines that will play out on the two days of the draft, this Wednesday and Thursday. A French Connection In D.C. We often think of the Spurs as the most likely team to draft another Frenchman (and they very well might) but it’s looking likely that the Wizards will add Alexandre Sarr to play alongside last year’s lottery pick Bilal Coulibaly. Sarr has so far refused to workout for the Hawks and so probably won’t be the fir ..read more

The 7-4 Zach Edey is a polarizing prospect. He was the most dominant player in college basketball this past season and one of the most decorated college basketball players of all time. But how his game projects to the NBA level is a bit murky and his projected draft range goes from late lottery to late first round. I’m a believer in his game and think he has a chance to not only be a starting NBA center but a really good one at that. If I was calling shots for a NBA team I wouldn’t let him slip past the mid first round. With that draft range in mind, let’s take a look at some potential landin ..read more

With just over a week to go until the 2024 NBA Draft teams are finalizing their big boards and putting the finishing touches on their prospect evaluations. And so am I. At the top of the board Zaccharie Risacher moves up one spot, taking over the top spot from Alexandre Sarr. I think Risacher is a safer prospect but with slightly less upside. Same can be said for Donovan Clingan, who moves up to no.2 on this final big board. Tidjane Salaun stays in the top 5. I first moved him into my top 5 on my second big board (January 20th) and he’s mostly stayed in that range. Fellow Frenchman Pacome Dad ..read more

I starting doing these draft superlatives just for fun but over the years I’ve found that this exercise does help clarify a few things about the current draft class. This year there are a few things that standout from putting names next to the categories below: This year’s class is not likely to produce many players that make the Hall Of Fame or lead the league in scoring. But there are some standout defenders, some great 3pt shooters and a few potential bouncers as well ? There are also a few players who could put up big assist numbers, if they end up becoming starters. Not many big time ath ..read more