- Mar 22, 2003
- 29,010
- 17,680
Fixed
2025 NBA Draft Thread
- Thread in 'Sports & Training' Thread starter Started by addict4sneakers,
- Start date
Fixed
- Apr 5, 2008
- 39,619
- 80,304
- Feb 23, 2013
- 13,974
- 25,342
HOU$TON
formerly convertibleburt
- Apr 14, 2016
- 13,531
- 26,437
Draft looks to be deep but the rockets need legit franchise altering talent. If Houston doesn’t pick top 2, they instantly will be losers on draft night.
datznasty
Supporter
- May 25, 2001
- 22,160
- 16,428
they better not get Wemby, he;s going to be fighting his own teammates for the rock. They just need a steady vet to help with distribution like a Mike Conley or something. That'd force everyone up 1 position though I guess
- Sep 18, 2003
- 61,945
- 134,409
Cason Wallace would be a great piece if you strike out. Need jalen to improve and Jabari to look half decent though.
HOU$TON
formerly convertibleburt
- Apr 14, 2016
- 13,531
- 26,437
I like Cason but is that enough? Now I can honestly say if the rockets had a real PG they wouldn’t look nearly as bad as they do. Rockets have to be competitive starting next season. The franchise legit needs a savior
- Nov 5, 2012
- 80,694
- 55,639
Walker or Black would also be nice for Houston
- Jul 13, 2005
- 35,422
- 27,033
Got a lot of stock in Nick Smith Jr.
- Mar 24, 2001
- 44,834
- 66,536
Whatever team lands Vic will unlock an immediate top 10 defense and playoff berth. Unless of course it's San Antonio
- Apr 5, 2017
- 22,188
- 63,106
Jett Howard has “wiggle”.
- Mar 24, 2001
- 44,834
- 66,536
- Sep 5, 2010
- 93,341
- 130,156
- Feb 23, 2013
- 13,974
- 25,342
- Sep 5, 2010
- 93,341
- 130,156
Rookie of the Week: Walker Kessler, C, Utah
(Note: This section won’t necessarily profile the best rookie of the week. Just the one I’ve been watching.)
The 22nd pick in the draft, Walker Kessler’s career got off to an inauspicious start when he was thrown into the Rudy Gobert trade before he’d ever played a game for Minnesota. As it turns out, he’s proven to be almost Gobert-ian as a rim protector himself.
The rookie from Auburn has rejected 8.5 percent of opponent offerings in his games. Among players with at least 200 minutes played, only Memphis’ Jaren Jackson Jr. and Phoenix’s Bismack Biyombo have swatted shots at a higher rate.
As with a lot of young shot blockers, opponents are learning not to challenge him the hard way. In Utah’s loss to Portland on Saturday, Blazers rookie Shaedon Sharpe when at Kessler at the rim five different times … he didn’t score once and ate Wilson on three of them, with the other two significantly altered by Kessler’s massive presence.
Here’s the same movie, repeating five times. Kessler played this one like it was a routine bump set at his weekend beach volleyball match:
For the moment, Kessler still has some weaknesses that prevent his role increasing. He is much more comfortable in a deep drop coverage, and it isn’t always fit for the opponent; he was one of several Jazz bigs caught watching Anfernee Simons stroll into off-the-dribble 3s during his 33-point first-half eruption on Saturday.
However, Kessler has shown enough vitality as a dunker and rim runner to play an offensive role. Kessler is shooting 75 percent on a steady diet of dunks, has been a major factor on the glass (14.3 percent offensive rebound rate) and has mostly avoided the screening and ballhandling turnovers that can plague young bigs. His 20.2 PER overstates things — we’re talking about a guy with 12.1 percent usage here, and he’s only taken 10 shots outside the charge circle all season — but his size alone forces opponents to account for him.
Considering where he was drafted, Kessler has been a bit of a revelation. He is, at worst, a rotation big, with the potential to be much more if he can gain comfort defending on the perimeter. On a Utah team with an otherwise glaring lack of rim protection, his contribution has been particularly notable to one of the league’s most surprising teams.
(Note: This section won’t necessarily profile the best rookie of the week. Just the one I’ve been watching.)
The 22nd pick in the draft, Walker Kessler’s career got off to an inauspicious start when he was thrown into the Rudy Gobert trade before he’d ever played a game for Minnesota. As it turns out, he’s proven to be almost Gobert-ian as a rim protector himself.
The rookie from Auburn has rejected 8.5 percent of opponent offerings in his games. Among players with at least 200 minutes played, only Memphis’ Jaren Jackson Jr. and Phoenix’s Bismack Biyombo have swatted shots at a higher rate.
As with a lot of young shot blockers, opponents are learning not to challenge him the hard way. In Utah’s loss to Portland on Saturday, Blazers rookie Shaedon Sharpe when at Kessler at the rim five different times … he didn’t score once and ate Wilson on three of them, with the other two significantly altered by Kessler’s massive presence.
Here’s the same movie, repeating five times. Kessler played this one like it was a routine bump set at his weekend beach volleyball match:
For the moment, Kessler still has some weaknesses that prevent his role increasing. He is much more comfortable in a deep drop coverage, and it isn’t always fit for the opponent; he was one of several Jazz bigs caught watching Anfernee Simons stroll into off-the-dribble 3s during his 33-point first-half eruption on Saturday.
However, Kessler has shown enough vitality as a dunker and rim runner to play an offensive role. Kessler is shooting 75 percent on a steady diet of dunks, has been a major factor on the glass (14.3 percent offensive rebound rate) and has mostly avoided the screening and ballhandling turnovers that can plague young bigs. His 20.2 PER overstates things — we’re talking about a guy with 12.1 percent usage here, and he’s only taken 10 shots outside the charge circle all season — but his size alone forces opponents to account for him.
Considering where he was drafted, Kessler has been a bit of a revelation. He is, at worst, a rotation big, with the potential to be much more if he can gain comfort defending on the perimeter. On a Utah team with an otherwise glaring lack of rim protection, his contribution has been particularly notable to one of the league’s most surprising teams.
Prospect of the Week: Andre Jackson, 6-6, Jr. SF, Connecticut
(Note: This section won’t necessarily profile the best prospect of the week. Just the one I’ve been watching.)
After the excitement of the preseason tournaments, college basketball is in a bit of a lull at the moment. For the next few weeks we have mostly one-sided non-conference affairs, with the exception of a few contrived made-for-TV matchups on the weekends. (On Sunday, for instance, Michigan and Kentucky played in London for some reason … during England’s World Cup match. Nice. If they had just played the game on aircraft carrier, they would have had college basketball bingo.)
So, I wanted to review a bit from what I saw the last few weeks and circle back on a couple players I left out of my top returning players last week. Chief among them is Andre Jackson, who has been an impressive part of UConn’s undefeated start but didn’t quite crack my list. This is despite the fact that Jackson is unquestionably making winning plays all over the place and has NBA athleticism.
Here’s where it gets hard for talent evaluators. Shooting has never been more important in the NBA, and my goodness, Jackson cannot shoot at all. One rep through the warm-up line is all it takes to see that, a herky-jerky heave that goes wrong early and often. He’s a 29.3 percent career 3-point shooter, and even that seems borderline miraculous.
If you just set the shooting aside for a minute, Jackson has a lot to build on. He’s an athletic wing with the assist-turnover profile of a point guard (10.1 assists per 100 possessions is phenomenal), he rebounds like a four and his defensive dynamism is rather obvious. It’s easy to see him taking better advantage of his gifts in the NBA’s more open floor, especially in transition.
On the other hand, his weakness aren’t just limited to 3-point shooting. Even inside the arc, Jackson shot just 45.9 percent a year ago and is at 50.0 percent this season. He also has a massive propensity for fouling for a perimeter player, with a jaw-dropping 6.3 personals per 100 possessions for his career. (Most perimeter prospects are about half that; his former teammate Tyrese Martin, for instance, committed 3.8 personals per 100 before being selected by the Hawks late in the 2022 second round.)
Nonetheless, the biggest question by far for evaluators is the evaluation of their own player development systems. Is Jackson’s jumper fixable? And on what level? Does he require a miracle worker like New Orleans’ Fred Vinson? And what do we mean by “fixed” here, anyway? Can he at least get to the point where you might think about guarding him, or is he destined to be unplayable in any playoff series?
All of that will be food for thought that scouts chew on while watching Jackson the rest of this year. I don’t quite feel comfortable leaving him in my top 10 upperclassmen, but I don’t feel comfortable leaving him out either. He’s one of this year’s toughest evals.
(Note: This section won’t necessarily profile the best prospect of the week. Just the one I’ve been watching.)
After the excitement of the preseason tournaments, college basketball is in a bit of a lull at the moment. For the next few weeks we have mostly one-sided non-conference affairs, with the exception of a few contrived made-for-TV matchups on the weekends. (On Sunday, for instance, Michigan and Kentucky played in London for some reason … during England’s World Cup match. Nice. If they had just played the game on aircraft carrier, they would have had college basketball bingo.)
So, I wanted to review a bit from what I saw the last few weeks and circle back on a couple players I left out of my top returning players last week. Chief among them is Andre Jackson, who has been an impressive part of UConn’s undefeated start but didn’t quite crack my list. This is despite the fact that Jackson is unquestionably making winning plays all over the place and has NBA athleticism.
Here’s where it gets hard for talent evaluators. Shooting has never been more important in the NBA, and my goodness, Jackson cannot shoot at all. One rep through the warm-up line is all it takes to see that, a herky-jerky heave that goes wrong early and often. He’s a 29.3 percent career 3-point shooter, and even that seems borderline miraculous.
If you just set the shooting aside for a minute, Jackson has a lot to build on. He’s an athletic wing with the assist-turnover profile of a point guard (10.1 assists per 100 possessions is phenomenal), he rebounds like a four and his defensive dynamism is rather obvious. It’s easy to see him taking better advantage of his gifts in the NBA’s more open floor, especially in transition.
On the other hand, his weakness aren’t just limited to 3-point shooting. Even inside the arc, Jackson shot just 45.9 percent a year ago and is at 50.0 percent this season. He also has a massive propensity for fouling for a perimeter player, with a jaw-dropping 6.3 personals per 100 possessions for his career. (Most perimeter prospects are about half that; his former teammate Tyrese Martin, for instance, committed 3.8 personals per 100 before being selected by the Hawks late in the 2022 second round.)
Nonetheless, the biggest question by far for evaluators is the evaluation of their own player development systems. Is Jackson’s jumper fixable? And on what level? Does he require a miracle worker like New Orleans’ Fred Vinson? And what do we mean by “fixed” here, anyway? Can he at least get to the point where you might think about guarding him, or is he destined to be unplayable in any playoff series?
All of that will be food for thought that scouts chew on while watching Jackson the rest of this year. I don’t quite feel comfortable leaving him in my top 10 upperclassmen, but I don’t feel comfortable leaving him out either. He’s one of this year’s toughest evals.
- Sep 5, 2010
- 93,341
- 130,156
- Sep 5, 2010
- 93,341
- 130,156
- Nov 5, 2012
- 80,694
- 55,639
His leg improving
- Mar 24, 2001
- 44,834
- 66,536
Where them Vic highlights at? He played today
- Nov 5, 2012
- 80,694
- 55,639
- Nov 5, 2012
- 80,694
- 55,639
Welp. Scoot has a concussion so no go
- Mar 24, 2001
- 44,834
- 66,536
I haven't played 2k in a minute but last time I did you couldn't even create a player like Vic because it was too unrealistic
- Sep 5, 2010
- 93,341
- 130,156
Max Lewis might be this year's Jalen Williams.
- Sep 5, 2010
- 93,341
- 130,156
- Sep 5, 2010
- 93,341
- 130,156
