2025 NBA Draft Thread

[B Sox]

I feel the exact same way about him as I did Haliburton in last year's draft. Unless you think someone else is going to be an absolute star (Suggs/Kuminga/etc), I'm taking the guy that I know is going to make my team better on both ends.

 

[ballinsam23]

Haliburton was a capable shooter from day 1 though. Sure the shot is unorthodox but it goes in. .

Im a sucker for defensive playmaking players, but 27% college 3pt shooter and 62% FT shooter we’re betting on a lot for Barnes shot to get better.

 

[dacomeup]

Is Barnes going to potentially go higher than Kuminga?

 

[ballinsam23]

After the top tier this draft from the 4 - 14 range is literally a shot in the dark. Every player has some major flaw or is super raw. Teams scouting departments better do their homework. Not an easy draft.

 

[Based Jesus]

What do we think about Tre Mann? I wouldn't be upset if we passed on Sharife and took him instead.
Or took them both if we can and signed a wing in free agency.

 

[ballinsam23]

Mann can’t break down defenses, always needs a pick. Good shooter though. Kind of reminds me of Simons on Portland. We have IQ and Rose so idk, I guess you can’t go wrong with him at 19 or 21.

I like Coopers playmaking a lot. He’s not a good finisher and shooter, but he’s easily the best passer in this draft. We need a guy that can get Mitch involved. Cooper knows how to feed the bigs on rolls and is elite at hitting the corner 3pt shooter with both hands. His passing is very Trae Young like.

 

[fac3 tak30v312]

Actually going back the last seven years.. McDaniels, Hunter and Bradley were traded.
I don’t see a bust among any of them

 

[dacomeup]

What am I missing with Josh Giddey if he has athleticism and shooting questions?

 

[Based Jesus]

Mann can’t break down defenses, always needs a pick. Good shooter though. Kind of reminds me of Simons on Portland. We have IQ and Rose so idk, I guess you can’t go wrong with him at 19 or 21.

I like Coopers playmaking a lot. He’s not a good finisher and shooter, but he’s easily the best passer in this draft. We need a guy that can get Mitch involved. Cooper knows how to feed the bigs on rolls and is elite at hitting the corner 3pt shooter with both hands. His passing is very Trae Young like.

Mann's scoring sense out of pick & roll is very promising though but I agree about Sharife being the better passer and needing that on the squad

 

[Mister Meaner]

What tapes am I watching that Mann isn’t breaking down defenses? The kid has shifty handle & creates separation with the stepbacks & crosses. He just looks like a kid that is still fine tuning his game. Very very high on this kid as I’m would expect him to only get better from here on out as a pro.

 

[fac3 tak30v312]

Mann can’t break down defenses, always needs a pick. Good shooter though. Kind of reminds me of Simons on Portland. We have IQ and Rose so idk, I guess you can’t go wrong with him at 19 or 21.

I like Coopers playmaking a lot. He’s not a good finisher and shooter, but he’s easily the best passer in this draft. We need a guy that can get Mitch involved. Cooper knows how to feed the bigs on rolls and is elite at hitting the corner 3pt shooter with both hands. His passing is very Trae Young like.

Hmm... What the Knicks are looking for
PG: Has to either be able to finish at the rim or knock down a pick and roll jumper. Has to make his teamates make the 2nd pass as quickly as possible to the open man. For this to happen the defense must feel threatened that they might score if they double off the pick, don't switch in time or find themself out of position.
Free agent targets: Chris Paul and Lonzo Ball

G/F: Scorer. Has to be able to score. Either a knockdown shooter or a slasher that gets to the free throw line.. Also needs to be taller than 6'5..
F/C: Do not need.

Which Prospects are they waiting on Frank and Knox. At this point both prospects need to develop their dribbling ability and attack the basket relentlessly. Non stop.
I can't remember the Knicks ever developing a scorer.. they've always traded for one or signed one in free agency.

The team literally needs the defense to know.. when this guy is in the game he's going to stop at nothing to get in the paint.
IF the PG can teach them to make the 2nd pass you have a greater chance of catching the defense out of position.

Can Obi develop enough dribble moves to attack the basket relentlessly.. Going to Need Robinson and Noel to be able to take two dribbles from the 3pt line to reach the paint if the ball swings to them..

 

[frshstunna]

Haliburton was a capable shooter from day 1 though. Sure the shot is unorthodox but it goes in. .

Im a sucker for defensive playmaking players, but 27% college 3pt shooter and 62% FT shooter we’re betting on a lot for Barnes shot to get better.

I wouldn’t look much into offensive numbers from any player coming outta FSU…Gameplans and development is an afterthought at that school on that side of the ball

 

[frshstunna]

What am I missing with Josh Giddey if he has athleticism and shooting questions?

Agent/Media hype, yo really just became a thing like a month ago even tho everybody already knew bout yo

 

[frshstunna]

Actually going back the last seven years.. McDaniels, Hunter and Bradley were traded.
I don’t see a bust among any of them

Are any of these dudes on the Lakers tho? It’s been funny to see their fans puff their chest out bout picking cats that didn’t/or are not making any impact for the team …It’s like the Hawks patting themselves on the back for drafting Luka

 

[fac3 tak30v312]

Are any of these dudes on the Lakers tho? It’s been funny to see their fans puff their chest out bout picking cats that didn’t/or are not making any impact for the team …It’s like the Hawks patting themselves on the back for drafting Luka

My seven years draft post isn’t about the three of them..
If you look at how Ingram, Ball and Randle developed as well as Russell.. they’re all perfect complements to each other.. then look at their late first round and 2nd round draft picks

Same with the Knicks. They had a long track record of developing their players into role players and starters until Frank and Knox

 

[pmatic]

What am I missing with Josh Giddey if he has athleticism and shooting questions?

Squint your eyes and he might be poor man's Lamelo.

Which would be hilarious if he lands in Golden State.

 

[dacomeup]

Squint your eyes and he might be poor man's Lamelo.

Which would be hilarious if he lands in Golden State.

Gotta be the Skid Row version

 

[Vincent Van Goat]

Tall point guard types are gonna get that push, if you’re a late lottery pick seems like a worthy roll of the dice

 

[dacomeup]

Oh I feel the opposite. How many point guards in the league are that size? If you’re going to roll the dice then they need to have a special talent or skill, which I’m not really seeing with this kid at all.

 

[Vincent Van Goat]

Point guard types. Not straight point guard. But I understand the skepticism

Someone who can be a glue type, connector. Handle and pass. Hope is obviously he improves his shooting. Saw that he was about a 70% ft shooter

 

[tomdiginson]

Agent/Media hype, yo really just became a thing like a month ago even tho everybody already knew bout yo

The hype reminds of the hype for the Australian "mamba".

 

[Vincent Van Goat]

Agent/Media hype, yo really just became a thing like a month ago even tho everybody already knew bout yo

Tbh draftexpress been having him ranked top 15 for a several months at least since April

they’ve been posting about him since the start of the year

 

[Vincent Van Goat]

KOC has bouknight at 19. Damb

 

[earldagoat]

 

[pmatic]

Spoiler

‘He wanted all the smoke’: The making of Jalen Green, next NBA phenom

Bobby Brown, the former NBA guard, would ask the same question to teammate Jalen Green every day. The two were in the Orlando bubble playing with the G League Ignite and Green was the rookie.

“What hairstyle are you gonna have today Jalen?”

There were many to keep track of: The Jheri curl. Braids with rubber bands on the ends. The twists.

Brown first met Green when he was a 17-year-old looking to play pickup at UCLA during the summer.

“It was dope,” Brown said. “I mean obviously I knew about him as a player and through social media following, and then through (Arizona State’s) Josh Christopher. Cool kid, humble.”

Green was itching to get on the court but had to wait patiently for his turn — there were several pros present at the gym and the unwritten rule is the young guns have to sit. Eventually, he got his chance to run with Brown and the others.

In the G League was flanked by young, exciting talents like Jonathan Kuminga, a fellow NBA lottery-bound prospect as well as Isaiah Todd, Princepal Singh and Daishen Nix. There were also veterans, Brown, Jarrett Jack and Amir Johnson formed a well-rounded experienced group of hard-nosed players who would serve as teachers.

Green and the other young players were humble and eager to learn. In the bubble, where basketball was the only thing to do, the players quickly bonded.

“It’s a lot of kids out here like ‘this old dude can’t tell me nothing’ or they won’t try to listen,” Brown said. “But they were all students of the game, all sponges.”

Green’s decision to join the G League team and forgo college was a shock to many, including his high school coach Brad Roznovosky. It came during a crucial time in the run-up to the 2021 NBA Draft, where Green is projected to be a top prospect.

“I’ll tell you what, the more I think about it, and watch it in the G League, I think it was the 100 percent the right decision,” Roznovosky said. “Not just financially… but he got better. He got his name out there even more.”

There are several benefits from the G League as an avenue for developing young players. Sure, there’s nothing like a college education and learning from some of the game’s best. But there’s also value in being around professionals, learning pro sets and terminologies collegiate athletes might not have.

“It definitely helped them out,” Brown said. “It gave them a boost to know what to expect when they get drafted, when they go to Summer League.”

It was also on the veterans to set examples for the young players. Brown in particular wanted to keep them level-headed and talk to them about the NBA and the lifestyle that comes with it.

When the NBA took their talents to Orlando, some of the best basketball was on display. The G League was no different. Brown saw players like Green and Kuminga grow up quickly, playing against pros.

“These kids are 18, 19 years old going up against grown men that got a chip on they shoulder that try to take their head off,” Brown said. “And they competed right with them.”

A good chunk of the credit goes to head coach Brian Shaw and the Ignite staff. The five-time NBA champion — three as a player, two as an assistant coach — catered the offense to the personnel he had. There was a steady helping of pick-and-roll because of Nix’s presence, a pure point guard who wants to get everyone involved. Green was seen as a scorer and slasher, Kuminga the same. The mix of veterans who have played in multiple offensive schemes meant Shaw could get creative.

“But he also threw in that triangle on us,” Brown laughed.

Everyone touched the ball in Shaw’s triangle offense, the movement was crisp and efficient.

“Every time we ran that offense we got a bucket,” Brown said.

Green played well, averaging 17.9 points, 4.1 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.5 steals a game. Despite logging heavy minutes, Green still shot the ball well, connecting on 36.5 percent of his three-pointers taking nearly six a game.

During the season, the veterans were impressed by Green’s fearlessness and demeanor. “He wasn’t trying to back down from nobody,” Brown said. “He wanted all the smoke from everybody.”

There was lots of trash talk that came the Ignite’s way this year. Some of it was because of the way the team was formed, while others weren’t fans of how much money some people on the team made. Brown, Johnson and Jack have seen just about everything in the NBA, so they knew how their opponents would feel about them. There was a sense guys like Green shouldn’t be getting this type of treatment this early.

Green didn’t want to hear it.

“I’m trying to shut all that noise up,” Brown recalled Green saying. “Just roll the ball out and hoop, forget all the talking.”

One thing you’ll hear a lot of scouts, analysts and those around the league talk about is Green’s feel for the game.

“He’s always had the IQ,” Roznovosky said. “There was no doubt. And I think there’s something about him that people don’t realize he’s such an unselfish player.”

Multiple people around the league love the idea of Green fitting in Houston, mainly because of the potential for stardom down the line and the backcourt fit with Kevin Porter Jr.

Brown was impressed with how Green was able to control games, knowing when to take his own shots versus when to get others involved — the direct product of the work he put in during his final year at Prolific. Green also didn’t hijack the offense, only taking 13 shots per game.

“In the G League, Jalen could have easily taken 20 shots a game,” Roznovosky said. “There are some kids with the talent Green has that will definitely go out there and take an enormous amount of shots every game, not worrying about making others better or involving teammates. He knew when the hot guy was hot, he knew just who to get the ball to at certain times of the game.”

The Detroit Pistons have the first pick in the draft later this month but Cade Cunningham isn’t a foregone conclusion at the top. There’s a discussion over Green potentially being the first off the board. That’s a testament to the work he’s put in his whole life, the willingness to absorb knowledge and a hunger to get better consistently.

“It’s a confidence he has in himself that he’s going to be a winner,” Roznovosky said. “He wants to compare himself to the greats and I think he’s gonna do whatever it takes to get that done.”

Sometime during the spring of 2015, before the hallowed walls of Fresno’s San Joaquin Memorial would sing and the hummingbird sages would bloom, varsity head coach Brad Roznovosky had a good problem on his hands.

The Panthers were coming off a 25-6 season in California’s Division 2 Central Section, a feat Roznovosky calls “one of the best coaching jobs we’ve ever done.”

The program was healthy, but Roznovosky had a large group of seniors on the roster who were graduating. He would need some serious recruiting and roster construction to keep up with the Joneses in the region.

Around the same time, an eighth-grader named Jalen Green was tearing up Fresno, making waves in the AAU circuits and middle school basketball. With the next step — high school basketball — such a critical juncture, Green’s parents, mother Bree Purganan and stepfather Marcus Green, were taking a hands-on approach to his future.

The Green family wanted a Catholic school education. Purganan had always stressed to Green that one day, the basketballs would stop bouncing and academics were important. Green wanted to go somewhere where basketball was taken seriously and where he could showcase his talents.

San Joaquin Memorial ticked all of those boxes. Aside from the college prep school education, San Joaquin has a rich NBA heritage, having produced talents such as Robin and Brook Lopez, Quincy Pondexter and Robert Upshaw among others.

“He was a talent that we hadn’t seen in this area in a long time,” Roznovosky said. “There had already been pros at our campus, in our gym — getting another one would have been great.”

The program wasted no time setting up a campus visit for Green and his family. Roznovosky remembers meeting Green, the lanky teenager who couldn’t have been taller than 6’1 at the time, bright-eyed and full of questions.

During that visit, Roznovosky said he was taken by Green’s calm demeanor, personality and overall attitude — three traits still present in him today. Green had a lot of questions for Roznovosky but his inquiries weren’t restricted to basketball.

“The conversation was very adult-like,” Roznovosky said.

By late spring, Green had given his full commitment to San Joaquin.

Becoming a varsity starter as a freshman isn’t an everyday occurrence but then again, Green wasn’t an everyday type of talent. San Joaquin’s coaching staff felt confident giving Green the keys to the offense.

Roznovosky and his assistants were impressed at how quickly Green adjusted to the high school game, particularly after an early-season tournament where San Joaquin went 4-0 and Green grabbed MVP honors. Before that tournament, he had only played in one game for the school, a 69-37 win against Eisenhower. Those four games were eye-openers, not just for the staff but for opponents and scouts. Roznovosky was convinced that not only should Green be the long-term starter, but there was a real future for him in basketball.

“It kind of came naturally,” he said of giving Green the job. “We were really good that year. We had a lot of young talent that year, too, but he earned a spot. I’m gonna play the best guys and he was one of those guys.”

As the 2021 NBA Draft inches nearer, several teams have made calls to Roznovosky about Green. This is common as organizations try to find out more about the players they could take on draft night. With the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s been even harder to gain access so these insights are crucial.

But these teams aren’t calling about skill set and talent — those are well known already. They want to know about the day-to-day, his interactions with teammates, his response to coaching and other aspects of life. Roznovosky tells them all the same thing: “He was a great kid.”

Even as one of the youngest players on the roster as a freshman, Green was loved by his teammates, peers and teachers. He was always asking questions and willing to learn more.

He never felt like there wasn’t another level he could reach. For example, on a few occasions, the coaching staff was hard on Green early on about his defense — they wanted him to play harder on that other end of the floor. Green put his head down and went to work.

“He was receptive to film, he was receptive to hard coaching and receptive to criticism,” Roznovosky said. “He was a leader.”

Practices were competitive.

“He was a freak,” he added. “He did some things that you just don’t see.”

Green was notorious for pushing everyone to be better. Jadon Geron, Green’s teammate for two seasons remembers playing as a scout team against Green in practice. Geron was picked up full court by Green every day, at times overwhelmed by the constant pressure and talking from Green. Geron was a freshman trying to earn his stripes, but Green’s approach at first wasn’t like anything Geron had ever experienced.

“I’m just tryna get you better bro,” Geron recalls Green telling him. “This is what it is. This is the best way for you to get better in practice, so I’m going to be on you and keep staying on you.”

“He was definitely a great leader,” Geron said. “He definitely pushed everybody every practice — especially me.”

Every day, Green would talk about the need for the team to improve and the hard work required. Even the smallest individual growth would help the group as a whole.

San Joaquin had seen some good talent come through over the years but it was clear Green was special. There were things he would do in practices where the staff would have to keep their composure.

“Even though we wanted to jump out of our clothes from what we just saw,” Roznovosky said.

That season, Green averaged 18.1 points, 9.0 rebounds, 3.2 assists and two steals a game, starting every game. San Joaquin finished the season with a 26-7 record and entered the Central Section CIF Division 2 tournament as the second-overall seed, behind Ridgeview. Victories over Hoover and Independence set up a showdown with Ridgeview in the March championship. San Joaquin held a lead over Ridgeview but ultimately falling 74-68.

It was a letdown for Green and his teammates but a timely reminder of the heightened competition of state basketball.

“There is nothing like high school basketball in the state of California,” Roznovosky said.

Having tasted defeat, Green vowed to never let that happen again as long as he was wearing a Panthers jersey.

There would need to be more work, more improvement in areas of his game to transform him into a more mature, well-rounded player. Colleges were already sniffing around Green.

That summer, Green’s training got serious. The coaching staff wanted Green to work on his shooting.

“I’ll be honest with you, and I’ll tell him that today. He wasn’t a very good shooter when he came to us,” Roznovosky said.

Green dedicated more time in the gym with staff, early hours of the morning and late hours of the night.

“He was always in there working before practice, after practice, all the time,” Geron said. “His work ethic is definitely crazy.”

He fell in love with the shooting machine. Coaches put him in live game actions — coming off flare passes and ball screens — to ease with his transition.

“It’s different just passing a kid a ball and taking 100 shots,” Roznovosky said. “You gotta do it within our actions, so it was a lot of movement out of his shooting.”

By the time Green returned for his sophomore season, there was a notable improvement. He had grown over the summer and put more muscle on. He shot 35 percent from 3 during the 2017-18 season, averaging 27.9 points, 7.7 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.6 steals per game. The Panthers finished the year with a 25-7 record, entered the tournament as the top seed and cruised all the way to a Division 2 championship.

Nationally, he was ranked as the top shooting guard in the class of 2020. San Joaquin participated in the Thanksgiving Hoopfest in Dallas, a basketball tournament featuring the region’s best players. The marquee matchup of Hoopfest was against Little Elm, featuring fellow five-star recruit R.J. Hampton and coached by Shawn Marion at the time.

Going up against Hampton was memorable, not only because Green led his team to a 55-52 victory but because of the attention he was receiving.

“You look across the bench and there’s (Kentucky’s) John Calipari, (Marquette coach) Shaka Smart and all these schools sitting courtside,” Roznovosky said.

Green also joined Team USA as the youngest member of the U17 World Cup roster. The Americans went 7-0 in the tournament with Green led the team in scoring (15.7 points per game) even though he didn’t start in a single game. He was named MVP of the 2018 FIBA U17 World Cup.

As a junior, Green didn’t let the gas off of his fast-rising career. He continued to tap into his offensive arsenal, again increasing his scoring output from 27.9 to 30.1 and his assists to 3.6 per game. Again, San Joaquin entered the tournament as the top overall team but this time, there wasn’t even a close game. The lowest margin of victory was 25 points. Green won back-to-back championships, just like he promised.

Prolific Prep had been tracking Green since eighth grade, billing him as the next up-and-coming star out of California.

The Napa Valley-based basketball academy had quickly become a stepping stone for elite high school players trying to make the college and NBA jump. Over the years, Prolific had built their resume as a national contender, with the likes of Gary Trent Jr. and Josh Jackson coming through the ranks and having produced 10 McDonald’s All-Americans of their own.

Prolific had also established a relationship with Green earlier from the AAU circuits. After three years, when Green felt he had accomplished all he could at San Joaquin, Prolific came knocking.

“We finally decided it’s my senior year and with the dreams that I want to go to and what I want to accomplish, Prolific is going to get me ready for it,” Green said in March 2019. “It’s the best decision for any athlete to go to a prep school if they want to go to a good college and the NBA.”

Everyone at Prolific knew Green was a big competitor, something that hadn’t changed since his early days at San Joaquin. He wanted to be the best at every practice, every game, and even in the weight room.

“Jalen is a once-in-a-lifetime type player to coach,” Prolific head coach Joey Fuca said. “He is an outstanding young man.”

In practice, Green and Fuca would go at each other, only because he held Green to a different standard than the other players on the team. Fuca, like Green, wanted to win at all costs. Sometimes, things might have gotten a bit chippy on the floor, but Jalen was always respectful.

“Definitely the level raised to another standard with Jalen,” Fuca said. “He brought a different level of intensity and confidence to the game that rubbed off on the players and obviously the coaching staff. It allowed me to be a better coach because I had to raise the level of my game.”

On the court, there was no stopping Green. With three years of hard work under his belt, his game hit new heights. Offensively, he could do it all. He had grown into his body, now standing a sturdy 6-foot-5.

In Green’s senior season, he averaged a career-high 31.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game, nearly bests across the board. Prolific tore through their competition, losing just three times and finishing the season with a 31-3 record as well as winning the Grind Session World Championship.

But as much success as Green saw that season, there was also pressure. Fuca heard from nearly 20 Division I programs that year, all vying for a chance at Green’s services. From that 20, they had narrowed the list down to five schools: Fresno State, Memphis, Oregon, Auburn and USC.

There was also the pressure of being one of the top-ranked players in the nation. The constant media scrutiny. The questions about holes in his game.

“He’s got a lot of pressure on him,” Fuca said. “And I offered kind of a different light with our relationship. I think that he can trust me. He knows that I’m loyal to him and would do anything for him and his family. And I think that Jalen would confide in me and things that maybe you wouldn’t do to anybody.”

To get him ready for the next level, Prolific’s coaching staff wanted to work on Green’s decision-making. They all knew the game came easily to Green but it was important to understand when to pick your spots in a game and how to manage it effectively.

“I think the challenging thing was when to shoot versus when to pass versus when to create your own,” Fuca said.

They also wanted to work on his defense, helping him coexist with his new height and length. Fuca challenged him daily to sit down and guard every possession like it was his last, teaching him how to maximize his length to get into passing lanes and disrupt an opponent’s offensive rhythm.

“He improved tremendously in all of those areas,” Fuca said.

Fuca laughs when asked for any memorable moment from that season. When Prolific was in Kentucky for the annual Chick-fil-A Classic, the team ended up losing 63-59 in the semi-finals to Indiana’s La Lumiere. Green scored 45 points in the game including 29 in the second half.

After the game, Green told Fuca he needed to eat. There was an awards ceremony and Green had been named to the all-tournament team, so time would be tight, but Green wouldn’t stop complaining. So Fuca drove Green and a teammate to the nearest Wendy’s.

The drive-thru line might have had around 30 cars that afternoon and Fuca’s car was stuck in the middle of it. Green’s stepdad was back at the arena some 15 minutes away, getting impatient. He called and told them to get back.

“I’m stuck in a drive-thru, what do you want me to do?” Fuca replied.

Green was in the car, listening to music and enjoying himself. They made it back just in time. Green waltzed into the gym with fries in one hand and a cheeseburger in the other just as his name was announced.

“He has a persona that is untouchable,” Fuca said. “He’s just bubbly, he’s charismatic, he’s positive, he’s uplifting, and he just has that type of personality where you just want to be around.”

It’s an attitude that will serve him well later this month at the NBA Draft, where Green is sure to hear his name early. He’s come a long way from the lanky kid who walked into the gym in San Joaquin Memorial, a long way from hurried cheeseburgers at Prolific Prep and even his rookie pro debut with the G League Ignite. It’s a testament to all the people who have helped him get here.

When Green hears Adam Silver call his name on July 29, the only question will be how soon it’s called.

“He’s always said he wants to be No. 1,” Roznovosky said. “He wants to be compared to Kobe. If you asked Jalen today, he can tell you that you’re crazy if you don’t take him No. 1.”