2025 NBA Draft Thread

[Vincent Van Goat]

Jabari smith hype train full steam ahead...

if You end up with him at #3 you can’t be mad

 

[frshstunna]

Jabari smith hype train full steam ahead...

if You end up with him at #3 you can’t be mad

Orlando gon get the 4th pick and draft yo from Memphis that can’t stop fouling

 

[pmatic]

 

[アミーゴ]

Jabari smith hype train full steam ahead...

if You end up with him at #3 you can’t be mad

He might go 1

 

[Vincent Van Goat]

He might go 1

Yup I wouldn’t be surprised at all

reminds me of last year where any of the 3 could have gone #1

 

[HOU$TON]

 

[アミーゴ]

Yup I wouldn’t be surprised at all

reminds me of last year where any of the 3 could have gone #1

Other than Jalen Johnson.

 

[Vincent Van Goat]

Mathurin had 30 tonight

 

[B Sox]

Mathurin had 30 tonight

Tried tell y'all.

 

[Vincent Van Goat]

Damb, every time I check on Watson, he's put up 0 FGM

He's played 9 games, in 5 of them he's had 0 FGM

What the...

 

[HOU$TON]

 

[pmatic]

Jabari Smith:

Spoiler

PROSPECT OF THE WEEK: Jabari Smith Jr., 6-10, freshman PF, Auburn

Coming into the season, the general consensus was that the top prospects for the 2022 NBA Draft were Gonzaga’s Chet Holmgren and Duke’s Paolo Banchero.

Not anymore.

Several NBA scouts and multiple GMs were in Atlanta on Saturday to watch Auburn’s Jabari Smith Jr. against Nebraska, and they had to come away impressed after his 21 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals in just 23 minutes led the Tigers to a 99-68 thrashing of the Huskers.

Folks, Smith isn’t just “in the running” for the top pick; he might be the favorite at this point. Analytically, his resume from the early part of the season is about as strong as you could imagine: A 30.9 PER and 13.9 BPM, very high rates of steals (3.7 per 100) and assists (5.3 per 100) for a big forward, and did I mention that he’s shooting 44.7 percent from 3 and 84.6 percent from the line? There are no offsetting warts here; he has a low turnover rate, and he’s scoring and dishing at a high rate. You might want to see him shoot a little better inside the arc, a consequence of his shooting a lot of jump shots rather than getting all the way to the cup. That’s about it.

Watching him shoot before Saturday’s game, I can’t emphasize enough what a non-fluke those shooting stats are. Smiths’ release is absolute butter, a smooth launch with clean mechanics and perfect spin that traces an elegant 45-degree parabola toward the bottom of the net. He has to clean up some footwork shooting off the dribble, but he’s already very comfortable rising up from shorter range to hit jump shots, as he showed multiple times Saturday.

That’s the best thing about Smith: I talked about his stats above, and they’re awesome, but holy eye test, Batman. He can run and jump and make plays for other people; he can move on the perimeter and still challenge shots at the rim, and he might be the best shooter in the draft.

Watch here, for instance, as he jumps a half-beat too soon to challenge a 3-pointer, helicopters in the air for a while waiting for the shooter to catch up and stuffs the shot with his wrist. This is not common.



Are there still boxes left for Smith to check? Sure. At 6-10, scouts will want to see him dominate on the interior a bit more — his rebound rate is fine (14.2 percent) but hardly exceptional for this level of prospect, and he’s only blocked six shots in nine games. But this is searching really, really hard for things to nit-pick.

I think Holmgren is going to be an elite rim protector, and Banchero looks like a young Carmelo Anthony, but if I had the top pick tomorrow, there’s no question whom I would take. There are very, very few prospects who combine elite athleticism with elite skill level, and Smith looks like he’s one of them.

 

[VARNELL HILL]

Ignite play @ 10

 

[Vincent Van Goat]

Damb, rough night for Scoot, 7 turnovers to 1 assist

So what's the latest on Hardy? Kind of mixed reactions when reading about him, his shooting percentages are poor and he averages 2 FT's per game

 

[frshstunna]

Duren was at his best last night, looked like a young Orlando Dwight…Was dunking everything round the basket, rebound n defense, n most importantly kept out of foul trouble…Also made a few passes out to 3 pt shooters that were nice

He won’t slip that far but would work well on a team like the Nets, play the role that DJ was too washed and Claxton not good enough for

 

[B Sox]

Jaden Ivey is awesome. Might not be an all-star but will be a really good starter.

Just stands out every time I watch him.

 

[B Sox]

First 5 min of the Gonzaga game was basically the whole Chet experience...

Pick and pop 3
Found backdoor cutter for easy bucket
Huge block
Presence caused TTech players to pass out of the paint because of the block threat
Rebounds

After getting to see 25 games of what Evan Mobley is able to do in the league, it just seems like it's really easy to project Chet as something similar.

 

[pmatic]

 

[Arthur Shelby]

 

[HOU$TON]

 

[pmatic]

Spoiler

 

[HOU$TON]

I like Ivey at #4 but I want Jabari smith in this draft. No AJ Griffin in the 1st round?

 

[HOU$TON]

 

[アミーゴ]

Yeah been saying gotta think he’s the guy - crazy thing is this seems like his floor

 

[ballinsam23]

Best PG in the draft?