2025 NBA Draft Thread

[orlandoholic 196]

39 minutes ago, CTMagicUK said:

If we accept that the 2021 and 2022 FRPs were the correct choices then there's this: 

2021 2nd pick 33: we traded the pick, Miles McBride and Ayo Dosunmu were on the board. 

2022 2nd pick 32: We selected Caleb Houstan, Max Christie and Jaden Hardy were still on the board.

I'm personally not a huge believer in trying to nitpick second round picks as I think this is right organisation for the right player type stuff and the second round is kind of a crap shoot but a combination of two of those four players across two drafts are better than what we got.

Whether you'd take a guard in 2022 having taken one in 2021 though I'm not sure, there's all kinds of butterfly effects at play.

2023 Pick 6: we selected Anthony Black. I think there's an argument to be made that Cason Wallace who went at #10 was a better fit, it was a debate on the board at the time, but I don't personally believe in picking for fit in the high lottery. That's about it though really.

2023 Pick 12: We selected Jett Howard, definitely the most contentious pick. Picks after him that may have been (and most likely will be) better: Gradey Dick, Derek Lively, Keyonte George, Jordan Hawkins, Cam Whitmore maybe. Now, with the exception of Lively (who tbf has benefitted from playing with elite playmakers) none of those guys have actually pulled up any trees in the league where you can say confidently they're guaranteed to have a better career than Jett but they've all flashed more than Jett has up until now. I personally wanted Gradey Dick at the time  and he's having a great year statistically but I think he's mostly just put empty stats on a bad team this year and he'd likely have seen about as much time for us as Jett given he's dreadful on defense. 

2024 Pick 16: We picked Tristan Da Silva. I'm happy with that pick and nobody drafted in the ten or so picks after him is someone you'd say fills a need for us and was a better pick (i.e. there aren't any shot creating, good shooting, guards or anything like that) but I think there's an argument to be had that Yves Missi has the higher ceiling than TDS given the age difference. TDS was my guy the whole way in that draft as I think his fit as a long, multi-skilled forward would have fit on any team in the league but I did have a lottery grade on Missi and wouldn't necessarily be surprised if 5 years from now Missi is the better player. 

So no, not really, it's not like we've missed out on the opportunity to draft a stud PG or a great scoring SG or anything, at least it doesn't look that way presently, some of these guys will still develop. 

Disagree somewhat here. Depends on how you define miss out. In multiple drafts, we had given up draft position because of meaningless wins. Last example was when Portland outtanked us and we had few moral victories with 5 games left. The result is that the Blazers drafted Scoot and we drafted AB. First i’d take Scoot any day over AB and second if we decided Scoot wasn’t a good fit, we could have gotten tremendous value in a trade back scenario, or even a proven All Star. 

And i don’t agree with the second round picks. Sometimes, talent just falls for unknown reasons. Inward so mad we didn’t draft Ayo Dosunmu. Indoor know why he fell, but he was supposed to be a lottery pick. 
Also i was upset we didn’t draft Hardy. 
Instead we chose cash. 

Back then, we definitely had the need and roster spot to draft those players.

2023 draft, i still don’t understand. Should have been Likely (or got assets for Likely) and otherwise the pick should have been Cam Whitmore. 

 

Last years draft was a no brainer i guess. I think both of us were pretty vocal about TDS and one player i liked more for us was McCain, but he was off the boards. I thought McCain was the only prospect in our range who could also be a starter for us down the line. 

[Luke_FfS 288]

3 hours ago, CTMagicUK said:

So no, not really, it's not like we've missed out on the opportunity to draft a stud PG or a great scoring SG or anything, at least it doesn't look that way presently, some of these guys will still develop. 

Thanks. Much appreciated.

[CTMagicUK 1,614]

If the season ended today the Magic would have the 11th best lottery odds. What a terrible season after the promise of a year ago.

[orlandoholic 196]

if we are lucky we can draft either Nolan Traore or Rasheer Fleming if they are available with our own pick. 

Nolan could fall, could. really happen. We‘ll see. 

Realistically we’ll probably draft Kln Knueppel, who just like G. Dick, wouldn’t help us at all.

I have no hopes for the Denver pick. It’s gonna be a major project and somebody who won’t have a realistic shot at our rotation for years to come. Hello Jett.. 

[CTMagicUK 1,614]

35 minutes ago, orlandoholic said:

if we are lucky we can draft either Nolan Traore or Rasheer Fleming if they are available with our own pick. 

Nolan could fall, could. really happen. We‘ll see. 

Realistically we’ll probably draft Kln Knueppel, who just like G. Dick, wouldn’t help us at all.

I have no hopes for the Denver pick. It’s gonna be a major project and somebody who won’t have a realistic shot at our rotation for years to come. Hello Jett.. 

I actually think the Denver pick is more likely to be someone who can contribute right away in the mould of TDS and I think the lottery pick, if it stays a lottery pick, might end up being a high upside swing. 

Also, I'm not like rooting for us to draft Kon Kneuppel but a 6'7, great shooting, secondary ball handler type would be a great fit on this roster in my opinion if he can hold up defensively. (EDIT: though I must admit, re-reading that sentence, you could apply it directly to Jett Howard. I do think Kneuppel will be better than Jett though.)

Nolan Traore is theoretically very enticing but he is shooting 36/27/66 (FG/3/FT) for his career in the French league (per BBallref no idea how accurate that is for French league tbf) and I don't really know how to square that away with needing guard help right now because nobody who's such a statistical non threat to score helps us get the best out of Paolo and Franz in the short term no matter how good their PG skills. 

[orlandoholic 196]

So here’s my tier list for the Magic in the upcoming draft. 

Magic Pick

Utopia Trade Up Tier:

1. Kasparas Jakucionis
2. Tre Johnson

3. VJ Edgemcombe

4. Egor Demin

(except of the obvious Top 3 that wouldn’t ever be traded)

Lucky Draft Fall  Tier:

1. Rasheer Fleming

2. Will Riley

3. Asa Newell

4. Derick Queen

Project Tier:

1. Nolan Traore (Project)

2. Jeremiah Fears (Project)

3. Khaman Maluach (Project)

Realistic Tier:

1. Will Riley (thx Fftl2)

2. Kon Knueppel 

3. Liam McNeeley

3. Boogie Fland

 

 

Denver Pick:

Lucky to fall Tier:

1. Khaman Maluach

2. Jeremiah Fears

 

Realistic Tier:

1. Ian Jackson

2. Alex Karaban

3. Danny Wolff

4. Hugo Gonzalez

 

 

I’m not too happy with both of the realistic tiers to be honest. I love any of the prospects of the Utopia Trade up Tier for our own pick. They all fill a need we have. But i just don’t think teams that are in place to draft them, will trade those picks, because the talent gap between them and the other prospects is just too big.

 

 

 

[orlandoholic 196]

8 minutes ago, CTMagicUK said:

I actually think the Denver pick is more likely to be someone who can contribute right away in the mould of TDS and I think the lottery pick, if it stays a lottery pick, might end up being a high upside swing. 

Also, I'm not like rooting for us to draft Kon Kneuppel but a 6'7, great shooting, secondary ball handler type would be a great fit on this roster in my opinion if he can hold up defensively. (EDIT: though I must admit, re-reading that sentence, you could apply it directly to Jett Howard. I do think Kneuppel will be better than Jett though.)

Nolan Traore is theoretically very enticing but he is shooting 36/27/66 (FG/3/FT) for his career in the French league (per BBallref no idea how accurate that is for French league tbf) and I don't really know how to square that away with needing guard help right now because nobody who's such a statistical non threat to score helps us get the best out of Paolo and Franz in the short term no matter how good their PG skills. 

absolutely nailed it. My opinion as well. I don’t dislike Knueppel. But if we can’t find minutes for Jett, than Knueppel is maybe a better version of him, but somebody who will see minutes for us. 
 

Agree with Nolan Traore. He’d be a project. I made my tier list and i had him as a project. He’s actually a similar version to Kylian Hayes, just i think he’s better bball iq. And some other aspects are also better but he won’t run the point for a successful NBA team for at least 2 years. He’s gonna see G League a lot

[fan for too long 2 567]

Jakucionus is very good but he is extremely loose with the ball. Being an Illini fan, I’ve watched most their games. Will Riley is someone to keep an eye on. Freshman who was ranked 22 out of high school. He is really solid in all phases and can handle and distribute. Nice shot also. He is really playing well, better than Jak. Also Ivisic a 7 footer freshman is really good. Smart player and will be a solid center at the next level. Imo. 

[orlandoholic 196]

5 minutes ago, fan for too long 2 said:

Jakucionus is very good but he is extremely loose with the ball. Being an Illini fan, I’ve watched most their games. Will Riley is someone to keep an eye on. Freshman who was ranked 22 out of high school. He is really solid in all phases and can handle and distribute. Nice shot also. He is really playing well, better than Jak. Also Ivisic a 7 footer freshman is really good. Smart player and will be a solid center at the next level. Imo. 

I like all three.. I was just going by Magic fit. 
Ivisic is under the radar. I like both brothers. But we will not draft in the second round unfortunately.

I should have included Riley. He’s a realistic target if actually like, but i also think similar to Jett, that he won’t see minutes. 

[CTMagicUK 1,614]

3 minutes ago, fan for too long 2 said:

Jakucionus is very good but he is extremely loose with the ball. Being an Illini fan, I’ve watched most their games. Will Riley is someone to keep an eye on. Freshman who was ranked 22 out of high school. He is really solid in all phases and can handle and distribute. Nice shot also. He is really playing well, better than Jak. Also Ivisic a 7 footer freshman is really good. Smart player and will be a solid center at the next level. Imo. 

I like Tomislav Ivisic, like him much more than his brother. Always down for taking swings on a 5 that can (theoretically) shoot and protect the rim. 

[Shine88 115]

Liam McNeeley just drop 38-10 in his 2nd game back on Creighton. He pretty much was playing PG, too. The kid is special. Pretty plug and play guy for Paolo and Franz. Danny Wolf with the Denver pick. Trade up if we have to. 

https://x.com/brhoops/status/1889533190030938353

[CTMagicUK 1,614]

Alright here are some guys I like, I've mostly looked at non lottery guys so far, looking like I'll need to deep dive more lottery guys though now:  

Miles Byrd: Had him late first earlier in the season but his offense has dropped all the way off lately so probably more of a second rounder if he doesn't go back to school. The vision is a 6'7, really awesome defender who can shoot. 

Danny Wolf: Just a really fun player. 7 foot point forward. Turns it over a bit too much and has a questionable defensive fit at the NBA level but he's got "star of a super fun bench unit" written all over him. Might go lotto if a team convinces themselves he has creator upside.

Alex Karaban: Just a smart, solid player who'll never be a star but could be the 8th man on a good team for 10 years. Shoots the ball, plays smart team defense, makes smart passes. Not going to make an All Defense team or an All Star team at any point, he's never really been the main man in college tbh but with the Denver pick we could do worse.

Kam Jones: 6'4 combo guard. In his previous years he played more off ball with Tyler Kolek and shot the ball very well from 3, this year he's playing with the ball in his hands, the assists and points are up (assists are way up) but the jumper has fallen off. Reminds me a bit of how Austin Reaves progressed in college he was like an off ball shooter as an underclassmen, then transferred to Oklahoma and finished his Senior year as an on ball creator whose jumper fell off numbers wise. Super smooth guard. No idea where the consensus has him ranked but I like him.

Thomas Sorber: think he might rise into the lottery to be honest. Really productive freshman big man. Good defensively, good rebounder, pretty versatile offensively inside the arc. Slightly undersized for a 5 at 6'10.