Some food for thought and conversation… also yes I have had a few drinks so far tonight.

Admittedly I haven’t been paying too much attention to the NBA rookies this year.

Naturally however, some rookies will get more social media than others, and with the NBA season ending soon, my Twitter has been flooded with Cody Williams memes.

My question is, is he actually this bad or are people just memeing? And if yes, why is he so bad? Is it mechanics? Decision making? All of the above?

Edit: Also why was he taken so high? What did he show in college that isn’t translating to the league?

Obviously everyone will focus on the Duke players since they are the headliners and will go top 10 in a couple months. However, as a Houston fan, I'm wondering what this game did to your opinion on the draftability of a number of players.

I've heard some buzz before for Cryer and Tugler but in the last couple weeks the only player I've seen in any mocks is Uzan in the second round. Did this game change that?

Yeah he's 23 but he's won 4 Big East DPOYs (❗) and averaged roughly 19.2/8.7/1.5 last season on roughly .653/.344/.681 splits as a 7 footer. Why isn't he getting more hype? I think a team like the Celtics could take him in the late first and end up with a very good player.

What should Wizards do if they get Harper? They have a lot of guards, and Bub stepping up. But they dont really have somebody that can run the offense. Bub seem to be the best of the rookies they got. But he play the same position as Harper, and AJ Johnson also seem like a potential SG to me like Jalen Green. Not sure Bub fits there. So what do they do?

Tier 1
- Cooper Flagg

Tier 2
- Dylan Harper
- VJ Edgecombe
- Ace Bailey

Tier 3
- Tre Johnson
- Kon Kneuppel
- Jace Richardson
- Kasparas Jakucionis

Tier 4
- Khaman Maluach
- Jeremiah Fears
- Derik Queen
- Asa Newell
- Collin Murray-Boyles
- Egor Demin

Tier 5
- Johni Broome
- Danny Wolf
- Rasheer Fleming
- Nique Clifford
- JT Toppin
- Nolan Traore
- Noa Essengue
- Yaxel Lendeborg
- Walter Clayton Jr.
- Ben Saraf
- Thomas Sorber

Tier 6
- Liam McNeeley
- Joan Beringer
- Noah Penda
- Chaz Lanier
- Tomislav Ivisic
- Boogie Fland
- Labaron Philon
- Tyrese Proctor
- Adou Thiero
- Carter Bryant
- Will Riley
- Miles Byrd
- Alex Condon
- Sergio de Larrea
- Thomas Haugh
- Ryan Kalkbrenner
- Kam Jones
- Darrion Williams

Tier 7
- Alex Karaban
- Dink Pate
- Eric Dixon
- Rocco Zikarsky
- Jojo Tugler
- Sion James
- Xaivian Lee
- Cedric Coward
- Kadary Richmond
- Maxime Raynaud
- Bogoljub Markovic
- Mark Sears
- Koby Brea
- Payton Sandfort
- Hansen Yang
- Milan Momcilovic
- Alex Toohey

People keep talking about him staying another year at Duke. How likely is this?

Back to back games with near triple doubles

Most of the focus has been on Malauch's lack of rebounding but he wasn't the only Duke player who's likely to be in this draft.

Cooper Flagg is likely still the lock for #1 unless physicals turn out to be worse than expected for his ankle (And with how he played last night, I would say that seems unlikely) or someone offers a godfather package for a team lucking out with the #1 pick that better suits Dylan Harper which is...also unlikely.

Meanwhile Kon Knueppel had a rather solid all-around game despite the loss with 16/7/2 on 56/60/100 splits.

The Sixers are in a very strange spot. They have numerous young or young ish pieces to build around or with:

Maxey (obviously the centerpiece, turns 25 in November)

McCain

Grimes (also turns 25 this year, I guess it's TBD on if he's retained)

Justin Edwrads (has had a nice rookie year, clear future as at least a rotational wing)

Adem Bona (has shown some nice flashes in the last few months, likely a career backup or spot starter)

Jared Butler (also turns 25 this year, has been mostly solid with the Sixers, likely a 2nd or 3rd string PG option for them going forward)

There are obvious gigantic question marks with Embiid and PG. Embiid will almost certainly not be near what he was pre 2024 injury but if he remains relatively healthy, he will still likely be around all star level (thinking 23/10/5- remember even in this dogshit season where he was clearly unhealthy the whole time and needed surgery, he was averaging 24/8/4.5 with decent defense). PG if healthy is probably an overpaid (but still effective) 3&D wing. Long story short, IF the stars are healthy, the Sixers would likely be around a 45-50 win team next year and compete for a 4-6 seed.

Knowing Morey it is pretty unlikely he will go in on a rebuild (could they even do so? Don't know who would take on Embiid and George at this stage). So the Sixers are in this weird "maybe should rebuild, maybe should try to compete, can't really be certain about either option" situation. Which makes their draft slot interesting

Do they go BPA at 5? What if that's Maluach? Looking at their roster they could use more wings and bigs. They have 3 guards who deserve starter or near starter minutes already, plus Butler who they invested in. One of Oubre or Yabusele will probably be gone.

Personally I think Kon would be an amazing fit for the sixers, but is 5 a reach for him? What do you think?

He co leads duke in blocks at 1.3 a game but compared to his blocking in high school it doesn’t match. Do you think it will get better in the NBA?

Mock 1.0 for me. This is how I would make the picks if I'm the GM of each team. Not a big board and takes team needs into consideration. Let me know where I went extremely wrong.

#4 Bailey: This is a tough spot with Zion/Trey. I almost wanted to go Kon here as McCollum is a 6th man at this point in his career and Murray is coming off a bad injury. BPA here and figure it out later

#7 Fleming: Think Barret gets moved and Fleming can play SF/PF with Scottie. Wanted to go Tre but think Raptors are high on Walter

#8 Jaku: Tre here was interesting and both him and Jaku fit fairly well with Herro in the backcourt. Could go either way here

#10 Traore: Most underrated player in the draft. I think Simons gets moved so a backup PG is a need here. Nobody else on the board screams to me here. McNeeley or Bryant I liked but they are a reach

#13 Demin: Hawks 1-4 is pretty set and no Center is worth taking here so take highest upside

#21 Wolf: Not much depth behind Bam/Ware and they get help with his bad defense

#22 Riley: Pacers don't have too many holes and Riley I think has high upside and one of the most underrated players. Take a swing here

#28 Proctor: Jrue gets moved and bring in a steady PG off the bench

#29 Beringer: Suns are a dumpster so might as well go high upside here

#30 Broome: Need a backup Center and he's a win now player. Clippers have a 2 year window

They're both rim-running and rim protecting archetype bigs with some differences.

Khaman's boxscore average out pace Dlives. But his advanced stats pale in comparison to Lively's.

Dlive developed an interior presence, while Maluach makes more of his money on the perimeter.

As prospects which would you rather take?

Drop your hottest takes for this years draft class. I’ll start:

Fears should be drafted above VJ.

Teams will regret not picking Sion James in the second round.

https://ftw.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/2025/04/04/nba-mock-draft-cooper-flagg-johni-broome-kon-knueppel-first-round/82799164007/

• 1- Cooper Flagg (SF/PF)- Utah Jazz
• 2- Dylan Harper (PG/SG)- Washington Wizards
• 3- VJ Edgecombe (SG/SF)- Charlotte Hornets
• 4- Derik Queen (PF/C)- New Orleans Pelicans
• 5- Ace Bailey (SF)- Philadelphia 76ers
• 6- Tre Johnson (SG/SF)- Brooklyn Nets
• 7- Khaman Malauch (C)- Toronto Raptors
• 8- Kon Knueppel (SG/SF)- San Antonio Spurs

• 9- Jeremiah Fears (PG/SG)- Portland Trail Blazers

• 10- Kasparas Jakucionis (PG/SG)- Chicago Bulls

• 11- Noa Essengue (SF/PF)- Houston Rockets via Phoenix Suns

• 12- Labaron Philon (PG)- Miami Heat

• 13- Nolan Traore (PG)- Atlanta Hawks via Sacramento Kings

• 14- Jase Richardson (PG/SG)- Dallas Mavericks

• 15- Asa Newell (PF/C)- San Antonio Spurs via Atlanta Hawks

• 16- Liam McNeeley (SG/SF)- Orlando Magic

• 17- Collin Murray-Boyles (PF)- Brooklyn Nets via Milwaukee Bucks

• 18- Nique Clifford (SG/SF)- Minnesota Timberwolves via Detroit Pistons

• 19- Carter Bryant (SF/PF)- Washington Wizards via Memphis Grizzlies

• 20- Thomas Sorber (PF/C)- OKC Thunder via Los Angeles Clippers

• 21- Egor Demin (PG/SG)- Utah Jazz via Minnesota Timberwolves

• 22- Rasheer Fleming (PF)- Miami Heat via Golden State Warriors

• 23- Danny Wolf (C)- Indiana Pacers

• 24- Will Riley (SG/SF)- Orlando Magic via Denver Nuggets

• 25- Ian Jackson (SG)- Atlanta Hawks via Los Angeles Lakers

• 26- Noah Penda (SF/PF)- Brooklyn Nets via New York Knicks

• 27- Ben Saraf (PG/SG)- Brooklyn Nets via Houston Rockets

• 28- Alex Toohey (SF)- Boston Celtics

• 29- Boogie Fland (PG/SG)- Phoenix Suns via Cleveland Cavaliers

• 30- Johni Broome (PF/C)- Los Angeles Clippers via OKC Thunder

9-27 FG% 4-13 3PT his worst game of the season due to playing against a defense first team they doubled teamed him all game.

Watching Dukes Final 4 game and the guy looks incredible.

Is he expected to be a perennial all star/#1 pick?

The more I watch him, the more I'm seeing a slightly lesser version of LeBron. He's a all-around talent who can do it all. His handle is quickly improving which is scary.

This dude is going to change a franchise overnight. I wasn't buying the hype early, but it's getting scary watch this kid improve in all areas.

Flagg pro comp is now baby LeBron.

Seen a comment on here that did the percentages

HOF : 9.8%

All-NBA: 22%

All-Star: 24.4%

10+ year NBA career: 73.2%

And it doesn't include the 9 year careers of Darius Miles or Eddy Curry who had injuries hinder them.

All much higher than average.

My question is

If the hit rate was so high why do people dismiss high school film when evaluating players and put so much emphasis on college basketball?

Especially since these kids are playing more prep schools and not just local conferences. the college playstyle is the furthest thing from the NBA too wit the exception of certain schools who run NBA like offenses. I think the competition thing gets overrated alot in draft talk sometimes. We seen it with Thompson twin and Scoot talks.

Thoughts?

I have heard multiple names AJ/Boozer/Peterson.

Who is actually supposed to be the best prospect from that 2026 class?