Been keeping up with the draft prospects more rigorously this year since we were probably gonna be picking top 4. Lo and behold, we have the second pick. Here are some guys I’m interested in and a little breakdown of why I like them. Post your favorite guys if you want.
**Won’t be discussing Sarr since I don’t think we’re gonna get him. He’s awesome though.**
2nd overall pick — don’t really love a lot of guys in this range to be totally honest. Everyone in the lottery range has high bust potential this year. Gotta trust the process.
Player | Position | Height/Wingspan | Quickie Breakdown
—|—|—-|—-
Nikola Topic | PG | 6’7 / exact WS unknown | Pass-first guard with great feel for the game. Elite understanding of the PnR and how to manipulate the weak side defender by attacking the rim. Played a modern NBA offensive engine role for Mega.
Reed Sheppard | PG | 6′ 1.75” / 6′ 3.25” | Excellent shooter from everywhere on the floor. Has some potential as a lead guard but can be comfortable as a movement shooter and secondary ball handler. Great hands, disruptive in passing lanes. Athletic.
Donovan Clingan | C | 7′ 1.75″ / 7′ 6.75” | Great rim protector, anchors a defense by himself. Shows flashes as a playmaker out of the post. Athleticism is kind of meh. Don’t love him at the second pick but he’s fine.
Devin Carter | SG | 6′ 2.25″ / 6′ 8.75″ | Fuck you, it’s my list. I love Devin Carter. I don’t think we could or should pick him at #2 overall but he’s awesome. He will be on the 2025 All-Rookie Team.
Zaccharie Risacher | SF | 6’9″ / WS unknown | He shot the ball well for a decent stretch, went into a slump. Basically you’re betting on the good shooting portion of his season being real. He’s a decent athlete and good defender. Not projecting him as a guy who can create for himself but he does good things on the floor that contribute to winning games. Don’t love him as the Wizards’ pick.
26th overall pick:
Player | Position | Height/Wingspan | Quickie Breakdown
—|—|—-|—-
Carlton “Bub” Carrington | PG | 6′ 3.75″ / 6′ 8.00″ | Extremely high potential 18-year-old who didn’t produce at an elite level at Pitt but has a strong feel for the game and has flashes of pure magic.
Johnny Furphy | SG/SF | 6′ 7.50″ / 6′ 8.00″ | Unexpectedly stepped into a starting role at Kansas and basically did what he was supposed to. Tall guy who can shoot well and has good cutting instincts.
DaRon Holmes II | C | 6′ 8.75″ / 7′ 1.00″ | Shot the ball well in college which helps elevate him from undersized center to a potential small ball 5 who understands his role in the offense well. If the shooting doesn’t pan out I don’t know what he does to get minutes.
Ryan Dunn | SF, I think??? | 6′ 6.25″ / 7′ 1.50″ | Best defensive player in the draft. One of the worst players on offense. Maybe they should just run him as a Draymond kind of small ball 5, minus the passing, and see what happens. If he ever learns how to shoot he is going to be incredible, but he won’t.
Tyler Smith | PF | 6′ 9.00″ / 7′ 1.00” | Big. Strong. Fast. Young. Shoots the ball well and knows his role. Wish he had better defensive awareness but my god when he attacks the rim he looks unstoppable.
Kyle Filipowski | PF/C | 6′ 10.75″ / 6′ 10.50″ | Skilled big man. A little bit of passing, a little bit of rebounding, a little bit of shooting, a little bit of defense… Not really elite at anything but he’s 7′ in shoes and clearly quite skilled.
51st overall pick — I didn’t intend for this to turn into the international prospect corner but it kinda just ended up that way:
Player | Position | Height/Wingspan | Quickie Breakdown
—|—|—-|—-
Pacôme Dadiet | SG | 6’8 / WS unknown | Intriguing mix of skills and size, especially the handle and shooting off the dribble. If he is somehow available at 51 you take this guy immediately. Stash him overseas if you must (he’s under contract with Ulm through 2026 so needs to be bought out), but bring him over ASAP. Love this guy. I would trade up in the second round to get him.
Adem Bona | C | 6′ 8.25″ / 7′ 3.75″ | The most athletic player in the draft. He’s massive and destroys the rim. Won’t shoot. Not can’t. Won’t. I love rim running centers who screen hard, and he has an NBA-ready body. I don’t know how useful he would be but [he is FUN.](https://streamable.com/y25m27)
Nikola Durisic | SG/SF | 6′ 7.00″ / 6′ 8.00″ | His value is mostly as a draft and stash who has some solid skills but hasn’t put it all together yet. Needs to work on shooting and defense. Really good driving to the rim, has a decent midrange game.
Juan Nunez | PG | 6’4″ / WS unknown | The purest of pure passing guards. His other skills are kind of lacking but he can fuckin’ pass.
Payton Sandfort | SF | 6′ 6.25″ / 6′ 8.00″ | One of the best shooters in the draft, but if his shot isn’t falling he is somewhat limited. I would take a flier on him. Rebounds pretty well too. He has the ultimate “white guy who contributes to winning” archetype.
Honorable mention: Baylor Scheierman, my beloved. I don’t think we’ll have the opportunity to draft him but Baylor Scheierman is awesome. I just needed to get that out there.
by Turbo2x
15 Comments
Babe, turbo dropped a draft post 😍
Johnny Furphy… absolutely not. Dude is a worse version of Gradey Dick, who I felt should’ve stayed another year in school. This is coming from a fan of a school in the Big12. I saw a lot of Kansas. Even with his age, I’d rather have McCullar.
Clingan at 2? Absolutely not. When you’re rebuilding and expecting next years class to blow this one out of the water, you shoot for a high ceiling, not a high floor. One thing fans don’t realize is that the nba is spaced out a lot more than the collegiate game. So once he’s asked to cover more ground away from the basket, he won’t be nearly as effective of a rim protector(his most valuable attribute) as he was in college. Also he’s had issues with conditioning and foot issues due to his size.
3 of those guys at 2 would probably get Dawkins that much closer to being fired if taken that high lol.
Love this list you put together. I’d like to see us find our future point guard in Topic honestly. With us having Kuz, Kispert, Deni, and Bilal already as wings I don’t know if we need more. A PG and a coach is what I’d like to see us prioritize. I like that topic is a pass first point guard
Love this list you put together. I’d like to see us find our future point guard in Topic honestly. With us having Kuz, Kispert, Deni, and Bilal already as wings I don’t know if we need more. A PG and a coach is what I’d like to see us prioritize.
I’m curious about your thoughts on Castle. I didn’t watch much college ball at all this year, but I’ve seen alot of buzz around him going in the high lotto this year and from what I’ve read, a big defensive lead guard sounds like a great pairing with bilal and deni. Do you think he’s just too limited offensively to be worth considering that high?
no love for Stephon Castle ? 😔 good list though love the insight
Clingan, Smith and Sandfort. Those are my picks from those choices.
Fuck you, it’s my list. I love Devin Carter.
Fair enough. I love Devin Carter too. Not at 2 though.
Gimme Topic just cause I wanna see some sick ass passes.
Anybody else think there’s actually a lot of rotational guard talent in the middle/later tiers of the draft this year? In addition to Carter, Carrington and Nunez, I could see any one of McCain, Kolek, and Mitchell being solid backup/potentially starting guards.
I’ve warmed to the idea of taking Sheppard at 2. He’s probably the best shooting prospect this league has seen since Klay Thompson. He’s a solid leaper, he competes on defense, and he’s shown some passing/playmaking flashes. The goal will be to turn his already elite jumper into a true gravity bending weapon that defenses fear.
I feel like the FO is gonna take a really long look at Cody Williams, Ron Holland, and Stephon Castle at #2. Pretty upside swings if they learn to shoot and I think all their jumpers are fixable. I do actually reallllly like the Reed Sheppard consideration, I believe he could be a lead guard as well. Topic is a good one too. I really don’t like Risacher at 2 at all since I don’t trust he will be a shot creator and I’d be okay with Clingan.
Great write up
I have trouble believing Carrington falls to 26 after this past weekend, wouldn’t be against trading someone like Tyus Jones to trade up and get him or some other similar guard.