OT: NBA draft
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Assuming Flagg and Harper go 1-2, I hope the Sixers take Ace at 3. He fits in nicely with what they need.
My early bet is Utah trades up to 2 to take Harper. The 3 teams after Dallas all have All Star PGs. Spurs just traded for D'Aaron Fox last yr, Maxey in Philly & Lamello in Char. Utah has a boatload of 1st's in the bank.
So, I know nothing, or very little, about the NBA. But I may have to agree with you.
First, the Mavs will surely select Flagg as #1 - but truthfully, they have Anthony Davis and PJ Washington, either of whom if healthy would play ahead of Flagg in all likelihood. But Davis is injury-prone, so since Flagg is a PF, a stre5tch PF, he would ve very useful. What they do NOT have is a PG (Irving is their only real PG, and he is older and out until at least January, no?).
San Antonio - not sure what they really need - but you would think PG is not their need. They have Fox returning from inuury - and he was their 2nd best player. And they have Castle - a 1st round pick (#4) from last year who is a PG. They had Chris Paul last year - who played in all 82 games - but he is 40.
The 76er's ... Bailey is probably a really good fit. They do have Paul George, a terrific player when healthy, at WF ... and then only Justin Edwards. If Bailey goes #2, do they pick Harper? Their best player is their PG Maxey, when healthy.
Next up would be Charlotte. Their best player is the PG Ball .. but the next 2 best scorers are Forwards. I could see their need being a 2G - like Edgecombe or Tre Johnson.
Or do NBA teams NOT care about "needs" in the lottery, but best available player?
Looks like we're about to find out. I'll say it again.. Theirs no way the Sixers are passing up, and trading away Ace
Bill Simmons is doing a YT video on the lottery (after talking about his Celtics blowing it).
J. Kyle Mann mentioned how incredibly awful our offense was last year.
Simmons - "So did Rutgers just have the worst coach ever?"
Mann defended Pike a bit. Said the roster was bad and they couldn't afford better players around Dylan/Ace.
Conclusion is Dylan is clearly the 2nd pick and best asset after Flagg.
Could be the #2 guy on a championship team.
Expect Ace going 3. Talk about how Ace is a polarizing player. Could easily see 20pts 0 reb 0 ast games. Tough shot maker.
Still goes #3 to Philly.
J. Kyle Mann mentioned how incredibly awful our offense was last year.
Simmons - "So did Rutgers just have the worst coach ever?"
Mann defended Pike a bit. Said the roster was bad and they couldn't afford better players around Dylan/Ace.
Conclusion is Dylan is clearly the 2nd pick and best asset after Flagg.
Could be the #2 guy on a championship team.
Expect Ace going 3. Talk about how Ace is a polarizing player. Could easily see 20pts 0 reb 0 ast games. Tough shot maker.
Still goes #3 to Philly.
RH Sr. wouldn't like it.
https://www.si.com/nba/jazz/news/former-rival-urges-jazz-not-to-draft-his-son
Dylan Harper is going to win multiple championships in San Antonio with Wemby and Giannis.
With their current young back court, they might take ace or trade pick..3 guards all around the same size with castle and fox already on the roster. They also have Devin vessel and keldon johnson, will be interesting to see what they do at 2..
If SA gets Giannis, Dylan wouldn't be in SA
Spurs have 2 first rounders (#2 and #14). Could see them packaging both picks plus future first rounders as well as Fox and others (to make salaries match) for Giannis. Dylan may end up with the rebuilding Bucks in that case.
Last week, the Ringer was proposing a potential trade of Stephon Castle, Devin Vassell, Jeremy Sochan and a ton of draft picks for Giannis. I could see them keeping #2 and trading basically all of their other picks (every other year for the next decade) in order to get it done.
Didn't the NBA starting measuring players without the shoes just in the last few years? With shoes Cliff was 6'11, but without he was 6'9 3/4. Like the same for Ace, Dylan, and Cooper as they all are like inch to an inch and half shorter.
There was an article in the Athletic on the NBA draft after the selection order was determined, with a mock draft. They have Harper at #2 and Bailey at #3 ... Edgecombe #4.
What was most interesting was, though like many other recent write-ups, Bailey is a somewhat polarizing player in the various write-ups, THIS write up had a fascinating stat:
When Bailey was on the floor for RU (i.e. during his minutes played), RU was 3 points per possession WORSE than its opponents. But in this writer's words, WITHOUT Bailey on the floor the RU results were "catastrophic": RU was 23 points per 100 possessions worse than its opponents when Bailey was NOT on the floor, during his minutes on the bench.
What was most interesting was, though like many other recent write-ups, Bailey is a somewhat polarizing player in the various write-ups, THIS write up had a fascinating stat:
When Bailey was on the floor for RU (i.e. during his minutes played), RU was 3 points per possession WORSE than its opponents. But in this writer's words, WITHOUT Bailey on the floor the RU results were "catastrophic": RU was 23 points per 100 possessions worse than its opponents when Bailey was NOT on the floor, during his minutes on the bench.
I think that’s more a product of what the front court became without him in there than anything else. With him on the bench, that meant we were far less efficient at scoring in the post, worse at rebounding, and worse at ball handling. Think about the combination options we had 3-5 without Ace in the game. Lathan a horrible defender and Grant wasn’t strong at D so the 2 of them playing together wasn’t good. Neither really was Martini in combination with them. When Ace was on the bench we almost always had J Will at the 3 with 2 guards which meant we were even more undersized than usual, but we had no choice. Think about why - if you take J Will out of the 3 spot and have no Ace - think of what the interior D was. Ogbole, Martini, Grant, and PJ - any combo of 3 stunk. Thats why we blew Bryce’s redshirt. Pickings were slim.
I feel cautiously optimistic that Nwuli can actually fill a big hole and the experience Bryce ended up getting will actually help us. This in combination with Grant and Ogbole getting more experienced leaves me optimistic we could at least have more options on D. I think Buchanan will be solid at the 3 and might end up sliding to the 2 when Zrno is out.
Link to that article from the Athletic: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6345850/2025/05/12/nba-mock-draft-2025-cooper-flagg-mavericks/
If I'm the Bucks I hold out for #2 in that deal as it would accelerate the rebuild. Giannis with Wemby alone might be enough to put the Spurs in Championship contention. They would still have Fox in his prime and other solid role players around that core.
If they like Harper better as PG of the future you can trade Castle #14 and a bunch of other picks maybe even Daron Fox
SO............I think the data is right, but the sample is really small.
I did the last 1/2 of the B1G season
RU was a -23 in the 74 minutes Ace did not play
RU was a -18 in the 326 minutes Ace did play
-16 of the -23 came in Purdue and Oregon game we got blasted in with the team being -21 and -10 with Ace being in the game.
Michigan Ace was -7 and non Ace was +5
Iowa Ace was -16 and non Ace was +5
Minny and ILL (2 RU wins) Ace was +11 in both and non Ace was -2 and -3
I did the last 1/2 of the B1G season
RU was a -23 in the 74 minutes Ace did not play
RU was a -18 in the 326 minutes Ace did play
-16 of the -23 came in Purdue and Oregon game we got blasted in with the team being -21 and -10 with Ace being in the game.
Michigan Ace was -7 and non Ace was +5
Iowa Ace was -16 and non Ace was +5
Minny and ILL (2 RU wins) Ace was +11 in both and non Ace was -2 and -3
Did the 1st half
-33 in 57 min non Ace
So -56 in 131 minutes
Numbers definitely check out
Big one was PSU
Ace was +12 in 30 min
non Ace was -20 in 10 min
Ace was -15 in 343 minutes
-33 in 57 min non Ace
So -56 in 131 minutes
Numbers definitely check out
Big one was PSU
Ace was +12 in 30 min
non Ace was -20 in 10 min
Ace was -15 in 343 minutes
Shooting yes but he was still on Rutgers and the best defender and rebounder on the team despite the poor shooting.
Just another mock draft showing how far Dylan and Ace have “dropped” in the draft after this year.
Had no idea so many “draft experts” were also Rutgers fans.
www.espn.com
Had no idea so many “draft experts” were also Rutgers fans.
2025 NBA mock draft: Projecting all 59 picks post-combine
After Cooper Flagg, the draft could get interesting. Here's how ESPN's Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo see it playing out.
www.espn.com