Yep, I'm making a Following 2025 Draftees thread too

Ozymandias

Ozymandias

All-Star
#1
#1
Its the offseason. we dont have a 1st rd pick in 2024 unless disaster strikes, so why not?

Rather than using the 1st post in this thread to highlight one of the top projected players in this '24 HS class (or International class born in '06), I'm gonna post 2 players more in the 4-star range right now that I think are primed to blow up and will continue to gain momentum moving forward.

VJ Edgecombe, Currently ranked 40th by 247. This is a player former King Buddy Hield will be rooting for as he's originally from the Bahamas. at nearly 6'7 with broad shoulders, an outstanding physical profile for his age, sort of like former 2009 lotto pick Terrence Williams. Edgecombe's a menacing downhill slasher with defensive potential, solid across the board, major plus athlete.


Jahlil Bethea, Currently ranked 39th by Rivals. 6'4" combo guard he's been torching the AAU circuit and I really like what I see, reminds me a bit of Anfernee Simons, he's got a quick trigger 3pt shot and he's slippery getting to the rack, I'll be monitoring his PG skills as he's almost entirely scoring oriented right now but he seems to get scorching hot which bodes well if the rest of his game continues to come around.

 
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Ozymandias

Ozymandias

All-Star
#2
#2
As for the first year eligible 2006-born international players;

There's an interesting 6'8 Russian Wing with PG skills who can shoot the 3, Egor Demin, who's hovered near the top of these '06 rankings for years and is still tracking as a 1st round pick far as I can tell. He's fun to watch, high iq player, he's like a PG on the break, when I first saw him he was 6'5, he's one of these guys who your gauging 'has he outgrown the pg position?' which seems like a yes, but then you see players like Josh Giddey and wonder if he's got a chance to do things liek that.

I'm hopeful Demin proves to be the best Russian player in NBA history surpassing AK-47, he seems to have a good chance.

Spain's Hugo Gonzalez a 6'6" reliable shooter whos pretty athletic seems like he can vie for the first round in his first year of eligibility, playoff teams take Wings like that. Clearly one of the best players from Spain in many years, especially on the wing. His stock seems safe to me, like he's got 'staying power', like even if he looses some footing he'd end up high in the 2nd round worst case.

Bassala Bagayoko a 6'10" beast of a bigman, long arms from Mali, extremely fast, he seems destined for the first round.

For a more darkhorse candidate, I'm a believer in the 6'5" Wing from Italy, Dame Sarr, who's gotta have at least a 6'10 wingspan and seems to have solid touch/ floater downhill slashing game with a chance to be a menacing defender (especially disruptive in the passing lanes), obviously if his 3pt shot starts to improve he's got plenty of upside.

There's also 7'1" Aussie Rocco Zikarsky who I saw this past summer and he's got a chance, seemed decently long motivated and mobile like he could block shots that he was decently tough and had plenty of time to strengthen up.
 
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Ozymandias

Ozymandias

All-Star
#3
#3
Keep an eye out for 6'5" Cam Scott from South Carolina, skinny scoring guard, he can light it up, lethal shooter, shifty and is also quite explosive also can pass it. He's 4-star player right now ranked 35th by 247, but I get the feeling not for long and he will end up being seen as one of the premier offensive options in the class. Looks like a 1st rd pick to me.
 
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Ozymandias

Ozymandias

All-Star
#4
#4
As for true 7-footers on the radar this early, John Bol stands above the rest from the highschool ranks, he's reportedly 7'2 with a 7'9 wingspan, very thin, but he plays with a lot of energy and actually a bit of a meanstreak, he likes Kevin Garnett, can really run the floor, seems hes about 190lbs right now he'll look a lot better around 225.

Edit -- He just commited to Florida. I like it, he should have a chance to be the best bigman there since Al Horford.
 
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Ozymandias

Ozymandias

All-Star
#5
#5
As we all know, nothing would be better for buisness for the NBA than a Chinese born superstar. Now Qingfang Pang or just Qin Pang is probably not some superstar but he's pretty damn good and worth monitoring.

6'9" 230lbs PF he's mobile and can shoot it, he's not skinny, shows some skill with the ball in his hands..


Will be interesting to see where his story goes. He's sure to generate quite the following so I figured I'd point him out here asap.
 
Ozymandias

Ozymandias

All-Star
#6
#6
Khaman Madut Malauch. From my early looking around at the international prospects from this year, I'd have to say this player seems to be elite and like he's got staying power. He's probably still growing too, he just sort of casually puts his hands up at the mid net level already, his wingspan has gotta be like 7'7 and his standing reach I'd guess is 9'6.. Situation worth monitoring.

the way he shoots the ball is rare for a player this age and size. He runs pretty well too. I'm impressed, consider me a believer.
 
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Ozymandias

Ozymandias

All-Star
#7
#7
Lemme introduce Kon Knueppel here by saying I think he's probably better than Kevin Huerter at the same age. Interested to see how Kon transitions to higher levels of competition, hes obviously got major star power at the college level but what about the pros? For now, he deserves to be 5-stars.

Not just a shooter, more of a scorer, though that shot is pure and makes almost always splash right thru the net. Not super fast or anything like that but a strong base, spin moves, fade aways in the post, he's got quite a lot of tricks up his sleeve, a soft touch around the rim, knows how to get easy midrange looks, deadly floater, he's got a little shake off the dribble, he's got good fakes, can post mismatches and score over either shoulder.


6'6 and 220lbs already and he's sort of got combo forward elements and combo guard elements to his skillset. he's high bbiq thru and thru way above average passer including long range outlets and he's a plus rebounder. IDK how he doesnt end up in the league one way or another, he seems like a 1st rd talent.
 
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Ozymandias

Ozymandias

All-Star
#9
#9
Bibby10AZ said:
Ozy what you think about Carter Bryant ?
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I like the way hes strengthened up his frame and he's magnificent at navigating thru traffic in halfcourt offense for that size, he's got a real knack for that stuff which is one of the reasons his upside is obviously high, he'd be amazing on the kings betweeen Sabonis and Fox cuz of that, but wont be in range. good touch around the rim he's a certified scorer. I think he's actually a bit like a Rich mans TJ Warren, n I always was a believer in Warren.

Arizona should be able to get good recruits to put around him, the Zoom Diallo recruitment interests me, Zona's involved, its a situation i'll be monitoring.

Looks like Rivals just dropped Bryant 17 spots, n dropped his 5th star due to inconsistency and not being the best outside shooter but he looks like a pretty safe bet to me, he profiles more as a "top20 guy" than someone I'd just say 'looks like a first rd pick', maybe even lotto.

Ace Bailey to me is the best forward in this class, I'd probably consider him the #1 of any position rn tbh, but I'm counting on Bryant to be some of his best competition. though Liam McNeely is coming on strong as well and he fits the 3-n-d profile, there's really quite a lot of forwards highly ranked this year so competition is sure to be stiff. There's the nephew of WNBA legend Tamika Catchings -- Kanon Catchings, 6'8 might still be growing, Purdue recruit whos a perimeter player with shake and a nice looking 3pt shot is also coming on strong.
 
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Ozymandias

Ozymandias

All-Star
#12
#12

If Tre Johnson can bottle up what he did in this game today and replicate that in every game for the next year and he'll go #1 in this draft, and run away with it. This draft will turn into the Tre Johnson sweepstakes. He looked like a star today, he's 6'6 and in the very early stages of strengthening up.
 
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Ozymandias

Ozymandias

All-Star
#13
#13
Somto Cyril commits to Kentucky! Somewhere around 6'11 beast of a center, easily with the physical profile of a 1st rd pick. He's in the overtime elite right now.
 
Ozymandias

Ozymandias

All-Star
#15
#15
Bibby10AZ said:
Ozy Do you think Koa Peat is a lottery pick talent ?
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He's consistently productive for his age and against older competition, so that only reinforces that he's of that elite talent level. Obviously his older brother was an NFL player, and you can see he's picked up lots of good professional habits.

Definitely looking like a 1st rd pick but he's born in Janurary of 2007 so under the current rules he's not gonna be draft eligible til 2026 and certainly lots of late bloomers will surface. That leaves him quite a lot of time to tweak his game for facing taller older stronger competition, I want to see him do more Draymond and Scottie Barnes type of stuff on the perimeter, right now he dominates the paint and the boards.. He's not some crazy explosive athelete and he's only like 6'8, so its not like he's the 2nd coming of Banchero, but with the way the game is changing it'd seem to be moving in the direction he's headed, and it seems his position is quite obviously defined at PF but your hoping he really is able to switch out to the perimeter seamlessly, thats the stuff that will secure him a spot in the lotto. Team fit will be very key for him, he needs a team that needs him if that makes sense.
 
Ozymandias

Ozymandias

All-Star
#17
#17
Well VJ Edgecombe whos in the first post just got an offer from Duke. He had 0 offers 11 months ago, n now he's a ridiculously hot commodity.


Speaking of rediculously hot commidities ---6'11 Patrick Ngongba is down to 8 schools n is expected to announce before november- Duke, Indiana, Kansas, Kansas St, Kentucky, Michigan, Providence, UConn
 
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Ozymandias

Ozymandias

All-Star
#18
#18

I'll take this Forward on the Kings! Where do I sign up?

One of my favorite players btw. He's got all the tools to be really good.

I dont usually like to use words like upside and talent, but this kid, he's got that.

I sorta have great expectactions for him. Which is of course, unfair, but lets just say I'm unsure whats really gonna hold him back from showing well vs lower levels of competition --- sorta like what we just saw with Brandon Miller in 2023.
 
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S

serbiangoat

Starter
#20
#20
6'11 prospect Bogolub Markovic (2005) just signed his first pro contract with Mega at 17 currently will be interesting to see how with his frame if he gets playing time this year. I'd say along with Djurisic and Topic he's pretty much a sure thing barring injury of getting drafted/playing in the NBA. He's like a Bjelica/Jovic hybrid currently.
 
Ozymandias

Ozymandias

All-Star
#21
#21
serbiangoat said:
6'11 prospect Bogolub Markovic (2005) just signed his first pro contract with Mega at 17 currently will be interesting to see how with his frame if he gets playing time this year. I'd say along with Djurisic and Topic he's pretty much a sure thing barring injury of getting drafted/playing in the NBA. He's like a Bjelica/Jovic hybrid currently.
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Yeah he looks damn good in this recent footage.


unsure of his wingspan, but its pretty clear to me when he puts his hands straight up, that his standing reach has already gotta be near 9', which who knows if that kid is even still growing or soemthing he looks like he could still grow into those legs.. Kinda interested to hear howmuch and when did his growth spurts occur.


The shooting motion is gorgeous, he gets a ton of rotation on the ball, nice high arc.. The makes look very good, not touching the rim but hitting the same part of the net.. Definitely looks like a possible 1st rd pick, like Santi Aldama.. I'd think his offensive skill is already in that area, n evaluators would be much more concerned with just "does he truly fit at PF?, or is he sort of like Trey Lyles where maybe he's suited to do maximum damage from the backup smallball C spot".

N ya know we've seen a ton of these 6'11" 3pt shooters fail, Thon Maker, Dragan Bender etc.. I dont see why this kid would be held back by what hurt those guys, he looks like a far more reliable shooter..

I hope he's paying close attention to Chet Holmgren..
 
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sactowndog

sactowndog

All-Star
#22
#22
Ozymandias said:
Khaman Madut Malauch. From my early looking around at the international prospects from this year, I'd have to say this player seems to be elite and like he's got staying power. He's probably still growing too, he just sort of casually puts his hands up at the mid net level already, his wingspan has gotta be like 7'7 and his standing reach I'd guess is 9'6.. Situation worth monitoring.

the way he shoots the ball is rare for a player this age and size. He runs pretty well too. I'm impressed, consider me a believer.
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Malaych is currently projected at 8. We would have to tank a bit to get a shot at this guy.
 
sactowndog

sactowndog

All-Star
#23
#23
Ozymandias said:
Its the offseason. we dont have a 1st rd pick in 2024 unless disaster strikes, so why not?

Rather than using the 1st post in this thread to highlight one of the top projected players in this '24 HS class (or International class born in '06), I'm gonna post 2 players more in the 4-star range right now that I think are primed to blow up and will continue to gain momentum moving forward.

VJ Edgecombe, Currently ranked 40th by 247. This is a player former King Buddy Hield will be rooting for as he's originally from the Bahamas. at nearly 6'7 with broad shoulders, an outstanding physical profile for his age, sort of like former 2009 lotto pick Terrence Williams. Edgecombe's a menacing downhill slasher with defensive potential, solid across the board, major plus athlete.


Jahlil Bethea, Currently ranked 39th by Rivals. 6'4" combo guard he's been torching the AAU circuit and I really like what I see, reminds me a bit of Anfernee Simons, he's got a quick trigger 3pt shot and he's slippery getting to the rack, I'll be monitoring his PG skills as he's almost entirely scoring oriented right now but he seems to get scorching hot which bodes well if the rest of his game continues to come around.

Click to expand...
Ozy. Who do you think we draft at 11?
 
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