AGDukesky
Member
Kontrarians?
2025 NBA Draft
- Thread starter scottdude8
- Start date
JasonEvans
Host, The Duke Basketball Roundup
Calm down fellas, don't have a konniption.
Vecenie is one of the very best in the business. I bet he would say, if he could candidly, that these are broad guesses for the most part this far out. But I’m sure his contract calls for him to produce a certain number of pieces of a certain length each year and he’s obliged to do one now. Take it for what it is.
JasonEvans
Host, The Duke Basketball Roundup
I mean, it ain’t like these guys are saying “take this to the bank! Maluach at #6!!”
They know they are making mildly educated guesses at this point, based on high school/international reputation and then mixing in a bit of what they are hearing from coaches and NBA scouts. It is more art than science at this point but is really not all that different from the pre-season polls.
Cut them some slack…
They know they are making mildly educated guesses at this point, based on high school/international reputation and then mixing in a bit of what they are hearing from coaches and NBA scouts. It is more art than science at this point but is really not all that different from the pre-season polls.
Cut them some slack…
JasonEvans
Host, The Duke Basketball Roundup
Some fairly significant changes in Vecenie's latest mock:Sam Vecenie out with his preseason mock draft.
- 1. Nets - Cooper Flagg
• 2. Wizards - Ace Bailey
• 3. Blazers - Dylan Harper
• 4. Pistons - V.J. Edgecombe
• 5. Bulls - Nolan Traore
• 9. Spurs (via ATL) - Kon Knueppel
• 13. Thunder (via HOU) - Drake Powell
• 20. Magic - Khaman Maluach
• 29. Nets (via OKC) - Ian Jackson
• 32. Wizards - Mackenzie Mgbako
• 41. Lakers (via LAC) - Tyrese Proctor
• 47. Wizards (via PHX) - Cade Tyson
• 52. Cavs - Sion James
2025 NBA mock draft: Cooper Flagg leads strong group of prospects. But is it a ‘superclass’?
Freshmen at Duke and Rutgers lead Sam Vecenie's latest projections entering the 2024-2025 season.www.nytimes.com
2025 NBA Draft Big Board: Does Cooper Flagg have competition for No. 1 spot?
Flagg remains at the head of the class, but a flashy point guard from BYU is moving up my top 100 list.
www.nytimes.com
1. Cooper Flagg - Duke (unchanged)
2. Egor Demin - BYU (up 21 spots from 23)
3. Dyland Harper - Rutgers (unchanged)
4. Ace Bailey - Rutgers (down 2 spots from 2)
5. Kasparas Jakucionis - Illinois (up 1 spot from 6)
6. VJ Edgecomb - Baylor (down 2 spots from 4)
Others of note--
9. Kon Kneuppel - Duke (unchanged)
11. Khaman Maluach - Duke (up 9 spots from 20)
33. Tyrese Proctor - Duke (up 8 spots from 41)
35. Drake Powell - UNC (down 22 spots from 13)
40. Jayland Lowe - Pitt (down 16 spots from 26)
41. Hunter Salis - Wake (down 23 spots from 18)
69. Elliot Cadeau - UNC (unranked in previous list which only went to 59)
78. Sion James - Duke (down 26 spots from 52)
96. Caleb Foster - Duke (unranked in previous list which only went to 59)
Players of note who were previously in Vecenie's top 59 (2 round draft) who are now no longer in the top 100:
Jalil Bethea - Miami (was #14)
Cade Tyson - UNC (was #47)
Ian Jackson - UNC (was #29)
This latest mock continues what has been a trend for a couple decades now... if you want to go to the NBA, there is no better way to destroy that dream than to go to UNC.
scottdude8
Moderator, front page and podcast contributor
Something tells me that if Tyrese finishes the season shooting 40%+ from deep, he'll be worth at least an early second-round pick... given his size and defensive acumen, if this shooting uptick is legitimate he becomes a great candidate for an off-ball, three-and-D guard at minimum. If that's where he remains projected, it'll be an interesting test of Duke's NIL retention program to see if he returns for his senior year...Some fairly significant changes in Vecenie's latest mock:
2025 NBA Draft Big Board: Does Cooper Flagg have competition for No. 1 spot?
Flagg remains at the head of the class, but a flashy point guard from BYU is moving up my top 100 list.
1. Cooper Flagg - Duke (unchanged)
2. Egor Demin - BYU (up 21 spots from 23)
3. Dyland Harper - Rutgers (unchanged)
4. Ace Bailey - Rutgers (down 2 spots from 2)
5. Kasparas Jakucionis - Illinois (up 1 spot from 6)
6. VJ Edgecomb - Baylor (down 2 spots from 4)
Others of note--
9. Kon Kneuppel - Duke (unchanged)
11. Khaman Maluach - Duke (up 9 spots from 20)
33. Tyrese Proctor - Duke (up 8 spots from 41)
35. Drake Powell - UNC (down 22 spots from 13)
40. Jayland Lowe - Pitt (down 16 spots from 26)
41. Hunter Salis - Wake (down 23 spots from 18)
69. Elliot Cadeau - UNC (unranked in previous list which only went to 59)
78. Sion James - Duke (down 26 spots from 52)
96. Caleb Foster - Duke (unranked in previous list which only went to 59)
Players of note who were previously in Vecenie's top 59 (2 round draft) who are now no longer in the top 100:
Jalil Bethea - Miami (was #14)
Cade Tyson - UNC (was #47)
Ian Jackson - UNC (was #29)
This latest mock continues what has been a trend for a couple decades now... if you want to go to the NBA, there is no better way to destroy that dream than to go to UNC.
DavidBenAkiva
Member
I'd like to see Tyrese given more PnR opportunities with Khaman and/or Cooper screening for him. If Tyrese can showcase his ability to run those actions in addition to maintaining the great early-season shooting and defense we've seen, that would benefit Duke's chances this year and Tyrese's NBA draft stock.
kAzE
Member
It’s crazy how true this has turned out to be. All joking aside… I would love to see a full breakdown of major UNC recruits and where they were projected to be drafted vs where they ended up after going to UNC.
I would as well. Tyrese shot 56% in the paint and at the rim last season. This was better than Jeremy, Jared, and Caleb last season. Getting into the paint was a challenge, but when he got there, good things tended to happen. I'd imagine working the PnR with Khaman and/or Cooper would help with getting into the paint.
DavidBenAkiva
Member
The lack of PnR featuring Tyrese as the handler was an early surprise to me.
The cost of making Tyrese strictly a 3-and-D guy. It's early but I'm not completely convinced it was worth it.
robed deity
Member
Feels like it's worth it IF Foster plays better. A big and important if.
From what I've heard and read, for some time now, the NBA is already quite aware that Tyrese excels in running the screen/roll, making very good decisions in the lane and making good passes to rolling bigs. That box had already been checked. It was the shooting that has held him back, and he obviously has improved upon that so far this year. He could work on his body some, IMO, but I do think he has demonstrated that he is pretty much as close to NBA-ready as he's going to be.
DavidBenAkiva
Member
One thing that wouldn't surprise me is, after the Louisville game, we see Tyrese move over to more of the initiator/lead guard role and Caleb move off the ball more. That way, Sion can moonlight as PG for a few possessions each half and another 10-15 minutes or so as slashing guard where Tyrese, Kon, and Cooper are trading off as initiator/playmaker.
scottdude8
Moderator, front page and podcast contributor
I get the sense that this decision, like many that Jon has made that us fans have questioned (the "not calling a lot of plays" quote that caused a kerfuffle comes to mind) is about raising this team's ceiling rather than its floor. I think Duke might be better right now with Tyrese being on-ball more since he did it fairly successfully last year, but my bet is that Jon has determined that the "best" version of this squad has Caleb initiating and Tyrese off the ball. We can go back and forth about the merits of that strategy, and it's a fair debate to have, but to me it's clear that Jon will be judging this season off of how many banners we hang, and you don't hang banners in November/December.
DukieTiger
Member
What I think you’re implying here, given the timing you mentioned, is that there really hasn’t been a good lull in the scheduled for Jon to put in new looks nor to try them in lower stakes games. Those opportunities are coming after this week. The team could look very different in January once they get more practice time in.
DavidBenAkiva
Member
DukieTiger was spot on in my implication. I don't disagree with the strategy that Scheyer is trying to use right now. It's mostly been successful with a few unfortunate bumps in highly visible moments. The best version of Duke's offense probably has multiple initiators all making reads and finding the best matchup or open shots. I just have a hunch that Tyrese will be a part of the tinkering and that we'll see more of him with the ball in his hands after Scheyer and the coaching staff have had some practice time.
bluedevilwildcats
Member
Caleb's advanced stats are largely bad. Do you think we benefit more from him or Sion in that role?
ChillinDuke
Member
Maybe, maybe.
It's also possible that Jon is holding back some offensive sets to unveil deeper into the season. I'm not necessarily counting on that, but I'm hopeful about it. I do think he has alluded to "building" as a season progresses, and I've taken it to mean that he's not going to show all cards in November.
We will see. He has the team this year to pull off that sort of multi-dimensional approach.
- Chillin