Following Potential 2025 Draftees

[HermanG]

Harper will be all NBA VJ is like the Thompson twins but smaller and less skilled

Thompsons couldn't shoot worth a damn. Thats a pretty massive thing to overlook when making such statements.

 

[KqWIN]

Thanks.

I'm also seeing he ranked 5th in all of college basketball for total turnovers. Any chance you can detail where those came from a bit? Was it heavy on passing, getting stripped, travelling, offensive fouling or even across the board?

It’s hard to compare turnovers, but I’d say he has two things that stand out compared to others.

1) High risk, high reward passing. I would likeness his passing to a big time shot maker, which is both good and bad. You don’t want him relying on this stuff too much, but I think the ability to attempt and convert on these tougher passes is generally a positive indicator of his skill. He throws a ton of killer passes through defenders…but not all of them make it through.

2) His handle is not as tight as it needs to be. He can get loose with the ball and needs to turn his back too often. It’s not as bad as Demin, but not nearly as good as Fears. He’s also a very physical offensive player and seeks out contact. This is what allows him to be a free throw merchant, but it also leads to some bad turnovers where his handle isn’t enough to withstand all the weird flopping and contact he’s creating. I am NOT comparing him to Luka as a total player, but you know how Luka sometimes looks like he’s barely able to keep possession of the ball while foul baiting? Kas is kinda like that. He’s not like a Chris Paul or Shai who have the ball on a string.

 

[YoungJefe]

 

[YoungJefe]

View: https://x.com/thedunkcentral/status/1930275468839661643?s=46

As a Duke fan I love Kon but I'll be so upset if we take him at 5

 

[NAOS_pt2]

I'm still a big believer in Kas. If he's falling into the 11-15 range, then I would be supremely stoked if we could trade up from 21 to get him.
I'm hoping that we can standpat and get Ace. Ace, Hendricks, and Kessler can cover a lot of ground defensively and really swallow up the rim.

 

[SoberasHotRod]

Thanks.

I'm also seeing he ranked 5th in all of college basketball for total turnovers. Any chance you can detail where those came from a bit? Was it heavy on passing, getting stripped, travelling, offensive fouling or even across the board?

I just watched about 15 minutes straight of Kas turnovers. I was hoping to see the majority were because he was just trying to do too much, but it was really a mixed bag to be honest.

I would say about half were not concerning and were due to miscommunication with teammates or trying to thread a tight needle, he also turns the ball over frequently with his foul baiting with offensive turnovers or making unnatural movements.

The other half are pretty concerning. He does get stripped by the better defenders he plays against and while I think he is a very good ball handler, you have to be elite to be a lead ball handler in the NBA. The other concerning thing was his turnovers due to athleticism concerns. He would get past his guy and then get stuck in the paint with nowhere to go, or at times tried to get separation and wasn't able to.

There were some careless passes in there as well, but I'm not overly concerned as it happens to everyone, but could be a sign of lack of focus at times.

I'm going to go watch all of his assists now so that I can get back on the hype train.


View: https://youtu.be/W-Bs-t5wvJ4?si=sUPKwQNkIxZr3H5m

I posted the above awhile ago.

 

[SoberasHotRod]

I'm still a big believer in Kas. If he's falling into the 11-15 range, then I would be supremely stoked if we could trade up from 21 to get him.
I'm hoping that we can standpat and get Ace. Ace, Hendricks, and Kessler can cover a lot of ground defensively and really swallow up the rim.

I think Ace is a much better defender than he is given credit for. Yes, he gets disengaged at times, but it's not that frequent and when he is engaged he is very impactful.

 

[SoberasHotRod]

Do I have to believe Kas can become an on ball creator in the NBA to see his value?

Im looking at him vs Kon and I struggle to see where he clearly beats Kon... unless I predict that one can operate as an offensive engine and the other cant.

But I dont think either one can.

I do think that I personally might be a little too bullish on Kas's ability to scale down. There is an adjustment to learning how to move without the ball and to be impactful without the ball and not everybody can do it. That said, Kas is a good shooter, smart, rebounds, passes, plays tough. I think those are all good reasons to think he can play off ball as needed.

 

[framer]

I can kinda see him as a Walmart version of Hayward. Maybe that means he’s Rodney Hood without anxiety issues, but he needs some kind of large immediate jump that will get him on the court. Path to contributing is his so hard if you can’t shoot or defend.

If he could shoot 36% from 3 as a rookie like Hood did, then, yeah, he's the guy. I wouldn't' hold my breath on that though. . .

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

I think Ace is a much better defender than he is given credit for. Yes, he gets disengaged at times, but it's not that frequent and when he is engaged he is very impactful.

I think his defensive upside is the only thing keeping him in the top 5 consensus. If I didnt think he could play defense, he would probably be more in the late teens.

 

[HermanG]

I posted the above awhile ago.

Thanks. Ive been sort of active-passive here lately and diving into guys one by one so I may have seen that but it didnt register.

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

Looks like Essengue got in foul trouble and barely played yesterday. 7 points and 8 rebounds in 15 minutes.