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Following Potential 2025 Draftees

Coach Ellis said:
I like him, but he’s not in my top 5 and the Jazz (mercifully) locked that up.

Flagg, Harper, Bailey, Edgecombe and Johnson. I feel good about any of them ending up with the Jazz, and then more excitement as you move up the list.
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I still think Kas is right there in the 3-6 range for me. I'm going to deep dive on his defense a little bit more because watching him live I had mixed reviews. In my mind he works hard on defense and mostly does a good job, but can't navigate ball screens.

Offensively if you don't believe he can be a primary on ball player, then I can understand not being super high on him. His turnovers are concerning, but again, when I watched him he was trying to make things happen so I'm not as concerned about his turnovers.

He has the upside of a very good offensive hub, but his shooting needs to be good enough where he has to be guarded very closely, so again it comes down to how good of a shooter do you think he can become. For me personally, I think it's much more likely that Kas becomes an elite shooter than Ace becomes an elite passer, VJ because an elite playmaker, or Tre becomes a passable defender.
 
Elizah Huge said:
I agree. He will likely be 6th for me. Problem is the Jazz might not agree with that.

Tony Jones has been hyping up Tre Johnson quite a bit and said he’d be in the mix for 3-5 for the Jazz. I’m not sure if that’s intel he’s getting or if he’s doing that to comfort us in the event we do fall to 5.
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I could see the Jazz having him at 4th, but I don't think they would have him 3rd at all. While I think Tre will definitely be better than Brice, especially with handle and getting to the rim, I think Brice kind of fills that roll. I think they would prefer Edgecomb for more defense and offense potential. Maybe Ace too but I think the Jazz are looking for motor, desire to get better, and the ability to change from being coached up. I don't know if I see that with Ace or if maybe it was just being on a terrible Rutgers team and he had the green light, which made some bad habits stick out. I would not be surprised if Tre or Ace is 4th on their board.
 
After focusing in on VJ, Ace, and Tre....I am opening myself back up to Kas.

I think Tre and VJ are similar level of prospects, but I like VJ's archetype much more. Tre is a great shooter, pretty underwhelming prospect otherwise. The low 2FG% and low FTr is a bad combo to have and leads me to believe he's more of a Buddy Heild type. Outside shot he ascends to a level like Booker or Murrray, but unlikely. VJ is a likely role player, but a type of role player I really like. Guys his size need to be elite skill wise and not necessarily athleticism wise to be stars. I think he can improve, but very unlikely he's an elite skill guy. Think there's an outside shot he's an Oladipo or Holiday type, but as with Tre the more modest outcome is most likely. But I like the fallback of a Suggs/athletic Melton type more.

Ace has like a million red flags, but also has obvious talent. I think it will come down to his mentality, and this is true for both ends of the floor. I think his current skill level does limit him from getting to the Rim and FT line, but it's his brain limiting him the most. He loves the mid range pullups, and while he makes them at a great rate it's still very inefficient. I don't know how much more I will look into Ace because I'm like 95% sure he would be the pick at #3 anyways.....So if if we land, 1-3 the pick is already decided.
 
SoberasHotRod said:
I still think Kas is right there in the 3-6 range for me. I'm going to deep dive on his defense a little bit more because watching him live I had mixed reviews. In my mind he works hard on defense and mostly does a good job, but can't navigate ball screens.

Offensively if you don't believe he can be a primary on ball player, then I can understand not being super high on him. His turnovers are concerning, but again, when I watched him he was trying to make things happen so I'm not as concerned about his turnovers.

He has the upside of a very good offensive hub, but his shooting needs to be good enough where he has to be guarded very closely, so again it comes down to how good of a shooter do you think he can become. For me personally, I think it's much more likely that Kas becomes an elite shooter than Ace becomes an elite passer, VJ because an elite playmaker, or Tre becomes a passable defender.
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I liked Kas more at the beginning, but soured on him later in the season. I think I would prefer Kon at 6th and CMB at 7. Then Kas at 8. I would be interested in Elizah's amazing stats for Kas as the season went on and during conference play and tournaments.
 
Coach Ellis said:
Someone sold me on starting at 5, and then working your way up the list as the lottery unfolds.

Tre Johnson - Pretty damn happy.
VJ Edgecombe - Pretty damn happy.
Ace Bailey - Damn near ecstatic.
Dylan Harper - Ecstatic and elated.
Cooper Flagg - Over the effing moon.

The Jazz need talent, and these are all talented kids. I just hope the coaching staff is ready to help fine tune them once they get here.
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I haven't narrowed it down to 5 yet, so here is my likely emotions to each of these 6 players:
Ace Bailey - Very excited about his shot making and potential on defense and hopeful he naturally matures as he gets older
Tre Johnson - Very concerned about his defense, but excited about his potential as a guy that can carry a huge offensive load.
VJ Edgecombe - Very comfortable with his floor as a good NBA player and extremely excited about his defense, hopeful he is better on ball than he showed at Baylor.
Kasparas Jakucionis - Very excited about his potential as an offensive hub and play making for a team that desperately needs it. Concerned about his defense. Worried about his potential as a bust.
Dylan Harper - I'm definitely excited enough to tell my wife all about it and start to figure out how the rest of our lineup will work with him.
Cooper Flagg - I immediately start looking at how we are going to build around him long term.
 
SoberasHotRod said:
I still think Kas is right there in the 3-6 range for me.
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He has never dropped below 6 for me. The difficulty of his shots are kinda off the charts and he is good at them. Terrific passer and vision. Makes bad mistakes because he takes risks and that is frankly not much of a negative to me given his role and the things he does well (in some ways it’s a good thing). I also think it says a lot about how robust his game is that he’s excelled in Europe and college (despite kinda falling apart down the stretch, which still seems like the exception that proves the rule to me). This is a big reason why I was not bothered by drafting as low as 6th

I’m sure defense will not be a strength.

I can see him being available later than 6, I would for sure trade up for him using the Minnesota pick and Keyonte if such a thing were possible.
 
Even though we're months away from the draft, I'd say it's more likely we take Ace at #2 than we pass on him at #3. His greatest draft hits were Tatum and Brown. Still think he takes Harper at #2, but he famously called his shot with Tatum over Fultz and Ball who were the clear #1 and #2 in that draft.

Ace is definitely DA's type of prospect at the top of the draft.
 
KqWIN said:
Even though we're months away from the draft, I'd say it's more likely we take Ace at #2 than we pass on him at #3. His greatest draft hits were Tatum and Brown. Still think he takes Harper at #2, but he famously called his shot with Tatum over Fultz and Ball who were the clear #1 and #2 in that draft.

Ace is definitely DA's type of prospect at the top of the draft.
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That was a weird draft. I never thought of Fultz and Ball as better than Tatum in that draft
 
Elizah Huge said:
I would agree. Made me reconsider my thoughts on him. I will be moving him up on my next big board.

His step-back three percentage is very good all things considered. That is a hard shot and a very nice skill/trait to have.

He shot 41% from 3 in his first 19 games. I think that is much more accurate than what he ended up at. The difficultly of his shots and threes are a lot higher than other prospects. Not a ton off of screens or a ton of wide open ones.
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Glad to see you’re looking at Kas here. I’m considering him for the 3-5 spots.
 
Elizah Huge said:
I agree. He will likely be 6th for me. Problem is the Jazz might not agree with that.

Tony Jones has been hyping up Tre Johnson quite a bit and said he’d be in the mix for 3-5 for the Jazz. I’m not sure if that’s intel he’s getting or if he’s doing that to comfort us in the event we do fall to 5.
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I like Tre
 
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