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Whoa.
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I just found out you can earn up to 3% daily cash back on everyday purchases made with Apple Card.
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Yeah, you can earn unlimited daily cash back with Apple Card on every purchase. No matter where you check out with Apple Pay, you always get daily Cash.
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Host
What's better is that daily cash can automatically grow when you open a high yield savings account through Apple card.
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That's like endless plus one.
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Visit Apple Co CardCalculator today and discover just how much daily cash you can earn. Subject to credit approval Savings available to Apple Card owners subject to eligibility Savings and Apple Card by Goldman Sachs Bank USA Member FDIC terms and more at.
- [00:46]
BetterHelp Ad
Applecard.Com BetterHelp Online Therapy bought this 30 second ad to remind you right now, wherever you are, to unclench your jaw, relax your shoulders, take a deep breath in and out. Feels better, right? That's 15 seconds of self care. Imagine what you could do with more visit betterhelp.com randompodcast for 10% off your first month of therapy. No pressure, just help. But for now, just relax.
- [01:31]
Heather
Heather is a nurse practitioner from UnitedHealthcare.
- [01:33]
Nurse
We meet patients wherever they live.
- [01:36]
Heather
During a house call, she found Jack had an issue.
- [01:38]
Nurse
Jack's blood pressure was dangerously high.
- [01:41]
Host
It was 217 over 110.
- [01:44]
Heather
So they got Jack to the hospital and got him the help he needed.
- [01:48]
Nurse
He had had a stent placed in his heart preventing a massive heart attack.
- [01:51]
Derek Parker
If it wasn't for my guardian angel, I wouldn't be here.
- [01:54]
Heather
Hear More stories like Jack's at u9healthcare.com Benefits, features and or devices vary by plan, area limitation and exclusions apply.
- [02:10]
Host
Good morning everyone. Welcome to the Athletic NBA Daily for June 24, 2025. It is parade day in Oklahoma City, but it is also one day before the NBA draft. I've got Derek Parker here from Sports Illustrated breaking down everything NBA Draf related. Let's get into it. Good morning everybody. Good morning, Derek. What a what a couple of months it's been for you to cover this. Actually an entire season covering this Oklahoma City Thunder run to a championship. I I've seen a lot of conversations about how kind of muted the celebration was from them. You know, they didn't necessarily pop champagne crazy like that. And it seemed like most of them were very humble to be there. And that's sort of the mannerisms of SGA and Mark Dagna and the whole crew with Sam Presti and whatnot. But it, it was an awesome, awesome season. Historic in basically every single way. And you got a chance to cover it, man, for Oklahoma City. So your thoughts on this championship run for the Thunder?
- [03:21]
Derek Parker
Yeah, like you said, probably the longest season of my life. I think the time from the start of the finals to the end of the finals was. I think it was like three years. Three or four years. Somewhere in there, I grew as a man. I grew as person. You grew a beard?
- [03:33]
Host
No, I'm just.
- [03:34]
Derek Parker
Yeah, yeah, I got this. This got like an inch longer throughout it. But no, man, it was so fun. I mean, this is like the dream as a reporter, as a writer. Like, yes, this is all you can hope for as a basketball fan in general. And obviously the games were phenomenal. Just everything about it was so fun. Like you said, the celebration. I obviously there was no celebratory for me. I went home, I started cutting up mid major film immediately. We got the draft in two days. No, but it was a great time, dude.
- [03:59]
Host
Yeah, man. And. And that's actually the weirdest part about this because we. Everybody on the NBA calendar is like, okay, great celebration parade and now NBA draft. Let's. Let's lock into it. And you, my friend, do some incredible work when it comes to the NBA draft. I highly suggest anybody to go and check out YouTube. Derek Parker, you've been sort of my litmus test. So if I'll go, I'll go on like synergy or whatever and watch some of these tapes from some of these players that I really like, and I will come to YouTube, go to your YouTube channel and be like, all right, so did I miss something here with one of these players? You do an incredible job. So just a little plug there.
- [04:36]
Derek Parker
Thank you.
- [04:36]
Host
Before we get into it. Okay, Wanted to break this down in a couple different ways. I feel like there is three burning questions heading into this NBA draft. We'll talk about those and then we'll maybe talk about a couple of prospects that we like. First, burning question for me post Kevin Durant trade, and I know it's something that you covered in your latest video, is what the Phoenix Suns will be doing with the 10th pick. They obviously now, you know, bought into the draft lottery. They lack a lot of things, truthfully. You can make an argument for them addressing a lot of just basically any area other than wing, because they now have Dylan Brooks and Devin Booker and Jalen Green and even Royce o' Neill and Jared and Grayson Allen. They have a lot. Right. What do you think the Phoenix Suns do with the tent pick?
- [05:24]
Derek Parker
I don't know what they do. Obviously, like the draft is a crapshoot teams various like different things on a case to case basis. But what they should do is draft the best player available because as you touched on, they just don't have much. They've got five shooting guards that they could roll out at various points. But other than that, I don't know that I really see any player on this roster necessarily being there for the long haul. I mean, obviously Devin Booker is your franchise guy. Outside of that and maybe even throwing Devin Booker in there, do we necessarily think any of these pieces are going to be in this thing for the long haul? I don't. So when you get to that 10th pick, and I think there will be really good players at that 10th pick, I take the best player on my board be that point guard, maybe even shooting guard. I mean if there's the shooting guard there that they really, really like, maybe Devin Booker could offer some tutelage for the next few years before they really roll him out in an opportunistic capacity. But I think you swing for the the biggest star upside pick available. And I think like I said, there will be some guys there at that spot that they can swing on.
- [06:24]
Host
Okay, so let's talk about some names because I'm very curious, you know, most people and, and by the way, to your point about picking the best player available when you're in the lottery, when you're in this situation, yes, usually you got to pick the best player available. But I wonder if Phoenix takes that approach just because there is this kind of, I guess, pressure from ownership and Matt Ishbia to be a good team next season or at least formidable in the Western Conference. I think the reason they acquired Jalen Green and Dillon Brooks in part was to be like, hey, let's try to field a competitive roster regardless of where we are. It's not like they have their pick capital to be able to tank in any meaningful way. So I do see them maybe addressing their center spot and picking a big if there was a big in that category in that range at 10, who do you think would make sense for the Suns? Or if, or, or if you're like, no, I disagree, it should be someone else. I'm open to that as well.
- [07:19]
Derek Parker
No, I do agree. Like I said, I think it should be best player available. Now the good news for the Suns is the best player available probably is a big or someone that isn't a shooting guard. So I think the obvious one is Derek Queen. He's a guy who I haven't necessarily been as high on just the way that the lottery shook out, I think he's a bit of a weird fit for the previous lottery teams. But for Phoenix, who like we're talking about has such a blank slate roster now where you can kind of throw someone in, let them develop, let them get some real on ball reps maybe. I think Derek Queen's a great fit given that he's more of a skill and feel based big. You know, he's got interior scoring. He should have the footwork to score on bigger guys. He should have the speed and the bully ball to score on smaller wings. So he's a player that I think Phoenix could gamble on. Now obviously defensively there's probably some qualms there with the current roster and and Queen adding him there, but they're not a team that's going to go out and play killer defense next year anyway. So I like swinging for the stars with Derek Queen. I think that's a great fit.
- [08:19]
Host
Yeah, high upside guy that we're going to talk about Queen a little bit more here. I agree. But yeah, a big makes sense. I know they would probably also in this range there feels like there's a lot of bigs that can go. Come on Mali, watch. Maybe doesn't make it to 10, but there's there Thomas Sorber, Asa Newell, there's just a lot of options there for the Phoenix Suns to to potentially pick a big man of the future. Okay, let's go a little bit closer to the top of the draft and the Philadelphia 76ers. It's pretty obvious that Cooper Flag is going number one to the Mavericks. Number two is the spurs with Dylan Harper. Barring some sort of change of fate or change of decisions when it comes to them picking at number two, what do you think the Philadelphia 76ers are going to do? And this is part of a tie in question to the whole Ace Bailey conversation because he was the presumptive third pick. But now it seems like it's much more open between BJ Edgecomb, between maybe Trey Johnson or Con Canipple. What do you think the Sixers should do in this situation?
- [09:20]
Derek Parker
I think they definitely could just hang in there and take a guy at three, be it Edgecombe, Trey Johnson, Knipple. I think that's probably the tier list right now. Obviously Ace Bailey in there as well, despite all of the things surrounding him, which we'll get into. But I don't think that the Philadelphia 76ers would necessarily be wrong to maybe trade back, grab some assets and still get one of Those guys, I mean that, that tier is lengthy. I think each of those guys could help the Sixers roster in various capacity. Especially a guy like Trey Johnson, who one of the best off ball scorers in this entire class. The Sixers already have this roster that in theory should be really good next year. You could plug Trey Johnson in and he could just light it up from beyond the arc. But I think he was somewhere in the range of 40% three point shooting on like seven attempts per game. Extremely versatile in terms of he can spot up, he can do it in transition, he can do the one to two dribble, pull up counters. He's phenomenal. So if other teams really, really value say Ace Bailey or An Edgecomb at 3, I think Philadelphia could stand to trade down, maybe grab one win now asset, even a future pick to add to their cash to make a trade later and go and get a different guy a few spots back.
- [10:27]
Host
Yeah, that seems like the right decision, especially because as you mentioned there's like three or four guys that I could really sell myself on for the third pick here between Edgecombe, obviously the two way ability there pops immediately seems like a Darren Mori guy from the perspective of like can do it all would work extremely well off of the ball in transition. As a guy who can like attack closeouts for the most part the handle needs to come and finishing at the basket is something that he needs to improve at generally. But I think for the most part my obsession with the Sixers is Tre Johnson. Like I love that fit because of how great he is off ball, how much of a like he, he takes so many NBA ready shots, you know, coming off of pin downs or just being like flaring out into certain actions and being open right to be able to create space for himself without the ball. That is a massive, massive area where the Sixers can improve on. Just because you already have Tyrese Maxey, you have Jared McCain, you have Paul Georgian, Embiid who are going to command the ball and command the usage. Having someone who can fly around and do different things for you makes a lot of sense. But that's also the sell for Con Knipple, you know, because Knipple is a guy who pretty much connects a lot of actions together, knock down shooter in his own right. And so that's, that's sort of the, the issue with the Sixers at this point. It's this like excess of choice. They have an abundance of options here. Which way they end up going is the. Basically it starts the entire draft okay, Ace Bailey, the Conversation around Ace Bailey. I tend to think generally once we get to this point of the draft cycle, and you can correct me if I'm wrong, we tend to start overthinking prospects because we've seen so much of them and now it's like, let's nitpick whatever we can. Ace Bailey hasn't done himself any favors, for what it's worth, or his representation hasn't done him any favors because of the lack of workouts because, you know, he canceled his workout with the Philadelphia 76ers. There seems to be an angling there for him to go to one specific place or maybe a couple of different spots. What do you read into the Ace Bailey situation that's been happening over the last couple of weeks and I guess the type of player that he is and what you project him to be in the NBA?
- [12:41]
Derek Parker
Yeah, like you said, he hasn't done himself any favors despite him being a really good prospect. You know, I myself haven't necessarily been high on Ace to the cycle. I haven't been shy about that. But it's not really tied to the way the process has gone for him. It's really been more about his game, more that I see him as kind of an ancillary piece opposed to star upside. I just don't know that I see the handle coming around enough. The decision making, the feel. You know, we talked about the Finals earlier. It really reinforces just how good of a decision maker you have to be. You know, Benedict Matheran, we watched him, he's so athletic, he can score, he can fill it up. But there were times even in game seven where the decision making just wasn't there. It wasn't good enough to kind of parlay that into positive impact. I think he finished as like a one of the team lows in plus minus for the single game. So I feel similarly about Ace Bailey in that he can really, really wow you both on and off ball. But I just don't know that the processing is good enough for him to like command the rock. Now. I think he'll be a good player off the ball. I think he'll be able to fill it up in a spot up shooting capacity. He'll be able to get out and transition. Super athletic, multi tool, multi positional defender. He has the goods and I understand the upside at three, but I just don't know that I value him over some of these guys that I think could really, really command the rock, do things well with the ball. That being said, again, like you said, has done himself no favors in this process. Yeah, I just saw a report today that he's not working out for the Jazz, which they're at number five. This is a team that could theoretically desire Ace Bailey. So it seems like there is a team or multiple teams that could be angling to get him. It seems like his representation could be angling to try to get him there. I don't know necessarily who that is. If it's the Pelicans, I don't know that I necessarily see them as a trade up candidate. Maybe they're hoping he falls. Brooklyn's obviously a favorite there given that he played at Rutgers, wouldn't have to move all these things. So highly, highly unique situation and one that everybody's keeping an eye on because it's basically going to decide how the top of this draft goes.
- [14:40]
Host
Yeah, it's fascinating. It really is fascinating. And I think the conversation around like what he wants for himself coming out of the gate as a high usage guy or a guy who takes a boatload of touches and opportunities and you kind of runs with it. I'm not sure that's the best way for him to thrive because, and this is, this is a point that Sam Vicini has brought up and I want to echo this point because I think it was really, really poignant. Wings who come into the league and eventually become stars or all stars typically don't immediately jump into a star role. You know, you think of like Paul George, you think of Jimmy Butler, you think of basically any wing that you have over the last little bit here. They started out as ancillary players, as role guys filling a role as a three and D guy and eventually progressed into that. You know, Kawhi Leonard is a very, very famous ex. Example of that. But you grow into that. You don't immediately jump in and become that guy from the wings. I think that's probably what's going to happen at Ace Bailey. It will take some time for him to figure out what kind of player he wants to be and maybe that ends up just being a good 3 and D player. But that requires a level of buy in from him, role wise to want to do that. You mentioned Brooklyn, you mentioned Washington. I like the Utah idea. Just as a swing high type of situation. I will say I'm not sure how much workouts really determine if teams will even end up drafting him. If you like them, you're probably just going to end up drafting him and deal with the consequences later. In, in a sense, where do you. I guess this is the prediction part of things. Where do you think Ace Bailey will go?
- [16:21]
Derek Parker
I do think he'll end up sliding a little bit. I. I've just felt that in my bones for a long time. I would expect him to probably be there on the board for the Pelicans at 7 or Brooklyn at 8 and I would not expect him to make it further than that. So, yeah, that's my prediction. I don't know if it'll happen, but we'll see.
- [16:36]
Host
Okay. We will see. So those were the burning questions. When we come back, we'll talk about a couple of prospects that we like and a couple prospects that we have questions about.
- [16:49]
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This message is brought to you by Apple Card.
- [16:52]
Host
Whoa.
- [16:53]
Apple Card Ad
I just found out you can earn up to 3% daily cash back on everyday purchases made with Apple Card.
- [16:59]
Host
Yeah, you can earn unlimited daily cash back with Apple Card on every purchase. No matter where you check out with Apple Pay, you always get daily cash.
- [17:08]
Apple Card Ad
The possibilities are endless.
- [17:11]
Host
What's better is that daily cash can automatically grow when you open a high yield savings account through Apple Card.
- [17:18]
Apple Card Ad
That's like endless plus one.
- [17:21]
Visit Apple Co cardcalculator today and discover just how much you daily cash you can earn. Subject to credit approval, Savings available to Apple Card owners subject to eligibility savings and Apple Card by Goldman Sachs Bank USA Member FDIC terms and more@applecard.com.
- [17:40]
Heather
Heather is a nurse practitioner from UnitedHealthcare.
- [17:43]
Nurse
We meet patients wherever they live.
- [17:46]
Heather
During a house call, she found Jack had an issue.
- [17:48]
Nurse
Jack's blood pressure was dangerously high.
- [17:51]
Host
It was 217 over 110.
- [17:54]
Heather
So they got Jack to the hospital and got him the help he needed.
- [17:57]
Nurse
He had had a stent placed in his heart preventing a massive heart attack.
- [18:01]
Derek Parker
If it wasn't for my guardian angel, I wouldn't be here.
- [18:04]
Heather
Hear more stories like Jack's at unitedhealthcare.com benefits, features and or devices vary by plan, area limitation and exclusions apply.
- [18:11]
BetterHelp Ad
BetterHelp Online Therapy bought this 30 second ad to remind you right now, wherever you are, to unclench your jaw, relax your shoulders, take a deep breath in and out. Feels better, right? That's 15 seconds of self care. Imagine what you could do with more. Visit betterhelp.com randompodcast for 10% off your first month of therapy. No pressure, just help. But for now, just relax.
- [19:05]
Host
Okay? So I asked you to do a little bit of homework. Derek, you've been doing your own homework though basically all draft cycle again. Go to his YouTube page if you guys get a chance to. Very, very good stuff there. Breaking down basically every prospect there is to have. You know, you got the heat check thing, which is very, very cool. Very appreciative on my side of things. Okay. Since you are the guest, I will allow you to go first who is a prospect that you absolutely love.
- [19:35]
Derek Parker
Yeah. You touched on homework.
- [19:37]
Host
That can't be Cooper Flag. By the way. Just want to put the.
- [19:40]
Derek Parker
We all told someone yesterday, Cooper Flag feels like the guy who has like all the instruments attached. He can play all of them. Like he's got the harmonica. He's like stomping his feet and the cymbals clapping and he's holding a guitar. Like he can do everything. You can't pick him as your your go to guy. He's everybody's guy.
- [19:55]
Host
Yeah.
- [19:56]
Derek Parker
You said homework. That's what the draft like feels like all the time. Like you're just doing homework. You're reading numbers and watching film and it. That's a great example. We've touched on a couple of my guys, Con Kno and Trey Johnson. Those are a few. I'll go a little bit deeper a do thorough Arkansas forward.
- [20:13]
Host
Ooh. I like him.
- [20:14]
Derek Parker
Probably for my money, the most athletic player in this draft. Not just in terms of like run and jump ability, but very physical, very connected movement style coordinated. Can overpower you with that physicality. Just plays with like a power that a lot of wings really don't a lot of the time. Obviously there's questions about his shooting. The shooting's not good. It's not going to be there. But to me, he offers an athletic wing that you could plug in day one that can do things like get out and transition. Thrive from the dunker spot, maybe spot up, dribble drive, straight line. Very, very positional, multi positional and versatile defender that can stand to get better in that area, which I think is a scary prospect for the league. And then if the shooting comes around for a guy like this, as we've seen, he could be a star. I mean, legitimately. Hiding in plain sight. He can do everything but shoot. I really believe he's not a finished product. Even though he's a junior. He's a guy that I think could offer really, really tantalizing upside anywhere from post lottery to end of the first round.
- [21:14]
Host
Do you have like a favorite team for him to land with?
- [21:18]
Derek Parker
Hmm, I don't. That's like the. The thing with these guys is you can plug a wing like this in anywhere. I mean, every single team could stand to add a boon of athleticism.
- [21:28]
Host
He just, he kind of reminds me I mean, this is not a one for one comp. People have made this comparison before, but like the Thompson twins a little bit. And, and that's such a. They're in high demand because of how ridiculous they are as athletes. But that, to your point, is a credit to how great of an athlete he is, right?
- [21:45]
Derek Parker
Yeah, 100%. And I think the Thompson twins also, the reason that they went so highly is they just have that feel for the game that a lot of prospects don't. I wouldn't say a do theore necessarily fits that bill, but in terms of like role player traits, like, he's a good ball mover. Again, very good defensively. I think he'll be good defensively within a team scheme. So while he may not have the upside that the Thompson twins do, he's got good enough feel. He's kind of an unselfish passer. So I like him in a variety of roles for NBA teams.
- [22:16]
Host
Yeah, no, that's good. Okay. I like a Duthier. I'm very curious to see where he lands because he's also like a second round prospect I'm looking at for the Raptors. At 39. I admittedly I'm looking at a lot of these things through the Raptors lens because very interesting draft for them. Given where the draft has inflection points, it feels like at nine, they are one of the inflection points. You know, from three to eight is one tier and then nine kind of splits off and it's. It's its own tier based on all the mock drafts that we're seeing and whatnot. One guy that I have again from, from that lens, I am really intrigued by Thomas Sorber from Georgetown. Just a massive big. Like he's 6, 9, but he plays bigger than that because of his length and I love how vertical he can stay on defense. I love the way he uses his hands, the defensive activity generally in pick and roll, being able to split the difference in pick and rolls is awesome. From what I've seen, very handsy guy, but in a way that is like, it's enhances what he does on the defensive end and it doesn't deter what he does. As a guy who might foul too often has shown potential, in my opinion, from what I've seen, he did get hurt. But that's one aspect of this that I'm very curious about. And like, I believe it was a lower leg injury too. So with Bigs, it's. You're always kind of wondering if that's going to be an issue. Lingering, moving forward, but can make plays with the ball pretty good. Feel good passer, can finish in and around the basket. Has shown a mid range ability a little bit. You hope he can eventually maybe stretch that into a three point shot, but we'll see what happens. Thomas Orber guy that I like. What are your thoughts on Mr. Sorber?
- [23:53]
Derek Parker
Yeah, I'm a huge fan of Thomas Forber. Like you, I think the 69 thing is a little overblown. I mean, 7 foot 6 wingspan. Does it matter if you're 69 if your wingspan is longer than everybody else's in the league? Yeah, I don't think so. To your point. He's got kind of glacial feet. I would say is like the main downside with Thomas Werber. Right. But every single other thing is good. I mean, obviously he suffered the foot injury, played only 26 games at Georgetown, but decent score, has a little bit of workability in that mid range. I think as a rim runner, the athleticism holds him back just a little bit, but the length kind of makes up for that. Defensively racked up steals and blocks all over the place. Can do it a little bit in space. Probably projects to play a little bit more drop. But Thomas Wilbur is a guy who we could be looking back in four to five years and be like, how was he not the top big option? Like, he just developed exactly as he should have. He was so good at these things already. He's a guy that I think really could be hiding in plain sight.
- [24:50]
Host
There's honestly so many bigs from, you know, after. Come on. Malawatch, who I think you could convince me goes as high as 4 or 3 on. Honestly, with Philly, that wasn't. That was another option we didn't really talk about. But maybe he's a backup big to Embiid. After Malawatch, there's sort of this sea of big men, you know, from 9 onwards to basically 20. And Sorber is one of those guys and it's just basically beauty is in the eye of the beholder at that point of what you like more, what your team might need a little bit more of athletically or, you know, vertically, whatever you want to call it. Sorber fits the build of like, you can kind of put him in anywhere. I, I think he would be great in okc, you know, as a guy who would make a lot of sense for them. Okay. One player you might have questions about, and I don't want to say hate. Hate is crazy. This is a young man who's trying to get into the NBA. One question or one player you have questions about?
- [25:45]
Derek Parker
Yeah, I've got a few if that's okay. I've got two. Yes.
- [25:48]
Host
Yeah, yeah. Throw them my way.
- [25:49]
Derek Parker
We touched on Derek Queen already. He is a player that while he is exceptionally fun, while I do think he would be good for the Suns, as we talked about, I just question this archetype in general. You know, he's very much from the same mold as like Alperin, Shengun, Demonte Sabonis. Obviously Nicola Jokic is like the one of one 99th percentile outcome. Again skill and feel based athletically a little bit behind where I think he probably should be size wise. Doesn't have like the length of like a Johan Baron J or Come on Malawatch as you touched on. So I think I'm just skeptical of this archetype. You know, it's tough to from like a team building perspective build around these guys. I think Derek Queen is probably best served as a 4 in the NBA. That means you probably need to have a shot blocking three point shooting five, which as we know, I mean there's like four of those on planet Earth. Like there's like Chet Holmgren, Wimby, Evan Mobley, end of list. So yeah, yeah, he's just from a team building perspective, it's very tough. He will require the basketball. Like if you're not feeding him the basketball, what is he doing? Can't really stretch the floor even in like a spot up capacity right now. Not like a great, great mover in space like cutting wise and things like that. So I just have questions about his general archetype. Maybe he figures it out. Maybe he's athletically better than we think. Maybe defensively he's better than we think. I think a lot of the issues with these bigs pop up there. Like De Monte Sabonis is not necessarily a rim protector. We've seen that pop up in King's playoff series throughout the long haul. Even with Sengun. I think they somewhat figured it out with the double big Stephen Adams lineup. But he's not necessarily a prolific defender where he's gathering up steals and blocks or even just stopping at the point of attack. So. And then the other prospect I have is Jaeger Demin.
- [27:32]
Host
Okay.
- [27:32]
Derek Parker
I like Demon a lot. Six, nine, jumbo guard. To my eye, the best passer in this class.
- [27:38]
Host
Wow. Really?
- [27:39]
Derek Parker
Yes. Yeah, I mean he is so legit.
- [27:42]
Host
Wait, so. So a better passer than Cooper or Jacques Shonas or. I mean, yeah, I guess the Dylan Harper. Dylan Harper didn't show it off as much in Rutgers, but I feel like he has some passing.
- [27:55]
Nurse
Wow.
- [27:56]
Host
So Igor Demin, best passer in the class? Okay, I would say so.
- [28:01]
Derek Parker
Well, I think first off, like the highlight reel of passing that he can pull off, just like the general difficulty of which he created.
- [28:09]
Host
His size helps too.
- [28:10]
Derek Parker
Of course, like people talk about advantage creation. Like, I think one of the primary reasons the Thunder came away with the title is because they went out and got advantage creator. Now that doesn't necessarily just mean you're fast and you can blow by people. That could mean you're taller and you can see over the defense and you can create angles and things like this. So I think with his 69 size, he can create advantages without necessarily being quicker, bigger, faster, stronger than people. So I think he's the best passer in this class. And then scoring wise, those are the questions, like, what does he do scoring wise?
- [28:44]
Host
Like, that's my biggest question with him.
- [28:46]
Derek Parker
Can he get downhill? Can he finish once he does get downhill, can he work in the mid ra? Is his three point shot going to come around? All of that seems somewhat projectable, but not enough to like really gamble on him in the top five, obviously. So he's a player that I almost like have questions about in a positive light. Because if these things do come around, what are we looking at? I mean like, Josh Giddy's the obvious comp that people go to. He projects to play better defense and shoot better than Josh Giddy. Now he's not the scorer that he is and he's maybe not quite the high end passer, but, but a Josh Giddy that could defend better and shoot the ball better. That's a dang good player.
- [29:22]
Host
So the shooting is a big, big, big swing with him. Right. And I'm just pulling up his shooting stats right now. He shot 27% from three at BYU. So it's not like there is this. But for what it's worth, there are reports that like he's shooting the lights out in these workouts and he's doing really well in that department. And so maybe there's more that meets the, that meets the eye because like that's possible that he can develop as a three point shooter. To me, with Jaeger, my question is like the physicality and how he develops as a passer when it comes to that physicality. Because like if you're dealing with traps, we just again, we saw how crazy ball pressure is in this OKC and Pacers finals. I struggle sometimes to see him deal with that ball Pressure when he's outmatched physically, can he create advantages for himself and others? That's a question that I have honestly for him and Yakosonis, although I think Yakosonas. The where I would maybe disagree is that like, I actually see some of that creativity more from Jaku than I do with them. And. But hey, you are the master in this regard, so I'm here with you. I will say Queen, who you just brought up, is maybe my favorite big in the draft. And that's because I think. I think generally I love that archetype. I have a sore spot or like a very, very. They're my favorite type of players. Undersized.
- [30:47]
Derek Parker
They're so fun.
- [30:47]
Host
Like, it's not like, oh my God, they're fun. Yeah.
- [30:50]
Derek Parker
Impact wise, it's iffy. But like from a just basketball watching perspective, watching the players I touched on Sengun, Jokic and Sabonis, very like elite ball watching.
- [30:59]
Host
It's worth also noting that like, there's a pretty big difference between the size of Jokic and the size of Sengun and Sabonis. Sabonis is like a solid 610, very strong, so compensates for his lack of size. Right. Sengun is also like wide, so it allows him to compensate a little bit for his lack of size. But Jokic is wide and tall and so he can oversee a lot of things. Obviously became a very good shooter as well, which adds a wrinkle to this. With Queen, my thing is like he feels a little bit more mobile than what Sengun can do and what Sabonis can do, especially as a ball handler. Yes. Both of those guys can put the ball down on the floor. But. But to me, that's what pops. You see these highlight reels of him acting sort of like a 69 guard, which is exciting, especially again from a Raptors perspective because the Raptors do love to run tons of like high post actions for Jakob Hurdle. They did it for Kelly Olenek. They do it for Scotty Barnes. Queen, in my opinion, putting the ball in his hands would be sort of a compliment to what the Raptors can already do. But that's, that's why I love Queen. I'll give you the guy that I have questions about and I'm very fascinated to see what you think of this guy, Noah Ascenge. Okay. He's still playing, I believe. Or maybe his season is done. I can't remember exactly what it was, but he's still busy at this point. Okay. Noah Sangay is like this. Do it all Guy who is playing in the German league, 6 foot 10 from what is reported, kind of can do a little bit of everything, crashes the glass, gets out in transition. Very intriguing mover. Like if you watch him, you're like, wow, this is different than anything I've ever seen before. But I also just have questions of like, how is that going to translate? Is the German league really like the best league to, to kind of parse through stats and information for is it worth looking at and comparing to maybe other guys that have come from that? I don't know. I'm not sure. But I'm, I'm intrigued more than anything. I'm also curious about what, what the hype is around Noah Sangay, if that makes sense.
- [33:08]
Derek Parker
Yeah, he's a player who basically plays like a wing, has the size of a forward and like the standing reach of a center. So like in terms of like tools, he has everything. Like that's, that's where most of like the high end upside that people want is coming from. Like if he can put things together, he will be a star. Now can he put things together is always the question with these guys. Like is he going to be able to shoot? Hasn't proven to do that yet. Is he going to be able to put the ball on the floor and like a long term capacity is going to, Is he going to be able to pass? These are questions that people have. Honestly, I landed higher on him than I thought I would. Just based off my film Deep Dive.
- [33:45]
Host
Cool.
- [33:46]
Derek Parker
We've seen these, these French kind of wing forward prospects before, you know, with to John Salon, Usman Jang. Like they're always very high upside, very enticing to look at. They always go very highly just based off like what they can be.
- [33:59]
Host
They don't always hit too, I will.
- [34:01]
Derek Parker
Say, certainly not actually on the contrary, most don't like, I mean if we're looking at them. So. But the thing with that caught my eye with the singe. He has a little bit more feel for the game I think than those two did. Now Zhang was like a great processor. I still believe in Usman Jing by the way. Just want to throw that out there a single. You just don't see these like 6, 9, 610 forwards out in the open floor with the unselfishness and like the, the optionality that he has. Like typically these guys, and this was especially the case with Salon, when they get the ball on the open floor, it is either like a ravaging dunk or a turnover. Like there's like no in between a single got fluidity like he can pass out, he can slow down, he, he can get up, dunk the ball obviously. I mean he's massive. But he's also just got options which I like. He's just a very fluid player like you touched on. His movement style is great. I really like it. Hips might be a little bit high, but overall tantalizing prospect that I think is going to gamble on the high.
- [35:02]
Host
Hips and this is not a direct comp. Do not quote me on this. The high hips remind me of Delano Ban. The way that he moves a little bit reminds me of Delano Benson. Again, I'm not saying he's going to turn into Delano Benton. That is not what I'm saying. But just the, the movement type feels Delano Bantany to me. Either way, very intriguing prospect. We could keep going for an hour, Derek. We honestly could. But we have to go unfortunately and the draft is very near. The parade is also happening I imagine as you are listening to this. Derek Parker, thank you very much for hopping on with us. Hop on to his YouTube channel and check out all the stuff that you have going on for the NBA draft. Derek, appreciate you very much for coming on the show, man. Thank you very much. Thank you to everybody else for listening to the athletic NBA Daily. Go ahead and subscribe and do those things you guys usually do on the YouTube and we will see you guys later. Take care.
- [36:22]
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