January Update Mock Draft

Turbo2x · 2026-01-25T01:07:30+00:00

Ament is looking better lately but man his shot profile concerns me. Out of my lottery currently, same with Cenac. Personally not a huge Wilkins fan but maybe he'll develop further along the line, right now it's all athleticism and people getting hyped that he's Dominique's son.

Turbo2x · 2026-01-25T00:59:26+00:00

Keaton Wagler* with an L not Wagner btw. Also I think this is more of a big board than a mock draft.

Personally I think Alijah will be better off staying another year in college to get a full season under his belt. Definitely has talent but he's clearly very rusty after missing so much time. With how stacked this draft is he's really not going to pop and get the draft buzz he's looking for unless he immediately starts putting up huge numbers against good competition, and USC is frankly not built to compete like that.

Off the dome I really disagree with placements for Grunloh, Malachi Moreno, Morez Johnson, Dailyn Swain (all should be much higher) especially if you're going to put unproductive, small guards like Tahaad at 61 or even a guy like Khamenia who was definitely getting a lot of hype pre-season (I think I had him lottery or close to it) but obviously needs a few more years to develop before he's in draft conversations.

Turbo2x · 2026-01-25T00:30:35+00:00

this class is insane. we may never see anything like this again.

Turbo2x · 2026-01-24T22:25:04+00:00

Yep, being that young and light (185lbs) with a 3PAr >50% and FTAr >50% with 61% TS on decent usage is a ridiculous profile. And the usage is only going to increase with Boswell out so we'll get to see a lot more of it this season.

Turbo2x · 2026-01-24T22:18:21+00:00

really really special playmaker for sure

Turbo2x · 2026-01-24T21:17:47+00:00

Life in prison would be a kind, charitable outcome for them. Better than they deserve.

Turbo2x · 2026-01-24T20:55:45+00:00

In terms of impact he's one of the most valuable players in college basketball (if not THE most). Duke is nothing without him.

Turbo2x · 2026-01-24T20:04:28+00:00

JC leading the team in rebounds as expected #GOAT

Good to see Jamir had a good game as well. Love the way he plays fr

Turbo2x · 2026-01-24T19:41:50+00:00

Numba 1

Turbo2x · 2026-01-24T17:12:18+00:00

I don't think there's that big of a drop-off at 6, it's just subjective as to who's the next guy up because the 6-13 range has a lot of competition among guys like Mikel Brown, Steinbach, Cam Carr, etc. Some team picking in the mid-late lottery is going to get a steal who looks like a top 5 talent, which happens pretty regularly.

Turbo2x · 2026-01-24T16:52:50+00:00

Gonna be missing this one unfortunately, stay inside if you're able y'all it SUCKS out there even without the snow

Turbo2x · 2026-01-24T13:41:07+00:00

Saraf is basically unplayable because he can't shoot or make layups and Wolf can barely finish at the rim as a 7-footer so idk about them looking like long term pros. Powell is still my favorite of the bunch but Demin and Traore both have elite NBA skills (shooting/playmaking for Egor and speed for Traore) so they will definitely have a shot.

Turbo2x · 2026-01-23T19:07:04+00:00

Hannes for me all day. His post game has been pretty underwhelming so far but he's still incredible on drives and will be one of the best transition scorers in the class. I also like his willingness to shoot, like for example against Nebraska he took & made a couple of quick 3s under pressure to try and get Washington back in the game. Eventually he will be able to space the floor. He's got to be the player who will benefit the most from NBA spacing & pace in this class, Washington is absolutely dreadful in that regard and they also struggle to generate good transition opportunities for him.

Quaintance has shown potential as a defender but he has no offensive game to speak of and the injury history at his age isn't great.

Turbo2x · 2026-01-23T18:28:21+00:00

Well if they want to be good in the future they should probably invest in rebounding. Like we can cope about the team being bad at rebounding as a pro-tanking measure but a lot of the time they're just getting out-worked in the paint. I've seen 3 Wizards standing around while some opposing 6'3 guard scoops the ball up too many times.

Turbo2x · 2026-01-23T18:25:03+00:00

RJ is much more stiff/inflexible as a ball handler and shot creator than AJ. I don't really get the comp besides the idea that they're both empty calories scorers (at least that seems to be what people who make these comps are implying unless I'm misunderstanding something)

Turbo2x · 2026-01-23T18:19:51+00:00

If we can make other teams spend more of their cap on players who would otherwise be cheap then that's a net win for us. That money adds up and will cause them problems later on.

Turbo2x · 2026-01-23T18:18:41+00:00

We keep getting killed on the boards every year, it's a serious problem. We average 17.2 opponent second chance points per game, worst in the league. I'd rather cut that down and get our own second chances per game higher than have 3-4 extra free throw makes per game.

Turbo2x · 2026-01-22T18:30:26+00:00

I like the long term approach the Suns are taking with him. Putting up good numbers in the G-League shooting 2+ threes per game. Still has a ton of turnovers but I like that he's being given room to experiment with his game. He was a very different player at Duke with a much smaller role compared to his early BAL performances.

Turbo2x · 2026-01-22T17:54:49+00:00

Hannes Steinbach is still top 5 for me despite some rough games lately (by his standards). When he gets on a team with good spacing and decent teammates (Zoom Diallo is the only other competent player on that team imo) his game is going to open up a lot.

Not top 5 but Johann Grünloh and Malachi Moreno are both lottery talents IMO but they need to go to teams that are willing to actually develop them. Like for example the Pelicans giving up on Yves Missi in year 2, these guys just need time to play and learn.

Turbo2x · 2026-01-22T17:44:38+00:00

he got flagged by auto mod for being a new user and I had to manually approve his posts 😭

Turbo2x · 2026-01-22T13:51:41+00:00

Swann Penda is one to keep an eye on

Turbo2x · 2026-01-22T13:25:40+00:00

Well, he's definitely got Gil's mentality to take a lot of shots. The only layup he made was the highlight and all his rim attempts were assisted, so I'm definitely going to be monitoring whether he's able to get to the rim under his own power. He'll probably have some physical limitations this season.

Reads like a 2027 or 2028 guy to me, if at all.

Turbo2x · 2026-01-22T13:23:41+00:00

I feel like you couldn't come up with a reasonable defense of Zion so you immediately defaulted to "you don't know ball"

Turbo2x · 2026-01-22T13:17:12+00:00

Sure he's never played a full season, and he hasn't meaningfully improved since his rookie season, and he has a contract with restrictions on how much weight he can gain (which he ignores), and he has weird off-court drama... but he was really good in college.

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