NBA Draft June 25, 2025 8 PM EST With The 55th Pick

I'm sensing our activity on the workouts means we are targeting getting a couple picks for this draft in the mid-round section. Take advantage of some teams that don't have roster spots or are willing to let go of a pick.
We may also be looking at "pulling an AR" and convince guys not drafted in the first round to sign us straight instead of committing to the 2nd round

With Luka's window starting now and how cost-controlled picks can be, I think we will invest heavily in the next couple years in getting 2 or 3 rotation players long term through mid-round/undrafted picks. Goes well also with the "development program" narrative that JJ and Rob sold so much last summer. I like this approach

 

interesting. like the touch with either hand in the paint and the shot looks slow but solid. the passing was ok (a couple nice high post stationary reads), but on one highlight he misses a wide open teammate while he's driving. in the nba--and playing with a guy like luka--your screener needs to be able to make those kinds of plays off one dribble.

btw, reading something in yet another depressing caruso article the other day made me triple down on my interest in finding good screeners, either in the draft or FA. apparently, this is very hard to teach (shouldn't be, but is, based on the paucity of such players). find them and employ them!

 

@pika1708 Looks like we've got a workout scheduled with Norchad Omier from Baylor. I think this guy should be a prime target in the second round, though I haven't seen him mocked. He's a super senior but played with Edgecombe who's probably going #4 this year. 6'7" 230lbs and looks like he was chiseled out of granite. Lob threat and rim protection. He kind of reminds me of a smaller Tristan Thompson but he's got a good handle and court vision. Looking at the advanced stats he's comps closely with Toumani Camara but with better shot blocking and elite rebounding numbers. No jumper to speak of but I still think he's worth it in round 2.

G GS MP PER TS% 3PAr FTr PProd ORB% DRB% TRB% AST% STL%. BLK% TOV% USG%
Norchad Omier 155 152 4576 28.1 0.619 0.1 0.433 2317 15.1 27.7 21.5 8.8. 2.6 4.5 15.3 24.9
Toumani Camara125 116 3421 18.8 0.566 0.226 0.392 1331 9.1 19.8 14.7 10.5 2.1 3.2 18.4 22.3

 

yeah, the no jumper thing is going to be an issue, but you can develop that. DFS couldn't really shoot coming out of college, and aspects of this guy remind me of him.

 

There are some decent prospects with size expected to be available in the 2nd rd. Im keeping my eyes on Broome from Auburn. We might be able to work out something with Brooklyn, for one of their late 1st rd picks.

https://nbadraftroom.com/2025-2nd-round/

 

I like Yanic Konan Niederhausr and Ryan Kalkbrenner. Yanic is a great lob-threat with his standing reach and athleticism. Kalkbrenner has the third tallest standing-reach in the draft, at 9-4. I recall Mark Williams was 9-9, who is regarded as a lob-threat who is probably not super athletic. So, standing-reach obviously helps with lobs. Yanic is hyper-athletic vertically and laterally though, along with the 9-3 standing reach. I like both, but I also think both will move u into the first round. Lakers need to not sleep on this.

 

https://www.noceilingsnba.com/p/five-interesting-prospects-on-the

jumpy jemison?

slick smiling at the bolded.

 

Cardwell looks a bit lost out there to me plus the free throw shooting and fouls are hard to overcome. I actually thought Oumar Ballo from Indiana looked pretty good. In some of the highlights he took it to Derek Queen who's going in the lottery. I wonder if any beat out Jemison for a 2way. I think given the sheer number of centers we've looked at means we definitely plan to sign an undrafted big.

 

Another guy I've been looking into is Tamar Bates. He was a major player on a good Missouri team. Can play both guard spots and is an LA native. He had a great combine and shoots above 90% at the foul line for his career. He's mocked at the end of the 2nd round undrafted. Writeup from NBADraft.net:

Impressed with a +6.5” wingspan differential (6’10.25” wingspan at 6’3.75” barefoot) and a 9.75” hand length—the same size as 7-footer Khaman Maluach. Those numbers reflect big-guard measurables. Combined with his fluidity and solid frame, Bates looked the part of a potential two-way NBA contributor—even if his current offensive role has been modest. He built momentum as the week progressed, turning in a very strong second day and delivering the dunk of the camp, rising up and flushing over a big in traffic—an emphatic exclamation point on an impressive all-around Combine showing.

 

i thought ballo looked interesting at arizona--he's quite large and physical, but has a soft touch around the hoop. i don't like his physical conditioning much, reminds me a bit of sagana diop.

i think i mentioned similar elsewhere. i expect us to look at some other bigs developmentally, as slick asked, but the idea that we'd trade in for a first rounder to take one seems unlikely to me, as i question whether anyone we could get would be better next year than koloko or jemison. maybe long-term, but not short-term, and we're in win-now mode.

i'm down with trying to find another caruso type gem using the g-league/two-ways while we use the bulk of the assets to just add known quantities.

 

interesting.

i also like javon small as a project/udfa guy. smaller guard, but i just kinda liked his approach. he may go the way of jared butler, another slightly undersized guard whose game i enjoyed in college.

 

I remember being high on Butler (Baylor right?) too but then he kind of flamed out. Davion Mitchell seems he's going to stick around despite being on the smaller side.

 

yeah, butler was from baylor. and i think he got hurt and missed time early, and has since bounced around. he put up ok numbers in philly down their tanking stretch this year, but...

mitchell's a guy who's not a shooter but can become just good enough to be playable, imo. i was beating the drum to get him the past year or two when he was buy-low. he's not now.

 

I keep seeing Javon Small’s name come up in a lot of articles so I think he’s going to get drafted. He’s got a bit of a Morant-lite vibe to me. I think he can stick with his athleticism and scoring chops. He actually measured taller and heavier than Jase Richardson who’ll go in the first round and is billed as a PG/SG.

 

I know I’ve said it before, but I’ll be happy if we draft one of Watkins or Peavey and sign them to a 4 year rookie deal. Keep Jemison on the two way and pick-up either Bates or Omier on the other two way.

I still can’t help feeling like we lack a serious rebounder. Even if we pick up Capella or Lopez, I still think we need a brute out there. That’s why I like Norchad Omier or if we can somehow pickup Day’Ron Sharpe. Not sure who else fits that need? Maybe buy an earlier second rounder like @Slick2021 suggested and get Broome, he's an excellent rebounder and isn't a slouch on offense. We need to shake our rep that we can be pushed around on the glass.