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Following Potential 2025 Draftees

If I'm the Sixers, I'd want to get off the Paul George deal, trade back to 5, and still get Tre Johnson or Ace Bailey at 5. Unless the Sixers are truly enamored with Edgecombe, that's their best play. Jazz probably aren't going to bite though.

Sixers should want to trade back, but no further than 5, imo. Sixers don't want Fears, and I don't think Kon is really in that same tier.
 
Ferguson_Mellochill said:
If I'm the Sixers, I'd want to get off the Paul George deal, trade back to 5, and still get Tre Johnson or Ace Bailey at 5. Unless the Sixers are truly enamored with Edgecombe, that's their best play.
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I'm fairly certain the Jazz aren't swallowing the Paul George deal to move up to a pick in the same tier. Washington or New Orleans might bite, but the Sixers will be getting a player in the next tier (which they should for that price.) Now that I think about it, New Orleans is a penny-pinching club, they aren't swallowing that contract. Washington is their only hope and it isn't a good one.
 
Ferguson_Mellochill said:
The fact that Ace's agent is a nobody means the agent can't really threaten repercussions to a team that wants to draft him.
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No one ever regretted hiring Bartlestein. Get someone good. Having HS level advisors in a Harvard level business is a bad strategy. Guys around the guy have hurt guys careers countless times.
 
framer said:
I'm fairly certain the Jazz aren't swallowing the Paul George deal to move up to a pick in the same tier. Washington or New Orleans might bite, but the Sixers will be getting a player in the next tier (which they should for that price.) Now that I think about it, New Orleans is a penny-pinching club, they aren't swallowing that contract. Washington is their only hope and it isn't a good one.
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If I'm the Jazz, I either let Ace/Tre come to me at #5, or I make a small deal with Charlotte to move up to #4. Jazz would secure their choice of Ace or Tre without getting leapfrogged. Charlotte takes Kon at 5.
 
Putting all of the puzzle pieces together here is my best educated guess at the Utah Jazz’s draft board:

Cooper Flagg
Dylan Harper
VJ Edgecombe
Tre Johnson
Kon Knueppel/Ace Bailey
Jeremiah Fears
Khaman Maluach

Not sure who would be the favorite at 5 between Kon/Ace.
 
Ferguson_Mellochill said:
I think if Washington moves up to 4, their target might very well be Tre. I think Brooklyn is the team that wants Ace, and Ace wants to be the star in Brooklyn.
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Have Ace or his agent publicly said he does not want to play for Utah?
If so why would Utah take him and risk complicating everything
 
slc said:
Have Ace or his agent publicly said he does not want to play for Utah?
If so why would Utah take him and risk complicating everything
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In the entire history of the NBA, almost no one has said, "I want to get drafted by the Utah Jazz." Karl Malone was hoping to go to Dallas, and he cried when the Jazz drafted him.

If the Jazz want to draft a big-time star player, they need to tune out the noise and just take the guy they want.
 
Elizah Huge said:
Putting all of the puzzle pieces together here is my best educated guess at the Utah Jazz’s draft board:

Cooper Flagg
Dylan Harper
VJ Edgecombe
Tre Johnson
Kon Knueppel/Ace Bailey
Jeremiah Fears
Khaman Maluach

Not sure who would be the favorite at 5 between Kon/Ace.
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No matter how hard I try, I can't put Kon in the same tier as Ace, or even Fears. I think the Jazz are showing interest in Kon mainly to prevent Charlotte from trading out of the 4th pick. Washington will move up to #4, and they probably will take Tre.

The fact that Brooklyn and Washington are trying so hard to move up, shows that teams in the 6-8 range are in a lower tier.
 
If I'm the Sixers, my preferred draft strategy is to get off some money and still draft a player in the VJ/Tre/Ace tier. I'll trade back, but I can't trade back too far. If BRK wants to move all the way up to #3 for Ace Bailey, they're going to need to take Paul George and give me Cam Johnson, in addition to swapping picks. That's a steep price for BRK to pay. Maybe BRK will pay it, maybe they won't. Even then, the Sixers would have to justify dropping a tier in the draft, which isn't great.

More likely, the Sixers just take a guy they like at #3 (probably VJ) and deal with the rest of their roster after the draft.

The easier trade for teams that want to move up is to deal with Charlotte at 4. If VJ goes #3, Charlotte might be willing to move back to #6 or #7. But if Charlotte trades back too far, they'll miss out on Kon as well as VJ. If Charlotte is happy with Maluach, then everything's fine. BRK can get up to #4 for Ace. Charlotte moves back to #8 and takes Maluach (or someone else they like). The Jazz are happy with this too, because it means Tre Johnson falls in their lap.

The thing the Jazz don't want is for Philly to take VJ at 3, for Washington to leapfrog the Jazz and take Tre Johnson at 4, and for the Jazz to be left having to deal with Ace or having to drop a tier for Kon. This is a bitter pill to swallow, unless it turns out that the Jazz actually do love Kon or Fears.

If I'm the Jazz, I'd work a deal with Charlotte to swap picks. If VJ goes at #3, I'd take Tre at #4 and assure Charlotte they can have Kon (or Ace) at #5. Ace then falls to Washington at #6. Brooklyn can go kick rocks.
 
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