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2025 NBA Draft 1st Round Recap!!
Join John Gonzalez and draft experts Adam Finkelstein and Kyle Boone as they recap the thrilling first round of the 2025 NBA Draft. They discuss standout picks, potential impacts, and what the future ...
2025 NBA Draft 1st Round Recap!!
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Speaker A
Foreign.
Speaker B
Welcome to the latest edition of beyond the Ark. I'm John Gonzalez alongside. You know these guys, They've been everywhere. Our draft experts Adam Finkelstein and Kyle Boone are here. Adam got the memo on the dark T shirt. Boone did not. But we're going to soldier through here. Kyle.
Speaker C
Yeah. What's up, guys? I was left out of the group text. I guess I was the black sheep now wearing white. But I'm here nonetheless, happy to talk some NBA draft.
Speaker B
Two fellas, you guys are here. Finkelstein, you and I were talking a little bit earlier. You're almost through the draft. How are you feeling?
Speaker A
I love the draft. You know, everybody said like, what time were you on till last night? I was like, I don't know, 1:30? And they're like, oh, you're right. I was like, you kidding me? This is the greatest day of the year. I love this stuff. So I can't get enough of it. I'm thrilled to be back on talking with you here today. Excited to be going back for round two tonight.
Speaker B
You guys are the Energizer Bunnies. No rest for the weary. They're back at it right now. Later in the show, we're going to do best value picks, biggest reaches. We're going to try to figure out what the Pelicans are thinking, what the Blazers are thinking, and then we'll go through the Nets taking, I don't know, a full sixth of the draft last night. Really impressive. But first, we're going to just go through the lottery selections. Start with the Dallas Mavericks and Cooper fly. We don't have to belabor this point, gentlemen, but this was the expected pick. He joins Anthony Davis and Kyrie Irving. When Kyrie comes back from his acl, My for you and Adam, we'll start with you first is immediate impact at both ends of the floor. How good can he be? How soon and can he help the Mavericks in a really loaded Western Conference?
Speaker A
Yeah, I would say this. With Kyrie Irving out rehabilitating that injury, he's going to have to step in and take on some creation mode. But he's also a guy who doesn't need to be a focal point. I think you could pencil in like maybe 16, 17 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists per game next year. I think that's. That's very reasonable. And he's going to help drive winning right away. He will grow into a bigger role, but he can help winning right away next season.
Speaker B
Kyle Boone, by the way, does anybody, anybody call you Boonie?
Speaker C
Boonie? Yeah. KB Boonski. You name it. Yeah, I'll. I'll respond to anything. Absolutely.
Speaker B
Boonski. It's amazing. I'm definitely calling you Boonski from now on. All right, Boonski. What about. Are there any reservations here? Anything like that he has to improve on or something? Where you go, okay, everybody thought that he was going to be the number one pick. We've been talking about him for over a year now. But is there anything that you'd like to see him clean up moving forward?
Speaker C
Really? Not really. Like, he's not a perfect prospect, you know, I think, you know, he can improve. He's still just a teenager. He's the youngest player in this year's draft class. But look at his profile, man. And, like, he's a great passer for his position. He's a really good shooter for his position. He can shoot it inside and out. He can create his own shots. Defensively, he is so smart and so gifted at playing with anticipation. On that end in particular, I mean, just his, like, weak side defensive shot blocking is sensational, but he's able to defend big power forwards, big centers. He can also defend on the perimeter. A guy who I think can guard all five positions on the basketball floor, you know, Like, I think it's going to take some time for him to eventually develop into, like, a true face of the league star. But I also believe, John, that, like, we could look up in the middle of next season or Maybe it's in 18 months, and Dallas is going to hit a spot where they're like, oh, man, our. Our timeline needs to be accelerated, like, a lot because Cooper Flag, we thought was awesome and he's even better than what we expected. That is very much in the realm of possibilities. That's why I'm excited, frankly, that he's going to the Dallas Mavericks. This is a good situation where Anthony Davis is there, Kyrie Irving, obviously coming off the ACL is there. There's some exciting pieces around Cooper Flag, and I think Dallas could have early success with him, even as a rookie next season.
Speaker B
Yeah, it's an interesting landing spot because he doesn't have to go in and shoulder the entire load like a lot of number one picks end up having to do. But we'll see how the Mavericks look when Kyrie comes back. Congrats to Mavericks fans, by the way. What a roller coaster of the last, like, six months or so. Moving on to another Texas team here, another one that we don't really have to belabor because we anticipated that Dylan Harper was going to be the Pick Kyle, go back to you first here. My whole question is, okay, Dylan Harper's the guy, the best player available, the spurs, you know, it all really redounds to whether or not Wemby in that blood clot is going to clear up and then all of a sudden you're going to have a shot here just from a fit perspective. I go, you know, a little, little crowded in that backcourt with the Aaron Fox and Stefan Castle the rookie of the year. But I guess they're thinking, who cares? Just he's the best player here.
Speaker C
Yeah, for sure. And, you know, I think when you start prioritizing fit over talent, John, that is how you end up drafting a Marvin Bagley over a Luka Doncic. I don't think San Antonio was going to make that same mistake. And having scouted this draft for over a year, I believed, and I think Finkelstein probably believes that Dylan Harper is the clear number two prospect in this class. And San Antonio with Dylan Harper with Dear and Fox with Stefan Castle, on paper, there, there, that is not a perfect match. That is not a perfect fit. There's going to be some skills overlap. They're going to have to figure out how that is going to work. But also, I think San Antonio is in a spot where they just take the best talent and then hope long term they can figure this out. This is a, a situation where with the Spurs, I think they're just going to take the smart path always. They're going to take the best available player. And you know, I think at number two for San Antonio, that was very clearly Dylan Harper.
Speaker A
Yeah, that's right. I'm sorry. Go ahead.
Speaker B
I was just going to say, let's put de' Aaron Fox to the side for a second between Castle and Dylan Harper. Who's the better player here?
Speaker A
That's, that's a, that's a decision that is yet to be determined. And I wonder if that's going to be a thought process in San Antonio for the next next couple of years here, because you don't worry about fit with the second overall pick. You take the best available player on the board and collect that asset. But when you're trying to build the championship calib team, which is the mission with Wemby, you have to start to worry about fit. So at some point, they're going to have to do that calculus of whether Castle and Harper fit together long term and then how they fit with Fox in the short term. If you ask me right now who the most likely of those three is to get moved in the next, let's say, couple of years. I would probably say Fox, but I'm not sure that decision has been made yet. I think certainly they're going to try and see if they can fit all those guys together first. But if Castle or Harper's growth is being stunted and they're not yet a championship caliber team, then we might see de' Aaron Fox back on the trade market.
Speaker B
Love optionality here at beyond the Arc. And I just think like them sticking at 2 and 14 and then deciding, hey, you know, we don't have to make any major moves right now. There are some, a lot of people clamoring for, hey, maybe they want to upgrade in the same way that the Rockets just did with kd. They can just like slow roll this thing and wait to see if Giannis puts his hand up. And then all of a sudden they've got a lot of really nice, interesting young pieces and then assets moving forward that all of a sudden they could package together. So keep an eye on the San Antonio Spurs, a team that I did not want to keep an eye on that has been the bane of my existence for as long as I've been alive. The Philadelphia 76ers, I thought they might trade out of this pick. They decided to stick and stay. There were some questions about whether or not it would be Ace Bailey or VJ Edgecomb. Finkelstein, we talked about this right before the show. They end up going with VJ Edgecomb. You said he's a good dude. I've been told that he's an exceptional athlete. Sell me on BJ Edgecomb to the Sixers.
Speaker A
Those are the two places you want to start. Arguably the best athlete in this draft. Hyper competitive and a really quality young man. I mean, what you saw on camera, not just last night, but in the this year at Baylor, I mean, that's all authentic. That's who he is. He is a quality young man and someone that because of that character you were going to want to bet on long term. Now he's got to continue to get better. People talk about what a great defender he is. Well, I'll tell you, he's got great defensive potential, but he's better on the ball right now than he is off the ball. And the work that has to be done offensively, that's pretty well documented. We saw some gains this year at Baylor, specifically before his ankle injury with with his guard skills and with his shooting. But that process has got to continue because this is someone who was more of a wing than he was a true guard before he arrived at Baylor. And. And that process has got to continue at his size. He's got to be, if not a primary than a secondary ball handler in the NBA to reach his maximum ceiling. And with the number three pick in the draft, you're expecting a pretty high outcome.
Speaker B
Kyle, I see you nodding your head over there.
Speaker C
Yeah, it's just preaching the choir here. Basically hit on all the things that I would talk about with BJ Edgecomb. This is a guy who, you know, I think tools wise, maybe the best tools outside Cooper flag in this class. I mean, just like the. The physical ability for him to consistently fly above the rim like it's nothing is astounding. We talk about guys who can put together a great mixtape. BJ Edgecombe can put together one heck of a mixtape just with his ability to attack downhill off of closeouts to be able to be a true defensive playmaker. I am with Fink in that, you know, I think there is some progress still for him for Vijay Edgecombe to develop defensively to really reach his potential. But I think the tools, John, are there in place. If I am trying to sell you on Vijay Edgecombe at number three, I would sell you on the fact that I think he has potential. All NBA defense upside, that's not going to, I think translate early in his career. But the tools are there, the athleticism is there. The anticipation that he plays with, I think is all there. And you add that too with, you know, he shot 35% on threes last seasons. He's going to a situation playing next to Tyrese Maxey and Jared McCain. He's going to get open looks. There's going to be guys who are going to be more focal point on offense than he will be. I don't think he's going to be asked to do a lot on offense. So I think the situation is really good for Edgecombe and for Philly as well. I was surprised that it seemed like Philly had locked in on Edgecombe fairly early, but, you know, I think they, they clearly really liked him over a con canyble, over an Ace Bailey, over even a Trey Johnson. And you know, I think the fit is good and I think this is going to end up being a really good situation for both parties long term.
Speaker B
You guys are saying all kinds of positive stuff. I love the idea about his athleticism and his tools on defense. I'm just waiting to see what kind of malady he develops when he comes to Philadelphia because they've had guys that They've picked who? Multiple guys just forgot how to shoot. Just out of nowhere. They're like, I've never shot a basketball before. I'm going to be a professional basketball player. One guy got a peanut allergy, almost died. This is what happens when you get drafted by the Sixers. So Godspeed to BJ Edge. Come on. Then somebody needs to go into his house and just sage, sage everywhere. We're going to take a quick go.
Speaker A
Ahead process, my friend. Trust the process.
Speaker B
No, the time for that is long over. That's a terrible idea. We're going to take a quick break and then on the other side we're going to continue with. You mentioned Con Canopy. He goes to the Charlotte Hornets and then one of the most divisive picks in the draft, Ace Bailey, he wanted to follow the Washington and Utah Jazz and Austin Ange said no, no, no. We'll discuss all that coming up. This is behind the arc with Fink and Boonski. All right, welcome back to beyond the Ark. Just reviewing the first round of the NBA draft from last night with our draft experts Adam Finkelstein and Kyle Boone. Kyle, come to you first here on number four Charlotte Hornets. They also pass on Ace Bailey. They go with Con Knippel. I was looking for somebody with LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller who can fit with both of those guys and also compliment them. Did the Hornets get their guy?
Speaker C
The Hornets got their guy. This is a great addition for the Charlotte Hornets. Feel very confident he's going to be a very good NBA player for a long time. And I think if I were to rank players who I feel most confident about having a long and successful NBA career, I'd probably rank it. Cooper Flagg number one, Con Knippel number two. I don't know if he's going to have the same star outcome that you know, maybe a Dylan Harper or even an Ace Bailey will. But Cannibal is a guy who I feel confident is going to fit with LaMelo Ball. Brandon Miller shot 41% on threes last season. 90 plus percentile as a catch and shoot weapon. 90 plus percentile on jump shots. He can finish around the rim at a high level. He's I think good enough on defense to be able to hold his own. He's got a pretty good frame. You know, there's a lot to like here with Khan Cannibal. Maybe he's not a multi time all star, but he's the best shooter in the draft. I think he's going to play multiple positions in the guard spot and you know, I think he can create a little bit, just enough to fit around a Brandon Miller, a Lamelo ball, and this is going to be a fine pick for the Charlotte Hornets. Going to age nicely.
Speaker A
Yeah, I love Khan. I mean, Boone and I have been talking about him for the past six months. He's been top six on my board since January. So I love him. I have echo everything Boone said. My only concern here is about fit. And I will say this after Ace Bailey, who I have at number three. To me, four, five and six were all in a similar tier. And so that's when maybe you start to consider fit. Only to the extent that when you, when you add these young assets, you want to put them in the most advantageous situation. So the asset continues to grow. Right. And I'm not sure playing the two in between LaMelo and Brandon Miller is the best defensive scenario for Khan. Now let me add, he was better defensively than I expected this year, but that was oftentimes guarding the three man and he is credited with being a mistake free defender. By his own admission. He's not especially long or athletic now. There's a lot of people to target now and that Charlotte backcourt defensively, so I worry a little bit about how much the defense is going to translate. But Khan, in terms of his approach, his professionalism, his, his mind for the game, his skill set or his commitment level, I think Charlotte fans are going to love him.
Speaker B
I have a heart when you, when you say that they have a lot of people to target defensively, I mean, like twas ever thus with the Charlotte Hornets, but I'm sure if any organization can figure it out, it'll be the Hornets. My last thing on Knippel and we have to move on. The Knipple family has like 12 brothers and they all start with K's. Did you see this? Cash, Kingston, Kidman, Keger. Keger's a name. I don't know what they're doing over there, but it's interesting for sure. All right, let's get to the Utah Jazz. This is the one that I was excited to talk to you about. Adam Finkelstein, I'm going to come back to you because you said that you had Ace Bailey as your number three prospect here. The Utah Jazz did not work out Ace Bailey because Ace Bailey decided that he wasn't going to work out for anybody, was trying to force his way down to the Washington Wizards at 6. Utah Jazz New general manager Austin Ainge said, no, no, no, no, no, we don't care. We Like Adam Finkelstein, think he's a talented guy. Did they make the right decision here? Because, you know, there is some crowding there in that front court with Laurie and John Collins and Walker Kessler. And I know, like, Ace Bailey has designs on jacking up as many shots as he can to free path to stardom. I'm more bullish on the Jazz roster than I think a lot of people are. And I'm not sure that this is like, immediately, hey, here are the keys to the kingdom.
Speaker A
Yeah. First of all, yes, unequivocally, the right pick here, Ace is a top three prospect. Even if you're not sure if he's a top three prospect, I think you have to acknowledge Boone and I may differ on this, actually. Like, I think he has a top three upside, and it's by a pretty wide margin in my estimation, so. And I think the other thing in Utah is what's been made very clear since Austin got that job is that he is not going to be held responsible for previous picks. So whether that's Taylor Hendricks or Cody Williams or whoever, you may think he's not responsible for nurturing those players and trying to maximize the value if he's already come to the determination that they are not as good as Utah initially hoped when they drafted him, even if it was his dad who drafted him. So if he's already said, like, hey, Cody Williams, not what we expected, Ace Bailey is our guy in the wing. And I'll say this, John. Three years ago, when Danny Ainge arrived there, he traded Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell. He said, we're not a championship caliber team and the way to build it is through the draft. They haven't gotten a star yet in the draft. I would argue that's why they hired Austin Ainge, because their draft record had to improve. This is their best chance through the draft that they have gotten of getting a star. Ace Bailey's more talented than anybody they've drafted in the last three years.
Speaker B
Kyle, I feel like you were maybe a little bit lower than Adam was on Ace Bailey. What's your temperature on Utah? Just rolling the dice on a guy that, yeah, they have plenty of tape on him, but hadn't brought him into the gym. Hadn't had conversations, just deciding, hey, you're going to be our guy.
Speaker C
Yeah, this is a guy who, Ace Bailey, I think, has a wide range of outcomes. I think that's worth acknowledging. And I think we've done a very good job of explaining Ace Bailey the prospect, which is, man, if things Hit. You're Talking about a 6 foot 8 scoring wing who can get his own shot and create just as well as anyone in this year's draft class. There are definitely some red flags in his profile. I think that is in part why he ended up slipping out of the top four. That is why I think there is a wide range of opinions among NBA circles on Ace Bailey. The defensive effort that I watched last season at Rutgers and yes, Rutgers went 16, 17 definitely waned. I'm not entirely sure how much effort I would give as well if I was losing team playing at Rutgers. But you know, I think that is a concern. There's also a concern about can he contribute to winning basketball or is he a guy who's going to put up a bunch of empty calories. And you know, I think at number five this is a fine risk worth taking. We're talking about, might I remind you, a Utah Jazz team that had tied for the best odds to win the number one pick going into the lottery ended up slipping to number five. And so you know what, take your swing. This is the biggest swing that you could possibly take at number five. Ace Bailey, if he hits and hits in the right way, able to develop, you could get a multi time all star. Someone who I think could be a potential future scoring champion in the NBA just with his talent level, maybe he busts out and you can kind of chalk it up to hey, this was worth a try. But I do think Utah in this front office had to take this chance at number five.
Speaker B
I heard questions, concerns, red flags. I'm shocked that he didn't end up as a Philadelphia 76 or he sounds perfect for Philly. But Godspeed to the Utah Jazz. We're going to pick it up a little bit and I'm going to go, we're going to alternate here. So I'll throw one to Adam and then one to Kyle here. So Adam will go to you with the Washington Wizards and Trey Johnson. They were hoping, I think that Ace Bailey was going to fall to them. He did not. They get Trey Johnson there. Look, they got all the time in the world. They just got a bunch of young kids and they're hoping one of them between Trey Johnson and Alex Sar and Blau Kula Bali who I'm a huge fan of and Bug Bub Carrington, somebody pops. So where are you on Trey Johnson?
Speaker A
Johnson is the most of most ready to become a scorer of that group because I like those young pieces as well. Carrington Saar Koulibaly but Johnson is the Alpha score even amidst that group. So while some of those guys have a couple of years of NBA experience on him, when Trey arrives in D.C. he's going to have an opportunity to prove that he can be an offensive focal point. Remember, he is now going to be mentored by CJ McCollum, which I think is very relevant. The other point I would like to make here is I really liked Washington's process and what I mean by that is they ended up with Johnson, who's really good value, but they got darn close to getting Ace Bailey because of the level of communication that was going on between their front office and his camp. And when they got unlucky on lottery night, the potential to get Ace Bailey at number six was almost impossible and they almost pulled it off. So I think at some point we have to recognize process over outcome. I think Washington handled this entire process really, really well. They almost pulled off what would have been a grand slam and Ace Bailey. But in Trey Johnson they get a guy who may just be a potent enough offensive weapon to grow into their primary guy down the road.
Speaker B
Yeah, I can't believe I'm saying this, but Washington is starting to figure things out. I like the idea that they're building around all these young guys and that also they got off of Jordan Pool's contract the other day by trading with the New Orleans Pelicans who are going to talk about in just a second second here and bringing in CJ McCollum and getting an expiring contract. I like the idea they have a theory of the case which brings us to the New Orleans Pelicans who do not. We're going to get to what they did later in the draft later in the show. Let's just talk about this particular pick here. Kyle Jeremiah Fears, guard from Oklahoma. They need passing, they need playmaking, they need distributing guard play. No Dejounte Murray who's going to come back at some point I would assume this season, but he's got an Achilles injury. They just traded for Jordan Poole at present. Before they picked Jeremiah Fierce, Zion was probably their best playmaker. What kind of guard is Jeremiah Fierce?
Speaker C
Probably walks in to be their second best playmaker and someone who I think will be a high usage rate guard very early in his career. It's very, very hard John, to go from a college producer who has a high usage rate to an NBA producer specifically at the guard position. I feel like and fears body is just not quite ready for the rigors of the NBA. You don't love to hear that if you're the team that just selected number seven and picked Jeremiah Fierce. But this is a guy who reclassified up. He's one of the younger players in the class. He had a top 10 usage rate among all college basketball high major players last season. And I think if we're talking about Ace Bailey in the same light as could be a future star, I think we have to acknowledge that Jeremiah Fierce could be a future star. To quote Michael Jordan, the ceiling is the roof. With Jeremiah Fierce, if things hit, if things go the right way, he could hit a ceiling that is among the best in this class. Also worth acknowledging Jeremiah Fierce could end up just being a high usage rate guard who doesn't quite connect physically in the NBA. His shot is a major concern right now. Shot below 30% last season, but I think at number seven, like I probably wouldn't have done this if I'm the New Orleans Pelicans but I can at least understand the thinking in that. The Pelicans are going to take a big swing. At number seven. Jeremiah Fears is is the biggest swing available and we'll see what happens here in a couple years.
Speaker B
The if we were doing like one of those year end review things for the New Orleans Pelicans, it would be the New Orleans Pelicans. Colon, I probably shouldn't have done this. We're going to skip over the Brooklyn Nets pick in the interest of expedients here we real quick Adam, we have about a minute left. Toronto Raptors at nine with Colin Murray Boyles. How do you feel about him? They've got like just a bunch of pieces that I look at and I try to squint at and I'm trying to figure out what Masai Ujiri is doing. What do you think here?
Speaker A
An undersized lefty, big 6 foot 6 without shoes on but really long arms, plays bigger than he is because in addition to being long, he's strong, he's a versatile defender and he's a really good processor of the game. But what I worry about, John and I made this point last night in our HQ coverage is how he's utilized in a front court that now also includes Scotty Barnes and Brandon Ingram and is built around those guys. Somebody has got to space the floor here. If he went to a situation where it was filled with shooters, I'd be much more enthusiastic about CMB's ability to make an immediate impact.
Speaker B
I love CMB. That's a good little abbreviation by you. All right, quick timeout. Don't if you're a Nets fan, don't fear we're going to get to Jagor and like all five picks that they made last night. But we're going to do that a little bit later in the show and we're going to bundle them all together. But coming up, we'll wrap up the rest of the lottery with the Phoenix Suns. The Portland Trailblazers made a trade. The Chicago Bulls had somebody fall to them, the Atlanta Hawks. The Atlanta Hawks might be smart now, gentlemen. I can't believe it, but it's true. All that coming up. Don't go anywhere. This is the post draft first round beyond the Arc with Adam Finkelstein and Kyle Boone on CBS Sports Foreign. Welcome back to beyond the Ark. Just wrapping up the back end of the lottery here from last night's first round. Kyle, coming back to you here. Phoenix Suns acquire the number 10 pick in that rockets deal that shipped KD to Houston. They also traded for Mark Williams, who, man, the Hornets could not wait to get off of that poor guy. They traded him like three times. He finally sticks. He's going to Phoenix. But they also pick up another big here in Common Malawatch. How do you feel about him?
Speaker C
I love it. I'm surprised that he fell to number 10. John. This is a guy who I thought could go seven to the New Orleans Pelicans or eight to the Brooklyn Nets or even nine to the Toronto Raptors. Maybe the most toolsy big man in this year's draft class. He's 7 foot 2. He has a 7 foot wing, 7 foot 6 wingspan. He's really good as a shot blocker and a shot alter. Someone who, you know, I talked to him at the NBA combine and asked him like, what do you want to be at the NBA level? Like, how do you envision your role? And he's like, I'm all energy. I'm all energy. I can be a defensive anchor, someone who gives great effort on that end, play with anticipation and you know, for, I think for the Phoenix Suns gives them a developmental big who can help grow with that franchise and be a lob threat early in his career. You're talking about a team that has Devin Booker, that has Jalen Green. I think he would fit very nicely in Phoenix right now. I love the addition at number 10.
Speaker B
Well, they definitely need a big so now they got several. So we'll see how that rotation shakes out there. Adam. The Portland Trailblazers move back. The Grizzlies move up. I love what Zach Kleiman has done, just generally, like philosophically, as a general Manager, he just moved Desmond Bain to the Orlando Magic. That's. That was a deal that you just simply cannot pass up on. So when he trades up, all of a sudden that like makes my eyebrows go up and I got giant eyebrows here as you guys could can see. So they pick Cedric Coward, a forward from Washington State. They're generally a pretty deep like greater than their some of the parts team where how does he fit in with them?
Speaker A
Well, I think with Bain going out of the lineup now, they're going to make a big bet on Jalen Wells being able to take another step on the wing this year. And then Coward also being able to come in play immediate minutes because he's 23 years old. And then the hope is that those two players combined can be your wings of the future around John Morant. Now the thing here is that Coward has got good size 6 foot 6, really long arms, huge hands which is a big indicator for a lot of NBA front offices and extreme character. He only played six games this year Washington State before the injury, but there was enough shooting. The teams are optimistic about that. Teams like his defensive upside as well. So the hope is that you have maybe a 3D type wing, maybe a little more offensive juice than that with really good measurables, really high character and. And I think he is going to fit that culture that they are building in Memphis as well.
Speaker B
Yeah, they have a great culture in Memphis. We'll see whether or not that redounds to them being actually good in the loaded Western Conference. But like I said, anytime Zach Kleiman does something, I'm paying attention. All right, the Chicago Bulls here. Kyle. By virtue of the world's worst coin flip, they didn't get the number one pick. Instead it goes to Dallas. So they're stuck at 12. Chicago Bulls are sort of like all over the place. They were at the very least fun towards the end of the regular season last year. But they take Noah A Sengate. Did I get that right? Get his name right? A sense Ford from France. How do we feel about him? Possible. Kyle is frozen. Adam, how do we feel about Noah?
Speaker A
Side swing. This is either going to be a home run or it's going to be a bogey. I hate to mix baseball and golf references there. You can tell I was in the studio but six seven foot one wingspan. One of the youngest prospects in the draft. One of the most athletic prospects in the draft. Played professionally in Germany this year and was really productive. Even though he's still got to build up his body and refine his game. So there's, there's optimism about what he could be because he's still so far away from a finished product. He's got extreme athletic tools, and yet he was already productive at a pretty high level of competition. So I think it's worth risk here for Chicago. But I would point out I'm not sure how many of these they've hit on in recent years.
Speaker B
Yeah, the answer is not many. There's the Chicago Bulls for a reason, and they've been the Chicago Bulls for a while. But I also, you know, why not just roll the dice a little bit here and hope that you hit something. Or I'll mix my metaphors now, throw a dart at the board and hope you hit a bullseye. Let's skip over the the Atlanta Hawks trading to the Pelicans, Derek Queen. We'll get into that in just a little bit because I want to really dig into what the Pelicans did over the last few days, which just defies understanding. And we'll round out the lottery here with the San Antonio Spurs. I thought they might move out of this pick Adam. Instead, they decided draft Carter Bryan, who, from everything I've read and talking to you guys a little bit, it looks like as a forward he can step into that Harrison Barnes role here. Do you like him?
Speaker C
Yeah.
Speaker A
I thought he was one of the better 3 and D prospects on the board. And it's a little counterintuitive, especially for college basketball fans, because this is a guy who averaged only six points and four rebounds last year at Arizona. But when you dig a little deeper, you see he very literally guarded all five positions on the floor. And I don't just mean he could switch. I mean, there were times where Arizona would say, okay, you've got the point guard tonight. So he's got that defensive versatility. He also shot 45% on open catch and shoot threes. This is a guy who's an athletic 6 foot 7, well built, so there's a lot of things to like. He's a better passer than he showed this year. He's just not an alpha creator. San Antonio doesn't need that. They got plenty of alphas. They need three and D role players and they got one.
Speaker B
Yeah, everybody needs three and D role players and it seems like they got a good one here. Also, a couple of things. Draft notes here. The hats were terrible, terrible last night, but what I really loved about Carter Bryant, the hats were horrendous. But Carter Bryant, imagine the confidence that it would take to just roll in Wearing your suit jacket and no shirt. I was like, oh, that kid. Little spicy. That's an Adam Finkelstein move. So I'm gonna get Adam one of these shows. You're just gonna show up, just, just wearing the jacket, rocking it on bta. We're gonna take a quick timeout, and then on the other side, we'll see if we can get Kyle Boone back. And we're gonna play a little game, and it's gonna be called what are you doing? Featuring the New Orleans Pelicans. Don't go anywhere. This is beyond the Ark on CBS Sports Network.
Speaker C
All right.
Speaker B
All right. Welcome back to beyond the Ark. We're just reviewing some, let's call them, curious decisions made by various teams over the last, say, 24 to 48 hours. Certainly this week. Adam Finkelstein. We'll see if we can get Kyle Boone back. If not, you can play both the Adam Finkelstein and Kyle Boone roles. We'll have some fun with that. But. So the Pelicans, Adam. Joe Dumars new, newly installed previous gm had taken some time off after leaving the Detroit Pistons organization. And I guess it's like a little bit rusty here. So we talked about Jeremiah Fears, but this is. These are some of the decisions that he's made this week. He gave Indy their 2026 first round pickback, which is top four protected, to get into this draft at number 23. Now, in fairness to him, he made that trade before Tyrese Halliburton went down. But this is why you don't make the trade until the basketball is over, because there's a non zero chance that something like an injury to the best player for the Indiana Pacers would happen. At which point you have a pretty valuable asset. Okay, trades into number 23. Then he moves 10 spots up to take Derek Queen, a center who evidently does not space the floor. And on top of that, he gives up an unprotected 2026 first round pick, which would be the better of the Pelicans or the Bucks. Does not take a genius to look at the loaded Western Conference, where the Pelicans did not perform well last year, where Zion Williamson is only intermittently available, where Dejounte Murray is coming off an Achilles injury. Adam, I'm yelling at you like you did this to think like, okay, that Pelicans pick could be pretty valuable. And also, we live in a world where Giannis might opt out in Milwaukee at some point this year. That pick is incredibly valuable. Try to explain to me that Derek Queen is worth this because I'm like beside myself here.
Speaker A
Well, let me start with this, is that Derek Queen is really good value at number 13. In fact, he was, he was a top 10 guy on my board. Troy Weaver, who is, you know, Joe Dumars lieutenant in New Orleans these days, had terrific connections and intel on him from the Maryland program this year. So Derrick Queen at 13 is good value, big man, exceptionally skilled, great hands, can play make from different spots on the floor in New Orleans, especially with Zion so often out of the lineup, I think that's going to be important. What I will admit, John, is that when this happened last night and they said first round pick, my assumption is that there were protections on this pick. I said, all right, you know, like it's not going to transfer if it's in the lottery or it's not going to transfer if it's top seven or whatever. And then it wasn't until later in the evening I was like unprotected. What are we doing?
Speaker B
What are we doing is exactly, is exactly the end point here, Adam. What are we doing? It makes absolutely no sense. So the Atlanta Hawks, who they traded with, right, The Pelicans, they have for a long time been one of the poor run organizations, poorly run organizations in the NBA. Well, they reset their front office. So new GM on Sisala and then they've got senior VP of basketball ops, Bryson Graham, who came over from the Pelicans and probably is laughing when they get the phone call. And then they bring in a VP of strategy and analytics, Peter Dinwiddie from the Sixers. So a Daryl Morey, lieutenant. These three guys, Adam, had to be like, they could not accept that, that offer quick enough. An unprotected pick that is either going to be the Pelicans or the Bucks is like malpractice. Meanwhile, I wanted to ask you too. So they move back to 23 and they take Asa Newell from Georgia. What kind of player did they get in that as well?
Speaker A
They got a very solid guy. He's 6 foot 9, so he's not quite big enough to be like a center that we hoped. But historically he's been someone who's played some four or five high motor guy, lefty, mobile enough to guard, pick and roll in a few different ways, can provide some shot blocking, solid finisher. Now the swing skill there is the shooting. He showed some shooting potential over the years and if the shooting ever hits, we're going to look back on this as a steal. John, one quick sidebar. Give me 10 seconds. The 2026 draft darn good and darn deep. If you're an NBA front office and you're dealing that pick, you have better have done your due diligence.
Speaker B
You know what? I hate to do a spoiler here. I don't think they did. I think they just YOLO'd this thing and decided. I mean, look, afterwards, Joe Dumars was asked about this, and you and me and everybody else was like, how did you not put any protections on this? What are you thinking? To your point, next year's draft is supposed to be deep. And. And he said, I've always been an aggressive general manager. That's the only way I've ever had success in this league, both as a player and as an executive, is being aggressive. And I'm like, okay. But that's like saying, like, oh, I like to, you know, I'm always a really fast driver, and that's the best way I get from. From A to Z. That doesn't mean you shouldn't buckle your seatbelt or hit the brakes every now and again at, you know, the stoplight. What are you doing here? It's just like, it blew my mind that they gave up that pick to move up 10 spots. It's just. I. I don't know. I think it's absolutely indefensible. Speaking of indefensible, here come the Portland Trailblazers. Adam. So the Portland Trailblazers, earlier this week, they trade for Drew Holiday, they give up Anthony Simons on an expiring deal and two second round picks at a time when everybody in the NBA knew that this Boston Celtics had a dumb salary and that they were going to have to unplug either Drew Holiday or Kristaps Porzingis. They end up doing both. So I thought, a lot of people thought that Boston would have to attach picks to that. Instead, Portland sends picks out which defies understanding. And while we're on the defies understanding component, they decide to make a trade with the Grizz. They move back. Okay, fine. But then they take a guy, and you correct me if I'm wrong, who nobody in Yang Hansen had going in the first round of the draft to the point where the kid was in the building last night, Adam. But he wasn't in the green room. He was in the stands with the fans. He had to come walking down, like, the actual concourse to get to the stage to the deus so he could be the pick. Explain this one to me, because they also have a zillion centers on that team.
Speaker A
Well, what I would tell you is that two of those three centers on that team aren't going to be there for very long. I think Robert Williams and DeAndre in their days in Portland are going to be over sooner rather than later. But if I'm Donovan clinging number. Yeah, I'm. I'm very confused. If I'm. If I'm Donovan clinging and I'm. But the other thing I would tell you, John, one of Mike Schmidt's first trips when he got to Portland was to China and the green room. Invitations are handed out based on intel and Portland did a terrific job of protecting their intel here. It's no secret that Mike worked at ESPN for a long time and still got long standing relationships over there. So that was a good way to ensure that that intel did not leak. This was clearly their guy. They traded back for him. I think they probably could have traded back for him again, but they did a really good job of protecting what they wanted to do. And here's the reality. No one, including Portland, knows whether or not this is going to work out. There were times when everybody clowned the Marcus Saul pick. They clowned the Nikola Jokic pick. I'm not saying this guy's going to turn it, but when you see someone who's 7 foot 2 who's got some flashes of brilliance and you want to take the flyer on it. And by the way, you've invested millions of dollars in the scouting, in the physicals, in the background checks and the personality assessments and everything that NBA franchises do. I know the people in that front office and they are, they are competent, logical people. I'm not talking about the second round picks for the Jrue Holiday. I've got nothing on that one. But this was a measured risk on their part. We will see if it works out. But it certainly caught everybody off guard last night.
Speaker B
Yeah, when you're talking about those guys being smart, I'm with you. That's why I was a little confused about if you're going to do something like this, I'm cool with it. Take your shot. Right. But I would have expected them to move back a little bit to do it. That's all I'm saying. And you're right about deandre Ayton and Robert Williams, but I've been saying that for over a year now. How are they still on this team? Explain that to me. I don't get it. All right, Brooklyn Nets here. They take five first round picks. Adam. It's never happened in NBA history. Previously, three teams had taken four. First time that one team has taken Five. They need an entire roster, and they decided to download it last night. They take Igor Demon, Nolan Traore, Drake Powell, Ben Seraph, and Danny Wolf with their last pack of 27 of these guys, who do you like and who do you think is a little questionable? And can they hit on some of these? Because like I said, they need to build out an entire roster.
Speaker A
What they did is they prioritized passing and playmaking essentially throughout the lineup. Jaegor Demin may be the best passer in the draft. Some people call him a big point guard. I don't think he's that he's 6 foot 9. I think he's a connecting forward. Nolan Traore, terrific burst, terrific speed. Playmaker Ben Sarif, arguably the best live dribble passer in the draft, and he's also a 6 foot 6 lefty without shoes on. Danny Wolfe at 6 foot 11, played point forward at times this year for Michigan. So you see the theme. Drake Powell is a little different. He's more of a hypothetical 3 and D guy. This is a bet on their player development, which they were known for before the KD Kyrie James Harden experiment. If their player development and specifically their ability to increase the shooting of all five of those guys, let me be clear, works out, then we could look back on this and okay, that made sense. But the Night One reviews were skeptical at best.
Speaker B
Yeah, you know, and I believe in Sean Marks as a smart guy, but when you tell me that they have to improve the shooting of all five guys, all of a sudden I go, oh, no. Jordy Fernandez, bless your heart. Because, look, they got Cam Johnson under contract. They got Nick Claxton, and then they just traded for Trey Mann. And the other two guys that they have under contract prior to this draft were Noah Clowney and Derrick Whitehead. It's like, okay, I mean, Cam Thomas is a restricted free agent. I'm just like squinting at this thing, Adam, trying to figure out what the Nets are doing. And it's like, all right, I guess you're just rolling the dice and you're hoping that something hits here. But interesting moves by the Brooklyn Nets. At least you're not. You know what? At least you're not. The New Orleans Pelicans. Congratulations to the Brooklyn Nets. All right, quick timeout. And then on the other side, Adam and I are going to do best value picks from last night, biggest reaches and who the best players are that are still available going into round two tonight. Don't go anywhere. This is beyond the arc on CBS Sports Network. All right. Welcome back to beyond the Arc. Just wrapping up our coverage from the first round of the NBA draft. An interesting, entertaining, sometimes befuddling night, Adam. But we'll do a little positive thing here from last night as you think about the first round. The best value pick that you saw.
Speaker A
From the first round with a nod to Casper, Jonas to Miami, which I talked about last night On Air. Liam McNeely at 29 to Charlotte, just terrific value. I was shocked when you see some of the wings who went off the board before he did. We're talking about a skilled, smart, 6 foot 8, highly competitive wing who battled injuries and illness the vast majority of the season. Some people look at the 32% 3 point shooting and they say, oh, he's not a great shooter. Well, that's just lazy evaluating. You got to dig back into the profile and he's a. He's a big time shooter actually. So I thought Charlotte did tremendously well with that pick.
Speaker B
The Hornets making competent picks with the fourth and with that value pick at the back end of the first round. Impressive stuff by the Hornets. Unusual stuff as well. Biggest reaches. We already talked about Yang, who else might have been taken a little too soon?
Speaker A
Yeah, I'll give you three guys who, I think I'll phrase it this way, are going to have to get seasoned in the G League. Thomas Sorber at okc, probably the first one of those. I don't expect he's going to be ready to impact winning for the Thunder next season. I think they knew that and this is more of a developmental one. Will Riley and Drake Powell are similar. A lot of the guys who were fringe first rounders, those high upside swings, they went back to college this year. John, because the NIL market was so robust. Drake Powell and Will Riley both rolled the dice. Thankfully they were both picked in the first round, so they get their guaranteed contract. I do not expect them to be NBA ready. Riley with the Wizards, Drake Powell with the Nets. So I would expect both of those guys to have to get some much needed experience in their G League affiliates.
Speaker B
Yeah, for the Oklahoma City Thunder to take a reach makes sense though too because that was their 16th guy, right. And you can only have 15. So just letting him develop somewhere else seems about right. And they already. They moved off of the second pick anyway because they just have an abundance of riches. All right, last one quickly. Best available still for round two.
Speaker A
Ryan Kalkbrenner, defensive drop, coverage monster from Creighton, no appenda from France. A great connector, defensive playmaker, great passer, NBA ready body and Rasheer Fleming, great length, great athleticism, versatile defense and can knock down threes to space the floor. Those are three of the best available tonight in the second round.
Speaker B
St. Joe's Kid, a Philly kid. I love you throwing him in there. Adam Finkelstein is going to be back on CBS Sports Network and CBS Sports HQ tonight for all of our round two draft coverage. He does a great job, as does Kyle Boone, who's out there in the Internet ether somewhere trying to reconnect. But Finkelstein and Boonski, we thank both of you. You guys did a great job. That's going to do it for us today. So for Adam Finkelstein and Kyle Boone, we thank you all for tuning in. Everybody enjoy the second round of the NBA Draft tonight. Paramount podcasts now streaming on Paramount plus in 2020 a lip syncing nobody took over the Internet. What's up guys?
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