Liam McNeeley is a SECRET SNIPER that Nobody is Talking About | Miami Heat 2025 NBA Draft Prospect

Liam McNeeley is a SECRET SNIPER that Nobody is Talking About | Miami Heat 2025 NBA Draft Prospect

Liam McNeely is a cold ass white boy. So, we’re going to kick off our draft series by talking about Liam McNeely simply because Bleach Report posted a new mock draft today and that’s who they had the heat selecting at number 20th overall with that Golden State Warriors pick. Now, Liam has some good size on him. Pause. Unpause. But because he’s a 67 210 lb small forward who is only 19 years old and going into this draft, I do prefer the Heat take the younger prospect with some more upside just because the Heat kind of suck right now. So it doesn’t make sense to take an older win now player when you’re not ready to win now. So I’m sorry to my Walter Clayton fans out there, but at 67 I do think Liam could play the small forward in the league as well. Although I personally would prefer that he’s a bigger two guard in the league, but it remains to be seen what position he will play. Now, at his freshman season at Yukon, he averaged 15 points per game, six rebounds, and two assist on a very concerning 38% from the field and an even more concerning 32% from three. Yeah. And you shot 12% in your last YMCA league. Hey, listen y’all. It’s telling me that 43.5% of y’all are subscribed to the channel and I just want to let you know I appreciate that. And to the other 56.6%, I also appreciate you because you’re watching this video, but your subscription is still appreciated. So, let’s get back into the video. The reason those numbers are so concerning is because his calling card is shooting. A team will draft him because of his shooting, but we’ll kind of get into that a little bit later. But I do want to note he was almost an 87% free throw shooter, which is a sign of good mechanics. You could see he has beautiful form. He just couldn’t get the shots to fall this year at a rate that he wanted to. But we’ll get into that a little bit later. But off rip, there is one thing that I really like about him a lot, which is simply the fact that he went to Yukon. He played under Dan Hurley, who I think is a phenomenal coach. He was actually up for the Lakers head coaching job before JJ Reddit got that. And just in general, I think he does a great job developing NBA talent. You could look as recent as this past draft with Stefan Castle, Donovan Klingan. Both those guys had some pretty decent rookie seasons. And in general, Yukon is a historic college basketball franchise when it comes to developing NBA talents. Although of recent, it hasn’t been as great. Once I looked into it, I was shocked to see how bad it was. of the last 10 players to come out of Yukon behind Castle and Klingan, the third best player might be Shabbaz Napier. And as a Heat fan, we know how bad that that turned out. Uh but in general, they’ve had a lot of great NBA players over the years. Uh if you want to look a little more recently, Kemell Walker, Andre Drummond, Rudy Gay, and then if you look back further in the past, obviously they got our guy Ray Allen, our guy Karan Butler, Rip Hamilton. So, they have produced a lot of NBA talent over the years, which I do like in a prospect because coming out of a school who knows how to produce NBA players just gives you a better background uh to be ready coming into the league. But Liam McNeely was a guy that was pretty highly touted even in high school. He played for the legendary Mont Verde Academy who has always had stacked rosters. few years ago they had like nine NBA players with Kate Cunningham and Scotty Barnes but even Liam’s draft or class high school class was phenomenal obviously you see Cooper Flag here who everyone knows they also had Derek Queen who was phenomenal at Maryland he’ll be a lottery pick as well but Liam McNeely was a McDonald’s all-American who was actually ranked number nine in the class of 2024 I saw videos on YouTube of him and Cooper Flag and they were saying this is the most dominant duo in the country so it’s very clear that There’s a lot of skill there with Liam McNeely that potentially could be pulled out of him once he gets to the NBA. Uh, also by the way that Mont Verde class also had Asa Newule who went to Georgia and he’ll also be a lottery pick. And then they also had a guy named Ace Flag who is literally Cooper Flag’s twin brother. I had no idea, maybe I’m a casual, but this is the first time I’m learning that Cooper Flag had a twin brother. But anyways, there’s very clearly a lot of potential there with Liam McNeely and where he selected to go in all these mock drafts actually is uh varies a ton. Uh Bleacher Report of course had him at number 20, but then I saw CBS at 14, The Ringer at 16, CBS at 12, NBA Draft.net at 22, and Tankathon at 14. So outside of NBA Draft.net, all these other platforms have him going a lot sooner than number 20. So I think there’s a lot of potential there. teams are probably just scared about the the poor field goal percentage that he had in college, but there was a lot of talent prior to that. Some of the player comps that I seen was Keegan Murray and then well, outside of that, I really only ever saw one other comp, which is Cory Kisspert. I appreciate Bleacher Report for giving the Keegan Murray uh comparison because almost always they these platforms compare white guys to other white guys and that’s what they everyone else did with Cory Kisspert. And I guess I I get it because if Liam McNeely’s a shooter, they want to compare it to another shooter. Most of them are white, but they couldn’t give us a Malik Beasley, a Tim Hardaway Jr., no one. But anyways, a lot of the badges that I’ve seen for Liam McNeely are catch and shoot threat, offball mover, three-point marksman, you get the drift. Right now, obviously, I’m concerned because of that three-point percentage, but every time I read an article about why he shot so poor from three, they all described it as basically an anomaly. The CBS Sports Bile said uh they had him going to the Spurs and they said the Spurs are one team that’s smart enough to see past the poor three-point percentage. McNeely shot from behind the arc last season as he was thrust into a starting role by necessity. So, I guess maybe he wasn’t put in the best spot. The ringer also mentions that one reason McNeely actually uh struggled was he wasn’t being optimized in Dan Hurley’s system which relies on heavy movement from the shooters, flying off screens, quick lateral movement, and on those catch and shoot o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o opportunities where he’s kind of in motion, he only shot 28% from three, but on his wide openen standstill catch and shoot, he actually shot 43% from three. So, it sounds like he’s a lot better catch and shoot three-point shooter from the standstill than off motion, but in general, he shot 36.7% from three overall. Now, that was kind of conflicting what I read from the Ringer because all these other articles talk about how great he is moving without the ball, which he is. I I’ve read he’s very good and uses his high basketball IQ uh basketball IQ to find these open spots on the floor. But if you’re not knocking down those shots at a consistent rate, then does it really matter if you’re able to find the open spot of the courts? Uh, I don’t know. Yahoo Sports says that McNeely is the type of player who might average 15 points per game, but you need to give him attention like he averages 35 because of the way that he stresses the defense with his constant motion. He relocates, he cuts, he sniffs out the open space and makes his way there using deception or screen. So definitely sounds like he’s very smart at getting the shots that he wants, especially off the catch. Hopefully he can knock them down at a higher rate in the NBA, kind of like he did in high school. Now, usually it doesn’t work like that. Usually you don’t get worse going into college and then better getting into the NBA, but I suppose it’s possible. Obviously, that bio that we just read, it reminds us heavily of Duncan Robinson, who all we ever hear about Duncan Robinson is the gravity, which I know I’m doing quote unquote gravity, but it’s true. Duncan is probably the best offball mover mover in Miami Heat history. And when he had those few seasons where he was lights out from three, you can see the entire defense shift just when they chased Duncan Robinson around the entire court. Now, maybe one of the reasons that Liam didn’t really convert those looks at a high rate was the ankle injury. He did miss some time this year dealing with that ankle injury. So maybe it never healed 100%, but by the time he did come back, he played two games in the tournaments and he really wasn’t great. In their first game versus Oklahoma, he shot two of 13 from the field. And then in their second game versus Florida, he did have 22 points, but it was on 6 to 16, 37% from the field. And I get it, it was verse Florida who ended up being the champion. So I maybe I shouldn’t fault him too much for that. If you’re watching this video, then you are an elite ball knower. So why not take advantage of it with my bookie? Listen y’all, throughout the NBA playoffs, I’ll be using their live betting feature to smash the Davon Mitchell overs and smash the Rudy Gobear unders and then using their early cash out option to stack up the profits. If you want to do the same, make sure to sign up for my bookie using promo code MM50, which will instantly boost your first deposit. And then once the games wrap up, you can check out their casino which has blackjack and slots and roulette. You name it. Bet on anything, anytime, anywhere. Only with my bookie. Now, let’s get back into the video. But that’s pretty much it as far as his scoring potential. I mean, he’s not a great finisher in the paint at all. For a movement shooter, he has decent handle to be able to get there, but his lack of athleticism leads to a bunch of awkward finishes. and he only shot 46% at the rim at Yukon, which is not great at all. You compare that to a guy like Duncan Robinson or Max Drew. Those guys led the league in two-point percentage for a couple of seasons just because they were so efficient when they got to the rim. And if you’re going to be known as a shooter in the NBA, that means that guys are going to run you off the line. And if you can’t finish at the rim at an efficient clip, then you might not be that great a player in the league. That being said, there is some high upside scoring there. If if he can get the shot down, there’s the potential that he has the ability to get hot and really get rolling. We saw one game at Yukon where he had 38 points. So, the ability is there. Like, I don’t think you just randomly score 38 points in a college game if you don’t have highscoring upside potential. And again, the three-point percent or the free throw percentage was about was at about 87%. So, the mechanics are great. Just by watching, you could tell the form is beautiful. quick release, full extension, elbow in follow through, all the stuff that you hear the coaches clamor at your first basketball camp. He has all that and just overall he does seem like a very high IQ player who knows how to make the right read as well. Uh he plays in the flow of the offense. He can run the occasional pick and roll. So just not a guy who’s going to stagnate the offense. And if you remember, Duncan Robinson didn’t have a lot of that those facilitating chops when he came into league. he really started to develop that twoman game with Bam Baile where they did those dribble handoffs, the pick and rolls, and that’s when we saw Duncan be a much better facilitator. So, if Duncan can kind of grow into that potential, maybe a guy like Liam McNeilly can as well. Although, he did have like a two assist to two turnover ratio at Yukon, which is not that good at all. But some other weaknesses include his off the dribble shooting. He only shot 15% on dribble pull-up midis. Obviously, that’s not good either. And again, as a three-point shooter who’s going to get ran off the line, having that midi pullup just helps a ton. Now, just to keep comparing him to the Miami Heat shooters of late, Duncan is truther one of those guys was really doing dribble pull-ups either. So, as long as Liam can get to the rim and finish, I don’t think the lack of a mini pull-up is is that critical. Obviously, once you get that, that’s when you turn into one of the elite scorers like a Tyler Herro, who we see get to that mid-range game all the time. He he takes his defender off the dribble, finishes with that floater from 10 to 15 feet. That’s when you come from being just a shooter to an elite scorer, which I’m not expecting from Liam McNeely, right? He he’ll be the 20th pick in the draft. Another weakness of his, it says he’s not a shot shot creator, which is fine. If you’re drafting him and be a catch and shoot player, you don’t need him to be an isolation shot creator. I don’t have that big an issue with it. Now, the lack of athleticism that I keep hearing about, the below the rim finishing, that’s concerning to me because at 67, you got to be able to be a little physical. You got to be able to finish in that paint. And defensively, there’s obviously some concerns there as well if you’re not the quickest lateral mover. I I find it hard to believe you’re going to stay in front of your guys. And just as a Heat fan, it’s truly frustrating watching all of these guys continue to get picked on. And I’m just tired of putting one-dimensional guys out there. I want to from now on, I want the Heat to play guys that are at least competent on both sides of the ball. Overall, he’s not my favorite prospect, which it kind of sucks. We’re starting our draft series talking about him, but hey, that’s who Bleach Report had us taking. But also, I want to acknowledge again, this is pick 20. You’re very unlikely to find an incredible prospect with that pick. If you’re a Heat fan, you just want someone who can maybe contribute now or have a lot of potential. I guess one or the other. You know, if you go for at 20 is a good spot to pick a win now guy if that’s the direction the Heat want to go. Although I don’t agree. But if you do go win out guy, you want to be able to play. If you don’t, get a guy who has a ton of upside. And that just doesn’t really sound like Liam McNeely to me. Or just get a guy who you think other teams might want because if you don’t trade that pick by draft night to the Bucks for Giannis and Kumbbo, draft someone that you think the Bucks might want so you have a shot. But overall, that’s really all I got to say for this video. Let me know your thoughts down below on Leah McNeely. We will be doing tons of these draft videos throughout the entire off seasonason. So, make sure to drop some of your favorite prospects down below so I can get to a video on them. Make sure to like, comment, subscribe. All that stuff is greatly appreciated. And I’ll see you on the next one. Peace out, everyone. Pull up in your city trying to get that dead face. Do it on my own. I don’t need no [Music] dead space. You know this homegrown don’t a fan.

Discussing Liam McNeely from UCONN as a potential selection for the Miami Heat at 20th in 2025 NBA Draft. NBA and Miami Heat News featuring Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo, Tyler Herro, Andrew Wiggins, Terry Rozier, Nikola Jovic, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Duncan Robinson, Josh Richardson, Kevin Love, Haywood Highsmith, Kel’el Ware, Pelle Larsson, Keshad Johnson, Erik Spoelstra and more. Subscribe for more Miami Heat, Miami Dolphins, NBA and NFL news.

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