Atlanta Hawks: Four weeks to the 2025 NBA Draft, Maxime Raynaud, Carter Bryant, Liam McNeeley, etc.

Atlanta Hawks: Four weeks to the 2025 NBA Draft, Maxime Raynaud, Carter Bryant, Liam McNeeley, etc.

On today’s show, about four weeks till the NBA draft and I’m joined by Leaf Tuli to talk about the latest with the Hawks, the class, their options, post withdrawal deadline, and much more. All that’s coming up right now. You are Locked on Hawks, your daily Atlanta Hawks podcast, part of the Locked On Network, your team every day. Hello friends. Welcome to episode 1984 of the Laugh Hawks podcast. I am your host Brad Rolling coming to you on a Thursday afternoon here in late May. And today’s podcast is brought to you by the folks at FanDuel. Right now, if you’re a new customer, you get $200 in bonus bets. Your first $5 bet wins at FanDuel. I also want to encourage you at the top of the show, as I always do, to make sure your first listen each and every day gets on Hawks. Check us out and subscribe to the show anywhere you find your podcast. That includes YouTube, Apple, Spotify. Again, pretty much anywhere you can find a podcast. We will be there. If we’re not, let us know and we’ll get that solved. and be and please be sure also tell your friends, colleagues, family, etc. about this podcast. I’ll be joined in a moment by Leaf Tulene of NBA Draft Big Board, our podcast here at Offon Podcast Network about the NBA draft. Leaf does a great job covering the draft pretty much year round and is a fun guest on the show coming up today. Not a ton of news on the Hawks. There were some early entry withdrawals we’ll talk about on the show with Leaf, but just to be official on this, Yaka Lindborg, who I mentioned earlier this week, went back to college. Leberon Phylon of Alabama was the big surprise on Wednesday evening. Ended up going back to college after kind of almost being all in on the draft it seemed like. And then Auburn Stad Pedifford decided to go back to college and uh every everything in between. So anyway, not a huge huge bit of announcements. F was the big surprise. Certainly someone I would have had in my mix at 22, but beyond that, still quiet on the front office front, still quiet on the rumor front, all that fun stuff as we go into late May and early June. So anyway, without any further delay, we’ll dive back in now with Leaf and NBA Draft Talk here with four weeks to go until the big day. I’m joined now by Leaf Tulene, one of the hosts over at the Locked on NBA Draft Big Board podcast. Leaf, how’s it going, man? I’m doing well. I I uh always a busy time of the year. I’ve been on a lot of podcasts and I’m curious because the Hawks have picks in in a very deep range in this year’s draft. So, I think that’ll be fantastic to monitor to see if maybe they try to move up and and couple those picks to move up, but if they have 13 and 22, uh Quinn Snder’s been able to maximize players draft in that range many of times. Yeah, it is really fascinating. I’m going to ask about the kind of the depth of the class in a second. We are also talking the day after the early entry withdrawal deadline for the college guys. I wonder uh any anything raise your eyebrow. I guess the big surprise late was Leber and Phylon, but any anything that like you think impacts the Hawks range? Like was anybody anybody that came back to school that you would have considered in the top 22? Yeah, I think Phylon would have been the only one that that I think is in that range. I think you could make an argument for like Yako Landberg. Uh he was at UAB. He’s transferring to Michigan. I I don’t know if he would have gone in the top 20, but there’s certainly a world in which that happens. But that one was less of a surprise than uh Phylon, who had indicated he was all all ships ahead straight to the NBA draft and returned to Alabama at the at the absolute crack of dawn. Like he got there, he got back right in the nick of time. And then Landborg had indicated he was 60% likely to return to school at the entry of the combine. So, that one didn’t shock me, but he’s the only other one that comes to comes to mind. Yeah, I think we agree there. And uh as a selfish Michigan fan, I was not terribly upset to see Oxler go back to school. Uh but other than that, it was uh interesting to say the least. Um with that out of the way, I mean, you already mentioned I was I was just going to ask you, but uh this I’ve been saying for me anyway, this is a I I don’t mean flat in a negative way, but from 13 to 22, even like maybe starting in the mid lottery, I don’t think there’s a huge gap between those guys and where the Hawks are. Um what do you how do you kind of view this class beyond the top, the guys that Hawks probably have no access to like once they get into even even a trade-up range, for example? I did a a trade-up show last week about what the Hawks could maybe do if they got to like, you know, seven or eight or whatever. But what how do you kind of view this middle portion of the first round? Well, the thing that’s interesting is you look at it with the context of the season prior where where there were no allstars that that you saw as slam dunk, they’re going to be allstars, maybe they can be all NBA, which is the way you kind of classify prospects. The Hawks had number one in that draft and draft a guy that I kind of would think would go six or seven in this draft. So, in that in that regard, you’d probably be pretty confident in the sense that you’re getting a good pick at 13 and 22. But, it’s not always the case. this year. I do think it is the case because like you said, I think there is a bit of a plateau. I would say it’s a four maybe fiveman where a fiveman draft a one through five where I I really feel confident that the upside’s there. And then from six through 10, I think there’s a couple guys with high upside and maybe lower floors and there’s a couple with higher floors, lower upsides, depends what you what you’re into. And from maybe eight through 18, I think you can make a lot of arguments for different players and that you have legs to stand on. I do think there’s a slight dip once you get outside, maybe just a touch further outside of the lottery and then you’re trying to bank on traits more. So, I don’t think there’s going to be as many plugandplay guys uh that are are immediately ready to go uh at 22 as there are at 13, but that’s no surprise. But I think the fact that it’s close and it bears discussion is a good sign. And I think the Hawks certainly have the pieces to move up. Like you you mentioned maybe that’s a possibility. I don’t think you can get into the top five, but if there’s someone they really like, I I think that you do have the pieces to do so. Uh we won’t go long on this part because this doesn’t really impact the I’m just curious. Um where does like who’s who’s in your top five? How where’s that where’s that kind of line break happen for you? Yeah, so my top five is Flag at one, Harper at 2. I really have a 3A 3B between Trey Johnson and Ace Bailey. And then there’s a hard gap between those top four. And number five for me is VJ Edgecomb. But I I could be convinced out of VJ Edgecom. I’ve been on the radar of or on the record I should say of being pretty low on VJ Edgecomb for a while. Uh he did have a good finish to the season. I do think he’s got more upside than maybe the next guy after that. But as a Utah Jazz fan, I would be pretty frustrated if the fifth pick became VJO. Yeah. Yeah. And then you get into that um you kind of allude to that kind of maybe it’s a half tier or whatever below that which is maybe more of the Hawks trade up range like if somebody gets to them um I mean I won’t name all of them but like we’ve talked about guys like common Malawa Kanapple uh even Derek Queen maybe although he might fall to where the Hawks are something like that in that range. Do you have a favorite in that range? Like let’s just say I asked you all right the Hawks are going to trade up. I’ll give you that preface. if they were to trade up, is there a guy that you might like for them to do so? Yeah. So, the Hawks are an interesting situation because, you know, they’ve kind of been in basketball purgatory in in the sense that they’ve been too good to have a top top pick without with the exception of Reach and climbing up the lottery enormously. And even then, you didn’t get a transcending franchise changing talent there. So, they have pieces. So, fit does matter more than most teams. I’m typically very prone to saying best player available. I if you were to asking me which player I think has the highest ceiling that I would take for most teams, it would be Derek Queen because I think Derrick Queen has the capacity be an offensive hub much like Alper and Shangon, uh, Damont Sabonis. I’m not going to say Joic, but that’s the ilk, right? Like he’s he’s going to have the ball in his hands and if you need an offensive creator, that’s great. The Hawks don’t necessarily need that with Trey Young on their team. Um, so that that changes the equation a little bit. They do have centers. Malawatch would be intriguing to me for the Hawks because he’d be a perfect threat as a lob threat and someone who’s got a tremendous wingspan and size to complement extra Trey Young. However, you’ve got front court depth. Uh you have Okong Wu and other players and you don’t want to slide them down. So, I don’t think there’s a clear fit, but those are two of the guys I think are more capable early in the draft. Um those would be the two I would point to as being the guys I’d draft for most teams. The Hawks could make a pitch for a wing, but I don’t know if Khan moves the needle as much to me in terms of the upside as those guys. Central is brought to you by FanDuel Sports Bug Man playoffs are in full swing. 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That’s of course headlined by the NBA is talked about all the time on this podcast. Plus college sports, NFL, MLB, NHL, UFC, they have golf, tennis, soccer, both foreign and domestic. They have boxing and everything in between for you at FanDuel. And if you’re new to FanDuel, it’s perfect time right now to sign up with the folks FanDuel sportsbook. And the place to go is fanduel.com. One more time, that’s fanduel.com. Go there right now and place a $5 bet. If that first bet wins, you get $200 in bonus bets at FanDuel. make every moment more was fatal official profing partner of the NBA. Not that one of those guys couldn’t fall. In fact, I’ve already seen multiple mocks that have Queen getting to 13, which which would surprise me, but it’s not impossible to happen. I I do want to move into the range of like again, some of these guys could be gone, but it’s kind of the more practical 13 range. They’ll kind of go down from there. Um, you mentioned the front court depth. I mean, I know there’s a big split among Hawks fans, and I get it on both sides about whether they should maybe target a center. Um, the Kong Woo is not universally popular. I’d probably higher on him than the fan bases at this moment in time, but, you know, he is limited in size, all those things. Um, do you like any of the of the bigs in the kind of late lottery, mid- first round range? I’m talking, you know, Thomas Sorber, Ace Newell, like whichever one you whichever guy you might like. Do you have do you have a preference or anybody that you really like in that kind of mid- first round range as a big man? Neither of those guys give me too much confidence. I I wouldn’t be surprised if either of them are solid, but I wouldn’t I wouldn’t necessarily say, yeah, we’ve got a better big now coming in than Okongu. Like Okongu, I I’m actually with you on this. I think he’s better than the majority of what I imagine Hawks fans do and just like the NBA discourse that I see. Uh I I think he’s better. So, if you were to take a center, I’d feel like you need to go and if it’s defensively oriented, I think it would have to be Malawatch to make me feel like this is a worthwhile pick. And if you’re going to say, you know what, we’re going to go for a player that has upside to be an offensive hub. Uh Derek Queen would be the reason. Like, he’s not good defensively. I don’t think he ever will be in the scheme of the NBA. I think he can be, you know, competent inside inside defensively, but you need someone who’s a better rim protector next to him, but you you live with that because he’s got the capacity to score 18 per game and dish out a couple assists. Like that’s that’s what you’re bit banking on. Uh, as for Sorber, Sorber’s got a lot of traits, but he’s he’s raw. Uh, he’s a guy that I’m a little lower on than Consensus. Um, and a new I think he’s a a five skill-wise and a four sizewise. And so I I don’t necessarily love that pick for the Hawks, especially if your main complaint, not your your particular, but Hawks fans main complaint is Okong Woo’s lack of size. Yeah. And then you get down on the board a little bit, you know, I’m a wary of a little bit of these consensus boards. They’re they’re not they’re useful for sure to tell you where guys, but you get you get into like Baron Jay, you get into Maxim Reno maybe down the board a little bit. I love Maxim right now. Okay. So tell me about him a little bit. People like him. He’s there at 22. So you have a section here. I don’t want to jump the gun too much though. It says on the side it says Leafs guys. I will I will preface this with I am a diehard Stanford fan. I I have watched every game for football and basketball since I’ve been about four years old. So I will preface that with this but Maxim Reno can play. Like he is really really good. He’s 7 foot one. He’s he’s skillful. He has a left-hand jump hook, right hand jump hook, shoots threes, guards. uh at the end of the season when they said, “Hey, we we’re a little less worried about your fouling right now, like go after it defensively.” He started blocking shots. So, people that are going to dive in and be like, “Oh my gosh, he’s 7-1, doesn’t block that many shots.” Like, look at his end of season stats and then look at the fouls versus block shots. And all of a sudden, he figured out, you know what, this is how I’m going to block shots without fouling. He scored 20 20 and and 11, was the second best player in the ACC behind Cooper Flag. And that guy was unanimously the best player. Like, it wasn’t close. and any other year he’d he’d have run away with the ACC player of the year. So, this is a really good basketball player and he was a late developer. So, though he played four years at Stanford, he’s not necessarily fully breached his potential. I think there’s a lot to give. And honestly, my my prediction is he’s not there at 22. Like, that’s how high I am on Maxim right now. No, that’s interesting. I mean, it’s weird. I think he’s always been kind of in that first round discussion. Maybe around I don’t know, maybe a month ago. is very arbitrary, but like he seemed to be climbing on a lot of boards and it’s hard to figure, you know, you know, you know this very well. Um, I try not to tell people to go overboard on what they see in mock drafts, especially early in mock drafts and like where guys slot because some guys are just the league likes more than the mock drafts do and vice versa. There are players, in fact, I’m going to ask you about one in a second that’s getting s like kind of sudden lottery buzz, but it’s interesting. It’s like kind of on the board. But yeah, 20 for me 22 totally in play. 13 would be a little bit high for me for for Maxim, but maybe not for you. Maybe not for you based on an answer. I I’d imagine that he won’t go that high, but I wouldn’t knock it if it happened. That makes sense. That’s uh that’s totally fine. In fact, um I’ll just ask you this now. I was Let’s put um put the Queen Malawak thing because you you seem to like those guys and I like those guys, too. Um, is there an ideal 13th overall pick that you think is both reasonable and someone that you like, maybe you like more than everybody else does that’s not one of the bigs? See, that’s a great question because then you look at a lot of wings and what the Hawks have is promising wings and so this is where you have to really trust your evaluation and trust the development. And having seen Quinn Snyder up close and personal with the Utah Jazz, I do trust a lot of that internal development. But it’s about playing time and Quinn Snyder, if there has been fault, it’s been he sticks with his guys for too much too long and and there’s less people that develop and there’s some that just ascend and some that stagnate. So with all that being said, one guy that sticks out to me is Noah Sen. Uh and I think he’s got all the traits. He’s also French. He’s got all the traits. And typically these guys who look like baby giraffes, uh you know, there’s a a slower ascension if there is one. And sometimes the skills are behind where the athleticism level is and you say, “Well, where’s the productivity going to come from?” That’s that’s one thing that’s big. But I will say this, his free throw rate is the exact same, maybe even a percentage point higher than that of Julius Randles at Kentucky. And for those of you who didn’t watch Julius Randle at Kentucky, he was a bowling ball. Just bludgeoned people, went to the national championship, and got to the free throw line at will. So there is some more uh already proven uh productivity and physicality that’s with that long cultish body. So he’s a guy and then Carter Bryant’s a guy that I’ve had in my top 10 uh top 11 for probably since November even when he was outside the first round according to many. So he’s a guy that if he’s there at 13 I’d run to the run to the podium and say I’m going to bet on his traits. This is the type of guy that all teams need in the NBA. But, uh, you still have a kind of a long list of forwards that you have to play. So, and none of those guys move the needle need-wise, but I think talent-wise, I certainly would be happy to get them. I always end up saying like, this is I know it’s kind of reductive, but you can’t have too many of these guys. I know it’s like there could be some developmental issues with not being able to play guys enough. That is definitely fair, but all else fails. like I’d love to have more 68 69 610 rangy forwards that you can you can you can kind of deploy and Bryant’s interesting case where I’ve talked about him a lot recently I don’t know why that is just not wasn’t really on purpose but I’m looking at a consensus board right now that’s one of those roundups and he is literally the 13th player so it’s like right there and that he might be gone certainly could be there what do you I mean I know it’s just that he’s got great physical traits what do you like about the player like what skills kind of things do you like about Carter Bryant so my pitch on him and I I work for the Utah Jazz and I do uh and and not in the scouting department, but I but I watch all these games and then I do big board and I often find myself in conversations with people around the building about the draft. And my pitch in November, I watched a game in November and I went and found someone that I know that we talked the draft together and I said, “Look, my pitch on him is right now he’s ranked 30th with a Timberwolves pick or the Cavs pick. We should go get this guy.” well that you know now he’s looking like a lottery pick and the reason was you don’t see people at that size slide the way he does that was the simple pitch like that that was all I said and then I watch more of them throughout the year his shot the percentage does not tell you how pretty it is he he played a role and you know most all-American guys come in with a bravado and ego and sometimes that’s good sometimes it’s bad he blended in and played a role to perfection he was asked to play without the ball he was asked to play simply and shoot the ball open times and make the right passes, finish in transition, and he did all those things well. And then you watch him slide his feet defensively. He can guard multiple positions. Uh, and like I said, at that size, you don’t see people as fluid, but typically those who are that fluid are lacking for touch if they’re, you know, considered as a project. I think he’s got really good touch. I think he’s got more ball skills like in high school. I haven’t taken too much of a watch of what he did in high school, but he was a McDonald’s All-American for a reason. It’s not usually just athleticism. like you have to demonstrate you’re the guy to score the basketball. He shot the ball well. He gets rebounds. He makes the right passes. Uh he’s a guy that I would very happily take in the water. And if he’s there at 13, I think Hawks fans should be excited. I would like that a lot to uh I do want to ask about one or two more guys and I do want to ask you the uh the who are your guys question that I always ask everybody on my podcast. Um Cedric Coward is the guy I was alluded to earlier that’s kind of skyrocketed in the last month or so. He wasn’t a mystery to draft people, but certainly was not a famous player in the mainstream. He didn’t play very much this year. For one thing, Washington State before that kind of a weird track. Um, where are you on the Cedric Coward train? Is he is he a lottery guy for you like he is for a lot of people right now? Yeah, I have him just outside my lottery. So, uh, very easily could crack into the top 14. I think I am 16 or 17 right now. Uh, the thing about Cedric Coward I really like is you watch those six games and a bunch of them he puts up prolific numbers. The one game he did not, I watched in in its entirety and he faceguarded a potent shooter for Iowa and took him out of the basketball game. The intangibles looked good. Didn’t force anything even though the guy had scored 30 in a game prior. So, uh, he had a seven two and a half wingspan. He he measured in shooting the ball well at the star drill as well as a 38% from three. Uh, some people would be scared of the lack of, you know, numbers and competition. and he took a very secudous route from D3 will lam it to Eastern Washington to Washington State then to Duke but decide to bypass Duke and go to the NBA draft. I I like that route. I It’s betting on yourself. It It’s believing in one’s abilities and I do think he will end up in the top 20. I I think he could have a similar rise to that of Jaylen Williams who went number 12 to the Thunder obviously is fantastic and he rose through the combine but it’s a little different because Jayen Williams dominated the combine scrim. just Coward did not participate in those and I think Jay Williams was a little more ball in hand than Cedric Coward is. Uh but I do think he’s going to be a factor for the Hawks at 13. I think he’s gone by 22. Yeah, right in that same feeling. I’d be surprised now if he got to 22. If you ask me three weeks ago, I’ been like, “All right, maybe at 22.” And now it’s uh he might have to be the 13th pickup. The Hawks want him uh by the time we get there. The other guy I wanted to ask you about knowing uh where I know your jazz allegiance is all those things. Um maybe I’m sure this has come up a lot. Aigor Demon’s probably talked about a lot around Utah. I’d imagine having played at BYU. Um are you are you a fan? I find I won’t I’m not trying to color your uh your I’m not the I’m not the highest on Agore honestly, but uh I don’t hate him either. The passing is fantastic. So what what do you think of him as a potential top 20 pick? I think he goes in the top 20. I have him just outside my top 20. But here here’s the thing. How here I’m going to reiterate this to to people. So it’s not very often you’re going to pick a person with better traits than Jagor Deon even at 13 much less 22 because he’s 6’9 barefoot more or less and is the best passer in the draft. Like that’s those are just the two facts, right? like looked measured barefoot, was nearly 6’9 and he’s the best passer in the draft. You don’t see that very often. However, you watch him play basketball and he leaves a lot to be desired at this point because his physicality is is not very good. When he was guarded by competent athletes, he was hounded and was not able to go north south. He was very much east west. Uh his shot is a little bit shaky though. but did look improved at the combine because I saw him play in person and I watched it closely at the Marriott Center which is the home of BYU and then I watched him uh at the combine and and saw the three look a little bit better. Like that stuff does matter. No one’s going to say, “Yeah, that guy doesn’t have potential and therefore he’s going to go in the top 20.” I feel confident in that assessment. For myself and for the Utah Jazz, I don’t necessarily love that pick unless it happened to be at 21. Obviously, I don’t think he’s going number five, but for the Hawks and you have Trey Young already, I don’t think I think about him at 13. I kind of don’t think he’s gonna be there at 22 because like I said, 6’9, barefoot, best passer in the draft that doesn’t usually slip. That is pretty much exactly what I think about Demon, too. Like, I I I get the appeal. The passing is really awesome. I don’t love really much of anything else. And because of what you said about the Hawks, like they could use some more creation, but he uh you know, not the best probably best natural fit with Atlanta. I do want to get to your guys. You already won leak with Maxi Murdo, which is totally fine. That was organic. It was not planned. Um I know given how much you basketball you watch, you you have to have a few guys that you just are maybe hire on. It could, by the way, it could even be a second round. I know the Hawks will have a second round pick. At some point I’m probably gonna do a second round pick discussion because as you know it isn’t that hard to get back in the second round. If a team wants to go get a second round pick they can get one. It would not shock me if the Hawks end up picking at 40 or something like that. So uh the floor is yours. I want you to share somebody or maybe somebody’s that you seem to love beyond Max. So Reo is definitely one. I would say the other one that is out of range for the Hawks, but I’m just going to say it for the the listeners. I love Trey Johnson. I think Trey Johnson is fantastic. Like I said, if I had to pick right now, third overall, I would say Trey Johnson is is my third, but I wouldn’t necessarily take him from the 76ers because that’s an interesting thing. But I digress. So Trey Johnson’s my first guy. I think he’s the best shooter in the draft outside of a guy named Kobe Bray who will not go in the first round. And then then it becomes Carter Bryant’s probably my second guy in terms of going from my top of the board to the to the bottom of the board. Carter Bryant’s my second guy. I’m very intrigued by Noah Asen. So that’s another one I’ve mentioned. Carter Bryant’s been the one I’ve talked about the most throughout the entire process. So very much tied to his success. Then you get to the world of Ray No, and a few others. And then there’s there’s a guy named Nate Clifford. And I don’t know if I’m necessarily higher than everyone else now, but I’d say for throughout the college season because I watch a ton of college hoops and maybe like except for the total draft nerds that he’s just kind of a relative unknown because he’s at Colorado State. But the guy’s kind of like Josh Hart and that’s a player that I think uh Quinn Snyder with the Jazz or with the Hawks could certainly love. And that’s a guy at 22 I think could be well within range. And basically he he was a role player at Colorado for a couple years. Played next to Tristan Dilva who’s the the you know more advanced player at the time, more skillful player. Then he transferred down to Colorado State. You know you could say that’s down but I would say it is from at the time Pack 12, then Big 12 down to a a Mountain West school. And then he was the best player on the team that was a shot away from making the Sweet 16 and was really dynamic to finish the season. He was a 19 and 10 guy. Shoots 38% from three, gets a ton of rebounds, deflections, versatile player. Uh he’s a guy that I really would take a gander at at 22. And I don’t know if I would say he’s my guy because I think I have him somewhere around 20, but it’s it’s a player that I’m very fond of because I’ve been watching him for a long time, which is kind of different than, you know, elevating a player up the draft board. Um, and then if you get down to the end of the draft and you get into the later rounds, a lot of my favorite players came back. I was very, very high on I think I was the founder of the Thomas Hul hype train and he went back to Florida. I been tweeting about him since January as a top 20 pick. So, I’m kind of sad about that because I wanted some wanted some praise for that. But, uh, the last guy that I think’s interesting and I think has been overshadowed at this point is Liam McNeely. I probably should have ranked him ahead of uh Nick Clifford in terms of this chronological order, but Liam McNeely was largely considered a top 10 guy or a top 15 guy. Now when I see Moxy’s usually there around 20, he’s a guy that I would take top 15 pretty comfortably because he was perpetuated into a role that he probably shouldn’t have played. He’s supposed to plug and play three and D at the college level and excel at that. And instead, Alex Cariban at Yukon wasn’t able to take the leap that people thought. their point guard play was disastrous in comparison to years prior and he was asked to do a ton with the ball in his hands and that wasn’t the role he was anticipated to play. Scored 38 and 10 joining the likes of Michael Beasley and Kevin Durant as the only freshman to do that in a road game. Um he he just fits the the mold of basketball player I like and I think he’s being undervalued. He was actually on my list to ask you about Neil because I was uh doing a mock draft as the Hawks and I was considering him actually at 13. somebody fell to me and I took that person instead. But McDera was like, I might take him here. And it felt I wasn’t sure about it, but I I feel like I’m I’m higher on him than the consensus is now, too. Kind of in the same mold. Like, you know, this the six I agree with you 100% on the role. He’s he’s a I mean, if you if you buy the shooting, and that’s that’s the question. It’s like if you if you still think he’s going to be a high level shooter, there’s really a lot to like with Liam McNeely, especially if you’re a team that needs shooting. And I I don’t like the draft for need, but the Hawks do need shooting long term. They don’t have a ton of overwhelming shooting. So, uh, for me, he would be on my radar. I mean, 22 would be a no-brainer. Even 13, I would be considering him personally. I would I’d consider him a 13. And here’s a comparison. I don’t think he’s going to be this good of a basketball player, but it like this is the the Envision Envision role for the Hawks. And just in general, what I what I compared him to is Bojon Boddonovich. And if you remember a couple years ago, Boon Vogdanovich with the Jazz was prolific. He scored 1819 a game. Shot 40 plus% from three. Obviously, you got to improve the shooting, but he’s a good shooter and has been for a long time. The numbers dipped because he took a role that was foreign to what he should have been doing and foreign to him at that point as a young player in his career. He puts the ball on the deck a little bit, is a tenacious rebounder, will never be an amazing NBA defender, but competes as competes as hard out and is better defensively than I think people will give him credit for considering he took on the best roles defensively and the best players. So, uh, he he’s a guy that I’m high on. And then one guy who’s fallen drastically in the draft, um, but had top five buzz last off season was Nolan Chore. And he he’s a point guard, so I don’t necessarily think he is the guy for the Hawks, but just to be thorough and say guys that I I think have more value than many others. Nolan Chore was like a lightning bolt getting to the rim. He scored 40 plus in some some of these highlevel exhibitions with high school age guys. He’s played pro ball in France a couple years now. And though his shooting hasn’t improved a ton, he’s still been very effective. And I tend to believe in guards that are effective in foreign leagues more than those those wings that have all these traits because sometimes they’re underdeveloped skill-wise. And he’s got skill. He just hasn’t put together the shooting yet. He’s a pick and roll guy that’s very clever. He’s got speed. Uh I I’d imagine he’ll be a successful pro for a while. Yeah, he’s on my radar, too. And I think the Hawks are not necessarily like off the board for guards. Like they probably could take one. They’re not overwhelming there. I know they have Trey, but um given where I mean, if they were drafted in five, you wouldn’t take a point guard, but at 22, they certainly could take a point guard. It would not surprise me. All right, that is it for myself and Leaf to Lean. Little bit of technical difficulties at the very end of this conversation, but we’re almost there anyway. So, Leaf, I appreciate him being here on the show. Please check his work out at locked on NBA draft bigboard. You can follow him at leaf to lean on social media as well. Does a great job covering the draft and we’ll have much more to come later on this week. So, please subscribe to Lot on Hawks anywhere you find your podcast, Apple, Spotify, YouTube, etc. Follow the show on Twitterx at Loton Hawks. Follow me there at BT Roland. Follow my nonpodcast work at patreon.com/btoland. I appreciate everybody listening to the podcast as always and we’ll see you all next time.

Brad Rowland (@BTRowland) hosts Episode 1984 of the Locked on Hawks podcast, and he is joined by NBA Draft analyst Leif Thulin (@LeifThulin) with four weeks until the 2025 NBA Draft. Topics include the impact of players who choose to stay in college over testing the draft waters, prominent options with the No. 13 and No. 22 picks, Leif’s personal favorites in this class including Maxime Raynaud and Carter Bryant, and much more.

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