Atlanta Hawks: 2025 NBA Draft Preview with Jonathan Wasserman

Atlanta Hawks: 2025 NBA Draft Preview with Jonathan Wasserman

on today’s show I am joined by Bleacher Report NBA draft expert Jonathan Washerman for a look at the Hawks and the draft with just over a week to go until the big day we get into the intel on the Hawks players to target and more and it’s all coming up right now you are Locked On Hawks your daily Atlanta Hawks podcast part of the Locked Onet your team every day hello friends welcome to episode 1997 of the Lots on Hawks podcast i am your host Brad Roland coming to you on a Monday morning here in midjune and today’s podcast is brought to you by the folks at FanDuel sportsbook and right now if you’re a new customer get $200 in bonus bets your first bet wins at FanDuel the place to go is fanduel.com to get started i also want to encourage you at the top of the show as I always do to make Lock on Hawks your first listen each and every day check us out and subscribe to the show anywhere you find your podcast just search Lock on Hawks on Apple Spotify YouTube Overcast etc and we’ll be there and tell your friends about the show as well i’ll be joined in a moment by Jonathan Wasserman good friend of the podcast been on the show before he is the lead NBA draft expert at Bleacher Report NBA TV he was one of the founders I believe of NBA draft.net just a long history of covering the draft at the very highest levels and shouts to John for coming on the podcast today one quick note at the top of the show over the weekend the news broke that Igor Kazakov the Hawks lead assistant from last year is going to be moving on to a head job overseas not a surprise it’s kind of been in the ether the last few weeks but the Hawks will have a job to fill on the bench in between now and the start of the season no urgency there they can just promote somebody they don’t have to hire outside but if they want to they certainly can igor is a very respected name a very overqualified honestly lead assistant in the NBA so they’ll have to find that person to kind of tag to replace him but in the meantime that’s all we have on the news front and without any further delay now we’ll dive right in with Jonathan on the NBA draft i am joined now by one of the experts that I follow very very closely in the NBA draft space Jonathan Wasserman how are you man i’m good Brad how’s it going i’m doing well i appreciate you taking the time to do this in the midst of uh the silly season we’re I think what nine days as you and I are talking now from the first round of the draft and uh you know I’m sure you’ve been asked every question under the sun you got to do mock drafts all the time that that world is interesting i I’ll start here you know the Hawks pick 13 and 22 there’s been talk they could move up or move down or move out or all those things we’ll talk about that but what do you make of kind of the quality of the draft in the mid- first round range like I don’t want to waste your time talking about Cooper Flag on this podcast there’s no real reason to do that on this show but what do you think about like the general range of where the Hawks are and like the quality of this class i feel pretty good about this about this class not just the star power at the top but to have two picks what do you have 13 and 22 yep uh honestly I really don’t know if there’s even much of a difference between 13 and 22 i think you could say that there’s one big tier uh and I think it’s I think you’re getting good value with both of those spots like when I do these mock drafts um you know the the the the group of guys who are in contention for each pick i mean I’d say it’s a pretty strong 13 pick and a pretty strong 22 pick i guess depending on who they take at 22 but uh there’s certainly um a lot of quality options um and definitely compared to last year’s draft it’s a nice little upgrade yeah and before I ask you about some players I double will do that um not to put you on the spot but you might have thought about this are you hearing anything on the Hawks because it’s they’re it’s such a weird process with their front office like it’s this brand new group landers not there anymore like I am myself having trouble i will admit that try to figure out what they’re going to do are you hearing anything about like anyone they like or anything on the Hawks right now no and listen it’s you know they’re going to bring in everybody nobody really knows like who they actually like or who they want to take and of course um you know they don’t know who’s going to be on the board when they’re on the clock you could always zero in on a couple guys and you real then suddenly someone’s there who so you know I’m not going to pretend like I know exactly who Atlanta likes and and what they’re going to do on draft night but I think it’s pretty safe to say what group of guys they’re going to be looking at and I think with Atlanta the question right now is right you kind of have your one two and three set with Trey and Rese and Dyson Daniels so the question is how much do you do you know the the best player available versus trying to plug a hole and of course Jaylen Johnson at the four and so you know are they going to prioritize finding a center you know is that I think that’s probably like the big question of how they’re going to go about this process because there’s going to be players who are in that best player available conversation and Atlanta already has young guys kind of invested at those spots so it’ll be interesting to see what they do because there will be I think a couple big guys um at 13 and definitely at 22 that would obviously fill a hole on paper i was going to ask about big guys anyways we could just start there now i uh I know it was it’s a few days old now as we’re talking but your most recent mock you actually had Derrick Queen following all the way to 13 that’s been a guy that I can’t seem to get a feel on for the Hawks like I’ve been thinking he probably will be gone but he could be there i mean that’s kind of the range they’re in um first of all do you like the fit obviously enough to mock it at some point you did but um you know there’s been Colin Malawak trade up stuff is there a big or two that you think would be uh worthy of prioritizing at 13 overall if you’re the Hawks um you know I really like Noah Asen from France i don’t think he’s going to be there from what I’m hearing i think there’s a couple teams in the top 10 that are showing uh more interest than others and I just get the feeling he’s going to be gone um and he did measure 611 so yeah kind of wondering like what was he a four is he a five i think he could probably play to five if his body feels out but back to Queen is I like Queen’s fit on paper i mean he gives Atlanta another guy you can kind of feature in the half court somebody you can feed and not just rely on so much so much Trey and I think that’s really the big draw to Queen is game slows down in the half court he is his footwork his using both hands i mean his his handle is so much better than I thought it was going to be coming out of Mount Verde where he’s a guy who can actually play away from the basket and face you up and attack um so I I do like the fit with Queen of course then there’s you got to answer the defensive question marks because I do think that he is going to have some difficulty at least early on in his career you know they’re going to pull him away from the basket they’re going to put him in pick and rolls and he doesn’t really come off as like a big time rim protector but offensively I mean he could be very very good and and uh Malawatch from what I’m hearing is like the the level of interest in Malawatch is really high to the point where I had a team tell me the other day like they really think he’s going to go top five um and so I me personally I wouldn’t give up a lot to move up for him i think he’s a little bit raw and I think the idea of him is maybe more appealing than what you’re actually getting um but but yeah he’s somebody who’s certainly going to be in the conversation but I I don’t expect him to be there at 13 so you mentioned before that you it’s almost like one big tier and I’ve kind of we align there and that’s not why I’m having you on the show but we we we align on that one i I think that there isn’t a huge gap even between 22 and 13 and also I’ve not been the biggest proponent of trading up that’s been you know anytime you have two picks you know this like the natural question is all right if we move them put them together how how far can we move up the board i don’t love that idea but in the in the event that there was a do you have is there a guy that say “All right I’m going to guarantee you John the Hawks are going to try to trade up.” Would there be somebody that you would like because I think it’s been Malawash has been like the guy people were dreaming on but if it’s not him if you don’t see that as potentially even available is there a trade-off option or would you just kind of be like stay put and make your two picks i would stay put i mean I don’t know how far up the board you can go you know maybe you start talking to you know the Jazz or or uh the Wizards that’s five and six but even those guys like um who are projected to go there you know Jeremiah Fears is a hot name you don’t love the fit with Trey after especially what we saw with Dejante um you know Yakon is you know a top 10 name but again where does he where does he fit in the equation for Atlanta there’s just like a lot of um you know repetit repetition with with the Hawks roster and and nobody to me in that range is such a is such a surefire star that you have to trade two picks to move but I would I would stick and and take two swings here this was brought to you by FanDuel sportsia playoffs are in full swing the finals happening right now and every night and they deliver with highly worthy performances major momentum shifts and can’t miss moments whether it’s gamewinning shots or players having a true breakout in the middle of 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now to sign up head to fanduel.com right now place your first $5 bet at FanDuel if that first bet wins you get $200 in bonus bets make every moment more with FanDuel and official performance partner of the NBA so at at number 13 if it’s if it’s not a big for instance like it could be other guys we’ll talk about in a second maybe but um there’s this group of guys I’m not trying to like put them together but there’s guys who are not bigs and not guards you got your Carter Bryants and Cedric Coward and Colin Murray Boils guys that are like almost always in that late lottery range on big boards and mocks um I wonder what you think about that general range of guy you can throw in anybody else that you want to in there too that if you like somebody better than those guys but if you’re just taking a best player available pick at 13 and it’s not a big for instance is there somebody that screams to you like is there is there a personal favorite of yours in that kind of uh maybe you know wing forward i I really like Nick Clifford from Colorado State i mean I think I may have him higher than anybody else at least in the draft space um I know he’s one of the older guys but I think he’s one of those those guys who’s going to be just undervalued because he’s 23 years old um you know is he a best player available at 13 of course you know you get some push back on that and depending on who’s who’s left but the guys you threw out there I think all really justify you know a number 13 selection murray Boils is is really interesting of course you know we have to keep going back to this like can he play with Jaylen Johnson there’s just really not much of a uh you know it’s hard to picture both of them on the floor at the same time but that’s what that’s why I love the draft it’s like do you just ignore that and just take the best player available and like you worry about it in a couple years when you have a stud player you on the bench and now you have two assets and you can create some flexibility with your roster building and stuff like that but um yeah Mari Boils Carter Bryant is a is a hot name i had a scout the other day tell me like he’s definitely going in the lottery again he’s very he’s not he’s like rec in a bit where they’re you know these big big wings shotmaking wings maybe not the highest level creators i can’t imagine Atlanta would go with Carter Bryant but um Asa Newell is a name who I think should certainly be you know close to the the top of the board there in terms of like best player available if he’s left at 13 and somebody who I think is a good fit i mean I I think New plays plays the five in the NBA um and I got I got to see him work out like a solo workout uh in Chicago and he’s one of those guys like you watch in the workout setting i know it’s easy to be influenced and these guys are very persuasive one on none but man he’s he’s close to seven feet he’s flying above the rim he’s shooting threes effortlessly and that archetype of a big guy that could stretch the floor and switch defensively is is very coveted and um I I do like that fit there at the five for Atlanta well you know he’s the not you know local product being in Georgia people are asking me about him all the time so stuff like you you think he can he can stick at the five long term that’s one of the questions he has about him is like is he kind of a tweener and the Hawks already have a guy that I think is a five and a Kong Woo but isn’t a sevenfooter obviously so that’s been a conversation you think you think Asa is a five long term if you had to choose i mean I guess it depends on who he’s paired with i I do I think you can get away with him at the five in certain matchups yeah I do yeah maybe certain maybe certain games where they’re playing you know a big bruiser down low you adjust the lineup a little bit but uh I wouldn’t I wouldn’t let that you know if I thought he was the best player available I wouldn’t worry about whether he’s a four or five like that wouldn’t be a big enough issue for me or a big enough question mark uh to pass on him if you did think that he was the best guy on the board i want to go back to Nick Clifford because I probably have underdised him to be honest i like him too but because you said you have him higher than everybody else does give me the sales pitch on Nick Clipper like I I know what I like about him but what do what do you see and like what are you valuing with his game well I love the floor and and the floor was kind of there last year so he was more of like a Swiss Army knife jack of all trades guy make the open shot make the extra pass defend you know he wasn’t really a a creator and then this year they put him in that role and we just saw him kind of really take off with it and improved his off the dribble game like a crazy amount he shot 43% on pull-up jumpers and he made 60 of them i love that number he scores from every spot on the floor he’s been pretty consistent from D from deep even though it’s not on a lot of volume but also four and a half assists per game like I love those guys like Jaylen Johnson like those those big forwards who can you can run offense through um and a guy be like you know 2010 five guy like Jaylen Johnson the more I talk about it out loud the more I see some similarities but uh but that that kind of that versatility I just love and the fact that he’s gotten so much better with the ball in his hands um I love his his body type he’s got these big broad shoulders he seems to be a high character kid from everything I’ve heard and uh you know I just think he’s a very safe pick of course you know history will say you take a 23 year old in the draft you’re probably not going to get an all-star caliber player so of course it depends who else is on the board but um you know I think he’s somebody to to think about also he could easily be there at 22 by the way so you know if you’re Atlanta you probably don’t you know reach up and and grab him at 13 i guess you take the chance that he could be there at 22 if there is any interest at all that actually reminds me of something I was going to ask you in general like I am the of the mind of not even thinking that way like if there’s a guy that they like and you’re like “Hey maybe he’ll be there at 22.” If he’s your guy you just take him like to me is that So you agree with me on that it’s like you don’t want to risk it too if if it’s one guy that you’re like I’m gonna this is my guy you kind of got to just burn it at 13 if you Yeah and I think teams mostly will do that they’ll ignore you know the mock drafts out there and like whether they think he’s going to be there at 22 based on what other people like if they like him they’ll take him they’ll reach on him early you know that’s that’s what teams do and uh it’s hard to argue with the logic there where are you on the Cedric Coward split because there seems to be a split with him people are really in or they’re really not where where do you kind of fall on that as a guy who obviously the upside’s clear but he just hasn’t put that much on tape it’s just a weird weird weird evaluation it’s one of the It’s one of the strangest like scouting evaluation situations I can remember and you know you really don’t know like how legit the interest is until we see it play out on draft night everything is just buzz like he he could go in the second round and this whole this whole conversation is like such a waste of uh such a waste of time that we’re talking about him but I know people in his camp who say that there are teams that have him top 10 and then there are also people in his camp are like “Yeah there are teams who just are not are not going to want to take the chance.” a guy who played six games and didn’t really play any quality opponents but you know if you have an imagination and you want to take a little bit of risk you could see why he is an appealing guy um it’s hard to have like a confident take right it’s how could you have a confident take in the guy who played six games um and you know the year before Eastern Washington he he did play he played well against Cincinnati early that year as a junior and uh Stanford I think he had a big game against but uh still it’s like it’s one of the weirdest scouting situations but on paper you look at a guy who’s 66 6’5 in socks 72 wingspan 213 almost identical measurements to Jaylen Williams um so the body type is obviously appealing and then you just look at the tape and you see a guy who’s hitting mid-range jumpers he’s shooting a three he’s averaging almost two blocks a game he averages is almost four assists per game in that brief little sample size so he does a lot he’s got the body um it’s a it’s a clear riskreward you know high-risisk boom or bust type of of situation here I think and um we’ll see if a team is willing to to take a chance on him because the the rewards could be could be big and uh every team likes a guy with his particular skill set at that position but of course it’s hard to really have a have confidence in a guy who played just six games against pretty weak competition i wonder does it free you up if you’re the Hawks perhaps that you number one you have two picks and also what we said earlier like they don’t have that like screaming need at the position does that give you more license to take a swing if you like the guy like if you can be like “Hey if we miss here we miss it’s not going to absolutely sink us.” Is that is that a rational thought process yeah I guess it is i mean it also it it depends on who else is on the board like this could be if there’s somebody that they have top 10 who’s suddenly there at 13 you know then suddenly we’re not talking about this anymore but uh yeah I mean with two picks you always like to think that you can you can gamble with one of them especially if you think the same caliber player is going to be there at 22 you know if you have if you share my mindset where that you’re kind of grabbing from the same tier of players with both of those picks so yeah I mean you got I think it gives you a little bit more um freedom to uh to take a swing i want to go actually to the international guys for a second because I know you scout them closely and not everybody does to be honest uh what do you make of this international class in the first round because I’m not going to try to group them together always but you got you know you get these the wing forward guys like Noah Penda Hugh Gonzalez you got Noan Trayor at guard you got Baron Jay seems to be rising because he measured crazy and he’s been in the mix at 13 maybe as high as that for the Hawks um anybody stand out to you of this international class you know the Hawks are not afraid to take a guy that’s not a college player we saw that a year ago so what do you make of this kind of group i I’m really high on Noah Sen i mean I said it earlier i think he is uh he’s my number one rated international guy who who didn’t play college basketball um another guy who I just I love these guys who just keep getting better like every month he adds something new and for him to be so raw and still so productive and the second youngest player in the draft uh just at the current rate of improvement like if it just continues with his body type at 611 I mean he is a lot of similarities to Pascal Syakam Jeremy Grant that type of guy and uh so if if you just continue to you know you want to bet on on the the same type of growth we’ve seen over the last two years uh I I think his his ceiling is very high and somebody that can reach it the other guys you mentioned is Penda is Penda is an interesting guy you know to me he looks like an NBA role player you know it’s hard to picture a pathway to a lot of upside with you know he does a lot of things but nothing too great really interesting body type um but yeah he’s a sure you want to take a swing on him at at 22 or or in the late first round like I wouldn’t argue against it i think Hugo Gonzalez is going to be undervalued in this draft just because you know he barely played 11 minutes a game this year and when he did he was a lot of standing around um of course he played with Real Madrid a lot of pros former pros on that team so never really had a chance and before the season I think most would most would say Hugo Gonzalez was a lottery pick i don’t think I don’t think he got worse this year i just don’t think he had an opportunity to uh to build any confidence or rhythm so I I’d imagine he’s somebody who slips and goes maybe closer to the 20s and uh I think he’s good value in the late first round and Nolan Trayor is is uh another interesting name a guy who is lottery considered most by lottery even top 10 to start the season had a pretty inefficient year in terms of scoring in terms of shooting but was much better over the last couple months and one of the best passers in the draft i mean he’s going to go into this draft I think with the highest assist percentage of any prospect and he did it at 18 19 years old as a starting point guard in pro A so I always say passing translates you know is he going to be a is he going to be a star caliber player or you know a backup point guard like it’s it’s tough to have confidence that there’s a star upside there i have him more as a guy in the 15 to 20 range um but I do think he’s an NBA player and uh I just I just don’t know how how early I take him i think there’s a lot of varying opinions on him i’ve heard Yeah we know that there’s definitely some like you know he’s he’s been a hot name since he was you know 16 17 years old so u I know some scouts some US scouts who like just don’t see it um but of course the international guys who followed him for longer you know have have have been on him for a while and I think expect big things with just his feel for the game i think it’s he’s one of those point guards where it’s like forget about athleticism he’s just someone who knows how to play and is going to make guys around him better and to me you know he’s got enough size where if you’re the Hawks you can think he might be able to play with Trey a little bit at some point like that’s been my qualifier always like if I’m the Hawks I want to draft a small guard like a tiny guard because if the logistics of it all but Traya’s got enough size to him i I want to ask you a theoretical about maybe maybe it’s 22 maybe they trade whatever it’s going to be but if the Hawks don’t get one of the big name centers Queen Milo Washington trade up or whatever and they look at the board they say “We want to get a center at 22 we take a guy at 13 we love.” I’m I’m going to throw a bunch of names at you some of them will probably be Bond but some of them could be there you got Thomas Sorber you got uh Baron Jay Danny Wolf Maxim Reno like any what any number Ryan Cole Brener all these guys that maybe could be there at 22 maybe wouldn’t be etc if you were a team that wanted to draft a center in the 20s if you’re the Hawks would you like any of those guys better than another like I’ve always been a Sorber guy but also like I think the 13 like I I like Tom Sber but not everybody does for instance so do you have a do you have a favorite or two out of that group yeah I mean Sorber is Sorb is pretty interesting i mean he does remind me a little bit of Okangu in terms of like I I wish he was bigger i think he was 69 in socks yeah he me good his wingspan was big but he’s not the tallest guy in the world yeah yeah yeah um and I was listen I was very high on No coming out of USC i think I had him top three me too and and we kind of see it get to the league and it the game doesn’t translate the same way and and they’re not just going to feed him the ball in the post and then that was kind of Sorber’s game post up heavy um at 22 though we’re nitpicking i mean I think he’s I think he definitely um justifies a selection there and there’s a lot of defensive upside with with his length and mobility and offensively I think the the coolest thing about him is the passing he’s a really good passer somebody who’s you know a big guy that you put at the top of the key and he’s just going to throw darts to cutters and like you can run offense through him as as a a big playmaker uh so he’s got a very interesting game and definitely somebody who uh who justifies a slot there reo is Reo is like obviously one of the hottest names of the draft process the pre-draft process after the combine i think I’ve had him being mocked to Atlanta for the last couple mock drafts I have uh I think it’s at the point where maybe he’s going too early i I’ve talked to some scouts who are like he’s going to go closer to lottery than he is to to 30 um I think I’m that’s a little too high for me 22 is you know again it’s the 22nd pick in the draft i I’m not I wouldn’t I wouldn’t give him a D grade if they took him there right but there’s probably some more interesting players um that I would take that are best player available guys who are not centers uh Danny Wolf like I don’t see Wol as a even though he is a sevenfooter I don’t see him as bigger i mean I think he’s closer to to a three than he is to a five but um another interesting guy you know I just yeah I playing him as a starting center um I just don’t know if there’s going to be enough enough defense enough you know interior physicality with him but yeah very cool player with a big guy that can handle the ball like that um and Baron is he’s uh you know the same archetype as Capella that’s that’s what you’re getting you’re getting a rim runner finisher shot blocker and that’s it you know not a guy who makes many decisions with the ball it’s just catch it and dunk it or don’t don’t catch it at all so that’s what you’re getting with him i know uh I know ESPN has him pretty high i’m I’m not willing to go as high as them uh with with uh rankings and stuff but like at 22 yeah sure i I could see why you’d want to take him there yeah it’s uh again it probably seems weird if you’re not following closely the tier is so big that I feel like it’s like trying to assign slots to these guys like I’m trying to kind of generally do that but even then everything everyone that that you should consider at 22 you have to kind of think about at 13 it’s not that far away um I have to ask you he’s an international player but I promise you he’s the guy asked about the most you’re going to laugh it’s Hansen Yang hawks fans love Hansen Yang and I wonder what you think of him uh probably not 13 but um listen maybe they trade down or whatever big split on him i will say he seems to be rising people think first round may be buzz by the end of this but uh I don’t want to lead you so what do you think about Hansen Yang well I think you know I’m higher on him today than I was the day before the NBA combine i mean that was very I think I think we all are yeah yeah i mean that was like very validating to see the question was was he is he going to move you know can he move with the same with these college athletes with with these NBA prospects because they move a lot differently in China and so he held his own obviously and uh yeah I mean 22 I don’t know if I go there’s probably other guys I’d feel more comfortable with it um yeah but yeah he’s with everybody going back to college yeah he’s really moved up i mean he’s got to be an early second round pick at this point um do I think he’s a pro i yeah I think he’s got a chance um to to be a backup center could he be a could he be a you know one of those like Marcus all steals of the draft that nobody sees you know I have I don’t have enough confidence to say that but like yeah he does a lot of interesting things again with um the skill level the the footwork his passing is really good um you know I want to see when when NBA teams bring him away from the basket how how well does he move how much rim protection does he provide and if he can start to make a couple of uh you know at least threaten teams from behind the arc because he did make handful of threes this year yeah then you got an interesting player um but yeah he’s somebody I just think based on the riskreward like I’d feel more comfortable taking him at at 31 or anywhere in the second round uh than in the first but yeah he’s definitely moved up boards and he’s going to be uh he’ll be on the roster next season I’m sure i had to ask he’s very popular in Hawk Circles i’m going to let you get out of here but one more thing you might have already said it um but I I always give everybody opportunity is there like who are your guys do you have a guy or two that you like is your guy in this class it could be a second rounder it doesn’t doesn’t matter where it could be someone that the Hawks have no chance at but who do you have a guy or two that’s like this is my guy jace Richardson i love talk about because Okay so Hawks for the Hawks it’s tricky but I Okay go go go it’s interesting to me yeah i mean listen he’s I get it he’s he’s 6 feet barefoot and that was a little disheartening to see but uh I’m the type of guy who it’s like are we if he was 6’1 would we have you know would we be so worried like if he was this much taller like is it is it going to make that much of a difference i think he’s he play he just another one of those guys he just he can’t teach what he has he just knows how to pick his spots obviously he’s a shot maker a shooter but uh he just knows like when to attack when to take this step when how to how to use his body around the basket and finish like he’s one of those guys where I’m just going to bet on him figuring out how to overcome the fact that he is 6’1 and not 6’2 right like 6’3 like if he again if he measured if he measured 61 in socks which means he’d probably be 6’2 and a half in shoes like there’s a lot of successful NBA guards that are 6’2 in shoes i think he can figure it out and somebody who I think is going to slip in this draft based on that number um but yeah he’s he’s my he’s if you’re to say who’s like one of your guys he’s my guy i’ll probably have him on my final big board ranked top 10 um and and so I don’t think he’s going to go top 10 i think he’ll go probably closer to 20 but uh somebody who I think is is going to be one of the steels based on where he’s projected to go now i know you don’t cover the Hawks but would you consider him as the Hawks i know it’s a tricky fit with Trey but like is he so good that you you be like you have to like you have to think about it it’s man to have two small guards like that i would definitely at 22 I would take him sure in a heartbeat you know my I’m a very big proponent of take the best player available and forget the details i’m with you so yeah I I would do that probably but it it would you know you think about it longer because it’s the Hawks i get it yeah it’s just the idea of like the idea of having two small guards like that and with my 13th pick I want a starting player you know I want a starting caliber player and so to to start both of those guys you worry about them defensively and and who they’re going to guard um because Jace would have to probably guard two guards but he is I think he’s a tough feisty little little player and and somebody again who I I think he’s going to figure out how to how to overcome that that size disadvantage but um man yeah it would be it would be tough to do it but yeah based on my logic I’d probably say you know again who else is on the board is important but yeah I would consider him a 13 just because I think he’s going to be the top 10 player in this class yeah same same thought process it’s kind of a curveball if you’re the Hawks but uh John thanks for doing this i’m gonna get you out of here because you gave me too much time already you don’t need to plug yourself on my show I wouldn’t imagine but hey if people want to follow your your content and they should be already where can they I’m sure you’re doing TV soon where are people going to be able to see you in the next couple of weeks yeah I’ll do um draft week i’ll be on NBA TV um I can’t remember the schedule but uh Tuesday Wednesday Thursday live during the draft i’ll actually be doing the uh live show uh on Bleacher Report’s app so that’s my that’s my itinerary for next week and everything else is uh written content at Bleacher Report you got the scouting page what’s the scouting page your your your personal page i go there all the time uh JW scouting is just uh I don’t get the opportunity to put out many uh big boards or personal thought process stuff on Bleacher Report which is very mockdraft heavy so it’s just another uh outlet for me to share some thoughts mockdrafts uh click better as we all know so people care people care more about mockdrafts than they do about uh Jace Richardson’s wingspan not on this podcast Jonathan well thanks again for doing this i sincerely appreciate it people should be following all your work if you’re a subscriber to this podcast you thank you for doing that also please subscribe to Lon Hawks and we’ll see everybody next time

Brad Rowland (@BTRowland) hosts Episode 1997 of the Locked on Hawks podcast, and he is joined by Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report. The conversation centers on the 2025 NBA Draft, including discussion on prospects like Khaman Maluach, Derik Queen, Jase Richardson, Joan Beringer, Hansen Yang, Cedric Coward, Noa Essengue, Thomas Sorber, and much more.

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