NBA Draft 2025: Atlanta Hawks outlook, Thomas Sorber, Joan Beringer, Noa Essengue, Carter Bryant

NBA Draft 2025: Atlanta Hawks outlook, Thomas Sorber, Joan Beringer, Noa Essengue, Carter Bryant

on today’s show it is part two with my friend ben feifer joining me to talk about the nba draft through the lens of the hawks and it’s coming up right now you are locked on hawks your daily atlanta hawks podcast part of the locked on podcast network your team every day hello friends welcome to episode 20002 of the locked on hawks podcast i am your host brad roland coming to you on a friday evening here in almost the nba draft and i 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 that includes youtube and apple and spotify etc again anywhere you find your podcast we should be there tell your friends and i appreciate you being here as always this is going to be part two of two with myself and ben feuer if you missed part one go back and listen to that part of the conversation first so you have the linear order of this chat between myself and ben about the nba draft should be the same podcast feed right now so start there and then come back to part two and that’s all i have without any further delay we’ll dive back in now with part two with myself and ben feifer i want to kind of group some guys together and it’s more big we talked about malawatch and queen already if i had to guess they’ll probably both be gone by atlanta’s pick my guess um but look everyone knows we already referenced it hawks fans all want to take a big so i want to talk about some bigs with you you got in no particular order you have thomas sorber um as a potential even at 13 kind of pick um people some people know noah say is a is a pure big i’ll include his name in here you mentioned caulkr runner you’ve got uh a guy i think you’re i think you’re lower on baron jay than some people are but he’s been talked about as high as 13 i’ve warmed up a bit to him i’m interested to talk about him but yeah i mean even some people like danny i mean danny wolf who i don’t i don’t love but danny wolf’s gotten some late lottery mid first round buzz um hawks fans love um reo like they’re they’re all in on maxim reno right now i’ve seen that so it’s it’s a wide range of guys but as far as base are concerned because again i wanted to leave with that in this discussion how are you viewing the center is is sorber like the next best guy for you clearly after the top after mile watching queen is there you are i would say so yeah sorber to me is like another pretty lockedin lottery guy i am a huge fan of his um i think he would be great in atlanta like not as perfect as malawash necessarily but he would be sick in atlanta and then to me there’s like not it’s not a good center class just because like a lot of the best bigs are like weirdos like queen and and cmbb like it’s a really good just like frontcourt class but it’s not a great true center class like i love vlad golden as well maybe we’ll talk about later as it’s like like i said i i like krenner would love him at 22 just a little rich for me to take him at 13 i like janai broom um i like asa in like a in like the late first but not where he’s going to go beeringer honestly i’m warming up to and am becoming more beeringer curious but i mean sorber is the guy to me i would love him for the hawks i’ve done that in mox before i’ve given him to atlanta and i think it just makes a lot of sense offensively and defensively he’s really good what do you like about him as uh you know i’ve talked about him too what do you like about sorber what’s the pitch sorber is awesome i mean he’s just like a rock solid high field big player who contributes on offense he contributes on defense his defense is probably his main cell where his interior defense is so awesome like he’s more of like a you know a drop big mid drop paint protector um only 69 but has like a 76 wingspan or something absurd like that it is truly insane and his standing reach is really big too i don’t have it off the top of my head he plays much bigger than his yeah nine so i have i have it here it’s uh 76 wingspan 91 standing reach and 262 pounds at the combat yeah i mean he’s third in the class in block rate behind baringer and yanick coden neerhauser who is not a first round guy um he’s athletic though he’s very athletic he’s very athletic and sorber is significantly shorter than both of those guys um he’s just his timing is awesome his discipline is so good he’s really good at just like the hand eye coordination tracking the ball in in the air like isn’t that crazy of a mover and is probably going to be a little limited in terms of like coverage versatility um but he can cover like a little ground and switch in a straight line he just can’t change directions and then offensively he’s not like an incredible scorer or anything but he finished you know fairly well this year you know it wasn’t like incredible by center standards um but his touch is nice he’s a good like post and face up drive scorer um he’s a really nice short roll and like intermediate passer i he’s not as good as like murray boils or queen to me but yeah he can definitely like make some nice passes out of the post and you know just like process the floor quickly and i think he honestly has like kind of an interesting shooting projection because he’ll take like movement mid-ranges and the threes he does take are like very good threes um it’s not super scientific but i feel like i kind of have like a he could be an all right shooter and definitely from from mid-range but just someone who like i don’t think has much of a star ceiling but good center play is so important in the league and especially for the hawks who i think are kind of built on the perimeter and have been forever really like yeah and i think just having a guy like sorber who can fit that mold who can run dribble handoffs who can you know play in space who can but also like provides that crazy rim protection is just a really good bet like he’s not going to be star and if you’re looking for a higher ceiling guy here then you’d probably look elsewhere but i think sorber makes a ton of sense for the fit and just the value as well i really like sorber always have you’re right i don’t think of him as like a super high upside bet that’s okay to me though at 13 like if he’s the best guy available if if the board breaks a certain way i’d be uh intrigued by that he’s not sexy but has uh and by the way he’s not like i know he’s not a sevenfooter but he’s we measured we mentioned the measure he’s plenty of center size like he’s not a he’s bigger than a kongwoo like he’s more like look to use the hawks reference capella is not a sevenfooter and no one’s ever thought about capella as being like super undersized like he’s just right because he’s super explosive and long and plays big i mean sorbber’s not explosive but well he’s not but sor sorber is just hu i mean huge like physically he’s just a gigantic person right so i wouldn’t be worried about that as much with him um let’s take it center i mean we talked about baron jay i i’ve heard he’s got some like actual juice um and it’s weird like he’s faster rising he measured really well at the combine like kind of unexpectedly which was interesting like i saw yeah i’m looking at it now 6’11 without shoes was bigger than he he was expected to be 74 and a half wingspan like real center size there was a thought he was you know he gets capella cops all the time baron j because you know raw rim running big european young all these things um you said you you come around him on him a little bit does that mean you come around him to like middle of the first round range or you thinking 22 like not really i i don’t know where you are on and what i will say and i’ll tee you up he’s definitely a project this is a guy who’s not gonna be ready to go anytime soon yeah so baringer baringer baron baron jay i don’t know it’s probably like baron closer to baron jay but i don’t want to like be that guy so i’ll just ankleize it i don’t that’s fine yeah joan is yeah he’s a he’s a huge project the first couple maybe like four or five games i watched of him early in the season i thought it was like not prospect tape like this is just like not even someone i’m considering as like a guy who i’m thinking about as a draft player at the moment just like so raw in terms of feel and awareness and positioning and like his hands and his ball skills he definitely got better as the season went on and i probably wasn’t giving him enough credit for like just how insane of a psycho athlete he is i still think he looks a little smallalish on tape sometimes against like the actual centers that he plays the the measurables are nice but like i do wish he was like a little bit bigger but he is like an actively kind of bad player at the moment and he still like is able to dominate games at this level of competition because he just has a crazy high motor and he gets so many tipins and and and an offensive rebounds and even though he has you know issues playing defense in terms of feel and positioning like his versatility the stuff he can do like like they’ll hedge him out they’ll blitz him and it just usually does not go well for opposing offenses um like yeah he jumps at everything he’s not super great at at tracking the ball like his recognition is certainly an issue but yeah his physical tools are as crazy as they are like he’s not super strong yet and his like anchor isn’t that good but but again he’s obviously very young and he’s just like his his feet are so damn quick um you can’t switch hunt him at this level you know maybe and it’s again it’s just like i wish we had a better sample of him against better or like i wish he played in the combine scrimmages because that would just make me feel a little better um but yeah it’s just like one of those things where you’re going to probably be waiting four years for him to contribute on an nba floor but if you have the patience for that it could be rewarding because like he’s going to be a crazy just like lob finisher and his shot blocking is so crazy his rebounding is so crazy i think like the the hardest stuff is is going to be the you know off defense and protection pick and roll defense stuff that’s the hardest stuff to develop but it’s also like if you can get there that’s a scary player like someone who could be a really high level defensive guy and i understand like why people really like him i think lottery is like kind of crazy um for just someone that far away with you know such feel and like touch issues but he’s interesting i definitely am higher on him than i used to be i still i still view him as more of like a late first or like early second late first kind of guy um that you know like i’d be cool with the hawk if the hawks would come at 22 it wouldn’t be like my favorite pick in the world but i understand it and and i wouldn’t like so criticize it to me the vision is like daniel gaffford it’s like that kind of player um where i don’t know if he ever gets to like the level of a capella where he’s just that buttoned up as a you know a a pick and roll defender but gaffford who just like is a perfectly solid drop defender who blocks shots like he’s nothing crazy but on good teams he’s really useful um or like what if he’s just like who willie collague stein was supposed to be like maybe what if he’s like willie collie stein who likes basketball more um and he went in the top 10 yeah i mean he honestly he was the first name i thought of when i was watching behringer it’s like and that’s like high praise in my mind or because willie is one of the craziest defensive prospects i’ve ever watched on tape like his size and mobility are one of one and baron beinger is like not that level but he’s close enough so yeah i’m not crazy about him but like i i feel like i feel like i’m talking myself higher on him um it makes sense i mean i i get the appeal i see it i think i’m higher on him than you but also i keep saying like it’s going to take a while it just is and like you either have the appetite for that or you don’t you know and also there’s this whole discussion we have to have about like is it wise like some of the rookie scale value that you’re not going to get because he won’t be there for two years probably like i i don’t think it’s one year i think it one year for sure like he’s not gonna help you he’s i mean he’s like kaboko levels of far away this is brought to you by car gurus and shopping for a car should be exciting not exhausting between the confusing prices and the hidden fees it can feel overwhelming sometimes that’s why i love to use car gurus they help you cut out the noise and through only show you the best deals with full confidence they have over 4 million listings and car gurus has more new and used cars than any major online marketplace in the united states they verify dealers provide real price analysis and give you the tools and data that you need to 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protector that’s i don’t think he can defend the rim as nearly as well as with five like for he has very strange his measurables are good but they’re just like unorthodox with like like the plus one or plus two wingspan like a 91 92 standing reach at 611 or whatever like it it’s very strange um and obviously getting stronger is just going to help his is just going to help his ability to be a a five but i really don’t see him ever being like a shot blocker nor do i want him to be there like his superpower to me is his perimeter defense like his ability to move his feet and change his hips and swivel and mirror and cut off like even guards is ridiculous for a guy of his size like i think he has which is why i’ve ultimately gotten a little higher on him despite not still being as crazy about him as some people like he does one thing to me that is so unbelievably good and can be very valuable and he’s like a disruptive offball defender he can make some plays he’s a great transition scorer but i think you know i’m banking on him for for that um but like you know he got fewer blocks than a you know he had fewer a lower block rate this year than like ace bailey and danny wolf and colin murray boils and you know alex cariban and vlad golden and cedric coward and carter br you know it’s like if he was a better and obviously some of those guys you know it’s like it’s different roles and it’s not just like he has he gets less block so he’s worse like but i just think that’s a notable able concern i have with him at like the highest end on defense and mostly and more than a concern just like why i don’t view him as a center i guess yeah that makes sense and obviously he could be right there in that 13 range potentially and just as you know he’s really young he’s still 18 second youngest player in the draft yeah really interesting package but also a lot of uncertainty from what i can see uh on the other side of that i have to it’s not really a natural segue but kind of a similar positionally maybe are you a rashir fleming guy because he’s another guy the hawks fans really like and is kind of a there’s always a debate like is he a big is he a big combo wing forward kind of guy like do you obviously he’s an older guy 21 but people uh in atlanta are interested in rashir fleming he and senu are honestly kind of similar defensively to me like their main thing is that they’re ridiculous on ball defensive wings with i mean they’re built different like fleming is a brick house with a gigantic wing that’s why i was a little bit weird about saying cuz like they they don’t they don’t look the same but in terms of like their skill sets and their strengths like i point i i had a whole segment in this on the youtube video i did on fleming like of his inability to like protect the room at a high level like he’s just not a vertical athlete he’s not that big he’s not as big as he needs to be but he’s a hell of a perimeter defender so good guarding guarding the ball and i mean i i’d probably just like default a sangu because of the age honestly but it’s like what do you want from like do you want like a more paintbased play finisher or do you want a guy who has you know more certainty as a shooter with fleming right i i know some people like a senuay’s offensive upside there i just think his you know his handle and his you know processing speed and his touch are just and his shooting are too far away for me to really be super confident you know he’s he’s great in transition he’s going to draw fouls he’s going to he’s going to dunk the ball like like that’s all well and good i think he has some like a little bit of passing juice like he can hit cutters out of the post but it’s just like on the move i i don’t love how he reads the game but he’s but fleming is is much more just like straight line drives you know cut finishes and spot up threes like you kind of know what you’re getting with fleming and i don’t think fleming is like a surefire lock to be a great nba shooter like oh no obviously he shot the ball well this year he you know he was 39% this year but even just like looking across his entire career like it’s pretty good it’s 35% on like 330 total attempts um free throw just below 70 which i don’t care a ton about honestly but yeah it’s just like not it’s still like below the volume you’d like to see and you know it’s like was this a one-year hot shooting streak i think i trust fleming to be a fine enough shooter like i don’t think he’ll be bad or like horrible but like that’s certainly possible but i do think his defense is kind of crazy enough that i’m willing to take like a mid late like i wouldn’t take him at 13 but i’d be very cool with him at 22 definitely makes sense and i feel the same way about 22 and and 13 with him i these guys are different but i want to make sure i ask you about both of them so i’m gonna do them kind of together uh carter bryant and cedric coward are both in the mid i think in similar in you know similar size positional stuff and also you know i don’t know all the buzz at least the public buzz has been hawks looking at you know obviously they have more more needs quoteunquote at guard and big but like you can’t have too many of these wing forward types it’s just such a hawks thing to do well yeah and i regardless i would be anyway so you don’t have to tell me who you like more which you can do but do you like carter bryant do you like shred i was coward’s much more i find the range on coward is bigger bryant it’s like kind of like an easier projection even if you don’t he hasn’t done it yet because there he has a small royal arizona all those things but like i’ll let you go on those on those two guys compare contrast whatever you want to tell i mean i mean there are two guys where like sample size is a is a notable thing right um with carter it’s obviously just like the the one season and the usage i honest like most of my feelings on carter are pretty positive but then i have him like 18 and he’s like 12 by consensus and i’m like i so i feel like i’m too low on him but i just well he and he was 18 a month ago i mean you know this like he had to he suddenly went from like 20 to 12 in like a week and it was like “oh okay.” his offense his offense is just too far away for me to really get though like he’s a very nice spot-up shooter there’s some passing flash he’s a great finisher like he’s a pure play finisher to me and lacks kind of like the athletic juice i i’ve seen og comparisons to him um and i just think og had a totally different level of athleticism in twitch and advantage creation even when he was in that um in a low usage role right but i do think there’s some like really impressive stuff he does on defense like what if he you know is like patrick williams but actually good um like that’s a good player yeah um you know i think he has just this this incredible ability to to protect the rim and to block shots with his great range and like ground coverage he he is a freaking awesome just ror obviously has like crazy steels crazy block numbers um but he is a super impressive athlete like he gets off the floor so quickly he’s so quick like changing direction definitely not perfect like he’ll miss rotations he can be too upright on the ball but like he can also like block jumpers and when he does sit down and like pressure the ball with his length it’s pretty scary the stuff that he can do but bryant yeah i mean i understand why people like him like like he’s really young he has a clean 3 and d projection i think coward has a less clean projection and i agree with coward being lower than bryant but not as lower as they are apart in consensus well yeah i mean i find it actually i think coward’s offensive upside more but bryant’s defense like bryant’s defensive floor projection is really intriguing and i think it would be a pretty good play finisher it’s uh i just find those it’s an interesting comparison because like i what’s your tolerance for how big of a swing you want to take is kind of like where you are as an uncoward for me because it’s like i can see some downside but i also see some real exciting upside and he’s also older how much does that how much do you care about that it’s like all this stuff throw in a mix like i i’ve literally talked to people i’m sure you have too in the last couple weeks it’s like i have coward at eight or i have coward at 34 it’s like there’s a pretty big disparity there um and bryant like we talked about isn’t i mean he hasn’t it’s such a weird profile i’m not going to make the comparison that i want to make because i don’t want to get yelled on on youtube so i’m not going to do it but um what’s the comparison that you want to make you can’t marvin williams oh interesting i can see that that makes sense but and of course the fundamental differences just not enough like mid-range pull-up scoring well yeah i haven’t done exactly but it’s a low usage one and done for came off came off the bench at a blueb blood program but the difference is this is the 13th pick not not the second pick so like the projection but i i i have said and i will say forever if marvin like marvin williams had a good career like a really good career he just wasn’t chris paul but if you can if you can get marvin williams at 13 you’d be dancing in the street yeah you love that that’s awesome so anyway that’s just uh and coward i don’t know coward’s offensive swing is interesting to me if you’re trying to find like the unique case of a older guy weird like upside bet he might be he might be the maybe it’s him or i’d rather just take nick i was going to say i was i was gonna ask you that that’s where i was going next is nick clifford coward i think has has an interesting upside case as well i do agree with that and i’m he’s another one who i like understand why people like a lot and i don’t think it’s like insane to be crazy high on him because his combination of flexibility length and touch to me are very unique like carter doesn’t have the kind of touch or flexibility that he does you know drake powell like has the crazy flexibility and you know he doesn’t have the touch like that um even like a thiero he’s just a very skilled player who has just been ridiculously efficient from mid-range even like he shot 66.7% from mid-range in like eight games this year but even like his last year at eastern washington it was 58% then 57% the year before he’s kind of a weird offensive player because he’s a postup guy or at least right you know at eastern washington he was a postup guy and he was pretty good he was good at it by you know college standards but like i don’t know if he’s going to get post ups in the league but i think having that projects him well like like i like players who did a lot of different things in college and had you know different usage level roles different places on the floor different play types and coward definitely fits that i just like his defense to me is quite shaky and i’m you know he has a long way to go in terms of like decision- making and just his overall offensive process like his handle is not great at the moment even though some of the flashes are so impressive where you can like have control the ball and use his flexibility to create shots in the intermediate but like the upside case for for for coward is definitely like his crazy touch and crazy finishing like he finished 70% at the rim in the half court his last full season at eastern washington again it’s like worse competition but 70% in the half court is crazy but the thing with coward right is like he’s 21 and pretty much all of the games he’s played against higher level teams he hasn’t been that good like he struggled against iowa this year last year in in most of the games at least statistically and some of the ones that i watch he wasn’t that great so you know if coward had a full season this year playing real teams would he get better and you know look good against good competition possibly he you know that that happens all the time it just sucks that we didn’t get to see that um but yeah i think like you said at the beginning it really does just like relate to your risk tolerance here because it is a absolutely a very risky bet but what i think could you know could pay off pretty big if you are willing to take it so i don’t hate having a high even though i don’t today was brought to you by wayfair there’s nothing like stepping into the outdoor space that you have and feeling like it’s actually your own personal oasis if you want to update that patio set this season wayfair has made it so easy to go ahead and do that turn the space into something that feels like your own comfortable stylish and ready for the summer at wayfair they have everything you need to up your outdoor space in general that includes conversation sets outdoor bars fire pits hot tubs hot tubs gazeos and perfect streamlights to actually vibe up the backyard the way that you 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style every home i wanted to make sure i asked you about nick clifford who we just mentioned but i had jonathan washerman on uh maybe ear last week and he loves nick clifford i know you’re high on nick clifford i like nick clifford a lot and when you were talking about um how you like guys that did different kinds of things in college nate clifford is one of those guys like his role changed a lot over the course of college and he’s an older guy he might be i think he is the oldest guy that i think is like even in first round range he’s 20 it’s him and cam jones um maybe caulk brener is the same age too right caulk brener is about the kulk brener’s a little older i have like jir watkins that high but he’s not going but clipper is the only guy who could go like 13th that i think is 23 years old um but i like him a lot what do you i know you like him what do you like about him and would you consider him as high as 13 if you were the hawks yeah yeah i would i mean like just based off like draft value like maybe not because you could maybe trade down and get him but like he’s projected at 20 in consensus like that means he could jump up five spots and and go at 15 i don’t know he’s just such a good basketball player and like you said has improved a ton throughout his college career has played a lot of different roles i mean at this point he’s a full-on primary creator who hits shots off the dribble and you know is super efficient like he’s one of the highest usage players in the class he was in the top 10 this year for usage rate and he was in the top like you know 25ish for efficiency among all players in this class like he improved so much as a mid-range shooter which was cool like that wasn’t something he had before these last couple years like his mid-range per 100% per 100 possessions volume went from 4.6 six last year to 6 point 7.3 this year and 38.1% to 45.9% and that’s with him also being like a good shooter um nick across his career like 36% on 400 attempts like not perfect but i buy his shot the thing with nick i think he has like a sneaky case as the best passer in the draft and there’s like nobody talks about that um i’ve been doing these like pass charting metric things where i just like watch players passes and write down a bunch of stats nick clifford he is such a manipulative player like the way he can use no looks and move defenders with their eyes i had it tracked that he manipulated defenders on 13% of his passing chances this year and that was the highest of any player i’ve tracked um and he also you know in terms of just like high value passes he tracks with the best players with the best passers in the class like his abil he’s developed so much um like he they spam like pick and rolls and he’ll just like no look it to the weak side when they’re tagging the roller um he’s an incredible passer and his and his defense is great and i think it’ll be better when he’s in the nba and doesn’t have a gazillion usage i love meek i like i don’t he’s just good i wish he wasn’t so frail um like i wish he was a bit stronger but he’s like kind of wiry strong even though he’s you know not super built he’s i mean i i say this i say this jokingly but also true he’s kind of like old man strength like he’s just an adult in the way that like in a good way i like i just like everything about him honestly if he was if he was uh 19 he would be quite high i think on a lot of people’s boards i don’t think he’s like i don’t think he’s like desmond bane as a player but i think he’s like desmond bane in that this is a guy who could go 22nd and be an all-star in three years like i wouldn’t necessarily bet on it like you know i don’t think he has a guarantee that bane develops into the version of the player he is agree um but yeah i mean like he he he’s just so good at everything and a player that you know is both well-rounded and has you know distinct strengths this is a a dumb thing that i like to do is i watch every player’s is i ch i watch all of the the prospect’s dunks and i chart how many of them are like self-created dunks you know uh whether that’s like attack and closeout isolation post pick and roll nick has the most in the class he has the most of any player in this draft um and he’s a like legit athlete he’s i i need to stop i i could talk about him for longer but no it’s all right i uh i like him that’s why i wanted to ask about him uh we’re almost to the part where i’m just going to ask you to talk about guys you like but one more guy that i have not talked about a lot that i know because i’ve seen your board that you actually have in a draftable range for the hawks is adiero and i wonder um again i’m just being cognitive of the fact that i have talked about him should i should talk about him and you’re here and i know you like him so tell be tell people a little bit about about his uh his appeal as a potential i mean 20 maybe at 22 it’s honestly kind of insane to me that he’s projected as low as he is like i’m not even a huge theero guy or theoro i’m not even a huge theoro guy but like i have like there’s no way he’s not a first round guy there are people who have him in the lottery which i think is a little rich but like i understand the cell because he is a legitimately special athlete um as a 6’6 6′ foot seven wing like unbelievable shot blocker on ball defender defensive playmaker incredible slasher draws a ton of fouls like was so efficient this year despite having like zero jumper um not being a good free throw shooter like his like short mid-range touch is pretty incredible um he has i believe what is it yeah like the the 10th highest mid-range shooting of of any player in this class and when you look at like guys who actually shot on volume he’s like second or third um super efficient and he’s not like the highest field guy it does worry me like his passing is fine but i do think he misses reads and makes some questionable decisions but yeah he’s not a shooter but he’s so good at everything else and has like obvious pathways to being good outside of being a shooter like with how excellent his slashing is like he is a legitimate awesome driving creator and i don’t think that should just like totally go underrated and i would absolutely love if the hawks took him um it would be so cool if the hawks took him like he would fit so well with h him and dyson and jaylen johnson would be absolutely absurd just have it creating and i mean yeah that would be absurd just to do my bit as always like you can’t have too many of these guys like if you believe in the offense at all like he’s he’s such a dynamic athlete defensively i think he’ll be really good he’s younger than cedric coward i feel like people talk about him like it’s the other way i i think i that’s true i mean that’s a good point to make and look i i am to be clear deeply skeptical of his offense i i i don’t know if i believe it at all if it works at all if it works and that’s why you have him where you have him like that’s why he’s in the 20s and not in the lottery like if he if he had a more polished offensive game that was like projectable he would probably be a lot he’d probably be where carter bryant is you know what i mean like he’d be in that like late lottery kind of range instead he’s like what on the consensus board right now i think he’s 32 um like that’s nuts to me even even that low um where like i said people on like draft twitter and and maybe it’s just like the the people i see or interact with like have him stupidly high and it’s another one where like i don’t agree but if i can if i squint i can see the vision kind of just like if you know this is a guy who is a like pretty devastating downhill advantage creator and and finisher and it’s like we’ve seen guys like that just develop into stars because you know they they have that one superpower like not necessarily projecting the to be that but it’s not like it wouldn’t so shock me if in five years he was an all-star even though i wouldn’t project it i mean he’s so athletic that that that helps a lot i mean it’s just the thing you can kind of cover up a lot if you’re that kind of nuclear nba level athlete um all right i think we’re at the time now where i’m going to just have you talk about guys you want to talk about um i i know there’s there are some guys that you’re higher on like i know i know you’re you’re a jai broom fan for instance like but i’ll let you take it wherever you want to go anybody that we have not talked about could be a second round pick i’ll get my spiel out hawks will have a second round pick but that it’s not hard to get one they can get back in second round could be two-way udfa like anybody that you that you think you’re really like they’re your guys in the post lottery range i’m surprised that i’m high i’m looking at the i’m surprised that i’m high on broom i don’t feel like i’m that high on broom i just think he’s like a functional nba big i mean you’re not that high but you’re not low on him and like you know at the end of the first round this draft falls off a cliff um i think through like the end of the first it’s really strong but like after that it’s just huge but yeah i mean broom is just a really good player like you know at some point you just draft good players and broom has been one of the best in all of college basketball for quite some time now like he’s a he’s an awesome playmaker i i think he’s a pretty good shooting bet as well like better than sorber better than malawash better than a lot of the bigs that we’ve talked about um but yeah i’m definitely a fan of his like not nothing so crazy on defense like he’s not that big um i i definitely wish he was bigger but like like he could be daniel tyish i think like a little shorter but like has some you know a little bit of coverage versatility on defense can can finish around the rim can can pass i i just think he’s a solid rotation center bet but i do definitely prefer i feel like we’ve talked we’ve mentioned caulkr runner but not talked about him and he’s one of like my absolute favorite hawks fits um yeah i mean i like him too but tell me tell me why again just like the hawks need a tall guy who can block shots and and grab the ball like it it really is that simple but is he just a drop guy for you defensively can he do anything else probably just mid drop um but he is such a good rim protector that i think like that can be okay like yeah he’s definitely a drop big for sure um but caulk brener is such an interesting offensive player to me too because he’s like not only i like him more than your average old guy like you know older prospect because he dominated college basketball from the very beginning like he was a sick college player when he was a freshman like and even though he didn’t play as much and he like got better and added things to his game every year like he you know he increased his shooting volume a little bit i think he’s more comfortable like running dribble handoffs and playing out of the post you know like the high post as a playmaker so he’s got a diverse offensive skill set he’s a great screener he’s probably the best screener in the in the class you know but his main issues are just like he’s not super athletic he his his physicality is an issue which like he can get pushed off his spot and bumped on both ends quite a bit like broom definitely gave him broom and cardwell like gave him big problems um but you know he can also just shoot over these guys too because he has like a 76 wingspan and he’s like 7’2 or whatever but i love him for atlanta at 22 he’s he’s one where like i wouldn’t take him at 13 but if they did i’d understand it like i you know and there are people on draft twitter who who who want that and who would do that and i don’t think it’s like so crazy i understand it just cuz like he’s going to be a good starting center i feel pretty confident about that well his numbers are i mean his his transition numbers are really good like a guy that i have talked about they’re not exactly the same player but i would be interested in the hawks trying to sign luke cornet this this summer and like there’s some s there’s some similarities there um of what i mean kriner is like that i i i i hate using floor and ceiling um but like i think he’s going to be a playable nba big like and that does have value at 22 or even lower than that which he might go lower than that so i’m a fan i like him too oh do do you mind the shooting at all you think it’s a real thing does it matter it could be definitely i think i’d buy it more i mean he shot 34.4% from three on almost three attempts per per 100 that’s not good volume by any means but you know he’s taken 150 threes in his career definitely you know he will take them i don’t think he’s ever going to be a differencemaking shooter but i think he could be a guy who hits catch and shoots if you leave him open do you have a favorite second round second round pick in the class you mentioned how you’ll pop off the clip absolutely i always do um this is not this is not a second round guy but i wanted to but my other like main like my guy i think who i’m higher on than consensus outside of like the queen or fears or whoever is um is walter clayton oh hawks fans will like this too i mean he could be a hawks guy he’s unbelievable i’d love him in atlanta i just get high on him every time i watch him he’s another guy who i like charted his passes recently and he he just does really impressively like he’s definitely a risktaker and a little wild out there like it’s obvious when you watch him play like he has a certain just like effort energy about him but it usually works in his favor i mean he was the best player on a dominant national title winning team and he is legitimately a special shooter like he has been doing this as we know like there’s a chance we honestly a chance we would have talked about him on this podcast like two years ago when he was at iona he’s been he’s been good and on radars for a long time and he finally like got his chance to break out he’s a special he’s not just like he’s not just like a pull-up guy who you have to give the ball to because he loves doing like jj renick stuff and sprinting around screens and coming off handoffs and shaking guys off the ball to get open and shoot off movement and he’s really quick as well like he’s quick he’s vertically explosive he’s a good athlete he’s like we said like the decision- making is often shaky right yeah like that’s not his best thing by any means and he’s not like the best finisher either doesn’t get to the rim a ton relative to other guards but i think he’s bursty enough but i think defensively i honestly think he has some potential as well just because he is so athletic he’ll like block some shots he can get in his stance and you know when he’s more engaged clayton’s someone who i think is just super safe because of the shooting but has a real ceiling because of the shooting and like his handle’s awesome he has one of the best handles in the draft so good at like navigating tight spaces he’s one of the best guys in the draft when it comes to splitting pick and rolls and breaking hedges and blitzes we saw him do it all the time he’s just a nuclear shot maker who is a great athlete and has like the requisite feel to make it work and i just mostly like him because of how great of an offball player i think he can be so so i think he he fits perfectly on the hawks for those reasons like i think he’s somebody who like again the hawks again it’s crazy that they still really haven’t had anybody in the trey young era like next to him who was like a legit on and off ball yeah they’re looking for i mean they had to jonte that was it and that didn’t right and he’s you know even before they traded him we we knew that he was always a poor offball player yeah it didn’t work even more than trey i’m i’m a little was a good offball player but he wasn’t as good of a creator like and bogey and you know they had guys but i’m i am lower on clayton than you but also by what you’re saying like i think that i worry a little bit about his decision-m passing stuff but like if you’re drafting him as the hawks at presumably a range that’s comfortable to you like he could be a third guard and it’s fine like you don’t have to have him play point guard comparison like what if he’s like 75% lou williams like like he’s just that like extreme that’s the idea yeah spark who you know on his best days looks like a a top 30 player but you know can just slide and i think clayton is probably like more off boss lant than than lou was they’re they’re different players for sure he can he can do more of that and look like if this this may not matter to you it probably doesn’t matter that much to me i think he can play pretty soon and kind of help you like not i think he could be helpful in an nba game today maybe not in the finals but like no but i mean rookie rookies are bad i always say that but like he’s 22 years old yeah you throw him into an average nba game and he’d be fine today yeah i i tend to agree i mean i could ask awesome yeah i knew i i knew you were gonna i knew you liked him i should have gotten him earlier because now we can talk about second round people though yeah if you’ve got anybody that you like i mean i know hawks fans well they wouldn’t have agreed that he’s even second round pick hawks fans are obsessed with hansen yang i’ll tell you that right now um but like you mentioned vlad golden obviously speaking my language there michigan guy but i mean it could be anybody you want to and again hawks get a second round pick it’s not it’s not hard to get they want to get one they’ll get one a lot of fringy some fringy centers i can imagine them going quickly just because there’s so few of them like the best ones to me are like broom ace is going to go higher but i have him in this range wolf wolf i have in this range but he’s going to go higher wolf will go higher than this you got reo i have reo in this range rocco he’s such a massive human being rocco’s the gross m maybe i should move up hansen because i have him like a tier below those guys that’s probably not correct honestly but i worry about his movement significantly even though it has like made some strides for sure that is the concern to be sure is can he move it’s 2025 and it’s really hard to have immobile centers in 2025 it’s just it’s just a tough ask and and yang is like a very good shot blocker he definitely has he’s mostly an offensive guy to me like i like his offense um he was just a really impressive you know perimeter hub who can pass as well he’s a pretty nice finisher too like he can definitely do some stuff and you know his block numbers are great he’s obviously a very large person i actually walked by him at lax a week or two ago when i was getting on a flight to new york and i’m like “oh that’s that’s hansen yang.” i i had i had a friend that saw him in atlanta i won’t say who it is it’s not betray he he visited the hawks that’s been reported and that happened and i had a friend that texted me like um basically a picture of him that i wouldn’t have taken if it was me but they took him it was like you know and i was like i was like “yes that is that is hansen yang the that is the seven foot asian man that you’ve seen.” yes that’s correct he he’s gigantic so i like i understand why people like him i’m not particularly high on him um beyond like just like a second round rotation big but golden is definitely my favorite which i know is which i know you’re happy about but look he he would be i don’t i think he’ll get drafted to be fair to be clear uh but he would be like the ultimate like priority two-way the day of the draft guy if he’s not drafted like i just think he’s going to be around the nba he’s just a very good college player like great versatile defender he’s a guy who measured as a legit sevenfooter i think had the biggest hands in the class too it’s like gigantic um yeah biggest hand width in the class what was a great defender for like all of college and can actually move a bit and go on the perimeter and he’s a great finisher he rebounds he can pass a little bit it’s like a good low usage two-way center this is a guy who’s going to stick around in the nba if he gets a shot and i just again he’s older the ceiling is is nothing crazy by any means with a player like him but you know this is his rookie contract is just gonna be like his prime i don’t know or like you know the you know the most of it probably and that’s totally fine with the second round contract or even like late first i not late first like like early midsec i’d probably consider him um i also just think he’s really good at basketball and he is i like watching him play but i am a fan also also um we could do we could do this all day and i probably should stop talking but uh no i mean number one ben thank you for being here number two people should be i know you’re doing streams all the time and youtube all the time you have a draft you have a you have a night of the draft show correct i do i do plug while you’re here can i talk about like two more guys really quick do of course you can why not okay i have like two a couple more second round guys who i want to mention um cam cam jones if he’s there in the second round i would trade i would buy a i would i would use cash hard-earned american dollars to to purchase a pick to draft cam jones like again just like like an overthought older player who had a down year from three but is an unbelievable finisher one of the best handlers in the draft great passer can defend a little bit um noah penda another one if he’s there at 30 like i think he’s another contender for best defend defender in the draft and like an i love noah if he shoots kind of wing i i would think he i would think about him at 22 like i i love that’s the range that i have him but like he’s consensus he goes in the second round sometimes um i like kobe brea kentucky shooting specialist he is that’s all he does and he’s like sam hower tier he’s yeah he’s brea is uh a legitimately great shooter i don’t know if he can do anything else but he can and then the last two couple guys who i think are like legitimately very good bets in the second round are javon small west virginia who i’m kind of shocked doesn’t have more buzz um just an incredibly good player like crazy disruptive defender high volume efficient pull-up shooter really good passer can get to the paint whenever he wants he’s not a crazy finisher or like high volume you know shot creator but projects as a rock solid like two-way point guard who i’m again just like surprised is so faded in consensus boards um and then jir watkins at florida state kind of like a neat honestly like a lot of my thoughts about nick extend to jir even though like i think he’s just like not as you know toned down in a lot of areas but crazy athlete creator at florida state definitely overt taxed but carried that offense yeah a bad that’s a bad team too he’s just a good two-way wing bet and then seion james who is kind of an odd one like 63 or 6’4 whatever built like a brick wall awesome on ball defender but was also like duke’s nominal point guard at times um and and ran the offense and passed the ball and he shot well from three he can’t really score which is the issue but as just like a two-way role player if the shot is legit i i really like see on james as well so i mean i could that’s probably enough i i think i covered everyone i really wanted to talk about well you know it’s uh there’s we could do this forever and i wouldn’t mind it one more hawks hawks related question since i’ve seen this guy mocked them what do you think of drake powell i mean i like drake powell he is extremely athletic and i think that he um shouldn’t have gone to uncc i’ve warmed up to him i like him at 22 for similar reasons to like coward and and fleming also i think the hawks getting the possibility that jace richardson falls to 22 i would take him at 13 and be happy but i am i for some teams would take jayce at 13 as the hawks i don’t think i would i wouldn’t be furious if they did it you know what i mean i think it’d be reasonable uh i think just because of how small he is and some of the the trey fit stuff i wouldn’t love it at 13 i think he’s like the best offball offensive player in the class defensively i have no it would not be good well that’s like yeah i mean yeah and again but to to stay true to what i said earlier and bring it full circle like i think you if he’s the best player available you don’t not take him because of that like you just take figure it out there’s probably they would probably be guys i’d prefer over jayce at 13 but i i would still like that a lot and at 22 it would just be like a crazy home run yeah i agree 22 would be uh would be good value um i mentioned it before but your your live draft show or everything else you’ve got going people should i mean if they made it this far they’re probably sickos and they should be following you already but what’s yeah you’re insane what’s going on and i appreciate it um yeah thanks for having me on this is always a blast um always look forward to these insanely late nights cuz your schedule is insane um it’s only 1:30 a.m eastern right now what do you mean um but yeah so next week june 25th and 26th right is that wednesday and thursday i think yep that’s right i will be live on my youtube channel throughout all of day one and two plus a little before and after for some pre and postdraft analysis um i do this every year it’s awful but i love it and we’re going to have guests so i’m gonna have some you know some some visuals and things very basic and and uninteresting but something so yeah that’s good and then you know just everything i write write or make videos will be on my youtube or my twitter but yeah that’s about it you’re you’re everywhere uh you write all over the place i i’m like “oh yeah where was that piece at?” and then i it’s the other place that you write you know it’s always somewhere but follow uh ben on twitter and youtube that’s that’s probably a safe place to get all your stuff and then at some point you’ll get the bat signal for me and like hey 26 class here we are ready to go oh be so sick i can’t wait for next year before the draft even starts you know that’s actually my barometer for like the true sickos when people are like all right 26 talk and it’s like hey the draft hasn’t even happened yet we’re not even you got to wait till like next week or the week after to start doing 26 talk but uh thank you again ben i appreciate it as always um sincerely especially this close to the draft and how busy you are we appreciate it listers appreciate it as for everybody else subscribe to loftton hawks as well tell your friends about the podcast and we’ll see everybody next time

Brad Rowland (@BTRowland) hosts Episode 2002 of the Locked on Hawks podcast, and he is joined by Ben Pfeifer (@bjpf) for Part 2 of a 2-part conversation on the 2025 NBA Draft through the lens of the Atlanta Hawks. The second and final part of the discussion centers on players like Thomas Sorber, Joan Beringer, Noa Essengue, Carter Bryant, Cedric Coward, and Nique Clifford.

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