Nathan Grubel of @NoCeilingsNBA returns to discuss his weekly rookie rankings 1-10, and we update our scouting reports and thoughts on a rookie class with landmark responsibility within the league, from Cooper Flagg, VJ Edgecombe, Cedric Coward, Kon Knueppel, to many more. Enjoy!

Enjoy!

TIME STAMPS

(0:00) Intro
(5:30) Kon Knueppel
(28:10) Cedric Coward
(47:55) Cooper Flagg
(57:00) VJ Edgecombe
(1:10:20) Dylan Harper
(1:21:10) Ryan Kalkbrenner
(1:27:45) Derik Queen
(1:34:45) Jeremiah Fears
(1:43:15) Will Richard, CMB, Tre Johnson + Wrap

Esfandiar Baraheni (@justesbaraheni) of @TheAthleticNBADaily and @raptorsrepublic joins to round out a belated preview ranking where we expect all 30 offenses to end at the end of the season. Es also analyzes the curious roster build of his beloved Toronto and we mix in some early reactions as well.

Enjoy!

TIME STAMPS
(0:00) Intro
(6:55) Raptors Roster Build + Collin Murray Boyles
(16:30) Offense Ranks 1-30

Jack Quantrill, host of the Drop Step NBA POdcast and contributor to Celticsblog, swings by for a season preview episode where we draft our favorite "locks" for over or under performance by teams this year. Enjoy!

TIME STAMPS
(0:00) Intro
(7:35) Grizzlies
(18:10) Bucks
(29:30) Orlando Magic
(38:05) Spurs
(49:40) Kings
(57:45) Pelicans
(1:03:05) Hornets
(1:12:30) Bulls + Wizards
(1:23:45) Thunder + wrap

Lucas Kaplan (@LucasKaplan_), Nets beat writer and contributor to Nets Daily, Basketball Insiders, and Swish Theory, joins to chat about the demented Nets" gambit surrounding their 5 first roundrs, predict all rookie teams, and tier out regular season defenses 1-30. Enjoy!

TIME STAMPS

(0:00) Intro
(3:30) Brooklyn Nets' 5 rookies
(37:05) Predicting All-Rookie Teams
(44:30) NBA Defenses Tier 1 + Tier 2
(50::55) Tier 3: Rest of Top 10
(59:30) Tier 4: Mavs, Hawks, Pacers, Heat, Knicks?
(1:14:00) Tier 5: LAL, Den, and the Contender Middle
(1:25:00) Tier 6, DPOY talk + wrap

Lauren Gunn returns to sort through one of the West's most polarizing teams as the Mavericks try to turbo-charge two timelines into a title contender. How the youth, age, and uncertain offensive and defensive identities converge for the confounding Dallas Mavericks, and around its number pick Cooper Flagg.

TIME STAMPS
(0:00) Intro
(3:30) Anthony Davis + Offensive Identity
(16:45) Cooper Flagg + Anthony Davis
(23:30) Mavs' Bench and Trade Options
(29:25) Cooper Flagg's Timeline
(35:30) Defensive Identity + Most Improved Naji Marshall
(1:01:20) Mavs vs the West and Wrap

Enjoy!

Sam Sheehan (@NBABabysecret) of the You Know Ball podcast + patreon joins to review the NBA's full offseason and determine which teams changed their stars, with a focus on new contenders in each conference.

Plus, some awards discussion. Enjoy! And subscribe to the You Know Ball patreon:

https://www.patreon.com/YouKnowBall

TIME STAMPS

(0:00) Intro
(4:10) Orlando Magic
(23:30) East Middle
(26:10) Atlanta Hawks + Jalen Johnson
(38:15) Houston Rockets
(48:55) Denver Nuggets
(56:00) Spurs, Mavs, Blazers
(1:20:00) Wiz/Hornets + Wrap

Welcome back! Hornets expert Brian Geisinger, author of the excellent Split the Action Substack, returns to take a long look at the playoffs, the Finals, and how teams across the league are trying to build a contender in a rapidly evolving league.

Enjoy!

Brian's sub: https://briangeisinger.substack.com/

TIME STAMPS
(0:00) Intro
(5:45) NBA Finals + Top of 2025 Draft
(19:50) Lamelo Ball + Tyrese Haliburton
(32:45) Charlotte Hornets
(43:00) Playoff Team Building
(55:09) Atlanta Hawks
(1:12:45) Myles Turner
(1:16:00) Clippers + Cavs
(1:28:42) Cooper Flagg + Kon Knueppel
(1:39:40) Wolves/Thunder + Switchblade Guards
(1:50:30) Hornets Optimism + Wrap

The draft is in the books and the darts have been chucked! I "run" through every team and pick (see time stamps), with some FA thoughts mixed in.
My draft write up is available on my substack, linked below.
https://chuckingdarts.substack.com/p/2025-nba-draft-final-dart-board-cooper

Enjoy!

TIME STAMPS
0:00 Intro
3:55 Mavs
15:05 Spurs
24:30 Sixers
32:00 Hornets
43:15 Jazz
51:45 Wizards
1:00:25 Pelicans
1:15:00 Nets
1:22:00 Raptors
1:33:47 Suns
1:50:45 Grizzlies
1:58:10 Bulls
2:06:05 Thunder
2:09:00 Blazers
2:14:05 Wolves
2:17:13 Heat
2:20:30 Hawks
2:23:13 Kings
2:28:55 Magic
2:31:43 Celtics/Clippers
2:35:00 Lakers
2:38:40 Rest + Wrap (Det, Mil, Cle, NY, GSW, Ind)

@DraftPow, editor in chief of @SwishTheory, returns to discuss the brainy, knotty bigs of the 2025 class. Enjoy, and thank you for the questions! Addressed at end of episode,

TIME STAMPS
(0:00) Intro
(3:40) Derik Queen
(40:38) Thomas Sorber
(1:03:00) Ryan Kalkbrenner
(1:09:50) Collin Murray-Boyles
(1:32:18) Hansen Yang + Mailbag

The lottery order is set, so let's pick it! Keandre, owner and operator of the fantastic Hoop Intellect channel, joins to go 1-14. Plenty of scouting and fit thoughts, as well as a long tail on honorable mentions of a very diverse class.

Enjoy! And check Keandre's mock draft here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYX40Uh5OP0

TIME STAMPS
(0:00) Intro
(4:35) Mavericks - Cooper Flagg
(12:20) Spurs - Dylan Harper
(22:00) 76ers - Kon Knueppel
(30:30) Hornets - VJ Edgecombe
(42:50) Jazz - Tre Johnson
(47:10) Wizards - Ace Bailey
(55:30) Pelicans - Khaman Maluach
(1:00:50) Nets - Derik Queen
(1:09:30) Raptors - Hansen Yang
(1:21:30) Rockets - Collin Murray-Boyles
(1:28:45) Blazers - Carter Bryant
(1:34:35) Bulls - Thomas Sorber
(1:39:35) Hawks - Maxime Raynaud
(1:47:10) Spurs - Noah Penda
(1:52:30) HMs (Coward, Fears, Jakucionis, Richardson, Lendeborg, Essengue, etc) and wrap

Esfandiar Baraheni (@justesbaraheni) of The Athletic's Daily NBA Show, Raptors Republic, Forbes, and elsewhere joins to talk Most Improved Players, the Thunder's title chances, a R2 upset pick, and the Raptors rebuild and draft strategy this year. Enjoy!

TIME STAMPS

(0:00) Intro + Ivica Zubac
(5:55) MIP Ty Jerome
(12:00) Thunder Improvements and Title Path
(28:00) Obi Toppin and Pacers/Cavs
(44:05) Matas Buzelis
(50:00) Raptors Rebuild + Draft

Brian Geisinger (Split the Action substack; @bgeisinger.bsky.social) returns to check in on number 1 pick Cooper Flagg, then a deep look at his teammate Kon Knueppel, and whether he can be an unconventional NBA star. Plus, discussion on Jase Richardson and a debate on Khaman Maluach.

Enjoy!

TIME STAMPS
(0:00) Intro
(3:00) Cooper Flagg Check In
(29:30) Kon Knueppel
(1:16:05) Jase Richardson
(1:26:40) Khaman Maluach + Wrap

Trill returns from his triumphant YouKnowBall Extravaganza in New Orleans to crack off another 2024 redraft: this time, in Doubles format.

Trill takes two players, then I take two, and so forth. The Doubles format illustrates how tight this draft is, how many cases there are to make, and how we can differentiate among so many "role" players.

Plus, an intro taking a peek at Sixers' 2025 draft strategy.

Enjoy!

TIME STAMPS

(0:00) Intro + Sixers 2025 draft
(18:30) Jared McCain + Kel'El Ware
(58:40) Ron Holland + Matas Buzelis
(1:22:40) Alex Sarr + Steph Castle
(1:47:30) Zach Edey + Reed Sheppard
(1:56:00) Zaccharie Risacher + Bub Carrington
(2:08:30) Kyshawn George + Jaylen Wells
(2:14:20) Donovan Clingan + Kyle Filipowski + HMs/Wrap

CT Fazio ( @CTFazio24 ) rejoins to draft scout two of the trendiest teams in the NCAA tournament, Big East Champion St. John's and SEC Champion Florida.

Draft these players and enjoy!

TIME STAMPS
(0:00) Intro/St. John's
(7:25) RJ Luis
(48:30) Zuby Ejiofor
(1:08:00) Florida/Walt Clayton
(1:20:00) Alex Condon/Thomas Haugh
(1:28:00) Will Richard + Wrap

Ben Pfiefer (@_bjpf, Sportscasting, Sportskeeda) rejoins to examine the Rookie class and find 10 players whose contributions we have enjoyed, plus we sneak in a Rookie of the Year Pick.

Note: There are more than 10 enjoyable rookies! HM to those without enough run (Reed Sheppard, Rob Dillingham, Jared McCain, Ja'Kobe Walter, Justin Edwards, Devin Carter, etc) or who we just missed discussing in more detail (my guy Kyshawn George, Dalton Knecht, Ryan Dunn, Tristan Da Silva, Kyle Filipowski, Jonathan Mogbo). There is a lot to like this year!

TIME STAMPS

(0:00) Intro
(15:15) Donovan Clingan
(22:45) Ron Holland
(34:45) Matas Buzelis
(41:45) Jaylen Wells
(48:43) Zach Edey
(56:16) Zaccharie Risacher
(1:04:05) Isaiah Collier
(1:11:55) Alex Sarr
(1:17:05) Stephon Castle
(1:21:50) Bub Carrington, Kel'El Ware, and wrap

Chucking Darts returns with a solo sprint through the most fascinating confounding trade in recent NBA history, plus the rest of a very eventful trade deadline. Plus, an epilogue on filmmaker David Lynch. He was quite good.

Enjoy!

TIME STAMPS
(0:00) Intro
(3:00) Luka Doncic Trade
(45:00) De'Andre Hunter to Cavs
(49:30) Jimmy Butler to Warriors
(57:40) Sacramento Kings
(1:03:40) De'Aaron Fox to Spurs
(1:08:30) Lakers Rescinded Trade for Mark Williams
(1:14:00) Bucks/Wizards
(1:24:00) Brandon Ingram to Raptors + Wrap
(1:33:30) David Lynch Epilogue

Caleb Mueller (@CalebMueller23), creator of The Center Hub (@thecenterhub_bb), joins to discuss the current top 2 players on his board for the 2025 draft: Kasparas Jakucionis of Illinois and Dylan Harper of Rutgers. After a deep look into each of their games and projections, we discuss Ace Bailey, Dylan's electric and polarizing teammate, who may get drafted the highest of all 3.

Enjoy! And check out the great work at http://the-center-hub.com.

TIME STAMPS

(0:00) Intro
(12:05) Kasparas Jakucionis
(50:25) Dylan Harper
(1:30:40) Ace Bailey + Wrap

ACC expert Brian Geisinger (@bgeisinger.bsky.social; @bgeis_bird) returns to scout the NBA prospects in the bi-coastal ACC.

For part 1 where we discuss Cooper Flagg, Kon Knueppel, and Khaman Maluach in depth, see our previous episode.

Find Brian's excellent work at briangeisinger.substack.com.

Enjoy!

TIME STAMPS

(0:00) Intro + Brian's Substack
(6:30) Maxime Raynaud
(28:30) Jaylen Blakes
(36:50) Hunter Sallis
(50:10) Jamir Watkins
(1:06:35) Ian Schieffelin
(1:23:45) Zack Austin
(1:39:25) Drake Powell
(1:44:00) Ian Jackson
(1:56:50) Andraj Stojakovic
(2:01:15) Jacob Cofie + Wrap

The foremost ACC analyst in the country, Brian Geisinger, returns to go deep into the Duke Blue Devils, and specifically number 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg. We discuss his role with Duke's offense, how it may be impacting his offensive strategy, and how his early play affects our draft projection. Plus, Kon Knueppel and Khaman Maluach.

Enjoy!

TIME STAMPS

(0:00) Intro
(7:48) Cooper Flagg on Offense
(40:05) Flagg on Defense
(52:00) Flagg Pro Projections
(1:01:40) Kon Knueppel
(1:09:20) Khaman Maluach + wrap

Mike Gribanov (@mikegrib8 on all platforms, including his excellent Patreon) returns to discuss the 17-1 Cleveland Cavaliers, their hitherto dominant offense, and a developmental check in on Evan Mobley. Then, we discuss the gnarly Houston ROckets' defense and where their team goes from here with so many darts and so little time.

Stay tuned for a more in depth draft philosophy discussion later this week. Enjoy!

TIME STAMPS
(0:00) Intro + Mike's Patreon
(7:40) Cleveland Cavaliers
(23:45) Cavs' Defense and Evan Mobley
(50:25) Houston Rockets + Tari Eason
(1:06:20) Amen Thompson
(1:13:30) Jabari Smith Jr
(1:17:30) Jalen Green + Halfcourt Offense
(1:29:00) Draft Philosophy Preview + Wrap