Grading the Debuts of Every 2025 NBA Draft Lottery Pick

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Grading the Debuts of Every 2025 NBA Draft Lottery Pick

After two opening night thrillers, 24 teams were in action Wednesday night playing their first game of the season. It was business as usual for many, but for t
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So Harper got a B+, not bad.

I also noted:

13. Derik Queen, Pelicans​

Grade: C

In his debut, Queen looked like a player who hadn’t played much organized basketball since July, scoring three points on 1-4 shooting. Queen was a step late on defense and didn't give effort occasionally. However, he didn’t have much opportunity to do more than flash his passing ability on a few cross-court reads.

Is this who they plan to guard Wemby with tonight? :alien:
 
Thanks for posting. Hope SI keeps this reporting going, although it will probably transition to Rookie Rankings, like on NBA com or ESPN.
 
Would be curious to see who turns out to be the better player: Cedric Coward or Carter Bryant. I had Bryant over Coward so was happy when Coward went first but Coward looks much farther along. He looks like a legit NBA player already while it's still boom or bust for Bryant.

Tbf Coward also has 2 more years of experience but I'd rather have the sure thing now with this roster than wait and see if Bryant can develop into something better.
 
024 said:
Would be curious to see who turns out to be the better player: Cedric Coward or Carter Bryant. I had Bryant over Coward so was happy when Coward went first but Coward looks much farther along. He looks like a legit NBA player already while it's still boom or bust for Bryant.

Tbf Coward also has 2 more years of experience but I'd rather have the sure thing now with this roster than wait and see if Bryant can develop into something better.
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I had Coward over Bryant for this exact reason. That being said he got drafted at #11, so it's not like the Spurs could've grabbed him.
 
RC_Drunkford said:
I had Coward over Bryant for this exact reason. That being said he got drafted at #11, so it's not like the Spurs could've grabbed him.
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People in the back will bitch anyway, even though they weren’t both on the board.
 
Exstatic said:
People in the back will bitch anyway, even though they weren’t both on the board.
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I’m not bitching. I just liked coward a lot and was bummed to see him go ahead of us. Most mocks had Bryant going higher and i didn’t expect him to be there at 14, so i had become enamored with coward

With that said Bryant comes in a better defensive prospect (cowards defense is mostly theoretical and based on traits as opposed to actual play), while coward is a much cleaner shooter. I’m not upset with the result. Coward is also a couple years older so the pro readiness isn’t surprising.
 
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I was lamenting that we didn’t draft Queen then went and looked and he went 13. Sorber went 15, maybe I was thinking of him.
 
Yeah, during the draft I was banking if someone with value was going to fall to us it would have been Coward. I guess the hype was real cause he got swooped up at #11. Atleast, I feel like we dodged a bullet with Essengue and Sorber. Noa seems like he needs alot of development and Sorber with the injury.
 
024 said:
Would be curious to see who turns out to be the better player: Cedric Coward or Carter Bryant. I had Bryant over Coward so was happy when Coward went first but Coward looks much farther along. He looks like a legit NBA player already while it's still boom or bust for Bryant.

Tbf Coward also has 2 more years of experience but I'd rather have the sure thing now with this roster than wait and see if Bryant can develop into something better.
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I had Carter a little higher, but both in the same tier. Coward was more advanced and ready to contribute while Carter is more raw but with a higher upside. It really came down to what each team needed more.
 
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