June 12, 2025 • 31 mins
Associated Press NBA Writer Tim Reynolds joins Sam Farber to discuss some of the biggest draft prospects in the 2025 class, and gives his perspective on what needs to happen for the Charlotte Hornets to be the next franchise with a playoff breakthrough.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to the Hornets Hoodcast, presented by Charlotte I Ear
Nosen Throat Associates, the official I ear nos in throatcare
provider of the Charlotte Hornets. Here's your host, Sam Farber.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Welcome to another edition of the Hornet Timecast, your Hornets
podcast with all the notes, quotes, and daily buzz around
your favorite NBA team. I'm Sam Farber and it is
a pleasure and a privileged DEVI with us here once
again on the Hornets Podcast, brought to you by Santa Charlotte.
I Hear Nosen Throat Associates, the official I hear Nosen
throatcare provider of the Charlotte Hornets. We're continuing our build
(00:34):
up to the draft series here on the AHHC. We're
now about two weeks away, a little less than from
the NBA Draft. If you've been looking through the archives
or monitoring the HHC, you might have noticed we tipped
off this series with a great conversation with Michael Scotto
of Hoops Hype looking at the Texas, Oklahoma based guards
for this twenty twenty five draft class. Today, we've got
(00:55):
another great expert coming in to help analyze some members
of the twenty twenty five draft class. He is Tim
Reynolds of the Associated Press. You can find him on
social media at by Tim Reynolds. We're going to talk
about some of the bigs and big names in this
twenty twenty five draft class and get his expertise and
insight on a variety of players that could, maybe should
(01:16):
be eligible or interesting prospects for the lottery and will
most definitely have the chance to be factors in the
upcoming NBA season, the rookie season for all of them. So,
without further ado, let's welcome for his maiden voyage here
on the Hornets Podcast, Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press. Tim,
thanks so much for joining me, oh.
Speaker 3 (01:34):
Sam, thanks for having me.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
Happy draft season, Happy draft season in d We're now
just a couple weeks away here from the draft, and
while certain draft boards are starting to cement themselves, we
know all too well from history that the draft is unpredictable.
It only takes one person's opinion on a player to
swing things wildly, and oftentimes maybe all the time the
(01:55):
experts mock draft board doesn't end up being the top
list when it's all said and done. As these guys
get into the NBA. So we're gonna dig a little deeper.
We've given you some of the bigs in this twenty
twenty five draft class that are certainly listed on a
lot of people's lottery lists, but not all of them
have necessarily been projected in every one of these draft
(02:15):
boards in the top five. So we're gonna start you
off with Carter Bryant from Arizona. He's a guy who
has been kind of a high riser up some of
these draft boards. What can you tell me about Carter
Bryant and what makes him potentially a candidate to be
a top five pick.
Speaker 3 (02:30):
Well, that's the word right there, potentially.
Speaker 4 (02:33):
And you know the thing about Carter Bryant, and this
is why the draft is so much fun, and all
the prognostication and all the blathering on we do about
it for weeks at a time is so silly. Without fail,
people will look at his numbers six and a half
points four rebounds a game and say what. And that's
exactly the reaction you get from normal whatever when they.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
Just look at the stats. The people that just see
stats are.
Speaker 4 (02:58):
Like, there's no way this guy's a lottery There's no
way this guy is a potential top.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
Five, top ten kid. The kid is just.
Speaker 4 (03:05):
He's not a sleeper anymore. I thought, like three or
four weeks ago, I thought he could be a sleeper.
Speaker 3 (03:09):
And then everybody figured it out.
Speaker 4 (03:11):
And so there's a lot of people smarter than me
out there, so of course people were going to figure
it out. The kid just knows how to play. I mean,
he doesn't move. He floats like. That's the thing that
to me jumps off the tape. And I don't pretend
like I'm not gonna sit here and lie to you
like I don't. I'm not sitting in a cave breaking
down every single player in the draft. But I've watched
(03:31):
him just out of intrigue. The footwork is unbelievable. And
that's the one that I do know this much. NBA teams,
if the footwork is poor, they're going to knock you
down several pegs on the draft board right away. This
kid's feed are unbelievable. He is always in control. One
comp that I got at the combine to his footwork,
and keep in mind this kid's six foot eight. One
(03:54):
comp that a scout gave me to his footwork is
Jalen Brunson and Jalen Brunson.
Speaker 3 (03:58):
Might have some of the best feat in the NBA
right now.
Speaker 4 (04:01):
He's also a six y three point guard. To compare
Carter Bryant's footwork to Jayalen Brunson, to me was a
bit boggling of the mind, if you will, but you
can sort of see where the guy's coming from. I look,
he can shoot, he can pass, he's smart, he knows
how to play, and to me, that's the biggest thing.
Speaker 3 (04:21):
I think every guy that.
Speaker 4 (04:22):
Gets to this point, you know, the skill set is there,
and they're young and they still need to develop a
lot of things.
Speaker 3 (04:29):
But you can't teach somebody to know.
Speaker 4 (04:31):
How to play, and that, to me, I think is
the absolute biggest strength for Carter Bryant. Forget the six
and a half points and four rebounds in college. A
lot of people see this kid as a three and
D guy. I really don't. I just see him as
a plug and play that you can put anywhere, and
he's going to fit in any system and he's going
to get better playing with better people. I just think
(04:54):
it's just one of those natural fits for a lot
of teams. If you want somebody really smart, really versatile.
This might be a kid you take a real good
look at. He can shoot. That's the absolute skill right
now for a wing. He can shoot it. He's got
great footwork, incredibly smart.
Speaker 3 (05:08):
I like him a lot.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
A lot of the draft these days is about projecting
down the line. So I'm gonna ask you to do
it with Carter Bryant. If you're projecting him for maybe
his All Star capability six eight years into his career,
or looking at what his potential role would be on
a playoff team as he develops as an NBA player,
what do you foresee for Carter Bryant.
Speaker 3 (05:29):
I mean, it's hard to say. Is he a starter?
Is he a six man started guy?
Speaker 4 (05:33):
But because of the shooting and the ignite ability that
I think he really has in his game. When you
can shoot three as I think he can at the
NBA level, you're going to score a lot. When you
can score a lot, you're an All Star candidate. So
I mean, I don't know if he's going to be
the sort of guy that is a fan vote guy,
but it wouldn't shock me if in two three years
(05:54):
he starts showing up on some coaches vote.
Speaker 3 (05:55):
Ballots for a reserve player.
Speaker 4 (05:58):
I think he's just exceptional and I don't think there's
a team in the NBA that he doesn't fit on,
just because again, smart's travel smarts and shooting ability travels.
Speaker 3 (06:09):
I know some people are super high on him.
Speaker 4 (06:11):
Some people think that he could be one of the
absolute You know, when we redo this draft in five years,
this kid's going to be top five.
Speaker 3 (06:19):
He might end up being pretty close to that right now.
Speaker 4 (06:22):
In terms of the draft, it's just one of those
ones where Sammy, whichever team is lucky enough to get him,
fans need to look past six and a half points
and four point one rebounds in his one college season.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
Trust me, this is not a wasted pick. The potential
is enormous.
Speaker 4 (06:36):
I do think that he has starter capability on a
lot of teams in this league.
Speaker 3 (06:41):
But I'm also not real big on the starter thing.
To me, is so overblown.
Speaker 4 (06:47):
It's a This is a guy who's going to be
twenty twenty five, twenty eight thirty minutes. Whatever a team
needs from him, he can give them, I think pretty
close to right away.
Speaker 3 (06:58):
And that means the sky's the limit.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
Another prospect to have you sink your teeth into from
South Carolina Colin Murray Boyles, what can you tell me
about him? What makes him a candidate to be a
top five pick this season?
Speaker 4 (07:09):
So okay, So we talked about the potential, right, we
talked about the potential with Carter Bryant.
Speaker 3 (07:14):
We're going to talk about potential with everybody we talk about.
Speaker 4 (07:17):
That's the funder of the draft with Calin Murray Boyles
because he took the second year and that makes him
one of the old guys in this draft. When you
play two years of college, you're one of the older
guys in the draft. You see what he was able
to do with another year of development and with Calin
Murray Boyles, he learned how to shoot the ball in
the second year. He didn't have a three pointer in
(07:38):
his first year at South Carolina. He had one in
the second year. And some of these were the grenade
type threes, the end of shot clock threes.
Speaker 3 (07:46):
He's not afraid to shoot those. It's not just a
corner three.
Speaker 4 (07:49):
He can get out, he can get off the wing,
he can elevate, he's got I think it's pretty close
to NBA.
Speaker 3 (07:55):
Range right now, and he's going to get better.
Speaker 4 (07:57):
Seventeen points a game, eight rebounds a game this past
season for South Carolina, just big jumps from year one
to year two. And when you look at him, he's
not like a super finished NBA body type, but you
see where an NBA strength and conditioning team is going
to put another eight, ten, twelve pounds on the upper
(08:19):
body and that's going to make him look like an
NBA guy pretty quick. This kid's going to start somewhere
and somewhere fast. Because again, a lot of people listen
as a power forward. Keep in mind, everything is positionless
pretty much right now in the NBA. The thing that
I love most about him is he defends. He loves
(08:41):
that end of the floor, and that's going to sway
a lot of people in their draft rooms. You don't
want to get it just because you're more physically gifted
than the kids you're playing in college.
Speaker 3 (08:50):
Of course you can blow by and of course you
can go over him. Of course you can score on him.
Who can you shut down?
Speaker 4 (08:56):
And what defensive assignments are you taking? This kid really
seems to love that end of the floor.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
What do you see in his future in terms of
a role on an NBA playoff team? What job from
leading score to plug and play, you know, defensive stopp
or what do you see as his.
Speaker 4 (09:13):
Future A good second or third option. I think right
now is a realistic future point for him. You know,
as we watch this year's playoffs, there's parts it's not
the same. There's parts of the game that make me say,
oh Obi top there's parts of the game that make
me say that a little bit. I think he's a
(09:34):
guy you're going to have to guard, a guy who
gets on scouting reports that's.
Speaker 3 (09:38):
Going to help whatever team he's on.
Speaker 4 (09:40):
The team that you're playing that night is going to
have to worry about where this guy is. So that
makes you immediately a candidate to go in and play.
I don't know if he's ever going to be the
super big scorer type. Like, it's hard for me to
envision what the ceiling is, but when you look at
the jump he made from year one to year two
in college and the fact that he's still growing, it's
(10:04):
really you just don't want to put a ceiling on
the kid, You just I don't. I think there's a
lot there. He's very intriguing, let's put it that way,
and in the right system, I think he could flourish
right away.
Speaker 3 (10:20):
He's going to be coachable.
Speaker 4 (10:21):
He's going to be the sort of guy that he's
not going to have a fit issue on a lot
of teams.
Speaker 3 (10:28):
Just because I think of the type of kid he is.
But as far as what the potential.
Speaker 4 (10:33):
Is, so much of that is where he ends up.
How far does he fall. He's a lottery guy. I
really think he's a lottery guy. But is he going
to go to one of those teams towards the bottom
of the lottery that's kind of on the cusp of
making the playoffs? That might be ideal for him because
he's going to be around a lot of good players
right away and that's going to take all that first
(10:54):
year pressure off him, and then we can see what
the ceiling really is. If he goes to a place
where he is going to get asked to too much
too soon, I kind of worry does that impede the
development t.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
He's Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press. We've got two
more big names for him to break down after this
quick break here on the Hornets Podcast. Tim Reynolds of
the Associated Press our guest today here on the HHCs,
we continue our breakdown of some of the leading candidates
to be lottery picks in the twenty twenty five draft class.
Can find his work, of course, wherever you find the
(11:28):
AP in your local publication, as well as on social
media at buy Tim Reynolds, one of the best taglines
I think I've seen in a long time, very very
strong social media game for Tim Reynolds. A couple more
prospects to bring up for you, but before I do,
I want to ask you generally the class for twenty
twenty five. I've heard it said by some experts out
there that this is one of the stronger classes entering
(11:51):
the NBA in quite some time. Sometimes they're referring to
the elite talent. Sometimes they're referring to the depth of talent.
Sometimes they're referring to both. Where do you see the
twenty twenty five draft class compared to its recent or
historic peers in either of those regards, Well.
Speaker 3 (12:06):
I think it's very deep. And I think the reason
that you can tell.
Speaker 4 (12:10):
Already that this is a good draft class is there
are guys all over the map in these mock drafts
right now, and some of the mock drafts, let's just
be honest, some of the mock drafts are better than others.
Speaker 3 (12:22):
Some of the mock drafts are are a little bit
more plugged in than some others who are just maybe just.
Speaker 4 (12:27):
A list of the best players in the order of
the person that you know just wants to rank him
and doesn't pay an attention to the teams. The reason
that I think this is just so intriguing this particular
class is I was at the Combine for four days.
Speaker 3 (12:42):
I typically don't pay a ton of.
Speaker 4 (12:45):
Attention to the five on five stuff that goes on there, and.
Speaker 3 (12:49):
Real quick to somebody explained everybody kind of has to
go to the Combine.
Speaker 4 (12:52):
Now, all the prospects unless you're playing internationally at the
Combine time, you have to appear and you get measured
and you get interviewed, media responsibilities and things like that,
Like Cooper flags not playing five on five, like there's
no point for him to play five on five. You'll
go through the drills on the court, but the five
on five games are pretty much in the past. They've
(13:12):
been largely close to useless. It's a team that's been
slapped together one day before they play. There's no system,
Guys don't really know each other. It's really bad basketball.
More often than not, the games this year I thought
were excellent, and that just speaks to the adaptability of
a lot of these kids, kids who have never played
together before. It looked like they've been playing together for months.
(13:34):
They're diving on the floor, they're picking each other up,
they're really engaged.
Speaker 3 (13:39):
When somebody sets them up for.
Speaker 4 (13:40):
A basket, they're doing the you know, they're doing the
targehill thing and pointing at everybody who sent you up
for an assist. They were really good games out there,
and the attendance of scouts was also noticeably different. There
just seem to be more NBA eyeballs on these games
in Chicago I saw in the past, and that to
(14:01):
me is the clue that a lot of people are
looking at a lot of different players. Whereas in the
past years at the Combine the games looked like AAU
games at eight o'clock in the morning.
Speaker 3 (14:12):
This just felt different.
Speaker 4 (14:13):
So to me, there are needs that you can go
get at twenty five. There's needs you can go get
at fifteen, There's needs you can go get at forty five.
There's depth, I think throughout this one, and that's what
is going to make Draft nights. Remember it's two nights
now draft nights so intriguing, and Sam kind of like
you said at the top, somebody's going to make a
(14:34):
trade in the top five or six, and all these
mocks are just going to get blown up because then
we don't know what's going to happen.
Speaker 3 (14:41):
But it is not going to be a boring draft.
Speaker 4 (14:44):
There's going to be good players, really good players available
on Day two, late in Day one. There's gonna be
some really good guys that probably don't get drafted in
this thing. And you're going to see a kids show
up at summer league in July and say, how did
this kid not get drafted? To me, that's a good draft.
When you know there's fifty nine picks, you're going to
get fifty nine good players.
Speaker 2 (15:03):
Two really big names from this draft class that we
wanted you to dig into a little bit here. One
is the freshman center from Georgia, Ason Newell, who had
some really big games in the SEC. What can you
tell me about him? What gives him the potential to
be a top pick this season?
Speaker 4 (15:19):
Well, to me, this kid's finishing ability is good. Now,
he's not a three point shooter, like, he doesn't have
that yet. The three is will be kind and say
it's a work in progress.
Speaker 3 (15:31):
Sixty four percent inside.
Speaker 4 (15:33):
The arc, seventy five percent from the line, really good
touch with both hands around the rim. The thing I
like most about Ason Newell is he's got legit sized,
you know, almost seven feet only two twenty. He's going
to get a lot bigger, a lot stronger, and that's
going to make him an even better finisher.
Speaker 3 (15:53):
He's he can shoot to a point.
Speaker 4 (15:55):
It's the three is like I said, the three is
not there, but fifteen feet in in he's effective.
Speaker 3 (16:01):
And that means when he.
Speaker 4 (16:02):
Does get away from the basket, when he's on the floor,
he's going to pull a defender away with him. Like
people can't cheat off him just because he can't shoot
at all. Really good baseline touch too, I've noticed, and
that's kind of unusual for some of these guys who
like to play at the rim. He's got a decent
touch in the baseline. He's just very fundamentally strong. Again potential,
(16:23):
which we say about every kid, but he has the
body type where this kid could be two thirty five,
two forty after year one.
Speaker 3 (16:30):
It's not a Victor wembin.
Speaker 4 (16:31):
Yama body comp type deal where Wemby put on twenty
six pounds in year one, but I could see a
similar fifteen to twenty maybe with this kid, and that's
going to make his finishing ability even better than it
already is, and is already pretty good again, really good
with both hands, strong with the hands.
Speaker 3 (16:48):
He's strong with the hands.
Speaker 4 (16:49):
So don't think just because he's two twenty he's weak,
got strong hands, loves to get out and go, great athleticism,
great speed for a big man. Adjustment to a twenty
four second possession won't be a very big for Asa
Newell because I think he's got that type of motor
where he can get a board at one end, just
get out and go.
Speaker 2 (17:05):
And the last prospect we wanted you to break down
maybe the one most well known to the casual fan,
Derek Queen, the big man out of Maryland. And I
say that because the NCAA tournament can really be the
entry point for a lot of prominent young players to
the overall basketball world. And Derek Queen, he had his
one shining moment with that game winner for the Terrapins,
(17:27):
so he was already a big name prospect. He's probably
a better known one now compared to the other ones
we gave you to break down based off that success
in the tournament, But what would you say about him
and his potential to be a top five pick.
Speaker 4 (17:41):
Well, the thing about Derek Queen is Okay, So when
you have a big game, no matter when it is,
if it NCUBLEA tournament or against Loyola in December, people
will see it. Scouts will see it. Now more casual
fans will see it. In the nc DOUBLEA tournament, pically
we win and get you to the second week. Look,
he's not gonna.
Speaker 3 (18:00):
Win any dunk contests.
Speaker 4 (18:02):
Okay, he's not gonna jump to the moon, not gonna
be anything like that. But when you show up and
play that big when the lights are brightest, meaning the
NCAA tournament against a good Colorado State team.
Speaker 3 (18:17):
Corrale State was very, very good this year. I think
they won twenty six or twenty seven games.
Speaker 4 (18:21):
It raises your stock in the sense that NBA teams
can see what you do when games are on the line.
Let's face it, everybody plays clutch games all the time.
It's March every day in the league. I mean, I
think fans have often have a perception of the NBA
that it's eighty two games.
Speaker 3 (18:39):
And yes, some teams take some nights off. They just do.
Speaker 4 (18:42):
There's some nights where you just don't have it, where
you got in at four o'clock the night before. Although
the NBA has really tried to be better with the schedule,
there's some nights when you show up and you're gonna
get beat because you're exhausted, beat just because of travel
schedules and things like that.
Speaker 3 (18:55):
There are some games that teams just don't get up for.
Speaker 4 (18:58):
And that doesn't often happen in the game because you
get so few opportunities to play. But a lot of
games are decided in the NBA, whether it's in November,
whether it's in May and June. In the last five
minutes and Derek Queen showed that when a game is
on the line, not only does he want to be
the guy, but he has the capability to be the guy.
He did not shy from the moment. These are the
(19:19):
things that just can't be taught, can't be coached. You
either have it or you don't. You either want the
ball in those moments or you don't. And it's more
than just the one game. I know that, and you
know that like he was almost a double double guy.
I think he was close to sixteen and ten at
Maryland this year. When you play at Maryland, you get
on TV a lot. Yes, he is going to be
(19:39):
well known to most fans. He's going to be well
known to scouts. I'm higher on him than a lot
of people.
Speaker 3 (19:46):
It would not shock me if he's in the lottery.
I'll put it that way.
Speaker 4 (19:49):
It wouldn't shock me at all if he's in the lottery,
just because I think people look at the combination of
size and the things he can do well. He asses
the ball well, he can pass over the top of people.
I know that there's been a comparison out there to
Shenghun the Houston Star. I think that's a really unfair
(20:10):
comp for Derek Queen.
Speaker 3 (20:11):
But you can see little parts of oh. I get that.
Speaker 4 (20:14):
I get that, I get that, you see little parts
of it. I just think he's gonna be one of
those kids where we're gonna be talking about what he's
wearing on Draft night, the handshake with Adam Solver on
Draft Night. I think he's gonna be one of those
kids that announces himself as Hey, I'm here, and I
like moments, and I think that will appeal to NBA teams.
Speaker 3 (20:33):
I don't think it'll turn NBA teams off. I think
it'll appeal to those teams.
Speaker 2 (20:37):
Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press our guest today is
we continue our journey up to Draft day, now just
a couple of weeks away. We got one more segment
to go back with Tim after this here on the
Hornets Podcast, Sam Farbar, Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press.
Find him on social media at buy Tim Reynolds that
we had you do a lot of homework on for
(20:59):
specific players. I want to give you an open floor, Tim,
to give us a couple of potential, maybe non mocked
lottery players, guys a little deeper down the board, you said,
there's at least sixty guys that have the chance to
be really good NBA players, more than the a lot
of draft spots. So who are a couple of names
you have circled on your board that you're going to
(21:20):
be watching for where they go on draft night and
watching to see what they do as they begin their
NBA careers.
Speaker 4 (21:26):
So, in other words, this is the portion of the
pod where I tell the world why I'm not an
NBA general manager.
Speaker 2 (21:31):
I like it that or we look back two years
later and say, hey, this guy should be a general
manager or not.
Speaker 4 (21:38):
Could go either way and probably not with me. Well,
he's been talked about a lot. He's not going to
be a lottery guy, I don't think, but he's been
talked about a lot. The Chinese center Handsome Yang. I
was skeptical until I saw in person. Now there's a
lot of work to do with Handsome Yang.
Speaker 3 (21:57):
He plays three or four minutes, he gets over mid court,
he gets very, very tired.
Speaker 4 (22:01):
That said, the passing ability is finishing ability. I mean,
he went one on one with Vladislav Golden, a kid
that I know really well from his time in South.
Speaker 3 (22:11):
Florida at Florida Atlantic on the.
Speaker 4 (22:12):
Final fourteen before he followed Dusty Made of Michigan for
his final college season. Golden's really good defensive player and Hanson.
Yang was just like, Okay, I'm going to go buy
you now and made it look super easy in ways
that I had not seen anybody do to Vlag Golden.
That to me was one of the things that jumped
out from the combine. This kid has a ton in
(22:33):
his finishing toolkit. There is the inevitable Yao comparison. He
is a Chinese center. Of course he's going to get
compared to Yao. Doesn't have anywhere near Yao's size.
Speaker 3 (22:43):
He's only seven to one compared to seven six.
Speaker 4 (22:45):
But he's a big seven one. He's like two fifty five.
Once he gets into an NBA shape, he's going to.
Speaker 3 (22:50):
Be a problem because he's really long arms. He's going
to be a shot blocker. He can defend. He's got
the strength the weight.
Speaker 4 (22:58):
Behind him to flay a little bit of body up
defense in the post. And there's just not a lot
of guys out there that can defend seven footers well
period in any era, but especially in this era of
the NBA, where you know, not a lot of teams
have a true five. He's the type of guy fans
are going to roll their eyes and then.
Speaker 3 (23:15):
A year or two from now this they're going to
be like, oh.
Speaker 4 (23:18):
Thank goodness, we did that. So I love Hanson Yang
not playing.
Speaker 3 (23:21):
To the home crowd here, Sam, I promise.
Speaker 4 (23:23):
But Tyree's Proctor is super underrated right now in this draft. Yes,
he's small, he's only about one hundred and eighty pounds,
but he's long, and he plays defense, and he shoots,
and he's smart.
Speaker 3 (23:35):
I think he's going to be a guy that doesn't fall.
Speaker 4 (23:38):
Through the cracks because somebody's going to take a flyer
on him. I love his game. I just think it
translates so well to the NBA. I think John Shire
has done an amazing job, much like you know Mike
Krzyzewsky before him. I'm getting guys ready to win both
at the college level but also prepare them for what's
coming in the NBA. Tyrees Proctor's upside is I think
a lot bigger than people realize. Another one that I
(24:00):
really really like is Eric Dixon out of Villanova. Five
year college guys, so that kind of works against you
a little bit, and that he's already twenty three years
old or something like that, Like he's what he's going
to be. You're not going to add a lot of
things at this point. But he can score. Anybody who
can score twenty three points a game in college without
(24:21):
being a shameless gunner, which let's face it, some kids
are at the college level.
Speaker 3 (24:26):
Eric Dixon is so smart. I can tell you this
with absolute certainty.
Speaker 4 (24:31):
Eric Dixon crushed the interviews he had with teams at
the combine.
Speaker 3 (24:36):
He's not a lottery guy. I'm not even sure if he's.
Speaker 4 (24:39):
Going to make it into the bottom of the first round,
but he's going to be a guy that's on an
NBA roster next year because of the way he can
just score in a variety of different ways. Also a
very good follow share, which nobody ever talks about. That
teams value the guys who can make free throws at
the end of games. It's it's just an intangibent. The
(24:59):
absolutely have to have the last one I'll give you,
not a super sleeper because he was a point card
on the team that won the National championship. Walter Clayton
is one of the fascinating stories. There's an ignite ability
to his game. Only six', three and there was a
time when people look at the size and, say, yeah
he can't play in the. League but in THIS nba
he certainly can because it's it's more of a get
(25:21):
out and go game right now than maybe it's ever,
been or at least has been in a long. Time
it's a pretty good non ball defender for a guy
that's his, size but a past first.
Speaker 3 (25:30):
Guy likes the moment like we talked about With Derek.
Speaker 4 (25:33):
Queen he's a guy that's not going to shy away
from big. Moments THE nba is filled with big. Moments
he's a very interesting backstory started in The Metro Atlantic
Athletic conference before he goes to THE, sec and just
this larger than life, personality this million dollars.
Speaker 3 (25:49):
Smile there's just a lot of things to like about the.
Kids so he's going to be a guy who is
going to make some fan base, very very.
Speaker 4 (25:56):
HAPPY i think he's an immediate first guy off the,
bench point guard situation who comes in A. Tj McConnell
maybe type for, now and THEN i think he becomes
a starter somewhere as he goes.
Speaker 3 (26:08):
Along i'm really high On Walter.
Speaker 2 (26:09):
Clayton a lot of great insight.
Speaker 3 (26:11):
Here.
Speaker 2 (26:11):
Tim one last question for, you one last opportunity to
appeal to the home, audience and that Is i'd love
to get your take on the state of The hornets
roster in franchise, overall both in terms of who's currently on,
it the capital they have both in the draft this
year and for the, future and do you see any
similarities between The hornets and some of the teams that
made significant jumps into the postseason this past, season teams
(26:33):
Like detroit And. Houston Might charlotte be one good draft
class in one year of good health away from being
that next story for next.
Speaker 3 (26:41):
Season, well let's start with the good.
Speaker 4 (26:44):
HEALTH i, mean the basketball gods need to start smiling On.
Charlotte it's been a long time since health has treated
The hornets, fairly so let's hope for.
Speaker 3 (26:53):
That first of, all you know you Mentioned.
Speaker 4 (26:55):
Detroit detroit, was for my, money the feel good story
in THE nba this, year going from fourteen wins to forty.
Four The Charlotte hornets win too and two against.
Speaker 3 (27:06):
The Detroit pistons this.
Speaker 4 (27:07):
Season AND i know that sometimes guys are in and
out of lineups and schedules are what they, are but
you saw what a talented young core could do when
matched up against other talented young. Core those were really good.
Games The Hornets piston games were really good. Games AM
i saying they're going to win forty four next?
Speaker 3 (27:23):
Year i'm. NOT i, MEAN i Just i'm.
Speaker 4 (27:25):
Not BUT i love What Charles lee's, doing and you
can see what he's doing Forget april for, me like
The utah, game WHICH i think was Late. March that
was like the last game that sort of, mattered and
then after that it was all just, Like, okay we
are playing it out and that's that's, fine BUT i,
mean you have to be.
Speaker 3 (27:45):
Healthy that goes without.
Speaker 4 (27:47):
Saying they got to find a way to get more
competitive in the.
Speaker 3 (27:49):
Division they only Beat miami in the division this. Year
they went on to fifteen and all the other division.
Games you can't go one in fifteen against The.
Speaker 4 (27:58):
Southeast they are the teams that theory you know best
because you see them all the time and you play
them four times every. Year you only play The west
teams twice and some other teams three. Times you gotta
do better With. Atlanta you gotta do better With. Washington
the Four washington games this, year you can't have that happen.
Again but there's a ton to. Like there's enormous athleticism
on The hornet's. ROSTER i, Mean i'm based In, miami
(28:20):
and Yes i'm the NATIONAL nba writer FOR, us BUT
i watch all eighty Two heat games without.
Speaker 3 (28:25):
Fail The hornets are just as, athletic.
Speaker 4 (28:27):
If not even more so than The Miami. Heat The
heat had a tough, year but they got in you
can see the pieces that are, there and if, healthy
there's no way that The hornets don't make a big.
Jump plus this draft, Class i'm speaking directly To hornets fans,
now don't look at this draft class as one lottery
pick and then a couple. Others, no this, draft to
(28:49):
me is so deep that when you have, four thirty
three and thirty, four which is what you have going,
in who knows how it'll shake, out if there's going
to be moves or.
Speaker 3 (28:58):
WHATEVER i look three and thirty four as too extended first.
ROUNDERS i really. DO i think the draft is that.
Speaker 4 (29:05):
Deep so you could get three players in a two
day span In june that are going to be On
Charles lee's card for the rotation for the first night
of the regular season next. Year it could change in
a lot of ways really really.
Speaker 3 (29:20):
Quickly For. Charlotte, again health is.
Speaker 4 (29:23):
Everything but you see he's incorporated certain things that have
worked really well In boston to get.
Speaker 3 (29:29):
Out and, go not being afraid to shoot the.
Speaker 4 (29:31):
Three but he did it while trying to install a
philosophy that says we will defend from the rim out
and that to me is still the best way to
play in THE. Nba so might not be the sexiest,
way but to, me it is still the best way to.
Play every team in the league can shoot, threes and
you're not going to stop. It you're not going to
be able to slow the three point game from almost
(29:53):
anybody in this. League but if you can avoid giving
up a lot of easy, ones if you can defend
the rim and make teams work for those, threes and
you've got a puncher's chance in every.
Speaker 3 (30:03):
Game and that's What i'm. Hoping twenty five to twenty
six for The Hornesses, East.
Speaker 2 (30:08):
Tim reynolds Of The Associated, Press, tim this has been,
enlightening really, informative great stuff from. You thanks so much
for your, time and we look forward to seeing all
your write ups leading up to and through draft day
and hopefully seeing you at A hornets game for the upcoming.
Season thanks so much for the.
Speaker 3 (30:22):
Time thanks for having, Me.
Speaker 2 (30:23):
Sam that's going to do it for this episode of
The Hornets. Podcast again a, reminder we had a conversation
earlier in the week With Michael scotto Of hoopsype looking
AT Vj, Edgecomb Jeremiah, Fears Trey johnson some of his
favorite potential non lottery picks in his take on The
hornets franchise as, well and over the next two weeks
leading up To draft, dight we will have more, experts
(30:44):
more analysis on some of the leading prospects in the
twenty twenty five draft, class all building up two draft,
week and of course after the picks are, in we
will have all the, sound all the insight from The
hornets front office and eventually let you hear The hornets
selections throughout the twenty twenty FIVE Nba. Draft thanks again
To Tim reynolds of The Associated. Press thanks to our
Producer Al lango for putting this podcast. Together most of
(31:06):
all to all of you for tuning. In for all
of us, Here I'm Sam farber saying it's been a
pleasure and privilege having you. Along we will talk to
you next week with another draft build up episode of
The Hornets.
Speaker 1 (31:15):
Hoopcast thank you for listening To The Hornets, hoodcast brought
to you By, santa the official i ear nosen throadcare
provider of The Charlotte. Hornets for more, coverage Visit hornets dot.
Com
Welcome to the Hornets Hoodcast, presented by Charlotte I Ear
Nosen Throat Associates, the official I ear nos in throatcare
provider of the Charlotte Hornets. Here's your host, Sam Farber.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Welcome to another edition of the Hornet Timecast, your Hornets
podcast with all the notes, quotes, and daily buzz around
your favorite NBA team. I'm Sam Farber and it is
a pleasure and a privileged DEVI with us here once
again on the Hornets Podcast, brought to you by Santa Charlotte.
I Hear Nosen Throat Associates, the official I hear Nosen
throatcare provider of the Charlotte Hornets. We're continuing our build
(00:34):
up to the draft series here on the AHHC. We're
now about two weeks away, a little less than from
the NBA Draft. If you've been looking through the archives
or monitoring the HHC, you might have noticed we tipped
off this series with a great conversation with Michael Scotto
of Hoops Hype looking at the Texas, Oklahoma based guards
for this twenty twenty five draft class. Today, we've got
(00:55):
another great expert coming in to help analyze some members
of the twenty twenty five draft class. He is Tim
Reynolds of the Associated Press. You can find him on
social media at by Tim Reynolds. We're going to talk
about some of the bigs and big names in this
twenty twenty five draft class and get his expertise and
insight on a variety of players that could, maybe should
(01:16):
be eligible or interesting prospects for the lottery and will
most definitely have the chance to be factors in the
upcoming NBA season, the rookie season for all of them. So,
without further ado, let's welcome for his maiden voyage here
on the Hornets Podcast, Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press. Tim,
thanks so much for joining me, oh.
Speaker 3 (01:34):
Sam, thanks for having me.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
Happy draft season, Happy draft season in d We're now
just a couple weeks away here from the draft, and
while certain draft boards are starting to cement themselves, we
know all too well from history that the draft is unpredictable.
It only takes one person's opinion on a player to
swing things wildly, and oftentimes maybe all the time the
(01:55):
experts mock draft board doesn't end up being the top
list when it's all said and done. As these guys
get into the NBA. So we're gonna dig a little deeper.
We've given you some of the bigs in this twenty
twenty five draft class that are certainly listed on a
lot of people's lottery lists, but not all of them
have necessarily been projected in every one of these draft
(02:15):
boards in the top five. So we're gonna start you
off with Carter Bryant from Arizona. He's a guy who
has been kind of a high riser up some of
these draft boards. What can you tell me about Carter
Bryant and what makes him potentially a candidate to be
a top five pick.
Speaker 3 (02:30):
Well, that's the word right there, potentially.
Speaker 4 (02:33):
And you know the thing about Carter Bryant, and this
is why the draft is so much fun, and all
the prognostication and all the blathering on we do about
it for weeks at a time is so silly. Without fail,
people will look at his numbers six and a half
points four rebounds a game and say what. And that's
exactly the reaction you get from normal whatever when they.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
Just look at the stats. The people that just see
stats are.
Speaker 4 (02:58):
Like, there's no way this guy's a lottery There's no
way this guy is a potential top.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
Five, top ten kid. The kid is just.
Speaker 4 (03:05):
He's not a sleeper anymore. I thought, like three or
four weeks ago, I thought he could be a sleeper.
Speaker 3 (03:09):
And then everybody figured it out.
Speaker 4 (03:11):
And so there's a lot of people smarter than me
out there, so of course people were going to figure
it out. The kid just knows how to play. I mean,
he doesn't move. He floats like. That's the thing that
to me jumps off the tape. And I don't pretend
like I'm not gonna sit here and lie to you
like I don't. I'm not sitting in a cave breaking
down every single player in the draft. But I've watched
(03:31):
him just out of intrigue. The footwork is unbelievable. And
that's the one that I do know this much. NBA teams,
if the footwork is poor, they're going to knock you
down several pegs on the draft board right away. This
kid's feed are unbelievable. He is always in control. One
comp that I got at the combine to his footwork,
and keep in mind this kid's six foot eight. One
(03:54):
comp that a scout gave me to his footwork is
Jalen Brunson and Jalen Brunson.
Speaker 3 (03:58):
Might have some of the best feat in the NBA
right now.
Speaker 4 (04:01):
He's also a six y three point guard. To compare
Carter Bryant's footwork to Jayalen Brunson, to me was a
bit boggling of the mind, if you will, but you
can sort of see where the guy's coming from. I look,
he can shoot, he can pass, he's smart, he knows
how to play, and to me, that's the biggest thing.
Speaker 3 (04:21):
I think every guy that.
Speaker 4 (04:22):
Gets to this point, you know, the skill set is there,
and they're young and they still need to develop a
lot of things.
Speaker 3 (04:29):
But you can't teach somebody to know.
Speaker 4 (04:31):
How to play, and that, to me, I think is
the absolute biggest strength for Carter Bryant. Forget the six
and a half points and four rebounds in college. A
lot of people see this kid as a three and
D guy. I really don't. I just see him as
a plug and play that you can put anywhere, and
he's going to fit in any system and he's going
to get better playing with better people. I just think
(04:54):
it's just one of those natural fits for a lot
of teams. If you want somebody really smart, really versatile.
This might be a kid you take a real good
look at. He can shoot. That's the absolute skill right
now for a wing. He can shoot it. He's got
great footwork, incredibly smart.
Speaker 3 (05:08):
I like him a lot.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
A lot of the draft these days is about projecting
down the line. So I'm gonna ask you to do
it with Carter Bryant. If you're projecting him for maybe
his All Star capability six eight years into his career,
or looking at what his potential role would be on
a playoff team as he develops as an NBA player,
what do you foresee for Carter Bryant.
Speaker 3 (05:29):
I mean, it's hard to say. Is he a starter?
Is he a six man started guy?
Speaker 4 (05:33):
But because of the shooting and the ignite ability that
I think he really has in his game. When you
can shoot three as I think he can at the
NBA level, you're going to score a lot. When you
can score a lot, you're an All Star candidate. So
I mean, I don't know if he's going to be
the sort of guy that is a fan vote guy,
but it wouldn't shock me if in two three years
(05:54):
he starts showing up on some coaches vote.
Speaker 3 (05:55):
Ballots for a reserve player.
Speaker 4 (05:58):
I think he's just exceptional and I don't think there's
a team in the NBA that he doesn't fit on,
just because again, smart's travel smarts and shooting ability travels.
Speaker 3 (06:09):
I know some people are super high on him.
Speaker 4 (06:11):
Some people think that he could be one of the
absolute You know, when we redo this draft in five years,
this kid's going to be top five.
Speaker 3 (06:19):
He might end up being pretty close to that right now.
Speaker 4 (06:22):
In terms of the draft, it's just one of those
ones where Sammy, whichever team is lucky enough to get him,
fans need to look past six and a half points
and four point one rebounds in his one college season.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
Trust me, this is not a wasted pick. The potential
is enormous.
Speaker 4 (06:36):
I do think that he has starter capability on a
lot of teams in this league.
Speaker 3 (06:41):
But I'm also not real big on the starter thing.
To me, is so overblown.
Speaker 4 (06:47):
It's a This is a guy who's going to be
twenty twenty five, twenty eight thirty minutes. Whatever a team
needs from him, he can give them, I think pretty
close to right away.
Speaker 3 (06:58):
And that means the sky's the limit.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
Another prospect to have you sink your teeth into from
South Carolina Colin Murray Boyles, what can you tell me
about him? What makes him a candidate to be a
top five pick this season?
Speaker 4 (07:09):
So okay, So we talked about the potential, right, we
talked about the potential with Carter Bryant.
Speaker 3 (07:14):
We're going to talk about potential with everybody we talk about.
Speaker 4 (07:17):
That's the funder of the draft with Calin Murray Boyles
because he took the second year and that makes him
one of the old guys in this draft. When you
play two years of college, you're one of the older
guys in the draft. You see what he was able
to do with another year of development and with Calin
Murray Boyles, he learned how to shoot the ball in
the second year. He didn't have a three pointer in
(07:38):
his first year at South Carolina. He had one in
the second year. And some of these were the grenade
type threes, the end of shot clock threes.
Speaker 3 (07:46):
He's not afraid to shoot those. It's not just a
corner three.
Speaker 4 (07:49):
He can get out, he can get off the wing,
he can elevate, he's got I think it's pretty close
to NBA.
Speaker 3 (07:55):
Range right now, and he's going to get better.
Speaker 4 (07:57):
Seventeen points a game, eight rebounds a game this past
season for South Carolina, just big jumps from year one
to year two. And when you look at him, he's
not like a super finished NBA body type, but you
see where an NBA strength and conditioning team is going
to put another eight, ten, twelve pounds on the upper
(08:19):
body and that's going to make him look like an
NBA guy pretty quick. This kid's going to start somewhere
and somewhere fast. Because again, a lot of people listen
as a power forward. Keep in mind, everything is positionless
pretty much right now in the NBA. The thing that
I love most about him is he defends. He loves
(08:41):
that end of the floor, and that's going to sway
a lot of people in their draft rooms. You don't
want to get it just because you're more physically gifted
than the kids you're playing in college.
Speaker 3 (08:50):
Of course you can blow by and of course you
can go over him. Of course you can score on him.
Who can you shut down?
Speaker 4 (08:56):
And what defensive assignments are you taking? This kid really
seems to love that end of the floor.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
What do you see in his future in terms of
a role on an NBA playoff team? What job from
leading score to plug and play, you know, defensive stopp
or what do you see as his.
Speaker 4 (09:13):
Future A good second or third option. I think right
now is a realistic future point for him. You know,
as we watch this year's playoffs, there's parts it's not
the same. There's parts of the game that make me say,
oh Obi top there's parts of the game that make
me say that a little bit. I think he's a
(09:34):
guy you're going to have to guard, a guy who
gets on scouting reports that's.
Speaker 3 (09:38):
Going to help whatever team he's on.
Speaker 4 (09:40):
The team that you're playing that night is going to
have to worry about where this guy is. So that
makes you immediately a candidate to go in and play.
I don't know if he's ever going to be the
super big scorer type. Like, it's hard for me to
envision what the ceiling is, but when you look at
the jump he made from year one to year two
in college and the fact that he's still growing, it's
(10:04):
really you just don't want to put a ceiling on
the kid, You just I don't. I think there's a
lot there. He's very intriguing, let's put it that way,
and in the right system, I think he could flourish
right away.
Speaker 3 (10:20):
He's going to be coachable.
Speaker 4 (10:21):
He's going to be the sort of guy that he's
not going to have a fit issue on a lot
of teams.
Speaker 3 (10:28):
Just because I think of the type of kid he is.
But as far as what the potential.
Speaker 4 (10:33):
Is, so much of that is where he ends up.
How far does he fall. He's a lottery guy. I
really think he's a lottery guy. But is he going
to go to one of those teams towards the bottom
of the lottery that's kind of on the cusp of
making the playoffs? That might be ideal for him because
he's going to be around a lot of good players
right away and that's going to take all that first
(10:54):
year pressure off him, and then we can see what
the ceiling really is. If he goes to a place
where he is going to get asked to too much
too soon, I kind of worry does that impede the
development t.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
He's Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press. We've got two
more big names for him to break down after this
quick break here on the Hornets Podcast. Tim Reynolds of
the Associated Press our guest today here on the HHCs,
we continue our breakdown of some of the leading candidates
to be lottery picks in the twenty twenty five draft class.
Can find his work, of course, wherever you find the
(11:28):
AP in your local publication, as well as on social
media at buy Tim Reynolds, one of the best taglines
I think I've seen in a long time, very very
strong social media game for Tim Reynolds. A couple more
prospects to bring up for you, but before I do,
I want to ask you generally the class for twenty
twenty five. I've heard it said by some experts out
there that this is one of the stronger classes entering
(11:51):
the NBA in quite some time. Sometimes they're referring to
the elite talent. Sometimes they're referring to the depth of talent.
Sometimes they're referring to both. Where do you see the
twenty twenty five draft class compared to its recent or
historic peers in either of those regards, Well.
Speaker 3 (12:06):
I think it's very deep. And I think the reason
that you can tell.
Speaker 4 (12:10):
Already that this is a good draft class is there
are guys all over the map in these mock drafts
right now, and some of the mock drafts, let's just
be honest, some of the mock drafts are better than others.
Speaker 3 (12:22):
Some of the mock drafts are are a little bit
more plugged in than some others who are just maybe just.
Speaker 4 (12:27):
A list of the best players in the order of
the person that you know just wants to rank him
and doesn't pay an attention to the teams. The reason
that I think this is just so intriguing this particular
class is I was at the Combine for four days.
Speaker 3 (12:42):
I typically don't pay a ton of.
Speaker 4 (12:45):
Attention to the five on five stuff that goes on there, and.
Speaker 3 (12:49):
Real quick to somebody explained everybody kind of has to
go to the Combine.
Speaker 4 (12:52):
Now, all the prospects unless you're playing internationally at the
Combine time, you have to appear and you get measured
and you get interviewed, media responsibilities and things like that,
Like Cooper flags not playing five on five, like there's
no point for him to play five on five. You'll
go through the drills on the court, but the five
on five games are pretty much in the past. They've
(13:12):
been largely close to useless. It's a team that's been
slapped together one day before they play. There's no system,
Guys don't really know each other. It's really bad basketball.
More often than not, the games this year I thought
were excellent, and that just speaks to the adaptability of
a lot of these kids, kids who have never played
together before. It looked like they've been playing together for months.
(13:34):
They're diving on the floor, they're picking each other up,
they're really engaged.
Speaker 3 (13:39):
When somebody sets them up for.
Speaker 4 (13:40):
A basket, they're doing the you know, they're doing the
targehill thing and pointing at everybody who sent you up
for an assist. They were really good games out there,
and the attendance of scouts was also noticeably different. There
just seem to be more NBA eyeballs on these games
in Chicago I saw in the past, and that to
(14:01):
me is the clue that a lot of people are
looking at a lot of different players. Whereas in the
past years at the Combine the games looked like AAU
games at eight o'clock in the morning.
Speaker 3 (14:12):
This just felt different.
Speaker 4 (14:13):
So to me, there are needs that you can go
get at twenty five. There's needs you can go get
at fifteen, There's needs you can go get at forty five.
There's depth, I think throughout this one, and that's what
is going to make Draft nights. Remember it's two nights
now draft nights so intriguing, and Sam kind of like
you said at the top, somebody's going to make a
(14:34):
trade in the top five or six, and all these
mocks are just going to get blown up because then
we don't know what's going to happen.
Speaker 3 (14:41):
But it is not going to be a boring draft.
Speaker 4 (14:44):
There's going to be good players, really good players available
on Day two, late in Day one. There's gonna be
some really good guys that probably don't get drafted in
this thing. And you're going to see a kids show
up at summer league in July and say, how did
this kid not get drafted? To me, that's a good draft.
When you know there's fifty nine picks, you're going to
get fifty nine good players.
Speaker 2 (15:03):
Two really big names from this draft class that we
wanted you to dig into a little bit here. One
is the freshman center from Georgia, Ason Newell, who had
some really big games in the SEC. What can you
tell me about him? What gives him the potential to
be a top pick this season?
Speaker 4 (15:19):
Well, to me, this kid's finishing ability is good. Now,
he's not a three point shooter, like, he doesn't have
that yet. The three is will be kind and say
it's a work in progress.
Speaker 3 (15:31):
Sixty four percent inside.
Speaker 4 (15:33):
The arc, seventy five percent from the line, really good
touch with both hands around the rim. The thing I
like most about Ason Newell is he's got legit sized,
you know, almost seven feet only two twenty. He's going
to get a lot bigger, a lot stronger, and that's
going to make him an even better finisher.
Speaker 3 (15:53):
He's he can shoot to a point.
Speaker 4 (15:55):
It's the three is like I said, the three is
not there, but fifteen feet in in he's effective.
Speaker 3 (16:01):
And that means when he.
Speaker 4 (16:02):
Does get away from the basket, when he's on the floor,
he's going to pull a defender away with him. Like
people can't cheat off him just because he can't shoot
at all. Really good baseline touch too, I've noticed, and
that's kind of unusual for some of these guys who
like to play at the rim. He's got a decent
touch in the baseline. He's just very fundamentally strong. Again potential,
(16:23):
which we say about every kid, but he has the
body type where this kid could be two thirty five,
two forty after year one.
Speaker 3 (16:30):
It's not a Victor wembin.
Speaker 4 (16:31):
Yama body comp type deal where Wemby put on twenty
six pounds in year one, but I could see a
similar fifteen to twenty maybe with this kid, and that's
going to make his finishing ability even better than it
already is, and is already pretty good again, really good
with both hands, strong with the hands.
Speaker 3 (16:48):
He's strong with the hands.
Speaker 4 (16:49):
So don't think just because he's two twenty he's weak,
got strong hands, loves to get out and go, great athleticism,
great speed for a big man. Adjustment to a twenty
four second possession won't be a very big for Asa
Newell because I think he's got that type of motor
where he can get a board at one end, just
get out and go.
Speaker 2 (17:05):
And the last prospect we wanted you to break down
maybe the one most well known to the casual fan,
Derek Queen, the big man out of Maryland. And I
say that because the NCAA tournament can really be the
entry point for a lot of prominent young players to
the overall basketball world. And Derek Queen, he had his
one shining moment with that game winner for the Terrapins,
(17:27):
so he was already a big name prospect. He's probably
a better known one now compared to the other ones
we gave you to break down based off that success
in the tournament, But what would you say about him
and his potential to be a top five pick.
Speaker 4 (17:41):
Well, the thing about Derek Queen is Okay, So when
you have a big game, no matter when it is,
if it NCUBLEA tournament or against Loyola in December, people
will see it. Scouts will see it. Now more casual
fans will see it. In the nc DOUBLEA tournament, pically
we win and get you to the second week. Look,
he's not gonna.
Speaker 3 (18:00):
Win any dunk contests.
Speaker 4 (18:02):
Okay, he's not gonna jump to the moon, not gonna
be anything like that. But when you show up and
play that big when the lights are brightest, meaning the
NCAA tournament against a good Colorado State team.
Speaker 3 (18:17):
Corrale State was very, very good this year. I think
they won twenty six or twenty seven games.
Speaker 4 (18:21):
It raises your stock in the sense that NBA teams
can see what you do when games are on the line.
Let's face it, everybody plays clutch games all the time.
It's March every day in the league. I mean, I
think fans have often have a perception of the NBA
that it's eighty two games.
Speaker 3 (18:39):
And yes, some teams take some nights off. They just do.
Speaker 4 (18:42):
There's some nights where you just don't have it, where
you got in at four o'clock the night before. Although
the NBA has really tried to be better with the schedule,
there's some nights when you show up and you're gonna
get beat because you're exhausted, beat just because of travel
schedules and things like that.
Speaker 3 (18:55):
There are some games that teams just don't get up for.
Speaker 4 (18:58):
And that doesn't often happen in the game because you
get so few opportunities to play. But a lot of
games are decided in the NBA, whether it's in November,
whether it's in May and June. In the last five
minutes and Derek Queen showed that when a game is
on the line, not only does he want to be
the guy, but he has the capability to be the guy.
He did not shy from the moment. These are the
(19:19):
things that just can't be taught, can't be coached. You
either have it or you don't. You either want the
ball in those moments or you don't. And it's more
than just the one game. I know that, and you
know that like he was almost a double double guy.
I think he was close to sixteen and ten at
Maryland this year. When you play at Maryland, you get
on TV a lot. Yes, he is going to be
(19:39):
well known to most fans. He's going to be well
known to scouts. I'm higher on him than a lot
of people.
Speaker 3 (19:46):
It would not shock me if he's in the lottery.
I'll put it that way.
Speaker 4 (19:49):
It wouldn't shock me at all if he's in the lottery,
just because I think people look at the combination of
size and the things he can do well. He asses
the ball well, he can pass over the top of people.
I know that there's been a comparison out there to
Shenghun the Houston Star. I think that's a really unfair
(20:10):
comp for Derek Queen.
Speaker 3 (20:11):
But you can see little parts of oh. I get that.
Speaker 4 (20:14):
I get that, I get that, you see little parts
of it. I just think he's gonna be one of
those kids where we're gonna be talking about what he's
wearing on Draft night, the handshake with Adam Solver on
Draft Night. I think he's gonna be one of those
kids that announces himself as Hey, I'm here, and I
like moments, and I think that will appeal to NBA teams.
Speaker 3 (20:33):
I don't think it'll turn NBA teams off. I think
it'll appeal to those teams.
Speaker 2 (20:37):
Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press our guest today is
we continue our journey up to Draft day, now just
a couple of weeks away. We got one more segment
to go back with Tim after this here on the
Hornets Podcast, Sam Farbar, Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press.
Find him on social media at buy Tim Reynolds that
we had you do a lot of homework on for
(20:59):
specific players. I want to give you an open floor, Tim,
to give us a couple of potential, maybe non mocked
lottery players, guys a little deeper down the board, you said,
there's at least sixty guys that have the chance to
be really good NBA players, more than the a lot
of draft spots. So who are a couple of names
you have circled on your board that you're going to
(21:20):
be watching for where they go on draft night and
watching to see what they do as they begin their
NBA careers.
Speaker 4 (21:26):
So, in other words, this is the portion of the
pod where I tell the world why I'm not an
NBA general manager.
Speaker 2 (21:31):
I like it that or we look back two years
later and say, hey, this guy should be a general
manager or not.
Speaker 4 (21:38):
Could go either way and probably not with me. Well,
he's been talked about a lot. He's not going to
be a lottery guy, I don't think, but he's been
talked about a lot. The Chinese center Handsome Yang. I
was skeptical until I saw in person. Now there's a
lot of work to do with Handsome Yang.
Speaker 3 (21:57):
He plays three or four minutes, he gets over mid court,
he gets very, very tired.
Speaker 4 (22:01):
That said, the passing ability is finishing ability. I mean,
he went one on one with Vladislav Golden, a kid
that I know really well from his time in South.
Speaker 3 (22:11):
Florida at Florida Atlantic on the.
Speaker 4 (22:12):
Final fourteen before he followed Dusty Made of Michigan for
his final college season. Golden's really good defensive player and Hanson.
Yang was just like, Okay, I'm going to go buy
you now and made it look super easy in ways
that I had not seen anybody do to Vlag Golden.
That to me was one of the things that jumped
out from the combine. This kid has a ton in
(22:33):
his finishing toolkit. There is the inevitable Yao comparison. He
is a Chinese center. Of course he's going to get
compared to Yao. Doesn't have anywhere near Yao's size.
Speaker 3 (22:43):
He's only seven to one compared to seven six.
Speaker 4 (22:45):
But he's a big seven one. He's like two fifty five.
Once he gets into an NBA shape, he's going to.
Speaker 3 (22:50):
Be a problem because he's really long arms. He's going
to be a shot blocker. He can defend. He's got
the strength the weight.
Speaker 4 (22:58):
Behind him to flay a little bit of body up
defense in the post. And there's just not a lot
of guys out there that can defend seven footers well
period in any era, but especially in this era of
the NBA, where you know, not a lot of teams
have a true five. He's the type of guy fans
are going to roll their eyes and then.
Speaker 3 (23:15):
A year or two from now this they're going to
be like, oh.
Speaker 4 (23:18):
Thank goodness, we did that. So I love Hanson Yang
not playing.
Speaker 3 (23:21):
To the home crowd here, Sam, I promise.
Speaker 4 (23:23):
But Tyree's Proctor is super underrated right now in this draft. Yes,
he's small, he's only about one hundred and eighty pounds,
but he's long, and he plays defense, and he shoots,
and he's smart.
Speaker 3 (23:35):
I think he's going to be a guy that doesn't fall.
Speaker 4 (23:38):
Through the cracks because somebody's going to take a flyer
on him. I love his game. I just think it
translates so well to the NBA. I think John Shire
has done an amazing job, much like you know Mike
Krzyzewsky before him. I'm getting guys ready to win both
at the college level but also prepare them for what's
coming in the NBA. Tyrees Proctor's upside is I think
a lot bigger than people realize. Another one that I
(24:00):
really really like is Eric Dixon out of Villanova. Five
year college guys, so that kind of works against you
a little bit, and that he's already twenty three years
old or something like that, Like he's what he's going
to be. You're not going to add a lot of
things at this point. But he can score. Anybody who
can score twenty three points a game in college without
(24:21):
being a shameless gunner, which let's face it, some kids
are at the college level.
Speaker 3 (24:26):
Eric Dixon is so smart. I can tell you this
with absolute certainty.
Speaker 4 (24:31):
Eric Dixon crushed the interviews he had with teams at
the combine.
Speaker 3 (24:36):
He's not a lottery guy. I'm not even sure if he's.
Speaker 4 (24:39):
Going to make it into the bottom of the first round,
but he's going to be a guy that's on an
NBA roster next year because of the way he can
just score in a variety of different ways. Also a
very good follow share, which nobody ever talks about. That
teams value the guys who can make free throws at
the end of games. It's it's just an intangibent. The
(24:59):
absolutely have to have the last one I'll give you,
not a super sleeper because he was a point card
on the team that won the National championship. Walter Clayton
is one of the fascinating stories. There's an ignite ability
to his game. Only six', three and there was a
time when people look at the size and, say, yeah
he can't play in the. League but in THIS nba
he certainly can because it's it's more of a get
(25:21):
out and go game right now than maybe it's ever,
been or at least has been in a long. Time
it's a pretty good non ball defender for a guy
that's his, size but a past first.
Speaker 3 (25:30):
Guy likes the moment like we talked about With Derek.
Speaker 4 (25:33):
Queen he's a guy that's not going to shy away
from big. Moments THE nba is filled with big. Moments
he's a very interesting backstory started in The Metro Atlantic
Athletic conference before he goes to THE, sec and just
this larger than life, personality this million dollars.
Speaker 3 (25:49):
Smile there's just a lot of things to like about the.
Kids so he's going to be a guy who is
going to make some fan base, very very.
Speaker 4 (25:56):
HAPPY i think he's an immediate first guy off the,
bench point guard situation who comes in A. Tj McConnell
maybe type for, now and THEN i think he becomes
a starter somewhere as he goes.
Speaker 3 (26:08):
Along i'm really high On Walter.
Speaker 2 (26:09):
Clayton a lot of great insight.
Speaker 3 (26:11):
Here.
Speaker 2 (26:11):
Tim one last question for, you one last opportunity to
appeal to the home, audience and that Is i'd love
to get your take on the state of The hornets
roster in franchise, overall both in terms of who's currently on,
it the capital they have both in the draft this
year and for the, future and do you see any
similarities between The hornets and some of the teams that
made significant jumps into the postseason this past, season teams
(26:33):
Like detroit And. Houston Might charlotte be one good draft
class in one year of good health away from being
that next story for next.
Speaker 3 (26:41):
Season, well let's start with the good.
Speaker 4 (26:44):
HEALTH i, mean the basketball gods need to start smiling On.
Charlotte it's been a long time since health has treated
The hornets, fairly so let's hope for.
Speaker 3 (26:53):
That first of, all you know you Mentioned.
Speaker 4 (26:55):
Detroit detroit, was for my, money the feel good story
in THE nba this, year going from fourteen wins to forty.
Four The Charlotte hornets win too and two against.
Speaker 3 (27:06):
The Detroit pistons this.
Speaker 4 (27:07):
Season AND i know that sometimes guys are in and
out of lineups and schedules are what they, are but
you saw what a talented young core could do when
matched up against other talented young. Core those were really good.
Games The Hornets piston games were really good. Games AM
i saying they're going to win forty four next?
Speaker 3 (27:23):
Year i'm. NOT i, MEAN i Just i'm.
Speaker 4 (27:25):
Not BUT i love What Charles lee's, doing and you
can see what he's doing Forget april for, me like
The utah, game WHICH i think was Late. March that
was like the last game that sort of, mattered and
then after that it was all just, Like, okay we
are playing it out and that's that's, fine BUT i,
mean you have to be.
Speaker 3 (27:45):
Healthy that goes without.
Speaker 4 (27:47):
Saying they got to find a way to get more
competitive in the.
Speaker 3 (27:49):
Division they only Beat miami in the division this. Year
they went on to fifteen and all the other division.
Games you can't go one in fifteen against The.
Speaker 4 (27:58):
Southeast they are the teams that theory you know best
because you see them all the time and you play
them four times every. Year you only play The west
teams twice and some other teams three. Times you gotta
do better With. Atlanta you gotta do better With. Washington
the Four washington games this, year you can't have that happen.
Again but there's a ton to. Like there's enormous athleticism
on The hornet's. ROSTER i, Mean i'm based In, miami
(28:20):
and Yes i'm the NATIONAL nba writer FOR, us BUT
i watch all eighty Two heat games without.
Speaker 3 (28:25):
Fail The hornets are just as, athletic.
Speaker 4 (28:27):
If not even more so than The Miami. Heat The
heat had a tough, year but they got in you
can see the pieces that are, there and if, healthy
there's no way that The hornets don't make a big.
Jump plus this draft, Class i'm speaking directly To hornets fans,
now don't look at this draft class as one lottery
pick and then a couple. Others, no this, draft to
(28:49):
me is so deep that when you have, four thirty
three and thirty, four which is what you have going,
in who knows how it'll shake, out if there's going
to be moves or.
Speaker 3 (28:58):
WHATEVER i look three and thirty four as too extended first.
ROUNDERS i really. DO i think the draft is that.
Speaker 4 (29:05):
Deep so you could get three players in a two
day span In june that are going to be On
Charles lee's card for the rotation for the first night
of the regular season next. Year it could change in
a lot of ways really really.
Speaker 3 (29:20):
Quickly For. Charlotte, again health is.
Speaker 4 (29:23):
Everything but you see he's incorporated certain things that have
worked really well In boston to get.
Speaker 3 (29:29):
Out and, go not being afraid to shoot the.
Speaker 4 (29:31):
Three but he did it while trying to install a
philosophy that says we will defend from the rim out
and that to me is still the best way to
play in THE. Nba so might not be the sexiest,
way but to, me it is still the best way to.
Play every team in the league can shoot, threes and
you're not going to stop. It you're not going to
be able to slow the three point game from almost
(29:53):
anybody in this. League but if you can avoid giving
up a lot of easy, ones if you can defend
the rim and make teams work for those, threes and
you've got a puncher's chance in every.
Speaker 3 (30:03):
Game and that's What i'm. Hoping twenty five to twenty
six for The Hornesses, East.
Speaker 2 (30:08):
Tim reynolds Of The Associated, Press, tim this has been,
enlightening really, informative great stuff from. You thanks so much
for your, time and we look forward to seeing all
your write ups leading up to and through draft day
and hopefully seeing you at A hornets game for the upcoming.
Season thanks so much for the.
Speaker 3 (30:22):
Time thanks for having, Me.
Speaker 2 (30:23):
Sam that's going to do it for this episode of
The Hornets. Podcast again a, reminder we had a conversation
earlier in the week With Michael scotto Of hoopsype looking
AT Vj, Edgecomb Jeremiah, Fears Trey johnson some of his
favorite potential non lottery picks in his take on The
hornets franchise as, well and over the next two weeks
leading up To draft, dight we will have more, experts
(30:44):
more analysis on some of the leading prospects in the
twenty twenty five draft, class all building up two draft,
week and of course after the picks are, in we
will have all the, sound all the insight from The
hornets front office and eventually let you hear The hornets
selections throughout the twenty twenty FIVE Nba. Draft thanks again
To Tim reynolds of The Associated. Press thanks to our
Producer Al lango for putting this podcast. Together most of
(31:06):
all to all of you for tuning. In for all
of us, Here I'm Sam farber saying it's been a
pleasure and privilege having you. Along we will talk to
you next week with another draft build up episode of
The Hornets.
Speaker 1 (31:15):
Hoopcast thank you for listening To The Hornets, hoodcast brought
to you By, santa the official i ear nosen throadcare
provider of The Charlotte. Hornets for more, coverage Visit hornets dot.
Com
Hosts And Creators
Sam Farber
Rob Longo
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!