Excited to make my debut over at @swishtheory.bsky.social: Scouting Henri Veesaar, who brings a lot to the table for UNC, along with some NBA upside: good mobility, stretch potential and rim protection — more on his fit and role in Chapel Hill theswishtheory.com/2026-nba-dra...

Coming up today on #GamePlay, Matthew Cauz will be joined by @keeganmatheson.bsky.social and @draftpow.bsky.social! Listen from 2-4pm on your home speakers, @tsnofficial.bsky.social App, iHeart Radio App or player.toronto.tsn.ca!

My 2025 NBA Draft Big Board:

Talked to Will Morris of @swishtheory.bsky.social about three one-and-done guards: Jeremiah Fears, Kasparas Jakucionis, Jase Richardson. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s...

A Toronto Raptors NBA draft wish list. Filters: - Minimum starter level rim protector - Minimum starter level play finisher Sorted by advantage extension. Kalkbrenner a sneaky option later on if miss/pass on Maluach?

Took the board in a new direction this year with an interactive interface to create custom rankings. Check it out!

I'm late to this but @swishtheory.bsky.social and @draftpow.bsky.social knocked it out the park with this theswishtheory.com/scouting-rep...

🎯🎯New Episode (audio)🎯🎯 227: 2025 Draft Bigs w Brains (Queen, Sorber, CMB, Kalkbrenner, Yang) with @draftpow.bsky.social Enjoy!! And thank you for the questions! Addressed at end of episode. open.spotify.com/episode/4adL...

New: As I catch up on scouting, I'm getting help from draft experts to learn more about players the Sixers could take at No. 3. Up first: @draftpow.bsky.social on Ace Bailey, a prospect of major highs & lows. Outstanding, nuanced breakdown of a confusing player! www.phillyvoice.com/sixers-news-...

Pew data shows that despite 2020's promises, only 27% of Americans believe focus on racial equity has led to real improvements. www.pewresearch.org/race-and-eth... I recently wrote about how this rollback shows up in capital access and community investment: ahmedwhitt.substack.com/p/risk-reima...

For CDFIs and community banks, integrating AI-powered tools represents more than just modernizing lending practices—it's about creating a comprehensive ecosystem that supports both lenders and borrowers. Read below for more on using AI for equitable lending: ahmedwhitt.substack.com/p/risk-reima...

Excited to be providing support for this newsletter! Please consider subscribing as well as following Ahmed.

the fact that Jakucionis really struggles with blitzing and on-ball pressure is evident in this very neat graphic made by Swish Theory's Matt Powers (@draftpow.bsky.social)

Check it out!

NEW from Swish! Who is Khaman Maluach? @DraftPow breaks down the #2 player on his board with a scouting report on the Duke freshman 📝 Relatively new to the sport, the potential is sky high for the 18 year old big. Link below!

Among lottery prospects, Noa Essengue, Khaman Maluach, Asa Newell and Derik Queen had the widest range of opinions on Swish Theory’s 2025 consensus Big Board, compared to universal agreement with Cooper Flagg at top.

Check out the rankings from the team! I was highest on: ⚪️ Khaman Maluach ⚪️ Noa Essengue ⚪️ Ben Saraf ⚪️ Joshua Jefferson ⚪️ Alex Condon Lowest on: 🟣 Dylan Harper 🟣 Kon Knueppel 🟣 Nolan Traore 🟣 Danny Wolf 🟣 Hugo Gonzalez

Hand-tracked Kasparas Jakucionis drives

Cooper Flagg vs Dylan Harper shooting profiles, all Synergy data

I make the case for Cooper Flagg having top five player upside. t.co/ivO25rxbYc

Decided to pivot from draft philosophy to pure scouting reports this cycle. First up this week:

Just due to the likely difference in offensive burdens, I might have Noah Penda as my pick for most likely to make an All Defense team over Cooper Flagg. Leads the LNB in blocks while second in steals, turns 20 next week. CMB in third.

I made the following picks: 8. Brooklyn Nets - Jeremiah Fears 21. Brooklyn Nets - Labaron Philon 25. Brooklyn Nets - Darrion Williams 38. Brooklyn Nets - Danny Wolf 48. Cleveland Cavs - Bogoljub Markovic 56. New York Knicks - Drake Powell

SWISH THEORY MOCK DRAFT 1.0 Prepare for 2025 with our team's debut NBA mock draft for the cycle. Featuring write-ups from 11 writers for the top 30. Let us know where you agree or disagree! theswishtheory.com/2025-nba-dra...

Not every player's usage is the same, so one way to adjust is by benchmarking to play-type efficiency rather than overall efficiency. Essentially, which players have the most difficult play-type usage, and how efficient are they relative to those looks? Data is per game.

Drive stats for NBA’s drive leaders in their pre-draft season, compared to Cooper Flagg and Dylan Harper. Harper a potentially special driver

Interesting that despite his inconsistent efficiency, Cooper Flagg has only continued to rise up RAPM leaderboards. Now #2 in the ACC at +9.6 against top 100 competition Other notable freshmen (all vs T100): - Jase Richardson +13.9 - Derik Queen +13.8 - Tahaad Pettiford +11.2 - Tre Johnson +10.5

NCAA players shooting 70%+ at the rim with 70%+ of makes self-created: 1. Kam Jones - 76% shooting, 87% self-created 2. Dylan Harper - 78% shooting, 82% self-created End of list

New at Swish Theory! @ajcarter1.bsky.social discusses his early season takeaways for 2025 NBA Draft prospects, including: 🔳 Kam Jones' hot start 🔳 How to understand Ace Bailey 🔳 The two sides of Egor Demin Check it out! theswishtheory.com/2025-nba-dra...

On “closeout creation,” from Roshan Potluri: theswishtheory.com/2025-nba-dra... Featuring: • Cooper Flagg, Duke • Jase Richardson, Michigan State • Labaron Philon, Alabama • Noah Penda, Le Mans • Xaivian Lee, Princeton

This is a star indicator

The Grizzlies are back from the NBA Cup break. As they’re looking to pick up where they left off, I break down 4 observations in quadrant-based format, and the impact on the season going forward subtsakalidis.substack.com/p/grizzlies-...

Ty Jerome has been surprisingly essential in elevating the Cleveland Cavaliers' "core four." One of the most efficient players in the league, Jerome's metrics have been off the charts. Taylor Wyman explains: theswishtheory.com/nba/2024/12/...

According to DARKO, there is one positive rookie in the league

Paige Bueckers

Thomas Sorber spins into space

Players I have highest on my board relative Wasserman's mock (link below): Derik Queen, Johni Broome, Noah Penda, Thomas Sorber, CMB, JT Toppin, Darrion Williams, Labaron Philon, Kam Jones, Jeremiah Fears Compared to: bleacherreport.com/articles/101...

An important development is Johni Broome expanding his three point volume, more than doubling his 3PAs per 100 possessions. Can’t hit free throws but is building a decent sample of three point (37-105, 35%) and hook + runner (49-97, 51%) shooting over this season and last.

Cooper Flagg's volume as a pick and roll conductor has skyrocketed at Duke. While his efficiency has been just okay as a PNR play finisher (0.9ppp, 64th %ile), his teammates have been finishing at a very good 1.2ppp clip off his passes.

Flagg able to play with more energy on defense in this tourney with less offensive creation burden. Led to a 8 steal and 4 block final vs. Spain (not to mention 17 boards). His block numbers have been disappointing to me at Duke so far, but here's a nice reminder of the rim protection upside

A succinct summary of Cooper Flagg's greatest weakness and strength at age 15

Fun with small sample sizes: - Georgetown is +29 net rating with Thomas Sorber on, -16 with him off - Arkansas is +26 net rating with Boogie Fland on, +4 when off - Michigan St is +24 net rating with Jase Richardson on, +9 when off - Rutgers is +15 net rating with Dylan Harper on, -2 when off

Ludicrous amount of rim points/100 for Dylan Harper

Self-created scoring for select NCAA freshmen:

Chase-down artist Jalen Suggs is blocking a shot from behind every game. @beyondtherk.bsky.social tracks every blocked shot, stolen ball, forced turnover, (missed) shot contest and possessions leading to Magic points. Read more here! theswishtheory.com/analysis/202...

Nice sequence from Owen Freeman

Coop craft

🎯🎯New Episode🎯🎯 The Dominant Cavs, Ascending Rockets, and Draft Philosophy with @mikegrib8.bsky.social Enjoy, another draft ep w Grib coming soon. Subscribe to his Patreon 🎯🎯 open.spotify.com/episode/0eLf...

Who’s your pick for most aesthetically pleasing shot among prospects, I might say Chad Baker-Mazara

Gonna thread some favorite prospect-team fits