Taking a personal hiatus until the new year. Various life events have taken place, and a lot of the time and energy that I had previously spent on basketball is currently being spent elsewhere. Thank you for your continued support, I hope to be back with better content!

For Laker fans: we talked about Manon on the final Upside Swings episode this cycle. We broke down the pathways he has to sticking in the NBA and what he does well coming into the league. (1:14:56 is where Manon discussion starts) podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/u... open.spotify.com/episode/5SCl...

Manon on a two-way is interesting. If there is no trade coming, this is a shot on the defensive wing the Lakers are sorely lacking, and on this roster his offensive woes are mitigated to a degree it wouldn’t be on most other teams. I like this

I think signing Horford and acquiring a two-way wing via trade puts the Lakers into contention talks. The likelihood for either is low, but the pathway to that level of team exists

Might not mean anything, but I do find it slightly interesting that there was no announcement on Milton and Goodwin being waived in tandem with the Smart news. Maybe a trade possibility is still on the horizon?

He is not currently the same level of defender that he was on the Celtics, but maybe there’s a possibility that he gets back to that. Either way, instant upgrade at the POA over Gabe and Goodwin due to size. Excited to root for him as a Laker regardless of production, tons of fun

This Thybulle surge of interest from Lakers fans is misplaced imo. The Lakers roster already has too many one-way players, there is not enough room for more.

am not falling for Darius Bazley’s productive summer league. He is winning on athletic margins that will not exist for him in the NBA. He is consistently making late and poor decisions on both ends of the court. The processing is just too far away, but definitely a pro overseas

Horford would probably be my top target with that $5.1M bi-annual exception that remains, but seems unlikely at this point. Payton, Melton, Boucher, Banton, Bagley all names I’d have interest in with that slot as well. Would prioritize Charles Bassey and Jared Butler on vet min

Ayton deal is totally fine. Very movable contract in the worst case scenario that he picks up year two (which would mean that he had a bad upcoming season). Still hoping there’s a trade for another center out there this summer.

Talked Thiero and Lakers offseason outlook! Check it out!

Well that worked out well

I would really like Laker LaRavia

I’m pretty skeptical of Ayton as the long term starting center answer, but for 1 year? Yeah sign me up

Lakers are being granted multiple blessings in disguise today

My Lakers top UDFA targets Wooga Poplar (The only one I’d really be excited about) Igor Milicic Jr Izan Almanza Saint Thomas Brice Williams Hunter Sallis Payton Sandfort Dylan Cardwell Clifford Omoruyi Kadary Richmond Chris Manon Lamont Butler

Maxime Raynaud and/or Amari Williams in UDFA and the Lakers knock this draft out of the park

Lakers fans, get to know Adou Thiero! We did a super detailed breakdown on him! www.youtube.com/watch?v=89rb...

Rasheer Fleming was the other name that Fischer mentioned in addition to Raynaud and Kalkbrenner

Jake Fischer follows up by saying that the Lakers are looking at centers, and that Ryan Kalkbrenner and Maxime Raynaud are viewed within the league as the top centers, and he expects them to be gone within the first 10 picks of the second round

Jake Fischer just said live that there is a lot of buzz that the Lakers are trying to move up even higher in the draft than pick 45

List of names I’d prioritize for the Lakers at pick 45: Maxime Raynaud Noah Penda Rasheer Fleming Adou Thiero Amari Williams Max Shulga Rocco Zikarsky Wooga Poplar Javon Small

This move hard caps the Lakers at the second apron

If anyone needs a guest to recap the draft on their radio show/podcast in the coming days my DM’s are open!

Favorite picks tonight: Spurs, 14th pick - Carter Bryant Thunder, 15th pick- Thomas Sorber Heat, 20th pick - Kasparas Jakucionis Hawks, 23rd pick - Asa Newell Magic 25th - Jase Richardson

Top remaining players left on my board: Maxime Raynaud - 14 Noah Penda - 15 Rasheer Fleming- 20 Max Shulga - 22 Amari Williams - 23 Wooga Poplar - 25

As we wrap up another year, thank you to everyone for supporting me, had a lot of fun. This was my 10th year scouting, which is hard to believe. 1 decade and over 1/3 of my life spent doing this, and it’s been a blast. Over 1,000 prospects in the (note)books, hopefully many more

This is always the most anticipated episode we do each year, and hopefully the YouTube watchers enjoy the visuals. Had a blast as always!

My final NBA Draft big board is here! In this episode: • Cooper Flagg stands alone at the top • Surprising names in my top 10 • Late-round sleepers to watch Listen to the latest episode of Locked On Fantasy Basketball for full rankings and analysis.

The Thunder are a prime example of why building through the draft is so valuable. Great ownership, great management, great coaching, great players, great future. Masterclass in how to run an organization.

This was a fun and needed discussion. If you want to hear more about our big boards in depth feel free to check it out!

My thoughts on this class as a whole are that beyond Flagg, the star bets in the lottery are much more flawed than usual. The overall depth is poor, but the quality of the back half of the first round is pretty strong. Middle of the pack class, like it more than I thought I would

My favorite fits in this class Grizzlies: Fleming Blazers: Queen Warriors: Raynaud Heat: Powell Bulls: Murray-Boyles Rockets: Beringer Celtics: Markovic

For what it’s worth, in the last 15 years only 3 international players have been drafted who stuck in the NBA and played under 20 mpg the year prior to their NBA rookie season Biyombo (16.6) Nurkic (16.4) Hartenstein (18.2) This year: Beringer (18.3) Gonzalez (14.1) Zikarsky (11.8) Olbrich (16.8)

🚨2025 NBA DRAFT BIG BOARD🚨 This is the final result of a lot of work that went into evaluating this class. Most explanations can be found on Upside Swings where we talked in depth about many of these names. As always thank you to everyone who supported my work this cycle!

Big board finally dropping tomorrow

Officially done with film for this cycle. The grind is over

Extremely excited to be back live for the draft and have fun with all of you!

My first guest pod during the final stretch of this draft cycle and it was a lot of fun! Thanks to @noahrubin22.bsky.social for having me on and be sure to check it out!

Hunter Sallis with a big board, then navigates through transition traffic, with excellent timing on his acceleration and load time to finish with a MONSTER dunk

Jamir Watkins showing off his extension on a transition dunk

A lot of shooting bets available late!

The only other 7 footer I’ve seen who’s feet glide along the court like Beringer is John Butler Jr

lot of big man names in this class Maluach Queen CMB Sorber Raynaud Kalkbrenner YKN Yang Beringer Zikarsky Broome Williams Over the last 5 years the # of bigs taken before pick 55 ‘24: 12 ‘23: 10 ‘22: 11 ‘21: 13 ‘20: 12 Lakers have a shot at one of the last few names

Javon Small splits two defenders with his super well-controlled handle and reactivity to pick up the ball at the perfect time, leading to a great floater

VJ Edgecombe with an extremely tight spin and long air time to generate a beautiful and-1

Saint Thomas moves Kobe Johnson out of the way with ease after lowering his shoulder and refraining from extending his elbow to create space for a great tight window pass in semi-transition.

Saint Thomas quick stop, long stride step back, and low dribble all in the same sequence for a wide open 3

Ryan Nembhard's reactivity as a ball handler is great, a skill necessary for a lot of small lead guards. It gives him the ability to navigate tight spaces both as a ball handler and a passer.