Category: NBA

The latest 2025 NBA mock draft from Bleacher Report has BYU star Egor Demin on the Jazz

This seems like a PERFECT fit for the Jazz if they don’t Cooper Flagg.

One of the most exciting names in college basketball is BYU freshman Egor Demin, who is off to an incredibly hot start this season.

After one of the strongest debuts of any first-year player, the 18-year-old freshman from Russia looks like one of the most promising prospects in all of college basketball. He is averaging 17.0 points and 7.5 assists per game at 6-foot-9, shooting 11-of-20 (.550) on 3-pointers as well.

Read more from Jonathan Wasserman on why this is such a good pick (via Bleacher Report):

“While the Cooper Flagg hype came built in after years of coverage and NBA accessibility, no player has generated more NBA buzz on his own so far than Egor Demin.

BYU coach Kevin Young has given the freshman an ideal role to showcase his on-ball upside, and the Russian has capitalized, looking like a legitimate 6’9″ initiator creating advantages and setting up teammates with his handle, size and passing IQ.

So far, he’s looked fluid and convincing enough for scouts to start feeling confident in his ability to continue playmaking at a high level in the NBA.

He also looks substantially further ahead as a shooter than previous jumbo playmakers like Josh Giddey, Anthony Black or even Scottie Barnes. Demin made 11 threes over his first four games. And even if the accuracy falls off, his early start and track record overseas point to clear shotmaking confidence and shooting becoming a regular part of his scoring attack.

Looking ahead, scouts will be eager to assess Demin against power-conference opponents, specifically his ability to create separation and finish inside the arc.”

Demin has not faced much competition so far this season. Among all teams ranked in the top 30, via KenPom, only five have had less difficult strength of schedule so far. But if he can keep this up, expect he will only continue this ascension on draft boards.

The Jazz could make a lot of sense for Demin to pair him with Keyonte George as their backcourt of the future. Jazz chairman Ryan Smith and CEO Danny Ainge both attended BYU and are reportedly very big donors to the university. They would likely find it thrilling to add the next great BYU star to their roster.

Another team with potential interest is the Spurs, who selected him in ESPN’s latest mock draft.

Here is our latest NBA mock draft at For The Win, where Demin goes to the lowly and injured New Orleans Pelicans.

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LeBron thinks not drafting Dalton Knecht means that 16 other NBA teams ‘[expletive] up’

Knecht looks even better than expected.

Los Angeles Lakers rookie Dalton Knecht just had his best game as a pro, recording 37 points against the Utah Jazz on Tuesday night.

It was an outstanding effort from the former Tennessee star, who was also 9-of-12 on 3-pointers during the win over the Jazz in NBA Cup play. That tied a league record for most 3-pointers ever made by a rookie, which is no small accomplishment.

When asked about how the Lakers were able to find Knecht, it didn’t take long for LeBron James to admit exactly what happened. Los Angeles didn’t exactly “discover” some secret talent with Knecht.

Instead, according to LeBron, the other 16 teams that did not pick him in the 2024 NBA Draft “[expletive] it up” and he then wondered if any of the talent evaluators and decision makers watched him play.

Knecht, who was named SEC Player of the Year and won the Julius Erving Award for the best small forward in the nation, was simply available when the Lakers were on the clock.

That serendipity worked out perfectly for Los Angeles, who now have a 23-year-old sharpshooter ready to inject life into a team coached by JJ Redick.

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Dalton Knecht ties rookie record in Lakers’ win versus Utah

Dalton Knecht scores career-high for points in NBA Cup game against Utah.

Los Angeles (10-4) defeated Utah, 124-118, on Tuesday in the NBA Cup at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California.

Former Vol Dalton Knecht started and scored a career-high 37 points. He also totaled five rebounds and one steal in 38 minutes against the Jazz.

Knecht converted 12-of-16 field goal attempts, 9-of-12 three-point attempts and 4-of-5 field goal attempts. His nine 3-point field goals tied an NBA single-game rookie record.

The former Vol was selected in the first-round of the 2024 NBA draft (No. 17 overall) by Los Angeles.

Knecht was a transfer from Northern Colorado and played for the Vols during the 2023-24 season under coach Rick Barnes. During his one season at Tennessee, Knecht averaged 21.7 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game.

He led the Vols to a SEC regular-season championship and an appearance in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament for the second time in school history.

Knecht was the 2024 SEC Player and SEC Newcomer of the Year. He was a consensus All-America standout and earned the Julius Erving Award.

Don’t look now but Tyler Herro is playing like an All-Star

HoopsHype uses analytics and advanced stats to breaks down the All-Star-level start for Miami Heat shooting guard Tyler Herro in 2024-25.

The summer of 2023 was the closest we’ve come to an actual Tyler Herro trade happening, as the Miami Heat went through intense negotiations with the Portland Trail Blazers for star lead guard Damian Lillard. 

For Miami, trying to pull off such a deal had more to do with wanting Lillard, coming off a spectacular 3rd Team All-NBA, 32.2-point-per-game campaign, rather than just wanting to offload Herro. After all, the Heat have always held the former Kentucky standout in high regard, higher even than portions of the fanbase that had grown frustrated with his lack of defense, streaky scoring and availability – or lack thereof. 

Eventually, as history has it, the trade fell through as Lillard was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks and Herro remained with Miami. Fans in South Florida felt a sense of disappointment with how the whole Lillard saga with Portland went, and if fans were frustrated, Heat brass probably felt even more indignation about how the ordeal eventually culminated.

But thus far in 2024-25, the Heat may feel some sense of relief that the trade didn’t happen, as Herro is making a charge at the first All-Star bid of his career, with the 24-year-old looking to have hit a higher level in his game.

Paul George’s complaints about the Lakers doubling him showcases the heart of the 76ers’ problems

Paul George’s loser mentality about getting doubled sums up the 76ers’ issues.

The Philadelphia 76ers entered this season as one of the presumed NBA title contender heavyweights. Instead, at the time of this writing, they are just 2-11, with Tyrese Maxey openly calling out Joel Embiid’s lacking leadership in a recent team meeting. Woof.

But in case you thought Embiid was the 76ers’ only issue, it sure seems like they might have a Paul George problem, too.

In a snippet from a recent episode of George’s podcast, Podcast P with Paul George, George openly complains about JJ Reddick telling the Los Angeles Lakers to double-team him during a 116-108 win over the 76ers on Friday, November 8.

Why was George frustrated by the double-team strategy?

Because, and I’m not making this up, George said he was still on a minutes restriction from an early-season injury. He didn’t appreciate the extra-hard competition because he was concerned about getting back into a good rhythm and flow rather than seeing his life on the court get more strenuous against a team trying to, you know, win.

C’mon, man. That’s a loser mentality if I’ve ever heard it:

Honestly, what did George expect? Both Embiid and starting point guard Tyrese Maxey didn’t play in that game against the Lakers. So of course George — a nine-time All-Star — will get double-teamed to ideally get the ball out of his hands. Los Angeles owes absolutely nothing to George’s or the 76ers’ vision for his injury recovery.

The Lakers are trying to win a game. Period.

And George complaining about it after the fact is very telling about his mindset. Based on the laughing emoji in his podcast’s promotional tweet for the snippet, you can assume he thinks that saying this in public is funny and “viral,” too. (Hey, it worked to get this article out there, didn’t it? Just probably not what George intended).

Buddy, admitting you were bothered by an opposing team taking you seriously because you didn’t want to compete that hard is a problem in any context. Especially when your team is nine games under .500 in mid-November. Now was not the time for that kind of humor. No one was going to laugh.

Because the 76ers reside in the miserable Eastern Conference, all their dreams of a good season with their new big three remain intact.

But when I see their MVP-caliber center getting called out by teammates only a few weeks into the year, followed by another supposed team “leader” complaining about competition, I feel pretty comfortable asserting they won’t turn anything around.

The 76ers might have a Joel Embiid problem that needs solving

The vibes are not great in Philadelphia right now.

The Philadelphia 76ers were supposed to be one of the teams that we thought could dethrone the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference this year. After Philly picked up Paul George, it seemed like this team was ready to compete for a championship.

We’re about a month into the season now and the 76ers are one of the worst teams in the league with a 2-11 record.

Joel Embiid missed a chunk of time there with rest and a suspension. Regardless, this team does not look great. The vibes don’t sound too great, either.

After losing to the Miami Heat on Monday, the 76ers players held a team meeting after the game, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania.

In the meeting, Tyrese Maxey called out Embiid. Here’s more from Shams:

“Maxey challenged Embiid to be on time to team activities, calling out the 2022-23 league MVP about being late “for everything” and how it impacts the locker room, from other players to the coaching staff, sources briefed on the meeting told ESPN.”

Charania went on to report that there’s no beef between the two of them and that they hold each other accountable like this frequently.

But, still. The fact that this needed to happen so early in the season when the team looks as bad as it has since the early days of The Process is not a great sign for things at all.

CAPTURE THE FLAGG: The 76ers are right in the thick of things if they’re tanking for Cooper Flagg.

Philly isn’t supposed to be a bottom feeder. This is a team that was put together to compete at the top of the East. It’s not too late to do that. But, to simply win 50 games again, Philly would have to win 48 of its next 69 games. That’s not impossible, but it’s tough to do. And if Joel Embiid isn’t locked in, it won’t happen.

Good on Maxey for trying to get his teammate in gear. Let’s see if it works.

De’Aaron Fox: ‘What’s big about me is I play both sides of the ball’

De’Aaron Fox has started the season strong, leading the Sacramento Kings with improved stats across the board. He’s betting on himself after forgoing an extension to aim for a ‘supermax’ contract, positioning the Kings as a potential playoff threat …

De’Aaron Fox has started the season strong, leading the Sacramento Kings with improved stats across the board. He’s betting on himself after forgoing an extension to aim for a ‘supermax’ contract, positioning the Kings as a potential playoff threat in the Western Conference.

Off the court, Fox is launching his signature shoe, the Fox 1, in collaboration with Curry Brand. Designed for speed and agility, the sneaker reflects Fox’s style with unique elements like “fur” on the tongue and lightning-inspired accents.

Despite last season’s playoff appearance via the Play-In tournament, which some might view as a step back from the prior year, he remains focused on building team chemistry, especially on defense, to compete in a challenging Western Conference.

Last week, before Fox scored 109 points over a two-game span, he sat down with HoopsHype. Fox discussed his start to the 2024-25 NBA season, what it’s been like teaming up with DeMar DeRozan, having Malik Monk re-sign, the Kings’ potential as a competitive force in the West, and more, as we near the release of his Fox 1 with Under Armour’s Curry Brand.