ESPN projects the Alabama freshman to be a first round pick.
While the 2024-25 college basketball season only just recently began for the Alabama Crimson Tide, it’s never too-early to start taking a look ahead to the 2025 NBA draft, which is set to take place this upcoming summer.
After not having a player selected in the 2024 NBA draft, Alabama is likely expected to have at-least one name come off the board in 2025, with ESPN projecting that to be in the first round in their latest mock draft in freshman forward Derrion Reid.
According to ESPN, their latest mock draft has Reid coming off the board at pick No. 21 overall in the first round to the Utah Jazz. Reid is the lone player from Alabama projected in the first round by ESPN’s mock draft, while Jarin Stevenson, a sophomore forward, is also sitting at No. 45 overall on their latest Big Board.
After coming to Tuscaloosa as a five-star prospect, Reid has started 2-of-3 games for Alabama so far this season as a freshman where he is currently averaging 7.7 PPG and 4 RPG. Reid is also shooting 50% from the field, as well as 50% from three-point range.
Here’s the answer: yes, the NBA Cup games do count for the regular season standings, with one exception! The championship game doesn’t count in terms of stats or a team’s record.
San Antonio would end up with two of the best freshmen in the NCAA.
The San Antonio Spurs are one of the most interesting teams in the league due to Victor Wembanyama, and it will only get more fascinating.
San Antonio currently has two projected lottery picks in the 2025 NBA Draft, which could help them continue to retool around Wembanyama after picking Stephon Castle in the 2024 NBA Draft.
“Knueppel’s ability to shoot off screens, pull up off the dribble and spot up from deep vantage points with picture-perfect footwork and mechanics should keep him prominent in draft conversations, especially with the way he has contributed in other areas as well with his physicality, feel for the game and better-than-expected shot creation and defense.”
They also added that Knueppel is “arguably the best shooter” in this draft class.
Read more from them on Demin:
“Few freshmen have been more impressive than Demin, who is utilizing a tremendous platform at BYU to showcase his outstanding size, spectacular court vision, shotmaking prowess and all-around talent against, thus far, lower-level competition.”
Demin has looked fantastic as a tall playmaker for BYU, and he could provide a spark as the point guard of the future for San Antonio.
The In-Season Tournament is back, now rebranded as the Emirates NBA Cup, and with it a bunch of new court designs. You may like them or not, but you cannot say they are not bold. Below, you can see all the new courts from this year along with the …
The In-Season Tournament is back, now rebranded as the Emirates NBA Cup, and with it a bunch of new court designs. You may like them or not, but you cannot say they are not bold.
Below, you can see all the new courts from this year along with the ones from the inagural In-Season Tournament.
Nikola Jokic is unbelievably more dominant than ever.
I never saw Michael Jordan truly play in his prime. I’ve been watching some measure of NBA basketball for about 20 years, so I’ve been around for just about the entirety of LeBron James’ legendary career. I know the tremendous history presented by guys like Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
So it’s critical I get this out in the open, even while I understand some folks might consider the sentiment blasphemous.
For me, the Denver Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic is one of the small handful of most outstanding basketball players that I’ve ever seen. He’s a singular all-time talent. Depending on the day and mood, you might convince me he’s the best I have ever laid two eyes on. Yes, he belongs in that Jordan and James conversation.
There is no other reasonable conclusion after watching Jokic enter Year 10 of his career this season — after already winning a regular-season MVP or NBA Finals MVP in each of the last four years — and somehow being more dominant than ever (seriously) on a Nuggets team some thought would be in frustrating transition.
Rewriting history
Nikola Jokić is 1st player in NBA history to have these stats after 10 games:
In fact, just 10 games into 2024-2025, Jokic is the clear frontrunner for a fourth regular-season MVP. With him averaging a near 30-point triple-double (c’mon) so far while shooting over 50 percent from 3 on high volume (C’MON!), the competition isn’t close. (He’s also tied for sixth in deflections and tied for 10th in steals.) As a result, instead of falling into a spiral of drama and malaise, the 7-3 Nuggets remain top-flight championship contenders.
Look at these numbers. Look at these NBA 2K-level numbers. Really, look at them.
It should be confounding. It shouldn’t make any sense whatsoever. Yet, with Jokic, it somehow all comes together in perfect harmony.
He is truly better than ever. That’s so ridiculous to think about, man.
Jokic’s potent new-look Nuggets offense
Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images
Every nugget (no pun intended) about Jokic’s transcendent 10-game start boggles the mind.
On top of already orchestrating Denver’s offense like a conductor at the helm of a well-tuned machine the way he always does, Jokic is now pushing the pace for one of the fastest teams in the NBA. (Hello, Russell Westbrook Effect.) A year after playing a mostly effective but rigid style of offense with the 26th-ranked pace, Denver is seventh in the NBA in offensive pace at the time of this writing. According to Nuggets staff writer Matt Brooks, they are sixth in the NBA in transition possessions per game and lead the NBA in cuts. This happens while Denver remains an elite top-five half-court offense, per Cleaning the Glass.
Uh … what?
This chameleon-like mix accentuates Jokic’s best gifts: touch and anticipation. On top of already working for a quality shot at all costs in the half-court, Jokic now gets to ignite the sneaky Nuggets’ athletic group in transition for tons of easy baskets with his trademark dynamite passing. Life has never been easier for Christian Braun, Peyton Watson, Julian Strawther, and, of course, Westbrook.
Those summer concerns about poor spacing and 3-point shooting?
All gone by the wayside with a high-octane Jokic-led Denver offense that emphasizes punishing opposing defenses in every possible way while never giving them a break. At this rate, the NBA’s fourth-ranked scoring offense is downright impossible to gameplan for.
The Nuggets’ genuine team mentality
Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images
The wild thing about these Nuggets is that everyone moves off-ball. Everyone runs. Everyone touches the ball. Everyone trusts each other. Essentially, everyone has bought into Jokic’s beautiful game.
The fact that Jamal Murray hasn’t yet been himself while Aaron Gordon recovers from a calf strain only magnifies the tremendous progress Jokic and the other Nuggets have already made.
Jokic himself seems to be reinvigorated by this unfiltered chaos and energy. He’s playing with a simultaneous edge and joy in the sheer drudgery of November games like we haven’t seen in a while. On top of being a do-it-all-superstar who does all the little and big things, you can tell there’s something a bit different about Jokic’s approach to this season when he’s being this vocal while coaching his teammates in the huddle.
Anyone that still says he doesn’t care about the game so much doesn’t know what they’re talking about:
This is what leadership in the huddle looks like. Jokic is extremely vocal with his coaches and teammates. A quiet player is a bad player
Just remember that the above happened in November.
Jokic’s Nuggets aren’t perfect quite yet
Dustin Bradford/Getty Images
While matters seem hunky dory so far, Jokic’s Nuggets still have things to work on.
The young wings have been good, but they have a way to go before they’re ready to contribute quality minutes in a tense playoff atmosphere. Even while brimming with electric playmaking talent, the defense remains a work in progress over finer details like cohesiveness and communication. Denver also definitely needs to find a way to temper Jokic’s minutes (38.1, the highest of his career to date) in a way that preserves him for the postseason while ensuring the Nuggets can still win some games in pursuit of one of the Western Conference’s top seeds. I don’t doubt Jokic could maintain his current monster level of play over an extended season. But Denver is not in the business of wearing him out before the crucible of the playoffs and a hopeful second title run.
His workload will have to come down eventually.
"I don't now how sustainable it is to play Nikola Jokic 40-44 minutes per night." – Malone, who was not wearing a hot dog costume while saying it.
However, these concerns look like they’ll be addressed, albeit gradually, over the next several months.
Because the Nuggets’ process as a marquee title contender looks impeccable right now. They’re doing all the right things against some of the NBA’s best teams and learning valuable lessons about themselves in the process. It’s still early, but they’re on track in every meaningful way.
You can see Denver starting to build toward something special.
A clear statement from the best player in the world
Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images
All this early-season success is thanks to Jokic, who has unbelievably taken his game to another level in his age-30 season. The gap has never been wider between him and the next-best player in the NBA. And he’s decided to bring everyone on his team along for the ride by leading by example. I suppose I shouldn’t say I’m shocked. When you’re watching one of the greatest athletes to ever palm a bouncy orange ball, all bets are off. Their peerlessness should probably be the expectation, not some dream ceiling you could never fathom.
Welcome to the NBA season where a fiery Nikola Jokic decided to stop giving a solitary inch to everyone outside of his bubble.
We should be excited and terrified at the same time.
HoopsHype’s Senior NBA Insider Michael Scotto was granted exclusive access behind the scenes of life as an NBA coach with the Indiana Pacers and learned how the NBA grind affects the sleep habits of coaches and their family life, what happens on team plane rides and bus trips, how coaches prepare for games, what happens during in-game chats, and how the job has changed over the past decade.
What’s it like being an NBA coach behind the scenes each day?
HoopsHype was granted exclusive access to Indiana’s coaching staff during their trip to New York on October 24-25 to find out.
This venture included sitting in on a coaches meeting at the hotel the day before facing the Knicks, riding the team bus to Madison Square Garden for shootaround and the game, listening to what Pacers coaches told their players before taking the court, halftime adjustments, and after the game.
During the fellowship and talking with the coaches during their meeting, HoopsHype learned how the NBA grind affects the sleep habits of coaches and their family life, what happens on team plane rides and bus trips, how coaches prepare for games, what happens during in-game chats, and how the job has changed over the past decade.
To help bring his Denver Nuggets to a sharp 7-3 record, Jokic is averaging an astonishing 29.7 points, 13.7 rebounds, 11.7 assists, 1.7 steals, and one block per game while also enjoying an efficient true shooting percentage of 67.1. For perspective, he’s averaging a near-30-point triple-double and sits fourth in the league in scoring while leading the entire NBA in rebounds and assists. If that weren’t enough, the Serbian big man is fourth in the league in 3-point shooting percentage (56.4) on a moderately high volume of four attempts per game. Phew.
For all intents and purposes, after a regular-season MVP or NBA Finals MVP in each of his last four seasons, Jokic has been transcendent through 10 games, even by his already high standards. He is the clear best player in the world — there is no “arguably” — and the gap between him and the No. 2 player (whoever that might be) seems wider than ever.
But if you ask Denver head coach Michael Malone, Jokic’s play so far this season apparently hasn’t been that impressive. After Jokic dropped 37 points, 18 rebounds, and 15 assists on the Dallas Mavericks in a thrilling Sunday night win, Malone said he hoped Jokic would “probably be fifth in MVP voting.”
Wait, what? Oh, Malone was joking, and it’s easy to see why:
Malone on Jokic’s 37-18-15; “what’s Jokic fifth in MVP voting now? So he’s gotta do more for us.” pic.twitter.com/4yh9mMc8RM
Malone will never confirm it himself, but there’s a decent chance he saw an absurd NBA MVP ladder that put the Los Angeles Lakers’ Anthony Davis and the Boston Celtics’ Jayson Tatum over Jokic in this year’s early MVP conversation last week. While those two stars have also been awesome, given how utterly incredible Jokic has been for a Nuggets team that has needed him to play this well just to have a chance to win, lists like that reek of “voter fatigue,” a.k.a. people being tired of Jokic winning the league’s most prestigious individual honor in the regular season. Again.
And it’s not hard to see why Malone likely thinks that that sentiment is ridiculous, as he watches his superstar player put his team on his back every single night:
AD leads the way in the first @KIA MVP Ladder of the season 👀
It’s still so early, and anything can happen in an arduous 82-game season. More importantly, Jokic is also past the point of caring about chasing regular-season MVPs. He and the Nuggets are trying to win championships first and foremost, meaning they will likely have him turn off the jets the closer we get to the postseason so he can conserve his energy for a hopeful (and long) NBA title run. Jokic’s Nuggets have bigger fish to fry these days.
But I’m gonna tell you this right now and remember it well. Davis is having a great season. So is Tatum. So is the Phoenix Suns’ Kevin Durant. They are still nowhere near the same stratosphere as Jokic right now. It’s not even close. No one impacts or controls a game more, and he somehow took another massive step forward. And if the all-time center actually does average even, say, an impeccably efficient 25-point triple-double throughout the entire season for a contending Nuggets team, he will be taking home a fourth NBA MVP award.
Full stop. Voter fatigue about Jokic be damned.
The esteemed honor would lose a ton of credibility if anyone else got it in that scenario.
This was remarkable insight into the mind of Chet Holmgren after a tough injury.
Oklahoma City Thunder big man Chet Holmgren went down with an injury during the first quarter against the Golden State Warriors.
While contesting a layup attempt against Warriors wing Andrew Wiggins on Sunday, the 22-year-old made an effort to stop the basket and then landed on his hip.
Unfortunately for Holmgren, he could not put much weight on his right leg following the play and needed help to the locker room. The team then later announced he suffered a pelvic fracture and they would then provide another update in eight to ten weeks.
Chet Holmgren took to X from the hospital after exiting OKC's game against the Warriors.
The Thunder announced that he suffered a right iliac hip fracture and a return to play protocol will be provided in 8 to 10 weeks. pic.twitter.com/VG3znn4kUl
“Can’t tell if I feel better or worse about this having been through something similar before. On one hand I know how to approach it, I know what to do, what not to do and how beautiful the other side is. But on the other hand I’ve felt the frustration of this process, and the wear it puts on your mind. Most of all I’m hurt I can’t help my teammates and play for our fans and supporters for a while. Everyone who sticks with me and our team, along with my need for hoops, is a big part of my passion to return. Don’t pity me or feel bad, there’s lots of people out there rn with real problems that don’t heal. Anyways excuse my rambling just wanted to address our okc fans and family.”
The 7-foot-1 big man is expected to return to action for the Thunder later this season, but it is unclear when.
Oklahoma City is currently playing without big man Isaiah Hartenstein and backup big man Jaylin Williams as well.
I can’t believe this mf still made the lay wtf I’m pissed
