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aminiaturebuddha wrote:

BilboBanginz wrote:It's paywalled, but ESPN has Will Riley 16th on their new 2025 mock draft.

https://www.espn.com/nba/insider/story/_/id/39598715/2025-nba-mock-draft-full-two-round-projections
https://www.reddit.com/r/NBA_Draft/comments/1b0ii4b/espn_releases_first_2025_mock/

Isn't he high school class of 2025 though?

Is there talk that he'll re-classify? I don't think he's committed to play anywhere for next season, and it's getting a bit late for NCAA commitments. Would he be going the G-League route then?

They are usually pretty plugged in. I imagine there must be talks for him to move up to the next level for next season.

Mathurin looking Olympics worthy tonight

WaltFrazier wrote:Mathurin looking Olympics worthy tonight

How 's his D looking to you?

Seems pretty questionable to me which is a concern on a team whose core strength is it's gaurd/wing defense. NAW/Dort/Brooks/Barrett clear Mathurin easily.

But with Murray's on-going shin splints and the near fact that he is injured every off-season perhaps the window is open for Mathurin to join the team. I'd still rather have Nembhard before him (more a position of need), but word is Mathurin wants in bad, and he could be an important piece for the next cycle. He could gain allot from an Olympic experience.

Need to note Wiggins is playing better of late as well. His positional versatilty could be important.

Now Wiggins is off for personal reasons again, timeline unknown, announced by Steve Kerr. Reminiscent of a year ago

I would be surprised if Wiggins or Murray plays, so there should be room for Nembhard and Mathurin (e.g., replacing Scrubb and TBH).

The big question for me is which bigs we take after Olynyk and Powell.

Another possible injury ankle sprain to Murray. I doubt he's f*cking playing for us in the summer.

Ugh!

New Rankings. We have somehow been jumped by Latvia.

BilboBanginz wrote:New Rankings. We have somehow been jumped by Latvia.

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That is kind of weird considering we've only had 2 National Team games since the last rankings, and both were recent wins (against Nicaragua - but maybe AmeriCup qualifiers don't factor in?).

Still, we've come a long way from the days of being consistently ranked in the 30s.

I wonder if maybe it was due to a really good result for Canada falling off and a really bad result for Latvia falling off the calculation timeline that caused this. I can't remember how far back the calculation goes and what the oldest games that are involved were.

DoctaJ wrote:I wonder if maybe it was due to a really good result for Canada falling off and a really bad result for Latvia falling off the calculation timeline that caused this. I can't remember how far back the calculation goes and what the oldest games that are involved were.

Latvia was only 3-4 points behind Canada and beat Spain (and Slovakia) in the EuroBasket Qualfiers when we only beat #73 ranked Nicaragua (twice). It was enough to jump us. More likely than losing benefical results 8 years ago. Those were still dark times.

FYI - Latvia has the best W/L record in the world since early 2021 when Luca Banchi took over as coach.

aminiaturebuddha wrote:

BilboBanginz wrote:New Rankings. We have somehow been jumped by Latvia.

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That is kind of weird considering we've only had 2 National Team games since the last rankings, and both were recent wins (against Nicaragua - but maybe AmeriCup qualifiers don't factor in?).

Still, we've come a long way from the days of being consistently ranked in the 30s.

Latvia had eurobasket qualifications and beat slovakia and spain, spain being 3rd had good weight and put them up a tad.

BilboBanginz wrote:

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That's a huge loss this summer.

Randle McMurphy wrote:

BilboBanginz wrote:

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That's a huge loss this summer.

Is it though? Would mathurin even get minutes let alone make the squad?

Brooks, barrett, Murray, shai heck even Alexander walker likely gonna eat before him. If wiggins n sharpe are ready to go and willing, id also want them on the squad over a mathurin.

This injury made it easier for canada basketball. You don't have to cut this guy at the end of camp and risk him getting PO'd and not playing down the line, which is when he will actually be needed.

DaFroMan wrote:

Randle McMurphy wrote:

BilboBanginz wrote:

Read on Twitter

That's a huge loss this summer.

Is it though?

Yes. He's easily one of the 12 best Canadian players in the NBA right now and there's certainly no guarantee they will get all of the ones ahead of him committed and on the team.

DaFroMan wrote:

Randle McMurphy wrote:

BilboBanginz wrote:

Read on Twitter

That's a huge loss this summer.

Is it though? Would mathurin even get minutes let alone make the squad?

Brooks, barrett, Murray, shai heck even Alexander walker likely gonna eat before him. If wiggins n sharpe are ready to go and willing, id also want them on the squad over a mathurin.

This injury made it easier for canada basketball. You don't have to cut this guy at the end of camp and risk him getting PO'd and not playing down the line, which is when he will actually be needed.

Is NAW actually better than Mathurin though? Doesn't matter now, but hopefully Mathurin plays for Canada in 2025 and beyond.

What about Nembhard? I know all the commitment thing, and loyalty, but is he better than NAW straight up, as a PG? And is there room for him in any case? I'd rather see him than a non NBA player, start including the next generation.

I'm surprised no one mentions Dalano Banton...
His stats with Portland: 14.0 - 4.5 - 2.6

WaltFrazier wrote:

DaFroMan wrote:

Randle McMurphy wrote:That's a huge loss this summer.

Is it though? Would mathurin even get minutes let alone make the squad?

Brooks, barrett, Murray, shai heck even Alexander walker likely gonna eat before him. If wiggins n sharpe are ready to go and willing, id also want them on the squad over a mathurin.

This injury made it easier for canada basketball. You don't have to cut this guy at the end of camp and risk him getting PO'd and not playing down the line, which is when he will actually be needed.

Is NAW actually better than Mathurin though? Doesn't matter now, but hopefully Mathurin plays for Canada in 2025 and beyond.

What about Nembhard? I know all the commitment thing, and loyalty, but is he better than NAW straight up, as a PG? And is there room for him in any case? I'd rather see him than a non NBA player, start including the next generation.

NAW may not be better overall, but he definitely plays his role better than Mathurin at this point. Team Canada needs a secondary ballhandler and a guard defender. That's what NAW brings.

Nembhard though is someone I would love for the National Team to add for this summer. He also plays within himself and right now is a better defender than Mathurin.

76 combined points for Murray, Barrett, and Olynyk in tonight's Raptors-Nuggets game. That must be close to a record for total points by Canadians in one game.

I would love to see those 3 guys on the team this summer. Those three plus SGA and Brooks is a hell of a closing lineup (especially with the improved playmaking chops Barrett has shown lately).

Fingers crossed that Murray is somehow able to play this summer.