June 2025

There were 1,837 posts published in June 2025 (this is page 79 of 184).

2025 NBA Draft: Will Spurs, 76ers trade down from top 3? It’s a rare move, but here’s why it could make sense

Trading down from a top-three pick is a rare move in the : The Smartest Pick on the Board

Why you take him: Knueppel’s a sniper. Deep range. Quick release. Smart movement. Plus his midrange craft and interior footwork are also ahead of his years. And while he won’t dunk on anyone in traffic, he carves out buckets with angles, touch and timing. Knueppel feels like a guy who will end up playing 15 years and make everyone he shares the floor with better.

Why the Spurs would do it: A two-man-game partner for Wemby. Their synergy could end up being beautiful to watch. And he’d perfectly complement both Castle and Fox with his floor spacing too.

Why the Sixers would do it: Knueppel could play off Embiid and Maxey, and serve as a lower-usage creator for them. And he could contribute as soon as he steps on an NBA floor without the pressure of being a star because Knueppel cares about nothing more than winning games.

Why you take him: Johnson says his favorite NBA comparison is Ray Allen, and it’s easy to see why with the way he uses screens, sets his feet and shoots well from every spot on the floor. He is also the draft’s best shooter off the dribble and has both the confidence and flair to come up big in the clutch. His college team asked him to score, not facilitate, but he showed point-guard chops in high school that could manifest for him at the next level.

Why the Spurs would do it: Fox is the tempo-setter, Castle is the connector, and Johnson could be the microwave. Imagine bringing Johnson off the bench and telling him to go get buckets. And when he’d share the floor with Wemby, he’d give him the best shooter he’s ever had and a proven mover without the ball who can also find him for buckets.

Why the Sixers would do it: There might be too much overlap with Maxey and McCain, but we also just saw the Pacers get to the NBA Finals often with three leaner guards on the floor. More shot creation in the backcourt wouldn’t hurt.

Why you take him: Full-speed cuts. Violent dunks. Chase-down blocks. High-flying rebounds. That’s the Edgecombe experience; he plays with a fearlessness at all times on the floor, no matter the situation. He projects as a knockdown shooter, too, after making over 40% of his 3s in high school. While playing for the Bahamas national team, he also showed off point-guard skills. So even though he played a more condensed role as a Baylor freshman, his on-ball flashes shouldn’t be overlooked.

Why the Spurs would do it: Wemby needs both spacing and athletes flying around him. Edgecombe does both. If the Spurs want to surround their star with hungry role players who cut, defend and shoot? VJ checks those boxes while still retaining star upside.

Why the Sixers would do it: Edgecombe is such a perfect fit he might end up the pick even if the Sixers stay put at No. 3: He would give Philly speed and physicality on the wing, and he doesn’t need the offense to run through him. In the short-term, he can light a fuse for his team. In the long-term, maybe he blossoms into something special.

Why you take him: Maluach is 7-1 with rim protection instincts and the mobility to switch. He didn’t start playing basketball until he was 13, so he’s raw. But he knows his role, plays hard and dunks everything at the rim. He also has touch on layups, hook shots and free throws, so maybe someday he’ll be shooting 3s.

Why the Spurs would do it: San Antonio doesn’t need another center, but that’s what makes it interesting. They can develop Maluach slowly behind Wemby. And if it clicks, they walk away with a freakishly mobile backup 5 or a partner in a jumbo frontcourt.

Why the Sixers would do it: The Sixers can’t count on Embiid forever. Maluach is an insurance policy. But even if Embiid stays healthy from here on out, Maluach can serve as the most skilled backup center they’ve had in years and a worthy option for two-big lineups. It’d certainly add a new wrinkle.

If Bailey’s stock drops, one of these players could end up being the trade-up target behind Harper. The worst-case scenario with these players isn’t catastrophic. Maybe they don’t become stars, but they still become solid role players. Knockdown shooters, guys who make the right read and care about doing the little things. They’re culture guys. And if any one of them hits his top percentile outcome, then we’re talking about steals.

There are some alternative options, too, a little further down the board:

Coward has gone from a Division III player to a projected first-rounder. He defends, cuts, rebounds, swings the ball and knocks down shots all without needing touches. And with his strength and footwork, there’s some Kawhi-lite go-to scoring in there too. Coward ranks eighth on my board and second in my heart.

Burly big with guard-like handles who dazzles with spin moves and crafty finishes. He needs to prove himself on defense, but he could be a matchup nightmare on offense since he might end up too quick for bigs and too strong for wings.

Toolsy forward with a fluid handle, dynamic finishing package and highly versatile defense. Playing internationally this year, he lives at the free-throw line, thanks to his quick first step and long strides. He’s a home-run-swing pick because if the jumper someday clicks, there’s major steal potential.

CMB is a defensive savant who switches 1 through 5, swipes everything and inhales rebounds. He’s a special defensive presence, and offensively he’s a bulldozer finisher with a playmaking feel. Improving his jumper would move him out of tweener territory and into All-Star status.

Rangy, athletic forward who projects as a highly versatile defender. And though he’s raw as a ball-handler, he’s a skilled spot-up shooter and a hyper-aware cutter. At a minimum, he has the baseline skills to be a great role player with the upside to someday be much more.

Sometimes the scariest part isn’t even the act of trading down — it’s passing on the chance. In the historic 2003 draft, LeBron James went first to the Cavaliers, then the Pistons held the second pick. On the board? Darko Milicic, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade. As the story goes, Pistons GM Joe Dumars wasn’t high on Melo and was deciding between Darko and Bosh. Nuggets general manager Kiki Vandeweghe, picking third, called about moving up right to the moment Detroit went on the clock. Denver wanted Darko. But Detroit stood pat, took Darko and made one of the biggest mistakes in draft history. Had the Pistons moved down one spot, the Nuggets would have taken Darko and Detroit would’ve landed Bosh to extend their contending years. That one choice changed the trajectory of two franchises and an entire era.

The lesson: Sometimes staying put is just as risky as moving down. Especially in a draft where everyone agrees on Flagg at No. 1, and no one agrees on anything after. The second- and third-ranked guys vary wildly depending on which gym, spreadsheet or group chat you’re in. Some scouts rank Harper equal to Flagg and will always remind you that if Flagg never reclassified Harper would be the clear-cut top pick. Others acknowledge that fact but think the Spurs would be wise to look for a haul rather than deal with the iffy backcourt fit. Some executives think the Sixers are completely short-sighted if they pass on Bailey and delusional about their odds of making a run with Embiid. Others say Bailey’s flaws make him a player they just simply would not draft.

This is where front offices get an edge or lose their jobs. Not always by blindly sticking to the consensus, but by trusting their boards, knowing their rosters and extracting value. Make the right call, and you might land the player who changes your franchise. Make the wrong one, and you’re the next chapter in a cautionary tale.

The Spurs already have their generational anchor. The clock’s not ticking yet, but they better not waste the silence. Whereas, the Sixers have pressure. They have Embiid in his 30s, Maxey rising, and a cap sheet that’s about to get complicated. A trade down could help them stay competitive now and buy a ticket to whatever the post-Embiid future looks like.

You don’t get many shots at a top-three pick. Sometimes the smartest move is realizing your guy isn’t actually there.

Threads Is Experimenting With Spoiler Alerts on Posts

Try as I might, I can’t seem to quit scrolling on social media. Most of the time, it isn’t a huge problem—other than raising my anxiety or stress, as any good doomscroll will do. But what’s worse than doomscrolling through bad news? Spoilers, of course.

Spoilers for movies and TV shows are probably the main thing that makes me consider ditching these apps for good. For some reason, my social media feeds think I’ve seen any and all popular pieces of content that exist, and the second they air, I should see every discussion and meme possible—spoilers be damned.

Luckily, this way of digital life might be changing soon, at least on Threads. On Monday, Mark Zuckerberg made a short announcement on Meta’s social media site. If you view the post from Zuckerberg’s main Threads page, you’ll see: “Spoiler alert:” followed by a gray bar (desktop) or an animated blur effect (mobile) covering the rest of the post. Click or tap that censored space, and you’ll reveal the rest: “We’re testing a way for you to hide spoilers in your Threads posts.”

This feature is currently in testing, so only a limited pools of users will have access to it, but I welcome it. (Not that I particularly use Threads all that much.) As you can see in the images below (via TechCrunch), once the feature rolls out, you’ll be able to highlight a selection of text in a thread draft and choose a new “Mark spoiler” option that appears in the pop-up. Your selections will be hidden from others who come across your post, unless they choose to tap in and see what you wrote.

Threads, of course, isn’t the first platform to offer this type of spoiler mask. Other social media companies, like Discord, Reddit, and Mastodon, have offered ways for posters to mind spoilers for years. There’s no way to enforce the feature, but it’s just considerate: You never know who your post will reach, and if you care enough about a show or movie to post about it, you likely appreciate allowing people the opportunity to watch that content on their own before being spoiled.