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Collin Murray-Boyles, South Carolina F

Collin pops up at the back end of the lottery in some mock drafts, so I suppose he’s not necessarily a hidden gem. But I have a feeling he’s going to slide a bit in the coming weeks, so I thought it was appropriate to include him anyway.

The so-called experts tend to get lazy with non-shooting forward prospects, and they often wind up slapping down a wildly inaccurate Draymond Green 2.0 label. I’ll actually allow that specific comparison this time; I fully believe that Murray-Boyles could make an All-Defensive team, while serving as an essential playmaking hub on the other end. He was one of four dudes in America to average at least 16.8 points while hitting 58% of his attempts from the floor. At 6-foot-7, he finished as the third-leading rebounder in the vaunted SEC. I’m head-over-heels.

South Carolina was absolute garbage this season, yet the kid emptied the tank in each of those 32 contests. He’s about to make an NBA coach (Mitch Johnson, perhaps?) extremely happy.

Ryan Nembhard, Gonzaga G

Every year, at least one awesome upperclassman flies under the radar during the evaluation process. They’re too old! There’s no development left! They’re already a finished product! The player eventually emerges as a crucial piece of a franchise, and the aforementioned know-it-all scouts make an identical mistake the following cycle. Rinse, repeat. Jalen Brunson in 2018 is the most famous example at the moment. Ty Jerome in 2019. Payton Pritchard and Desmond Bane in 2020. Aaron Wiggins in 2021. Christian Braun and Andrew Nembhard (a bit of foreshadowing) in 2022. Toumani Camara in 2023. I think Jaylen Wells is the guy from the 2024 group.

Ryan will be our next keynote speaker at the I-made-you-all-look-really-stupid convention. He’s coming off a 344-assist campaign - which is top-five in the history of college basketball - and got it done with a roster that Mark Few severely mismanaged. The 22-year-old also hit over 40% of his threes, to quell some of the concerns about his jumper. Andrew Nembhard is starting on a Pacers team that sits 10 victories away from a ring, and yet he may not even be the top dog in his own family. Domantas Sabonis demanded a point guard in Sacramento, right? Well, here he is.

Ryan Kalkbrenner, Creighton C

Speaking of seasoned prospects, let’s shift over to the former lob partner of the younger Nembhard. It feels like Kalkbrenner has been at Creighton since the dawn of time.

Let’s think about this for a moment. Donovan Clingan was the seventh overall pick in 2024; Portland was infatuated because of his ability to clean the glass, and that hulking presence as a rim protector. So… why exactly do folks have a second-round grade on Kalkbrenner? The longtime Bluejay essentially has an identical frame, posted far superior numbers, and won four consecutive Big East Defensive Player of the Year awards. Clingan spent his collegiate career in that same conference, by the way.

At his absolute worst, Kalkbrenner is going to be a solid backup big for a long time. I’d argue that his ceiling is every bit as high as that of Clingan, or even Zach Edey. The Lakers own the 55th selection, and Rob Pelinka should be desperately searching for ways to scoot up.

Koby Brea, Kentucky G

The best shooter in this class, without question. Here is Brea’s final collegiate campaign, next to Duncan Robinson’s last season at Michigan. The two guys are both exactly 6-foot-7 and 215 pounds, and Koby will be 19 months younger on draft night than Duncan was.

Robinson is currently on a $90 million deal, and only two dudes have made more threes in the Finals since 2020. Don’t try to convince me that Brea can’t stick around in the league.

Every good team that needs a sniper - in other words, all of them - should be paying close attention. Especially Orlando. You own four picks; if fixing the spacing is truly the main priority, you better not exit this draft without Koby on the squad.

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