The Draft Council: An NBA Draft Podcast From The Rights To Ricky Sanchez · Rights To Ricky Sanchez

New Year's Resolutions for the 2025 NBA Draft Class

·46 min·3 clips

Ace Bailey is one of only four players with an assist-to-turnover ratio that low.

1. The Draft Council episode on “New Year’s Resolutions for the 2025 NBA Draft Class” centers on specific improvements for Dylan Harper, Cooper Flagg, Jeremiah Fears, Ace Bailey, Trey Johnson, and Asa Newell. 2. Dan Olinger hosts with Ahmed Jama, who is identified as a “suffering Atlanta Falcons fan” and as the person making most of the prospect evaluations. 3. The episode asks what one skill each projected first-round NBA Draft prospect should sharpen before conference play and the 2025 draft process intensifies. 4. Ahmed opens with Dylan Harper and argues that conference play will test how he handles opponents who can scheme specifically for Rutgers’ offense. 5. Harper’s current case rests on a 27% mark on non-rim twos, a growing three-point efficiency, and his role as the engine of the Rutgers attack. 6. The hosts say Harper’s passing is already strong enough because he bends defenses, sees openings, and hits them without needing an elite flashy style. 7. The conversation on Harper turns to whether he can maintain historic efficiency while carrying Rutgers into the tournament and avoiding “Lenarty watch.” 8. Cooper Flagg’s segment focuses on getting him more easy shots at the rim rather than only difficult short mid-range attempts and spin finishes. 9. Dan and Ahmed note that Duke often seems to force touches to Flagg, even though he is more comfortable as a secondary finisher than as a pure self-creator. 10. Ahmed adds a micro-skill note for Flagg: he should stop doing live-dribble spins in the paint and gather the ball earlier to reduce turnovers. 11. Jeremiah Fears enters as a major riser after Jonathan Wasserman reportedly put him in the 3-to-10 range in a Bleacher Report risers-and-fallers post. 12. Fears’ problem, as framed here, is a 20% turnover rate that comes from treating passing as a last resort after over-penetration. 13. The hosts point to Oklahoma’s game against Arizona and Toby Okawaka’s presence as an example of Fears missing the pick-and-pop outlet when defenses hedge hard. 14. Ace Bailey’s segment is built around strength and weight, with Ahmed joking that his resolution should be “8,000 calories a day.” 15. The show cites Bailey’s 7 assists and 28 turnovers, then notes that only three other college players are that low in assist-to-turnover ratio per Bart Torvik. 16. Ahmed also references Bailey’s 9-for-20 transition shooting on Synergy and says his skinny frame makes it harder for him to finish through contact or stay balanced. 17. Trey Johnson’s resolution is to become more balanced as a creator for Texas rather than leaning so heavily on self-generated pull-ups and free throws. 18. The hosts cite a 17% rim rate, his preference for dribbling into moves, and a UConn scramble play where he chose a 30-foot three over a more obvious pass. 19. The episode is conversational, statistical, and scouting-heavy, with Dan and Ahmed moving quickly between NBA comparisons, college context, and specific play examples. 20. Listeners who follow college basketball draft scouting and first-round prospects will get the most out of this episode, while fans wanting broad NBA news may skip it.

As heard by us

Holiday banter and Falcons grief give way to a focused guard discussion built around reads, rim pressure, and passing decisions.

Dan Olinger and Ahmed Jama begin with holiday banter and Falcons grief, then settle into a detailed look at guard play. The discussion is strongest when it turns to passing reads, rim pressure, hard hedges, and pick-and-pop answers, with real attention paid to whether a prospect…

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You want a holiday-adjacent draft show that still digs into the reads, the hedges, and the shooting questions seriously.

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