Alex Karaban Prospect Overview (No Ceilings) | The Boneyard

Alex Karaban Prospect Overview (No Ceilings)

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Some good stuff about AK here. I think a 6’8” shooter who is a connective passer, good decision maker, and solid help defender will find his role in the NBA and give us one more Husky to cheer on -at the next level for another decade or so.

www.noceilingsnba.com

When You Look at Alex Karaban | The Prospect Overview

UConn's Alex Karaban should not go undervalued in the 2025 NBA Draft. PLUS: A Quick Hits section filled with interesting sleepers and deep cuts!
www.noceilingsnba.com www.noceilingsnba.com
 
idk if he's played himself into the 1st round yet as many hoped. i see one mock with him end of 1st.
 
bendm said:
idk if he's played himself into the 1st round yet as many hoped. i see one mock with him end of 1st.
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This article sees him as a lottery level talent, so obviously they see something. I don't think Karaban needs to be a dominant college player to be a first round pick. Teams will want a 6'8" shooter with leadership qualities and passing ability. I personally don't think he'll go in the lottery, but I think he's likely a late first round pick. Low ceiling, high floor type of player.
 
Would I draft him at #1? No shot. Would I draft him in the late 20's early 30's? Maybe. I think Karaban has the potential to play in the NBA for a long time. I'd love to see him be knocking down his 3's at a higher percentage. I think he could develop into a Hauser type of player. A solid bench scorer on a competitive team. I wouldn't expect him to be a starter if ever but he could end up having a very nice career for himself.
 
bendm said:
idk if he's played himself into the 1st round yet as many hoped. i see one mock with him end of 1st.
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ESPN, BR, CBS Sports, and The Athletic have him mocked first round, obviously still months to go tho

www.espn.com

2025 NBA mock draft: Projecting all 30 first-round picks

Three Duke players in the top 10? Where does the Rutgers duo land? And a Baylor guard moving up? Let's project all 30 picks for the 2025 first round.
www.espn.com www.espn.com


www.cbssports.com

NBA Mock Drafts 2026 - Basketball Draft Projections

2026 NBA Draft predictions including pick-by-pick analysis from CBS Sports NBA experts. Get the latest news and information on your favorite prospects on CBSSports.com.
www.cbssports.com www.cbssports.com

www.nytimes.com

2025 NBA Draft Big Board: Does Cooper Flagg have competition for No. 1 spot?

Flagg remains at the head of the class, but a flashy point guard from BYU is moving up my top 100 list.
www.nytimes.com www.nytimes.com
 
He's in a weird spot because he's a low-ceiling, high-floor glue guy who a veteran, contending team would want to slot in as a rotation piece on Day 1, while a rebuilding team wants to take a chance on a guy who could be the next superstar.

That screams late 1st, and it just takes one team who's interested.
 
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At this point we know what he is. He’s a high IQ, great teammate, shooter, connecting player. He’s not a take charge and win a game 1/1.

I would think he’s the perfect guy to play on a contender with some high octane guys. He makes the right play, sets up his teammates and can deliver a clutch shot, but doesn’t care about personal stats..just winning.

The better players he is with, the more his skills are demonstrated
 
Tenspro2002 said:
He's in a weird spot because he's a low-ceiling, high-floor glue guy who a veteran, contending team would want to slot in as a rotation piece on Day 1, while a rebuilding team wants to take a chance on a guy who could be the next superstar.

That screams late 1st, and it just takes one team who's interested.
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He's a star in his role – shooter, cutter, connective passer, help defender, surprisingly good rim protector – and the role he's playing for us is the role he'd play for any halfway intelligent team in the league. If he's there when my Celtics pick, I will pray to every deity imaginable that they take him.

I doubt he drops out of the first round.
 
boog204 said:
Late 1st/Early 2nd I'd think. Sounds weird to say considering that, but I don't think he's really helped his stock all that much. He is who he is. And on the right team, that is a very valuable piece.
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The thing is, "late 1st/early 2nd" doesn't actually make a lot of sense, it's more like "late 1st/undrafted" because the teams picking early 2nd are usually bad teams who want a high-risk/high-reward pick. I guess there could be contending teams who accidentally end up with early 2nd round picks but, like, is a team like New Orleans going to want him?
 
Tenspro2002 said:
The thing is, "late 1st/early 2nd" doesn't actually make a lot of sense, it's more like "late 1st/undrafted" because the teams picking early 2nd are usually bad teams who want a high-risk/high-reward pick. I guess there could be contending teams who accidentally end up with early 2nd round picks but, like, is a team like New Orleans going to want him?
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2nd picks are traded very easily and with the new CBA they're becoming more valuable for teams looking for role players on cheaper contracts that can potentially contribute right away. AJ was the perfect example of this with his draft rights being traded to a contending team, and the higher 2nd round picks usually land guaranteed deals up to 2 years(4 years in total, non guaranteed). If AK doesn't go 1st round then he will get a deal similar to what AJ got, Hurley said it was already on the table for him in the last draft cycle before he decided to return.
 
He looks a lot like he did last year which is a great connector player. I was hoping he would make a jump with putting it on the floor and become a go to scorer without relying on the three. Every once in a blue moon he shows flashes of it like when he had that nice backdown for a hook against Providence but I'm wondering where that guy is who hit those late game off the dribble fadeaways against Texas last season. He's improved his timing on D with the swats but he still kind of gets abused when people put it on the floor against him. I'm worried about him guarding Dixon.
 
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superjohn said:
He looks a lot like he did last year which is a great connector player. I was hoping he would make a jump with putting it on the floor and become a go to scorer without relying on the three. Every once in a blue moon he shows flashes of it like when he had that nice backdown for a hook against Providence but I'm wondering where that guy is who hit those late game off the dribble fadeaways against Texas last season. He's improved his timing on D with the swats but he still kind of gets abused when people put it on the floor against him. I'm worried about him guarding Dixon.
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I agree with you, but I honestly don't think he's really tried to assert himself yet, and that is probably partially due to his own personality and partially due to Hurley. I think both Hurley and Karaban know that they need the pieces around him to get MUCH better over the next 3 months for us to have a shot at a threepeat. We could get Alex 20 shots a game and maybe we'd have better stats, but if we can get the pieces around him (Mahaney, Stewart, Ball, etc) to get better it will open things up more for AK and make the whole team better. He's always been a team first guy and I don't see that changing.
 
Tenspro2002 said:
The thing is, "late 1st/early 2nd" doesn't actually make a lot of sense, it's more like "late 1st/undrafted" because the teams picking early 2nd are usually bad teams who want a high-risk/high-reward pick. I guess there could be contending teams who accidentally end up with early 2nd round picks but, like, is a team like New Orleans going to want him?
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2nd round picks are traded very frequently so you can see good teams draft high in the 2nd
 
I'd assume he's somewhere in the late first round right now. Some contender should scoop him up as a cheap 8th or 9th man day 1.
 
LIuconn said:
I think 2nd round or UFA
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That's pretty far off every mock draft out there. Who knows, you may end up being right but are you just trying to throw out a hot take so if the unexpected happens you can say you were right? Seems to be a trend these days on social media.
 
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I honestly don’t think he’s done too much to increase his draft stock (yet). Averaging 3 more points on half a shot attempt and 1 extra FT per game

I’m assuming the NBA draft process feedback was for him to prove that he can create his own offense. Other than adding a nice floater to his game, I haven’t seen that this year (yet)

So his draft profile is the same as it was last year. High IQ sharp shooting big that is more plug and play than ball dominant. Just 1 year older

Late first/early 2nd round for a contender sounds about right for now
 
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REB1094 said:
I honestly don’t think he’s done too much to increase his draft stock (yet). Averaging 3 more points on 1 more shot per game on half a shot attempt and 1 extra FT per game

I’m assuming the NBA draft process feedback was for him to prove that he can create his own offense. Other than adding a nice floater to his game, I haven’t seen that this year (yet)

So his draft profile is the same as it was last year. High IQ sharp shooting big that is more plug and play than ball dominant. Just 1 year older

Late first/early 2nd round for a contender sounds about right for now
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one of the areas he highlighted when doing interviews after he came back was scouts told him they wanted to see more movement shooting from the 3 point line and he's definitely shown improvement in that area.
 
REB1094 said:
I honestly don’t think he’s done too much to increase his draft stock (yet). Averaging 3 more points on half a shot attempt and 1 extra FT per game

I’m assuming the NBA draft process feedback was for him to prove that he can create his own offense. Other than adding a nice floater to his game, I haven’t seen that this year (yet)

So his draft profile is the same as it was last year. High IQ sharp shooting big that is more plug and play than ball dominant. Just 1 year older

Late first/early 2nd round for a contender sounds about right for now
Expand ...
I was hoping for him to find some new ways to score too, but I think he's done pretty well improving some of the other areas of his game, which might help him.

His assist rate is up pretty significantly from last year on increased usage (albeit slightly increased turnover rate too) which I think will help him a bit.

His defensive metrics have basically all seen some improvement too, and it's shown with how frequently he's been blocking shots. I certainly feel a lot more comfortable with him defending inside the paint than in previous years.
 
ToolzieFan said:
Some good stuff about AK here. I think a 6’8” shooter who is a connective passer, good decision maker, and solid help defender will find his role in the NBA and give us one more Husky to cheer on -at the next level for another decade or so.

www.noceilingsnba.com

When You Look at Alex Karaban | The Prospect Overview

UConn's Alex Karaban should not go undervalued in the 2025 NBA Draft. PLUS: A Quick Hits section filled with interesting sleepers and deep cuts!
www.noceilingsnba.com www.noceilingsnba.com
Expand ...

Maybe a weird comp and don't throw rotten fruit at me, but when I hear 6'8" connector, I think Shane Battier. AK probably has less defensive upside but more offensive upside.

Battier was the kind of guy for whom stats didn't tell the story. Hockey assists, tips/positioning that resulted in team rebounds rather than personal rebounds, etc. Teams value that.
 
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nomar said:
Maybe a weird comp and don't throw rotten fruit at me, but when I hear 6'8" connector, I think Shane Battier. AK probably has less defensive upside but more offensive upside.

Battier was the kind of guy for whom stats didn't tell the story. Hockey assists, tips/positioning that resulted in team rebounds rather than personal rebounds, etc. Teams value that.
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I like the Georges Niang comparisons, Niang handled the ball more and was tasked with more creation at Iowa State but he's not being asked to do that in the pros. I can see AK filling a similar role as Niang who has been a 20mpg game guy in the league for like 5 seasons now as a floor spacer and connective piece doing the stuff you mentioned.
 
aceboon said:
I like the Georges Niang comparisons, Niang handled the ball more and was tasked with more creation at Iowa State but he's not being asked to do that in the pros. I can see AK filling a similar role as Niang who has been a 20mpg game guy in the league for like 5 seasons now as a floor spacer and connective piece doing the stuff you mentioned.
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I do hope Alex goes earlier than 50th. (Niang certainly wouldn’t go that low in a re-draft.)
 
I don’t know how he stacks up or what his draft position will be but His driving game needs work, and he should be able to pull up and make mid range shots better. Just an opinion.
 
Tenspro2002 said:
The thing is, "late 1st/early 2nd" doesn't actually make a lot of sense, it's more like "late 1st/undrafted" because the teams picking early 2nd are usually bad teams who want a high-risk/high-reward pick. I guess there could be contending teams who accidentally end up with early 2nd round picks but, like, is a team like New Orleans going to want him?
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Bet he will be in the league for a long time, hawkins who left to early looks like a short timer. Is anyone following tyrese? He has found his niche
 
jibsey said:
I don’t know how he stacks up or what his draft position will be but His driving game needs work, and he should be able to pull up and make mid range shots better. Just an opinion.
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He has no driving game (and will never have one due to physical limitations).
 
Tenspro2002 said:
The thing is, "late 1st/early 2nd" doesn't actually make a lot of sense, it's more like "late 1st/undrafted" because the teams picking early 2nd are usually bad teams who want a high-risk/high-reward pick. I guess there could be contending teams who accidentally end up with early 2nd round picks but, like, is a team like New Orleans going to want him?
Expand ...
Here are the teams who drafted the first 5 picks of the 2nd round last year: Hawks, Jazz, Bucks, Knicks, Pacers. That's 3 playoff teams, and 4 of the next 6 picks were playoff teams too
 
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