Bad news for McNeeley? | The Boneyard

Bad news for McNeeley?

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Not a good sign, although this is complicated and can break both ways. Did he have some bad tryouts?

NBA teams will be strategic and hold their later first round picks closer to the vest because they don’t want to be held up by an another team grabbing their target before their team’s pick, so it is possible that a couple of teams like him and don’t want to highlight that interest by communicating it to the league. We will see.
 
IllinoisHuskie said:
I think it will be a middle second round pick. He is a future asset. Needs development. Came out a year too early. I was not all that impressed with the player he was last season but the potential reward is very high.
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Lol no way he's a 2nd round pick. If he doesn't go top 20, I'll be shocked.

Latest Athletic mock has Liam going #19 to the Nets. And this mock is a prediction of actual draft results that factors in team needs, not just a top 50 ranking list of players in the draft.

19. Brooklyn Nets (via MIL)​

Liam McNeeley | 6-7 wing | 19 years old | Connecticut​

McNeeley had an impactful freshman season for the Huskies, but his role wasn’t all that actualized for what he’s capable of doing. McNeeley averaged 14.5 points but shot just 38 percent from the field and 32 percent from 3 this year despite a reputation that would make you believe he is a serious shooter. He often played on the ball when his best role — as seen by when he played with Flagg, Queen and a star-studded team at Montverde (Fla.) Academy in high school — is off the ball. McNeeley drilled 43 percent of his unguarded catch-and-shoot 3s for UConn. However, only about 40 percent of his attempts off the catch were open looks. He also only hit 13 percent of his pull-up 3s because he struggles to separate with his handle. NBA teams love McNeeley’s competitiveness and his character. There’s a real belief that once a team gets him into the right role, you’ll see the jumper get back to the elite level it was in high school. He’d work for the Nets as a shooter and floor-spacer, something every rebuilding team needs on the wing.
www.nytimes.com

2025 NBA mock draft: After Cooper Flagg and Dylan Harper, the intrigue begins

With two weeks to go before the draft, which prospects are rising and falling — and which teams might swing a trade?
www.nytimes.com www.nytimes.com
 
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IllinoisHuskie said:
I think it will be a middle second round pick. He is a future asset. Needs development. Came out a year too early. I was not all that impressed with the player he was last season but the potential reward is very high.
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Loved his motor. Loved his passion. But he had skills to develop but he left. Came in with so much hype. He needed to sow those oats, I guess.
 
Well I think he'll go ~19 +/- 5 but anything can happen with trades.

Can you imagine this squad if he stayed a year? Probably would not have landed Furphy, but this team would be preseason #1.
 
IllinoisHuskie said:
I think it will be a middle second round pick. He is a future asset. Needs development. Came out a year too early. I was not all that impressed with the player he was last season but the potential reward is very high.
Expand ...
If you don’t understand the NBA, it’s okay to just not voice an opinion about something like this.
 
Not digging too deep in to this thread.

BLUF: This youngin's worst case scenario is being a first round NBA draft pick and becoming a millionaire?
 
In another time he would have stayed at UConn and perfected some some of his skills and his IQ. In today’s NBA he goes. In the right circumstances he could become a significant player. In the wrong one, he’ll bounce back and forth between the NBA and the g league or whatever they call it these days. The NBA drafts kids, not like the NFL. Lots of them, most really, shouldn’t really be there.
 
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nelsonmuntz said:
Not a good sign, although this is complicated and can break both ways. Did he have some bad tryouts?

NBA teams will be strategic and hold their later first round picks closer to the vest because they don’t want to be held up by an another team grabbing their target before their team’s pick, so it is possible that a couple of teams like him and don’t want to highlight that interest by communicating it to the league. We will see.
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His combine was fine. I think people are looking at his shooting numbers, relatively bad defense, not great ball creation and some issues finishing at the rim and not seeing the upside. It feels like people are dismissing the fact he was partially injured and (IMO) his explosiveness suffered a decent amount because of it.

I think a lot of people are underestimating him. Throw in some absolute freak athletic/measurments for guys like Coward and Bryant and you get him dropping.
 
Can’t fault him for leaving given he’ll be a first round pick. He had a solid season but I feel like the lack of creation and guard depth hurt him and Karaban the most. They were forced into more shot creation roles than they should’ve been. Put him on the 25/26 roster and I feel his role would be more similar to what his NBA role will be.
 
Liam not invited to NBA Green Room for Draft Night-Could change but thinking he's picked between 12-20.
 
Jumpman62114 said:
Can’t fault him for leaving given he’ll be a first round pick. He had a solid season but I feel like the lack of creation and guard depth hurt him and Karaban the most. They were forced into more shot creation roles than they should’ve been. Put him on the 25/26 roster and I feel his role would be more similar to what his NBA role will be.
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Yeah, I think him having to play more as an on-ball point forward/creator several times during the past season instead of the off-ball wing like he did at Mountverde hurt him a bit. His game is not really creating his own shots, though he did show a knack for being able to get to the rim and generate fouls.
 
The young man, his family and the UConn staff all had hands in the decision making. Not sure if there was a chance any of them thought of Liam going later than the 1st round, However, in the draft, we have seen kids go higher than expected and lower than expected.
Everyone is entitled to an opinion, even a world renown self-labeled NBA expert such as WhereistheDove :p
 
I always thought he was going to be end of the first round pick and everyone here was saying "no way, mock drafts have him in the lottery". I never saw the lottery. He doesnt have any superskills, just decent at a bunch of things. Maybe his competitiveness and processing will elevate him, and consistent shooting.
 
Lafayette said:
Can you imagine this squad if he stayed a year? Probably would not have landed Furphy, but this team would be preseason #1.
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I don't know, we probably would have lost one of, if not both, of Stewart and Mullins if Liam came back. Liam would obviously be the best of the bunch in 2026 but I kind of think Stewart might be a better compliment to AKs game and I'm guessing that Mullins is the only one of the three that would even be an option to come off the bench next year.
 
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