Today’s Hottest Take: Kobe Sanders Is The Biggest Steal In The 2025 Draft

While the 2025 draft class is loaded and has been filled with plenty of great players, like any draft it is bound to have some misses. Players like Yang Hansen, Noa Essengue and Joan Beringer were all drafted in the middle of the first round and their draft teams seem to be regretting their decisions. These guys all sit the bench every game and sometimes don’t even get garbage-time minutes. Compare that to Kobe Sanders, a second-round pick, drafted by the Knicks and traded immediately to the Clippers, who wasn’t supposed to contribute anything to the team this year

While his impact might not always show up on the stat sheet, he has become a real rotational player for the Clippers. During the season he has dropped 10 or more nine times, most recently with 20 against the Warriors. Although not star level of scoring, its impact is clear, with the Clippers having a 7-2 record when he scores 10 or more points.

With production like this, Sanders should have gone in the first round somewhere between 16-26. He has played more and put up better stats than a lot of the people drafted over him, including the Clippers own first-round pick Yanic Konan Niederhäuser. He has already hit the level his draft comparison is in his first year

What You Need To Know: Sanders Has Much More Potential Than We Thought

Sanders was looked down upon in the draft because he was an older rookie. He played four years at Cal Poly, then transferred to Nevada in his last year. Because he was 23 when he was announced for the draft, many teams didn’t want to draft him because they thought he had no room to grow. This line of thinking can be very harmful to teams. Plenty of great players were drafted at an older age like Jalen Brunson, Manu Ginobili and Kemba Walker, and while he might not reach their potential, it shows that age isn’t a bad thing for rookies. Plenty of teams draft young players who have athletic bodies and not much else going for them hoping for the next diamond in the rough. This is often what causes the biggest busts in drafting and can kill a team's chances at competing.

When Sanders was drafted, his draft profile said that he had “ability to lead an offense and create for others … His experience and maturity are evident in his play, and he could be a valuable addition to a team looking for a steady, intelligent forward off the bench.” His strengths were in his smooth scoring ability, his careful and composed play and his great basketball IQ. His weaknesses were his physical limitations and his lack of defense caused by those limitations. He was compared to Kenrich Williams and Trentyn Flowers with one of his lowest stats being his potential.

This season he is averaging more points, and around the same assists steals and blocks with one less rebound and similar shooting splits as Kenrich Williams. Trentyn Flowers is on the same team as Sanders and is getting almost no minutes. Even though he is old, with such promising signs as a young player, there is almost certainly room to grow.

Before You Go: What Kobe Sanders Can Become

Most players are said to have stopped developing and have reached their prime by the age of 26. With Sanders being 23, this gives him around three years of improvement before his growth stops. He has already shown to be a rotational player, so his development is only up from here. He has two ways he can really improve, one way being improving what he is already good at and ignoring his weaknesses and the other is focusing on improving his flaws.

If Sanders develops the first way he would become a lethal scorer for a role player. He already has a silky smooth shoot and great IQ on the offensive end. He is slightly above league average efficiency which is great for a rookie. If he develops his scoring to another level he could become a role player averaging anywhere from 14-19 points per game, similar to a Michael Porter Jr. or Cam Thomas. Another strength he could improve is his handle and passing. He already is a good passer and has a solid handle but if really focused on making his playmaking great, his game would elevate. He could average around 10-12 points and five or six assists per game as a good combo guard like Josh Giddey or Kevin Porter Jr.

If he improved upon his weaknesses he would become a perfect 3-and-D player. With his already good shooting splits, if he could learn how to defend at an above average level, his value would go through the roof. He could become a player like Nickeil Alexander-Walker or Dillon Brooks, who almost every team wants. In the modern NBA, being able to shoot the ball and defend at an above average level are highly coveted skill sets due to the way stars plays nowadays like Luka Dončić or Nikola Jokić, who are great passers and weak defenders.

Whichever way he chooses to develop he will have plenty of great role models to help him train. Players like James Harden, Bradley Beal and Bogdan Bogdanović all can help his offensive game grow and he is surrounded by great defenders like Kawhi Leonard and Kris Dunn. Nicholas Batum and Derrick Jones Jr. both have been 3-and-D players for their careers and can give him tips and tricks that will help him grow into the type of player the Clippers need for their future.