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

If you've been wondering why you haven't heard from this show the past few weeks, we tell you why in this episode. The Draft Council is on hiatus for the time being. Thank you so much to everyone who's listened.

Description: Ahmed and Dan are joined by Derek Parker (@DParkOK on X) to talk about one of the best teams in the entire NBA, who are relevant to both the last few Drafts and the upcoming one. 

2:00 — Chet and J Dub

15:00 — Nikola Topic and His Future w/ the Thunder

23:00 — Who Could the Thunder Pick in the 2025 Draft?

34:00 — MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander?

Ahmed and Dan talk about some of the best players currently in high school basketball, including Cam Boozer, AJ Dybantsa, and Darryn Peterson, as well as some lesser known names, and what has caught their eye with each of these soon-to-be college basketball players. 

3:00 — Boozer, AJ, and Darryn

28:00 — Chris Cenac (Link Academy)

36:00 — Dante Allen (Montverde)

47:00 — A Class of 2026 Standout

Ahmed and Dan are looking forward to the new year by handing out resolutions they want to see in the games of some of the best prospects in the 2025 NBA Draft Class. 

2:00 — Dylan Harper

9:00 — Cooper Flagg

20:00 — Ace Bailey

26:00 — Tre Johnson

37:00 — Khaman Maluach

Ahmed and Dan are joined by Lucas Kaplan (@LucasKaplan_ on

3:00 — The Dennis Schroder Trade + Direction of the Nets

12:00 — Potential Cam Johnson Trade Packages 

31:00 — VJ Edgecombe

37:00 — Kasparas Jakucionis

44:00 — Ace Bailey

Ahmed and Dan talk about the things that have shocked them the most through the opening months of the season, including the Sixers' disastrous start to the season, the underwhelming rookie season performance from Reed Sheppard, and a whole lot more.

2:00 — The Sixers' Increasing Relevance to the 2025 NBA Draft 

17:00 — What's up with Reed Sheppard?

27:00 — Labaron Philon and Mark Sears

45:00 — Jayden Quaintance Supremacy

Dan and Ahmed briefly talk about the upcoming college commitment of AJ Dybantsa, before recapping all three Big 5 games that happened in Philly this past weekend, and wrap up the show by answering some questions from the listeners. 

3:00 — AJ Dybantsa Decision Day

9:00 — Big 5 Classic, Eric Dixon, Rasheer Fleming

26:00 — Derik Queen talk (again)

39:00 — Danny Wolf and Jeremiah Fears

49:00 — Anthony Robinson and Thomas Sorber

With a month of the college basketball season completed, Dan and Ahmed did their first Mock Draft since the summer, with updated takes on all of the highest profile prospects in this year's class. 

6:00 — Cooper Flagg

18:00 — Who will the Sixers pick at No. 3? 

35:00 — An Incredibly On-Brand pick for Ahmed

42:00 — The Collin Murray-Boyles Debacle

We discuss our favorite players to watch through the first few months of the 2025 NBA Draft cycle, including Maryland's Derik Queen, Ohio State's Juni Mobley, Alabama's Labaron Philon, and a whole lot more. Then, they wrap the show by talking about Prolific Prep's big win over Columbus, which was fueled by a superstar performance from 2026 prospect Darryn Peterson.

Timestamps:

4:30 Derik Queen

17:00 Kam Jones

25:00 John Mobley Jr (aka Juni)

31:00 KJ Lewis

36:00 Khaman Maluach 

47:00 Darryn Peterson

Ahmed and Dan take a break from college basketball to rank all of the best young cores in the NBA, and see which franchises have the brightest futures ahead of them. 

Timestamps:

1:00 — What is the NBA Farm System? (shoutout @klaytheist11 on X/Twitter)

4:00 — Wemby vs OKC

10:00 — We love Amen Thompson and Tari Eason

25:00 — The Wizards!

45:00 — Mandatory Hawks + Jared McCain discussion