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Earlier this month, we highlighted three 2025 NBA Draft player comparisons that miss the mark. Honestly, there was a smorgasbord of options to choose from, as the potent desire for player comparisons in draft coverage often leads to missteps.
With that said, some of the comparisons actually make sense, even if it is always smart to keep in mind that a lot of things have to go right for a prospect to mirror the career of an established, high-level NBA player. To that end, we'll highlight three comparisons that do inspire on the eve of the draft.
Thomas Sorber to Wendell Carter Jr.
Georgetown big man Thomas Sorber is widely projected to land somewhere in the teens in the 2025 NBA Draft, and while Wendell Carter Jr. was the No. 7 pick in the 2018 draft, the comparison is easy to see. While some might argue that Carter Jr. hasn't "popped" in the league, he has established himself as a starting-quality NBA center, starting 345 games across seven seasons and averaging 15.7 points and 10.9 rebounds per-36 minutes in his career.
Like Carter Jr., Sorber is not a fantastic athlete by any means, but he does neutralize some of those limitations with strength and skill. Sorber weighed in at more than 260 pounds at the NBA combine, and his modest height (6-foot-9 without shoes) is helped by a 7-foot-6 wingspan. Both Carter Jr. and Sorber play with a high-level feel for the game, and each makes winning plays without blowing anyone away on a highlight tape.
Of course, there are limitations to any comparison, but Sorber projects to have a relatively similar arc to Carter Jr. as a mid-level starting center. When you throw in the physical similarities, this is a strong one.
Collin Murray-Boyles to Paul Millsap
Paul Millsap was a four-time NBA All-Star, and it would not be safe to project that for Murray-Boyles, or really anyone in this class outside of Cooper Flagg and (maybe) Dylan Harper. So, let's get that out of the way.
With that said, Murray-Boyles is a fascinating prospect, and Millsap's interesting game could provide a roadmap for the South Carolina standout. Murray-Boyles' calling card is on the defensive end, where he can utilize a 7-foot-1 wingspan and a 240-pound frame in brilliant fashion. Murray-Boyles is a havoc creator who is also in the right place on a consistent basis, and his feel for the game is tremendous enough where comparisons to Draymond Green are not totally absurd, even if quite aggressive.
On offense, Murray-Boyles does have clear limitations, particularly when it comes to perimeter shooting. However, Millsap was a total non-shooter when he emerged from Louisiana Tech, and that didn't change until he was on his second NBA team in Atlanta. Murray-Boyles is ahead of the curve there, and even if it never comes around, he has shades of the in-between game that Millsap mastered enough to average 17.4 points per game in four seasons with the Hawks.
The safe bet would be to say that Murray-Boyles doesn't get to Millsap's level as a top-25 player in the league for a half-decade, but the combination of size, feel, strength, and defensive acumen strikes a strong parallel.
Ryan Kalkbrenner to Walker Kessler
As noted in both projections above, player comps don't ensure exact trajectories, and if Kalkbrenner was definitely going to be Walker Kessler, he'd be a top-10 pick in this draft without question. As such, Kalkbrenner is unlikely to be selected in the lottery, but the size and play-style similarities to Kessler are quite interesting.
Kalkbrenner checked in at 7-foot-1 without shoes with a 7-foot-6 wingspan and a 9-foot-4 standing reach at the NBA Draft Combine, landing on a similar profile to that of Khaman Maluach. That wasn't a surprise based on Kalkbrenner's tape, and he was insanely productive across five years at Creighton.
That five-year college stint does mean that Kalkbrenner is already 23 years old, which isn't ideal, but he offsets that with readiness to contribute sooner rather than later. Like Kessler, Kalkbrenner is a tremendous rim protector with great feel at the rim. The jury is out on whether Kalkbrenner can function in coverages other than drop in the NBA, but he can wall off the rim.
On offense, Kalkbrenner has flirted with three-point shooting in the way that Kessler also has at times. Whether that comes along is an open question, but Kalkbrenner did lead the Big East in effective field goal percentage and true shooting percentage in four consecutive seasons. He was an absurdly efficient finisher in college, and that should continue in the NBA, even on a shot diet that is not terribly challenging.
Kalkbrenner might be "diet" Walker Kessler, but that is still an appealing skill set anywhere outside the lottery.