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Bill Simmons Names His Sleeper Pick Ahead of 2025 NBA Draft

Bill Simmons Names His Sleeper Pick Ahead of 2025 NBA Draft originally appeared on Athlon Sports. Bill Simmons briefly discussed the 2025 NBA draft on the latest episode of The Bill Simmons Podcast, giving some praise to Gonzaga guard and projected late second round pick Ryan Nembhard. Advertisement After acknowledging he and his co-host, Ryen Russillo, were bypassing the NBA draft talk they had prepared to instead talk about the Finals, Simmons shared "this little tidbit". "Nembhard's little brother, who's like a late second rounder, I bought some stock," Simmons said. "Ryan Nembhard at Gonzaga averaged almost 10 assists per game last year. I watched him too, I like him." "You're already doing second rounders?" Russillo quipped, before Simmons said, "I have my sleeper." Nembhard averaged 9.8 assists with the Zags last year, shattering the school and WCC record in a single season. His 344 dimes is in fact fifth all-time in recorded college hoops history and the second highest since 1990 - trailing only Kendall Marshall's 351 for North Carolina in 2011-12. Advertisement He also shot a career-high 40.4% from the three point line, and proved his shooting was no joke with a lights out performance in the drills at the NBA draft combine about a month ago. The 5'11 guard whose brother, Andrew, is currently playing in the NBA Finals with the Indiana Pacers, has worked out with a handful of NBA teams including Atlanta, Golden State, and Toronto, who all have picks in the second round. Nembhard was recently mocked No. 58 overall to Cleveland in an ESPN article, while some have him in the 40's and still others have him out of the draft entirely. That was the extent of the NBA draft talk on the nearly two hour episode, but a shoutout from Simmons certainly won't hurt Nembhard's chances of getting picked, especially this close to the draft. Advertisement Related: Ryan Nembhard Teams Up With Former Gonzaga Star in Latest NBA Mock Draft This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 18, 2025, where it first appeared.