Julian Reese 2025 NBA Draft Profile

After four tumultuous years in College Park, Julian Reese has decided to enter the NBA Draft. Reese is a dying breed in the sport—a four-year player at one school. He stayed with Maryland despite his coach, Mark Turgeon, quitting less than 10 games into his freshman season. Reese has certainly left College Park a Terrapin legend.

Julian Reese 2025 NBA Draft Profile

College Career

A three-year starter for the Terps, Reese was a very good player. He consistently posted solid offensive and defensive numbers, averaging 11.1 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks throughout his career. This has landed him high on many of the Maryland and Big Ten leaderboards. He is 2nd all-time at Maryland in rebounds and 4th all-time in the Big Ten in offensive rebounds. His longevity was his biggest strength. He was also a part of the Terps’ first Sweet Sixteen appearance since 2015 during the 2024-25 season.

Despite all his success, Reese was never truly able to live up to his full potential as a star. Throughout his career, he was never the top option for his team. For his sophomore and junior years, he was the second choice to elite guard Jahmir Young. As a senior, he was behind freshman phenom and likely lottery pick Derik Queen. His legacy will always be that of Robin and never Batman.

Strengths

One strength of Reese’s game is the ability to score in multiple ways. He is a great finisher at the rim and even has a bit of a jump shot in his game. He can also operate well out of the pick-and-roll. Reese is tremendous on the offensive glass, averaging nearly 3 offensive rebounds per game throughout his career.

However, his biggest strength is his ability on the defensive end. He has tremendous block and steal numbers. He was routinely put up against great bigs in the Big Ten and was almost always successful. Athleticism and good positioning led to him being able to lock down other teams’ frontcourt players.

Weaknesses

The most glaring weakness is his shooting. Reese has no three-point shooting ability. He has not made a three-point shot in a game since the 2022 season and has only attempted one in the 2024-25 season. He was also a terrible free-throw shooter for a majority of his career. Reese is a career 63% free-throw shooter, which is being heavily aided by his 73.4% shooting from his senior season. If he can keep this newfound improved shooting, then he might be able to carve out a spot on an NBA roster.

Another weakness is fouls. Although Reese got better with age, he averaged 2.9 fouls per game throughout college. He totaled 383 personal fouls during his college career, which is the fifth-most all-time in Big Ten history. A final weakness is his age. At the start of next season, Reese will be 22 years old. In NBA terms, that is a veteran. It will certainly be seen as a weakness when evaluating his draft stock.

NBA Comparison

It is hard to find a true comparison to Reese in today’s NBA, as he really does not shoot the ball well, which seems like a requirement for the modern game. Andre Drummond and Taj Gibson would be the best comparisons. These are guys who are gritty and hard-working. They play good defense and grab tough rebounds. They are very similar to Reese, but he has a slightly more developed offensive game.

2025 NBA Draft Projection

Late 2nd round or undrafted.