2025 NBA Draft: Thomas Sorber Scouting Report
Evaluating the Georgetown big ahead of the 2025 NBA Draft.
DRAFT EVALUATION: Top 20-30
LAST BIG BOARD: N/R
NBA ROLE: Energy rebounding+passing big
REMINDS ME OF: Day’Ron Sharpe, Thomas Bryant with more feel
RAW STATS: 14.5 PTS, 8.5 REB (2.7o/5.8d), 2.4 AST to 2.3 TOV, 1.5 STL, 2 BLK, 2.2 PF in 31.3 MINS over 24 GAMES
ADVANCED STATS: 7.3 BPM, 24.2 USG%, 58 TS%, 9.5 OREB%, 21.9 DREB%, 15.6 AST%, 17.4 TOV%, 1.1 A/TO, 2.7 STL”%, 7.6 BLK%
Background:
Birthday: September 8, 2005
Height: 6-foot-9¼ with no shoes
Wingspan: 7-foot-6
Standing reach: 9-foot-1
Weight: 263 pounds
Was 6-foot-5 in eighth grade and then 6-foot-7 as a high school freshman.
Older brother is 6-foot-9 Peter Sorber, who played for the Lincoln University Lions. Older sister is Regina. Mother is Tenneh Sorber, who came to the U.S. in 1998/99 to flee the Liberian civil war. Attends all of his games. Father is 6-foot-5 Peter Sr., who played soccer. He passed away in 2013 from colon cancer. Parents are from Liberia.
Thomas Sorber on his mom: “She would never tell us she was tired. I would see her falling asleep on the couch watching TV. She was exhausted. You could see the exhaustion on her face. But she kept telling me everything was okay. I would help her upstairs after she worked overtime 17 hours a day, when I was 12, 13. I understand now. Everything comes from her. You don’t really appreciate things until you get older. I didn’t even know I was any good at basketball until I was around 13, 14.”
Transferred from Trenton Catholic (NJ) to Archbishop Ryan (PA). Played AAU ball for Team Final.
As a high school senior: 18.9 points (63 FG% / 29 3P% / 76 FT%), 11.2 rebounds (3.3o), 2.5 assists, 2.6 turnovers, 1.3 steals, 4.8 blocks
As a high school junior: 17.8 points (62 FG% / 20 3P% / 65 FT%), 11.2 rebounds (3.3o), 2.5 assists, 1.7 turnovers, 1.0 steals, 4.2 blocks
Could’ve reclassified into the high school class of 2023, but didn’t. Also had offers from Syracuse, Maryland, Mississippi State, Pitt, Providence, St. Joe’s, and Virginia Tech before opting for the Hoyas.
Models his game after Joel Embiid and Nikola Jokić.
He said: “Most kids think that big men are just people who stand under the rim and get rebounds, but knowing you can step outside and shoot a three, bring the ball up like Jokic or Embiid, it’s not just, ‘oh, you’re just supposed to be [under the basket].’ You can be anywhere on the court.”
Spoken about very positively off the court across all of his contexts so far.
Archbishop Ryan head coach Joe Zeglinski said: “What Thomas has been through has made him who he is, someone who will push through anything, and it’s why everyone gravitates towards him. He is unbelievable. Since he has been at Ryan, he is the same person every day. It’s something he learned at a young age. He has that it factor. He wants to bring Georgetown back as the next great big man. He will do it, too.”
Takeaway:
Thomas Sorber can score, pass, and rebound on the inside, while being a fairly highly-functional athlete who uses his physical tools very effectively on defense. He was a monster defender at Georgetown.
Looking ahead, Sorber will have to prove that he isn’t caught between the four and the five on both ends.
On offense, he will probably need to transition from primarily playing with his back to the basket into more of a low volume play finisher. I don’t think the Hoyas prospect will even closely touch his usage in college. Sorber will be tested in space and on switches, but his defensive production at Georgetown was dominant thanks to his absurd length, developed strength, and smart positioning.
A left foot injury cut Sorber’s freshman season short, but he is expected to be back on the court around early August.
Strengths:
Post-up playmaking/feel and overall production.
Strong and assertive down low. Acts quickly after using only a single dribble and carving out space with his body.
Likes to go baseline, sometimes spinning off his man.
Not tall at around 6-foot-10 in shoes, but leverages his 7-foot-6 wingspan and the glass to finish.
Soft touch.
114 post-ups this season … 1.061 PPP … 55.4 FG% (46/83) … 61.2 TS% … 10.5 TOV%.
1.1 A/TO is good given context+usage+expectations.
15.6 AST% … 2.4 AST per game.
17.4 TOV% … 2.3 TOV per game.
Face-up flashes.
Displays soft touch.
Face-ups will likely be more necessary than post-ups in the NBA.
Can face-up at the elbows, baselines, free throw line…
Likes to use a hard jab step before shooting a midrange jumper over his defender. Usually without any dribbles beforehand.
Free throw numbers — 72.4 FT% (76/105) — are encouraging.
Jumpers can feel like he’s settling, especially when he’s pushed away from his spots and isn’t on balance/in rhythm.
At-rim finishing.
Made 68.2% (103/151) of his total shots at the rim. Conversion actually ticks up slightly at 68.6% (83/121) in the half-court.
Made 65% (80/123) of his total lay-ups.
22 dunks in 24 games played.
Rebounding on both ends.
21.9 DREB% … 5.8 DREB per game.
9.5 OREB% … 2.7 OREB per game.
Defensive production.
84 stocks in 24 games (752 minutes) is really awesome production.
7.6 BLK% is great … 2 BLK per game … 49 BLKs in 24 GP…
2.7 STL% is good … 1.5 STL per game ... 35 STLs …
Physical tools (strength and length).
Ryan Kalkbrenner and Khaman Maluach were the only prospects measured at the combine with longer arms.
What is his ideal playing weight? Would immediately be one of the heaviest players in the NBA, and is coming off a left foot injury.
Improvements:
Over-reliance on playing with his back to the basket.
A lot of NBA bigs nowadays need to be play finishers before anything else. Means largely playing out of cuts and rolls, rather than the post.
Part of this might be contextual. Georgetown encouraged post-ups. Future NBA team probably won’t.
24.2 USG% in college will go down. More of a role player in the NBA.
At the end of the day, still a smaller center despite his length and strength.
Finishing as a roller.
Can get rushed under pressure.
Would ideally dunk more.
Was able to bully smaller defenders at Georgetown fairly often. Won’t happen as much in the NBA.
Fit in the league becomes murky if he can’t play as a 5.
Three-point shot.
16.2 3P% total (6/37) … 17.6 3P% (6/34) on catch-and-shoot threes … 5 3P% (1/20) on ‘Guarded’ …
Can’t shoot threes right now, but it’s possible that he could expand his range.
Defensive pick-and-roll versatility.
Can he handle a higher volume of possessions defending the pick-and-roll?
Is he an anchor or a helper? I think more of the former.
Solid in drop. Times himself well. Precise hand placement on contests+blocks. But can he switch?
Defensive footspeed.
Big, heavy body. Will have to move around a lot of weight while covering larger spaces in quicker fashion.
His brother Peter previously said in high school: “Every time I came home it felt like he grew another two or three inches. When he grew, the baby fat went away. Thomas used to be big, he used to be really big.”
Closeouts can be a problem. Not sure he can deal with stretch bigs, but there are few real stretch bigs.
Will be tested in space and on switches.
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