The 2025 NBA Draft is finally almost here, and the Portland Trail Blazers repeated history with another major trade leading up to it. But Portland landing a pissed off Jrue Holiday was only part of the offseason chaos that ensued the past few days.
That Kevin Durant guy is in Houston with the Suns now entering the lottery. The Nets' draft picks are starting to look like the numbers in Lost. The Hawks kind of found their big-man solution in an injury-prone Kristaps Porzingis, opening up their options at No. 13. And that's just the tip of the iceberg, with more league-wide trades surely to come.
01. Dallas Mavericks: Cooper Flagg, Duke
Right now, if one were to bet 100 dollars on Flagg being chosen first, that bettor would win a dime. With that same 100 dollars, a bettor gambling on consensus number two pick Dylan Harper to be picked first would win 20 grand with a hit.
There’s nothing to analyze here; Flagg slots into any franchise regardless of fit or positional density; Cooper Flagg, on day one, will be a floor raiser at worst.
02. San Antonio Spurs: Dylan Harper, Rutgers
Given the perplexity of the Ace Bailey situation, San Antonio’s decision to draft Dylan Harper seems calcified at this point. Harper joins a somewhat crowded backcourt already stocked with De’Aaron Fox and Stephon Castle.
This creates a bit of a logjam; as the Spurs, who sits on the bench: last year’s Rookie of the Year, recently acquired star point guard Fox, or the second pick in the draft? Clearly, San Antonio has some work left to do, but if anyone can strike a balance, it’s the Spurs.
03. Philadelphia 76ers: Ace Bailey, Rutgers
The smokescreen season is officially in full effect. Many draft pundits out there think that Bailey’s refusal to work out for teams is a sign that he will slip. But if Bailey works out for zero teams, the playing field is level; who is to say that the Sixers will pass on him when he’s expressed nothing favorable toward any team’s situation in particular?
This is as easy a draft as any have been for Philadelphia—two of the team’s three best players are perpetually injured, and the season immediately nosedived the second they were ruled completely out. Bailey is an easy pick, and GM Elton Brand knows it.
04. Charlotte Hornets: VJ Edgecombe, Baylor
Charlotte can’t really afford to mess up this pick. News out of NBA circles is that the Hornets have had a very difficult time getting guys in the door for workouts. An anonymous player told a media outlet that they didn’t want to work out for Charlotte because they didn’t want to have to play with LaMelo Ball.
The team culture is seemingly hanging on by a thread. With that being said, it’s not the time to get hung up on interviews and other intangibles; Edgecombe is a high-level player who’s extremely good at basketball.
It’s important to note that rebuilding teams typically play at a quicker pace than others, but the Hornets were in the bottom third of the league in that regard, another issue that Edgecombe can begin to resolve immediately. The fact that he would fit so seamlessly within what Charlotte has already built is just a bonus.
05. Utah Jazz: Kon Knueppel, Duke
Utah’s team is a mess right now; the team finished last in the entire NBA but dropped four spots in the draft lottery. But it’s not all sour for Utah fans. Instead of agonizing over who they’re going to snag once any two of Harper, Bailey, or Edgecombe are off the board, they get to loosen their belts and go with the closest player to a sure thing in this draft with Duke’s Knueppel.
Aside from playing a position of need, Knueppel brings a shooting punch to a team that finished 22nd in three-point percentage last year while finishing sixth in attempts. Knueppel is a dream result for a Utah squad needing help everywhere—shooting aside, his greatest skill is perhaps that of a floor-raiser, crucial for a team that is in desperate need of, well, a raised floor.
06. Washington Wizards: Jeremiah Fears, Oklahoma
The end of the road is in sight for the Wizards. It’s taken a lot of construction and patience, but it seems as if the Wizards are about to splurge on a point guard. After spending most of the rebuilding phase drafting pieces to fit around the floor general position, the Wizards may be in the home stretch, where they will try to get Jeremiah Fears at pick six.
Last year, the Wizards drafted Bub Carrington with a pick acquired from Portland, a young point guard who started over two-thirds of the games for Washington but proceeded to play 123 minutes at shooting guard. Perhaps they view Carrington as an off-the-bench combo guard while Fears, a crafty, lightning-quick lead guard, will be given keys to the offense early.
07. New Orleans Pelicans: Tre Johnson, Texas
There’s not a lot going according to plan in New Orleans. Longtime combo guard CJ McCollum, who has served as a steward of normalcy for years, has been jettisoned off to Washington for Jordan Poole, Saddiq Bey, and a second-round pick. Half the roster was injured last year, forcing the Pelicans to start rookie center Yves Missi, and there’s an outside chance that Zion Williamson may be done in the NBA for good.
The good news is that Trey Murphy and Herb Jones will be back for the start of the next season, while Murray is expected to return shortly thereafter. They can bolster their scoring punch by adding Tre Johnson, an athletic scorer who should grow to battle Poole for minutes.
08. Brooklyn Nets: Khaman Maluach, Duke
The Nets are finally in stage 1b of their rebuild, the fun part of acquiring young talent and seeing how it all shakes out. After shipping out most of their veterans, Brooklyn has four first-round picks in this draft, having had none higher than 20 in the last four years.
The nascence of the rebuild means that Brooklyn should be taking swings with at least a couple of picks, and there may be none greater at this point than Duke’s Khaman Maluach.
Maluach came over from South Sudan after dominating Basketball Without Borders camps and showed flashes of excellence at Duke, where he put up some gaudy numbers, mostly in the percentages department.
09. Toronto Raptors: Derik Queen, Maryland
No one player’s eye test and measurables are so at odds with one another than Derik Queen. Watching just three minutes of film and squinting one’s eyes, Queen looks like Nikola Jokic. He’s lumbering yet smooth, has great court vision, and has a liquid post-up game.
This pass-first, get-it-done-when-necessary mentality could see Queen thrive in Toronto—the Raptors are full of players who need the ball in their hands in order to be effective. In that sense, Queen is an excellent connective piece that puts that ball in those hands at the most opportune times.
While every facet of Queen’s game has shades of the Joker, he’s going to need to put in the work to be great, and he might take longer than some others to reach his true ceiling.
10. Phoenix Suns: Kasparas Jakucionis, Illinois
Even though the record might not indicate it, perhaps no NBA team is in a tougher spot than the Phoenix Suns. The team is over the salary cap with only three players who all play the same position, and they are in control of just three first-round picks until 2031. One of those—this pick—was acquired by dumping Kevin Durant onto the Houston Rockets.
With such a narrow window with which to acquire talent, the Suns have to choose wisely in the draft while addressing glaring holes at the point guard and center positions. If they’re to return to relevance while keeping their rosters mostly intact, they need young players who are ready to contribute to winning basketball immediately. Kasparas Jakucionis is one of the safer bets at this point in the draft due to his passing acumen on a team full of on-ball scorers.
11. Portland Trail Blazers: Noa Essengue, Ratiopharm Ulm
In the preseason of 2024, the Blazers played host to Ratiopharm Ulm of the German Bundesliga basketball league, where Toumani Camara matched up against a 17-year-old Noa Essengue. In the minutes that ensued, Essengue dropped 20 points with eight rebounds and three 3-pointers in a loss.
Now, in 2025, Essengue is the second youngest player in the draft, just three days older than Cooper Flagg. Sneaking off to record measurables at a European combine, Noa tested with long arms, huge hands, and a standing reach as tall as 7’2” Khaman Maluach.
His game is a little non-dimensional at the moment, with him doing many things well but nothing truly great. However, he gets downhill in a hurry and plays the style of the ball the Blazers ran during the last third of the season. Under the tutelage of Camara and Avdija, expect his contributing years to be ahead of schedule.
12. Chicago Bulls: Carter Bryant, Arizona
While Chicago has been clamoring for a center for what seems like ten years, Bryant’s upside and athleticism may be too juicy to pass up at pick 12. The Bulls are razor-thin at the three spot, and Patrick Williams is on backup duties at the four. Both positions are in dire need of an upgrade.
Carter Bryant is the exact type of player teams empty their war chests to acquire once they’ve developed—a long, athletic, true “3-and-D” wing that can play both forward positions and even some small-ball center if needed.
Bryant was just a four-star recruit out of high school and started very few games for the Wildcats, but he developed quickly and shot up draft boards as a result; he may not even be here when pick 12 comes up.
13. Atlanta Hawks: Thomas Sorber, Georgetown
Even though the Hawks just traded for Kristaps Porzingis, Atlanta didn’t have to give up much to get him because the man just doesn’t play much. Across his last three seasons, Porzingis has played 55 games per season and 30 minutes in each of those, with the 2025-26 season being the last on his current contract.
Outside of him and Onyeka Okongwu, the depth at that position is nonexistent. Thomas Sorber steps in and immediately solidifies the rotation while adding size, rebounding, and playmaking.
Sorber’s game is a bit of a throwback, with post-ups and sheer muscle being his primary bag of tricks. But his massive wingspan, defensive instincts, and surprising passing game will keep him on the court long after Porzingis has left it.
14. San Antonio Spurs: Collin Murray-Boyles, South Carolina
Lengthy, playmaking defensive hub wasn’t a very common archetype before Draymond Green was picked in the second round of the 2012 draft, and teams quickly learned that players like that win championships. Collin Murray-Boyles plays eerily similar to Green as an undersized power forward with gangly limbs and a stoic, workmanlike defensive mindset.
Like Green, CMB isn’t scorching many nets from deep, but his defensive chops are electric—the man averaged nearly three “stocks” per game in just 30 minutes.
The contract of Harrison Barnes falls off the Spurs’ books at the end of the upcoming season, giving CMB some seasoning time to get up to speed with the pace and space of the NBA. And if he and Wembanyama get it going together, we’re about to see a no-fly zone around the hoop in the West.
15. Oklahoma City Thunder: Cedric Coward, Washington State
Coward is shooting up draft boards due to his measurables, shooting ability, and front-office interviews. The Thunder, fresh off a championship, can use this opportunity to seize upon who people are calling this year’s Jalen Williams.
16. Memphis Grizzlies: Nique Clifford, Colorado State
After shipping out Desmond Bane to the Magic, the Grizzlies have the opportunity to add Clifford, a wing who is as NBA-ready as anyone in this draft. He’s a perfect Bane replacement with his shooting and defensive skills, and at 23 years of age on draft day, he’ll be much more easily integrable.
17. Minnesota Timberwolves: Egor Demin, BYU
Through taking small guards in the draft, Minnesota adds some size in the backcourt with Egor Demin, a wiry point guard who stands 6’9”, anathema to the Dillingham experiment of last year.
18. Washington Wizards: Joan Beringer, KK Cedevita
The Wizards haven’t exactly figured out which position Sarr will play in the NBA, and Beringer’s availability makes it an easy decision. Scouts are in love with his size and play style, though he’s one of the more raw talents of this year’s cycle.
19. Brooklyn Nets: Nolan Traore, Saint-Quentin
After taking Maluach earlier, the Nets pair him with perhaps the draft’s greatest pick-and-roll guard, making the Maluach-Traore pairing especially spicy and a frontrunner for a sleeper League Pass team early on.
20. Miami Heat: Asa Newell, Georgia
Miami’s run of drafting high-character guys extends to Asa Newell, who plays smart and has a soft touch around the basket when necessary. He’s not necessarily a standout in any one area, but a “lunchpail” big that will quickly earn meaningful minutes.
21. Utah Jazz: Danny Wolf, Michigan
Wolf is one of the strangest players in this—or any—draft; he plays very much like a point guard with the footspeed to match, but he’s seven feet tall. His defense is a bit of a head-scratcher, but it’s to be expected when all the eggs are in the offense basket.
22. Brooklyn Nets: Rasheer Fleming, St. Joseph’s
Fleming is quite a specimen in person, with an absolutely outlandish wingspan and some solid defensive numbers. He played on a St. Joseph’s team that never faced much competition, but the tools are exceedingly there.
23. New Orleans Pelicans: Jase Richardson, Michigan State
Dejounte Murray is a great player, but as they say, the greatest ability is availability. Jase Richardson is a smart guard with some serious defensive chops who can step into a premier role when needed.
24. Oklahoma City Thunder: Ben Saraf, Ratiopharm Ulm
A teammate of Noa Essengue, Saraf, also played well against the Blazers during their exhibition game. Saraf is a smart guard who delivered results down the stretch for Ulm and could lend his combo guard skills to a stacked Thunder squad.
25. Orlando Magic: Liam McNeeley, UConn
Orlando needs guys who can shoot the cover off the ball, and that particular skill is McNeeley’s bread and butter. Despite having a down year in a system not built for him, Liam rained down threes in bunches when he was a high-school teammate of Flagg, Newell, and Queen.
26. Brooklyn Nets: Hugo Gonzalez, Real Madrid
Gonzalez represents an upside swing where the talent pool starts to dry up rather quickly. He profiles as a toolsy wing with great on-ball instincts and a promising shooting stroke that could be ready by the time Brooklyn is rounding the corner.
27. Brooklyn Nets: Adou Theiro, Arkansas
Thiero, a wrecking ball of a human being with a jumper that’s a work in progress, would jump about 20 spots if the three-ball didn’t look broken. As it is, he’s mocked a little high here, mostly because he looks so much like an NBA player when he’s not shooting threes. Luckily, Amen Thompson has shown that it's possible in the modern era, so Thiero will slot into a team with time to prove he belongs.
28. Boston Celtics: Will Riley, Illinois
The Celtics seem rather intent on blowing it up, and Riley looks like a guy they would have taken anyway; he’s a large guard who needs a good team structure to take his game to the next level, and Boston has such a system in place.
29. Phoenix Suns: Ryan Kalkbrenner, Creighton
Phoenix will be thrilled to scoop up Kalkbrenner with the penultimate pick in the first round; he’s a smart, physical center with immense physical tools and the ability to stretch the floor if needed.
30. Los Angeles Clippers: Drake Powell, North Carolina
A five-star recruit out of high school, Powell never really got it going in Chapel Hill, but his combine testing was in the upper percentile in many categories. He’s a freak athlete who will need the right situation to thrive.