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The first round of the 2025 NBA Draft takes place today.
There will be two rounds and 59 picks in this year’s event, which takes place at Barclays Center, the home of the Brooklyn Nets. Duke’s Cooper Flagg is the heavy favorite to be selected with the first overall pick, which the Dallas Mavericks currently hold.
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2025 NBA Draft’s top 75 prospects, from Cooper Flagg to Ace Bailey and more
Nique Clifford calls himself a “dying breed.” The history of basketball features plenty of success stories like his — players who stuck with a mid-major, were rewarded as high draft picks and turned into great pros — a list that includes the likes of Steph Curry, Damian Lillard, CJ McCollum and Pascal Siakam. But will the sport’s future have many more of those stories?
If those current NBA stars went through college just a few years later, they would have had to deal with the temptation of a bigger payday to transfer to another school.
When Clifford, who broke out as a true senior at Colorado State after three years as a role player at Colorado, decided to return to college after mixed feedback during the NBA Draft process, he had options. High-major schools let his agents know that they were interested, and Clifford said multiple schools offered at least $1 million. Colorado State could not match or even come close to it, but Clifford never hesitated.
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Nique Clifford’s path to the NBA Draft is becoming a rarity: The mid-major star who stayed
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Ned M.: Ace Bailey has major Ben Simmons/Markelle Fultz vibes in terms of mental toughness (or lack thereof) and entitlement. Hard pass for me as a Sixers fan.
Anthony S.: Everyone seems down on Ace but I am will to take a chance with an immature 18-year-old with more upside than anyone in the draft if I were selecting for the Wizards. My bet would be on Ace or Malauch. I am playing the long odds. If I hit, the Wiz will have turned the ship around. Drafting is a gamble.
Cyrus TG.: If a team drafting in the top 10 really wants to move up for Ace or Fears, I am making that trade if I am the Hornets.
Lee L.: Bailey made a mistake coming out this year. He needs to fill out and establish himself as a defensive force. Yes, he was poorly coached offensively at the unfortunate State University of New Jersey, but his defensive stats are skewed by his play against bottom-dwellers.
Rutgers star Ace Bailey remains one of the most polarizing prospects on the board, largely due to his unusual approach to the pre-draft process.
Bailey is still the only U.S.-based prospect who hasn’t participated in a single pre-draft workout with NBA teams, per multiple reports. At the end of his only collegiate season, it was a foregone conclusion for some that Bailey would be the third prospect off the board after Duke phenom Cooper Flagg and Bailey’s former teammate at Rutgers, Dylan Harper.
Now, teams at the top of the board are preparing for the possibility that Bailey could slip, maybe even out of the top five. So, what should the Pelicans do if Bailey is still on the board at No. 7?
Read more below.
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Should Pelicans consider taking Ace Bailey if he falls to No. 7 in 2025 NBA Draft?
Egor Demin has already followed in the footsteps of Luka Dončić to Real Madrid and helped restore Brigham Young University to basketball prominence a year before AJ Dybantsa was supposed to do that.
But who Demin, 19, of Moscow, really can’t wait to be associated with is a household name among any hoops fan, as quick to the front of the mind as Luka or LeBron or Wemby. (This is a joke, and if we had turned it into a trivia question, no way you would have guessed.)
Demin is on the verge of becoming the first Russian-born player drafted by an NBA team since … Sergey Karasev in 2013.
“Well, that means a lot,” Demin told The Athletic. “Obviously, everybody knows about Andrei Kirilenko, the legend of Russian basketball. A lot more Russian legends that got to the NBA, and even though maybe they didn’t spend as much time in the NBA as they wanted to, they had great careers back in Russia in EuroLeague and became legends. And I was growing up looking up to Alexey Shved, playing in Khimki, and he was in the NBA, too.
“So for me, all these players are a huge example and learning resource.”
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Coming to BYU by way of Russia and Real Madrid, Egor Demin had some strong initial buzz in November as a 6-8 point forward. That quickly faded during a horrid mid-winter slump; I watched him in person during a miserable 0-for-10 performance at Providence.
For much of the year, Demin seemed reluctant to put pressure on the paint and would turn every pick-and-roll into a cross-court pass to the opposite corner, regardless of what the defense did. It’s cool that he can hit the opposite corner reliably in pick-and-roll, but would you please turn the corner once or twice?
However, his level of play picked up noticeably late in the year, including three double-figure games in the NCAA Tournament. Demin, however, still needs to become more aggressive as a scorer and has to work on his shot; he made only 27.3 percent from 3 and 69.5 percent from the line.
As you might have guessed based on my last column, I believe the Toronto Raptors should use their pick to select a rookie for next year’s roster in Wednesday’s first round of the NBA Draft, barring a star who fits better than Kevin Durant would have coming along.
Actually, let’s amend that a little bit — I believe they should use a pick to select someone for next year’s roster in the first round. Making a trade is always more complicated in practice than in theory. With that said, finding a way to move down and gain a little something extra while still grabbing a player they like later in the first round could be a nice lane for the Raptors.
“It doesn’t seem like there’s many options out there, at least to move up,” Raptors assistant general manager Dan Tolzman said Monday at a news conference. The Raptors have the ninth pick on Wednesday. They also have the 39th pick, or ninth in the second round, which is Thursday night. ”I think there’s a lot of people that have the same feeling as we do — that the top 10, the lottery, whatever, is a pretty good place to be.
“There’s definitely interest in people trying to get our pick, I think for the same reason. It’s an interesting group of players around there. I wouldn’t say (there’s an) any-percentage chance that we do one or the other, but there (are) definitely conversations being had of teams trying to get into the top 10 for the same reason as why we like being here right now.”
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I left Thomas Sorber off my initial top prospects list because a) I didn’t think he would stay in the draft, and b) I was concerned about his defensive tape guarding away from the basket. The latter remains an issue, but the fact he stayed in the draft despite a season-ending foot injury tells me that teams aren’t overly concerned about the long-term health implications.
The other thing that happened was Sorber measuring with a gigantic 7-6 wingspan and 9-1 standing reach at the combine; despite not having prototype center height, his measurements support the idea he can be a full-time five. Sorber’s defensive playmaking numbers also bely the idea that he’s just some lumbering big lug, with an eye-popping 2.7 steals per 100 possessions to go with his 7.6 percent block rate.
He still might disappoint. In addition to being a vulnerable switch defender, Sorber’s rebounding was pretty meh for a center prospect (15.6 percent rebound rate). Also, despite a decent shooting touch (including a nice jab-step jumper), his finishing was underwhelming for a big-man prospect; he can shoot with either hand but doesn’t explode off the floor and isn’t the most instinctive guy navigating tight spaces around the cup. Everything looked hard.
One of my biggest hot takes for this draft is that Noa Essengue isn't getting nearly enough attention. A Frenchman plying his trade in Germany, Essengue rivals Flagg as the youngest player in the draft with his December 2006 birthdate. Essengue was nonetheless a productive starter for a solid EuroCup team that is playing for the German league championship this week. Essengue's stats this year stand out for an overseas teenager, with a PER of 18.4, block and steal rates over 2.0 percent and a solid 14.0 percent rebound rate despite barely weighing 200 pounds. (Filling out physically is one of his biggest developmental to-dos.)
Essengue also had 20 points, eight rebounds, three steals and two blocks in a preseason game against the Portland Trail Blazers, while guarding Deni Avdija for much of it; here's a clip of a pick-six steal and dunk he had in that game.
Essengue's big swing skill will be shooting; he made 26.5 percent from 3 and 70.2 percent from the line this year; obviously, that won't get it done. On the other hand, can we talk about his work inside the arc? Essengue shot 64.1 percent on 2s with a James Harden-esque free-throw rate (290 free throws against just 269 2-point attempts), an amazing feat for a skinny teen in a physical league. Even going up a level in the game against Portland, he managed to grift six foul shots.
Trying to cram before the 2025 NBA Draft tonight? Or even after your team picks its players?
This is the best resource you're going to find that lets you know all about the players, their backgrounds, their strengths and weaknesses, their tendencies, all of it.
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2025 NBA Draft guide: Top 100 prospects, rankings, tiers and analysis
Just a quick note to set the table as I keep working the phones this afternoon: agents and teams are expected some movement across the lottery once the draft gets underway. More than a few agents have noted to me that they feel like they’re going into this draft with less certainty than normal, with one agent who represents multiple potential lottery picks noting to me that he’s expecting a “wacky” night.
We’ll see what ends up happening — it’s always harder to actually come to an agreement than it is to just talk about one — but there does seem to be a bit of a synergy between there being teams that are willing to move down the board and teams willing to move up for specific targets.
Obviously, one of those teams that everyone is keeping an eye on is Brooklyn, as the Nets have five first round picks and are unsurprisingly seen as highly unlikely to keep all five of those selections on draft night.
The Hornets have also had discussions moving both up and down the board here from No. 4, so don’t be surprised if they move this pick to either try to lock in the player they want or to continue to gather assets. If they are unable to get VJ Edgecombe and decide that their guy is Kon Knueppel, a trade down is something that multiple NBA sources have noted is a possibility, as there could be a couple of teams looking to jump Washington, Utah or Brooklyn to get Ace Bailey.
If it’s not Knueppel and they stay at No. 4, my read is that the Hornets’ most likely option would be Tre Johnson.
Read the rest of my latest mock draft here.
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Since acquiring this selection in the Desmond Bane deal, the Grizzlies have been scrambling to get players into their building since they only had late second-round picks before the trade. That makes it difficult to parse what they’ll do in the No. 16 spot. President of basketball operations Zach Kleiman is typically known to be aggressive in moving up/down the board as well to get the players he wants. If there is someone above this he likes — like a Collin Murray-Boyles, who ticks several boxes that the Grizzlies front office typically desires — don’t be surprised to see him try to move up the board to get him.
Memphis is also as a potential trade-down candidate if it could attach salary to a pick.
Read the rest of my latest mock draft here.
Collin Murray-Boyles will need to change his game at the pro level because it’s unlikely he can play center for more than brief stretches. That will involve developing his nascent perimeter game, getting in better shape and improving his rarely used right hand, among other things.
That said, I’ve warmed up to his case. Watching him in the SEC tournament, his jumper isn’t broken. It’s a push shot from his chest, the release is slow and he rarely stretched out to the 3-point line in his role at South Carolina. But yes, he can get to the point where he makes a third of them.
The last time Georgia’s basketball program had a one-and-done player was Anthony Edwards, and we all know what Edwards has turned into in his young NBA career: one of the most exciting players in the league.
Georgia is going to add to that list tonight with Asa Newell, who is one of the most intriguing prospects in this class.
As our John Hollinger pointed out, Newell is 6-foot-11, but he’s not much of a rim protector, and he has to be more involved on the inside if he’s going to reach his potential. The skills are there, but what will they turn into? Hollinger has Newell as the No. 16 prospect in this class.
Our Sam Vecenie has Newell going No. 20 to Miami but has him as the No. 29 prospect in his draft guide.
League sources have indicated that the Nets have entertained moves up and down the board. They now have five first-round picks this year and as much ammunition as anyone to get the players they want. If they stick at No. 8, a variety of players make sense. I don’t see Jeremiah Fears or Ace Bailey slipping beyond this slot unless they’re somehow both on the board. Khaman Maluach is seen as a possibility if the team decides that it’s going to move Nic Claxton in a trade. The Nets are rebuilding and have a lot of needs. And later in the draft, a plethora of bigs and lead guards should be available.
It’s worth noting as well that Maluach is a player who has become the subject of trade speculation league-wide, with several late lottery teams interested in sliding up the board to acquire him. I’ve heard Chicago, Atlanta (before its deal for Kristaps Porziņģis) and San Antonio all having varying degrees of interest in him.
Read the rest of my latest mock draft here.
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NBA mock draft 2025: What will the 76ers do at No. 3?
The numbers say that we shouldn’t get out over our skis on Jeremiah Fears; he was massively turnover-prone, shot poorly from 3, missed open teammates and struggled on defense. He also measured shorter at the Combine after being listed at 6-4 all year.
But Fears’ best plays are just too good to ignore. He’s a slash-and-burn point-of-attack ballhandler who can break down defense with his handle and execute difficult finishes at the cup. It helps that the draft drops off here in quality, making it easier to take a shot on stardom even if the mid-case scenario is probably more like Jordan Clarkson.
Fears played more as a volume scorer in his lone season, shooting just 44.7 percent on 2s in SEC play, but he also drew fouls at a prodigious rate. His 85.1 percent mark from the line also makes it easier to buy that his 28.4 percent shooting from 3 might eventually level out at something close to respectable. Fears’ stroke needs tightening – bring the elbow in, get more air under it, etc. – but he also took a lot of difficult 3s that dragged on the percentage. Nonetheless, if opponents can just go under screens against him, that’s going to hurt his downhill attacking game.
Defensively, Fears is skinny and needs to compete more, but he also has good hands and, in his best iso clips, showed lively feet. He’ll be hunted early in his career, but it’s not a disaster.
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Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey likely will be top-10 picks tonight in the NBA draft. Our Sam Vecenie has Harper second and sixth, respectively, in both his latest mock draft and his NBA draft guide.
I’m torn about that. There’s no doubt that Harper and Bailey are top NBA draft talents, and that certainly will pay off tonight. But how did they have such a weird one season at Rutgers?
The Scarlet Knights finished the season with a 15-17 record and didn’t come close to reaching the NCAA Tournament. Heck, they barely made it to the Big Ten tournament. Is that the fault of Harper and Bailey? Probably not. They had a bad roster around them, but I also have to think that if they’re as good as we’re hearing, they should have been able to lift a team into the NCAA Tournament or at the very least a .500 record.
Philadelphia has done an amazing job of muddying its potential decision at No. 3 over the last few weeks.
The Sixers could simply take VJ Edgecombe. Daryl Morey cares about upside. It’s easy to sell Edgecombe having the most athletic upside of any player remaining on the board. He also is a high-performer in draft models.
They could also take Kon Knueppel, Tre Johnson or Ace Bailey, but none of these players — including Edgecombe — are perfect fits for the core that Philadelphia has assembled as it looks to get back into the Eastern Conference mix next season. Johnson is starting to get increased buzz in recent days as an option for Philly, and it’s easy to make the case that he has the most upside out of these players because of his shooting ability.
I still think a trade down remains a real possibility. It’s the move that makes the most sense for the 76ers, given they’re at the top of a big group of prospects who are relatively similar in their league-wide evaluations. Logically, a deal between Charlotte and Philadelphia makes a ton of sense. Since lottery night, the Hornets have been thought to like Edgecombe as a fit between LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller. Executing a trade-up to secure Edgecombe would allow them to get their guy, and then would also allow Philadelphia to maintain control over the draft at No. 4 — either to execute further trades or to simply take a player that it likes.
Regardless, my read is that if someone trades up, the most likely player they’d do it for would be Edgecombe. NBA teams see him as a relatively safe prospect in this class because of his high-end competitiveness, defensive capabilities, shooting off the catch and high-end character reports.
Read my updated NBA mock draft here.
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NBA mock draft 2025: What will the 76ers do at No. 3?
People don’t seem to trust Kon Knueppel's production as a freshman at Duke. There’s this notion that he was a spot-up guy drafting off the awesomeness of his team, but nothing could be further from the truth: Knueppel was second on the team behind Flagg in usage rate and mostly lived on self-created shots. That shot diet included a ton of chances at the rim on straight-line drives; he rarely got to pull-ups or floaters because he was so good at playing through contact and finishing at the cup.
Knueppel very nearly went 50-40-90 as a freshman (settling for 47.9 percent from the field, 41.4 percent from 3 and 90.4 percent from the line), but his secondary stats were good too. For a shooting specialist, his rates of steals, blocks and free throws stood out. Duke was comfortable leaving him on the perimeter against smaller guards and his feet seem adequate for an NBA wing. He’ll be hunted at times depending on who else is on the floor, especially because he struggles to challenge shots at the end of a move. But this isn’t the work of a pigeon.
However, let’s circle back to the best part: Knueppel’s shot is butter. Watching him warm up on movement shots from side to side before Duke games, it’s clear there is more to unpack here in terms of using him off screens at the NBA level. I don't really understand why evaluations like Tre Johnson better; Knueppel offers the same movement showing but appears much better in virtually every other facet of the game. For me, there is a clear drop-off after Knueppel; he’s a lot closer to the Edgecombe/Harper level than to anything after this.
