NBA Mock Draft 2025.

For The Past Three Decades, The NBA(The Brain Trust, Brass and Business Portion) Have Forged And Punched Numbers On The Path To Competitive Balance Across The Plane Of All The League’s Markets, Not Only ridding The League Of Vaunted “Super Team” Endemic But Leveling Off So To Say Big Market Cities. This season, all of the NBA's hopes and ambitions came to pass as the two small market teams made the finals. With The New CBA Place No Clear Path Exist To Building A Contender—If You Want To Succeed At Basketball You Have To Strike Oil, Like The Thunder Picking Up Most Of Their Core Through The Paul George Trade Or The Pacers Scoring Tyrese Halliburton Because Of A Point Guard Logjam In Sacramento. Teams Can’t Lose Their Way To A Better Roster, The Sixers Proved That During The Process, Nor did Big Pocket Owners Spend Their Way Forward, The Suns Proved That, With Their failed super Team Experiment. In Terms Of Drafting NBA Teams, It’s Class Half Full, A Great Draft Can't build A Contender But A Bad One Will Doom Any Hope Of Getting A Bad Team Going In The Right Direction. With The Draft Just A Few Weeks Out How Should Things ShakeOut, I’ll Try My Hand At Mocking All 30 Picks Of The First Round. The Top Two Picks Look Set So The Draft Starts At Pick Three With Philly. The Nets Have Four Picks In The First Round Meaning They Could Draft An Entirely New Starting

Five so They Choose Or They Can Parlay Those Picks Into One Of The Superstars Protruding Out Of Some NBA Rosters.

1)Mavericks, Cooper Flagg, Forward, Duke—Cooper Flagg Will Turn In His Blue And White Duke Unis For Blue And White Maverick Uniforms As The Presumptive Number One Pick lands In Dallas.

2)Spurs, Dylan Harper, Guard, Rutgers—The Spurs Sit In a Position To “Shake Up” the Draft By Either Trading The Number Two Overall Pick Or Reaching For A Talent Who Fits The Roster Needs More Immediately—They Don’t A Point Guard, At all. The Spurs Take The Best Player Available Dylan Harper Out Of Rutgers. Dylan's Shooting Will Have to Translate Immediately For The Franchise To Hand Him Minutes Early.

3)Philadelphia 76ers, Ace Bailey, Forward/Guard, Rutgers—The Sixers “Lucked Up” In This Draft Greater Than Any Team Landing At The Three Spot And Saving Themselves The Lost Of A Draft Pick. Unfortunately, Guards Represent The Next Players In This Draft—I Have Jeremiah Fears Second Overall In My Opinion As I Acclimate Myself More With These Prospects—And I’m Tempted To Mock Kon Knueppel To The Sixers Because Of His Out Of The Package Pro Game But Ace Bailey Presents A Higher Upside With His Shot Making And Positional Functionality On The Wing. Ace Bailey Brings A Level Of Shot Making to The Sixers That Other High Upside Prospects Like VJ EdgeCombe Won't Bring At This Stage Of His Development: He’s Also More Than a Full Year Younger Than Both.

4)Charlotte Hornets, Jeremiah Fears, Point Guard, Oklahoma—The Hornets Have Lamelo Ball Entrenched At Point Guard And The Team's Star Franchise Guard But Lamelo Yet To Lead( Or Help Lead) The Hornets To The Playoffs And Only One Winning Season. The Hornets Could Look To Move Melo And Reset With Fears. Betting On An Unproven Prospects Seems But Fears Possesses All The Parts To One Day Burgeon Into The League’s Next All-Star. The Supermax Contract, Like The One Lamelo Signed A Season Ago, Has Hamstrung Smaller Market Teams When The Team’s Talented Player Doesn’t Ascend Or When The Franchise Fails To Build Around Him Properly. The Hornets Could Move Melo And Reset(again) With Fears And Brandon Miller Or The Hornets Could Opt to Play Melo And Fears.

5)Utah Jazz, Kon Knueppel, Guard, Duke—Utah Jazz Suffered(Or Earned Through Tanking) A Share Of The League’s Worse Record And The Best Odds To Take Home Cooper Flagg Had The Lottery Balls Fall As Projected. The Jazz Landed At Five And A Potential Reward Awaits In Duke Two Guard Kon Knueppel, Duke’s Next Best Player. Knueppel Has Elite Shooting Prowess as His Obvious Trait But He’s Demonstrated That He’s Still Unlocking The Full Range Of His Offensive Capacity.   

6)Washington Wizards, Tre Johnson, Guard, Texas—Like The Jazz The Wizard Earned A Share Of The Best Odds To Land One Of The Top Three Picks In The Draft Before Falling Far Outside The Odds At Six. Unlike The Jazz The Wizards May Have The Worse Roster In Basketball, The Team Finished With One Of The Worse Offenses In Basketball, Their Guards Struggled With Efficiency and Ranked Last In Player Impact Estimate and Net rating. Tre Johnson From Texas Gives The Wizards An Adept High Impact Shot Creator Who Could Step Into The Two Guard And Provide Much Needed Shot Making And Scoring Opportunities For Teammates Off Of Johnson’s Shot Creation.  

7)New Orleans Pelicans, VJ EdgeCombe, Guard, Baylor—Could VJ EdgeCombe Fall To Seven? The Upside Of The Budding Bahamian Star Remains The Rap On EdgeCombe But Upside Only Tells Half The Story. EdgeCombe Still Lacks A Defining Quality That Sets Him Frame On The Board. Sure He’s Athletic But His Athletic Testing Came Back In elite Range But Not Far And Away To Register As A Defining Trait. For The Pelicans CJ McCollum Won’t Carry On As The Team’s Two Guard Of The Future, EdgeCombe Could Slide Into That Role.

8)Brooklyn Nets, Cedric Coward, Guard, Duke/Washington State—The Nets Roster Like The Wizards Chuck Full Of Unproven Young Talent after The Franchise Traded Away Mikal Bridges. With A Bevy Of Picks, The Find Themselves With Plenty Of Real Estate To Pry Away A Star From A Team Burden By The New CBA But Finding A Star Through The Draft Starts After EdgeCombe Comes Off The Board. The Nets Could Take A Flyer On An High Upside Guy Like Coward Who Didn’t Play Much Last Season Only Six Games But Had A Strong Combine With Measurements. A Late Riser In The Draft Process Coward Posses Similar Tools As A Player Like EdgeCombe, Both Registered A 38 Inch, But Coward Also Comes Equipped With A Seven Foot Wingspan Standing At Just 6’4 And He Shot A Solid 40% From Three Point Land and Who Know He Develop Into A “Go To” Guy. Coward Could’ve Spent Another Season In College—And As A Duke Fan I Would Have Approved—To Establish Himself As A Difference Creator and Not Just A Spot Up Guy But a Weak Draft Outside Of The Top Seven Players Could Open The Door For Coward To Jump Into The Lottery. Other Players Like Noa Essengua, and Kasparas Jakucionis Also Work At This Pick But I’m Not As High On Them As Coward.

9)Toronto Raptors, Khaman Maluach, Center, Duke— Duke Center Khaman Maluach Looks Like The Intriguing Watch Of Nearly All The Projected

He lottery Picks Because He’s Still Young To The Game But He Produce A Quality Run At The Olympics For South Sudan And Played A Crucial But Less Defined Role For Duke’s Run TO The Final four. Maluach Rim Protection and Rim Running Should Translate Immediately As He Enters The Pros But His Development Offensively Will determine Their Ceiling. The Raptors Have A History Of Hoarding Young, Lengthy Players At A Variety Of Positions Maluach and Maluach Gives Toronto The Longest Wingspan and Standing Reach In The Draft.

10)Houston Rockets, Collin Murray-Boyle, Forward, South Carolina—The Rockets Have A Solid Collection Of Guards and Wing Players Already So Adding A Kasparas Jakucionis The Guard Out Of Illinois Or A Noa Essengue Would Prove Redundant. With A Decision Looming On The Contract For Jabari Smith The Former Number Three Overall Pick A Non-Factor To This Point On Houston’s Roster, Collin Murray-Boyles From South Carolina Could Serve As A potential Replacements As Teams Start To Reckon With The New NBA Cap Structure. With An Angular And Powerful Frame, CMB proved Quite The Force On The Defensive End Of The Court, Averaging 4.7 Blocks Percentage, 2.6 Steal Percentage and Offensively 21.1 Assist Percentage. At 6’7 He’s A Touch Undersize For A “Big” Of Any Kind and He Didn’t Demonstrate Great Touch From The Mid Range And Three Point Land.

11)Portland TrailBlazers, Derik Queen, Big, Maryland—The Trail Blazers Don’t Have Any Immediate Needs On Their Young Roster Which Could Afford Them The Opportunity to Draft The Best Player Available, But Derik Queen Doesn’t Fit The Roster Off The Jump. The Blazers Have De’Andre Ayton But The Franchise Probably Doesn’t Keep Him Pass This Contract. Portland Drafted Donavan Clingan In The Second Round Last Year But He’s More Of A Rim Protector, Lob Threat Type.  Derik Queen Has The “Perfect” Offensive Skill Set Not Only To Offset Clingan's Offensive Limitations But To Also Direct Portland's Offense. Queen Has Excellent Power Forward Facilitator and Shot Creator For Both Himself and His Teammates. If Portland Desires A Guard Egor Demin Or Kasparas Jakucionis Would Fit The Bill.

12)Chicago Bulls, Kasparas Jakucionis, Guard, Illinois—The Bulls Parted Ways With the Team’s Leading Scorers Demar Derozan And Zach Lavine Whom Both Ended Up in Sacramento In Two Different Deals, One In Free Agency and The Other Via Trade. Kasparas Jakucionis won't Replace Either Derozan Or Lavine’s Impact and His No Where Near The Athlete Or Offense Tycoon Of Either. Kasparas Can Create Shots For Himself and his Teammates And Playmaking With savvy and Experience. He’s An “Under The Rim” Basketball Player So His “Upside” Has A Ceiling.

13) Atlanta Hawks, Liam McNeely, Guard, UConn— The Hawks Jump From The Number One Pick A Year Ago Into The Number 13 Pick An Indication Of Some Growth On The Roster But the Team Hasn’t Made The Playoffs In Two seasons And Hasn’t Advanced Pass The First Round Since Their “Magic” Run To The East Finals In 2021. The Hawks Jalen Johnson To Co-Star Next To Trae Young But The Team Needs A New Scoring Guard Next To Young Playmaking and Shot Capacity. Vertically Challenged Athlete Liam McNeely Doesn’t Present The High Upside As Some Other Players Available but Liam Projects As A steady Outside Shot Maker And A Force As A Lead Guard In Play Making Role Next To Trae Young. On the 13th The Hawks Will Have Other Wing Players Available whether Noa Esenngue From France Or Will Riley From Illinois Both Players With Higher Projected Ceilings. However, They Both Play Forward Which Makes their Choices Redundant On The Hawks’ Roster That A Plethora Could Serve To Steal Opportunities From Zach Risacher. Jase Richardson could Come Into Play At This Pick.

14)San Antonio Spurs, Carter Bryant, Forward/Guard, Arizona— The Spurs Picked A Luxury Pick So To Speak At The End Of The Lottery Which Opens The Door To Take A Flyer On A Prospect Like Arizona Foward Carter Bryant. With Just One Season At Arizona Bryant Demonstrated A High-End Ceiling and Profile As A Three Finish Prospect With His 6’8 Frame and  His Touch and Mechanics On The Outside. I Say “Three And Finish” Because “Three And D” Gets Overused by guys Who Don’t Always Translate Defensive Even If They Struggled As A Shot Creator. The Wildcats Simply Didn’t Need Him To Operate in The Role Of A Shot Creator Or Offensive Catalyst But Still Only 19 He’s Got Room To Develop.

15) Oklahoma City Thunder, Danny Wolf, Big, Michigan— As A Finals Representative For Western Conference Don’t Have A lot Of holes To Address Along The Roster Guided By All-Star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Big Chet Holmgren, And Wing Jalen Williams. The CBA won’t Allow The Team To Keep The Rest Of The Supporting Cast primarily Big Isaiah Hartenstein. Danny Wolf The Seven Footer From Michigan Enters The NBA With The Soon Becoming Classic Stretch Four, Under The Rim Skillset. He is Not The Lol Threat Or Defensive Deterrent Like Hartenstein So The Thunder won't exchange Apple To Apples But The Team Will Need Depth Behind Holmgren and someone Who Could Play In The Two Big Lineup Without “Mucking Up” The Spacing For The Thunder Guards. The Thunder Could Stick With The Defensive Focus Big And Select Joan Beringer The 18-Year-Old From France. Thomas Sorber The Center Out Of Georgetown Could Also Function Here Bringing His Excellent Defensive Position Behind Chet.

16)Memphis Grizzlies, Drake Powell, Guard, North Carolina—

The Grizzlies Acquired The 16th Overall Pick And Three Other First Rounders From The Magic In Exchange For Desmond Bane. The Grizzlies Don’t Have to Find A Replacement For Bane Or Reset The Franchise By Off Loading Other Stars. Memphis Has A lot of Young Talent They Can Add To, Enter Drake Powell From North Carolina. The Freshman Didn’t Produce The Strongest Campaign In One Year In Carolina Blue but He’s 6’6 With A 7’0 Wingspan And Knocked 44% Of His Catch And Shoot Threes. Powell Frame Projects Functionally Defensively For His Position.

17)Minnesota Timberwolves, Rasheer Fleming, Forward, St.Joseph’s University — The Timberwolves Have Tough Choices Ahead With Both Naz Reid and Julius Randle Hitting Free Agency And The Second Apron Looming. Rasheer Fleming Of Saint Joe’s Presents The Best “Apples To Apples” Replacement For Either ForWard Option. Standing At 6’9 With A 7’5 Fleming Will Provide Immediate Defensive Impact With A 3.1% Defensive Box Plus/Minus and His 39% Three Point Shooting Exhibit a Stretch Four Upside Similar To What The Wolves Get From Naz Reid.  

18)Washington Wizards, Egor Demin, Guard, BYU— One First Round Won’t Revitalize This Wizards Roster Egor Demin Gives The Wizards Another Playmaking Wing Option. Demin Compares favorably to Former Wizard Deni Avdija As a BIG wing At 6’9 Who Spaces The Floor With Long Ramge, Demin Also Packages Some Nifty Passing And Making Chops.

19)Brooklyn Nets, Nolan Toure, Guard, Saint Quentin—

The Nets Need a lot of Things But They Also Need A Young Guard Prospect And Enter Nolan Traore From France. The Speedy Traore Just Turned 19 He’s A Speedy Guard Who Darts Into The Lane and Gets To The Rim Almost At Will. Will His Smaller Frame and Lack Of A True Offensive Repertoire Keep Traore From Making An Immediate Impact? Probably, He Shot Less Than 40% In France.

20)Miami Heat, Nique Clifford, Forward, Colorado State—

The Heat Have Needs Up And Down Their Roster Outside Of Bam Adebayo At Center. Tyler Herro Stands Atop The Team’s Depth Chart At Point Guard Out Of His Natural Position As A Two Guard. Nique Clifford The Two Guard From Colorado State won't Spell Herro From The one Spot but Clifford Brings Some Elite Shot Making Who Registered A 60.3% True Shooting Percentage, and Led The PAC-12 In Defensive Win Share In Back To Back.  

21)Utah Jazz, Jase Richardson, Guard, Michigan—

The Jazz Have Excelled At Collected A Variety Of Talent Especially At Guard In Recent Seasons.

Richardson Has His Fair Share Of Supporters And Detractors, He’s A Young James Harden If James Harden Were Six Feet Tall But Richardson Shot a Deadly 41% On 3-point shooter and His Capacity To Control The Ball and Plays For Teammates Off Drives. Richardson Looked Like A Lottery Pick Before He Measured At The Combine.

22)Atalanta Hawks, Thomas Sorber, Center, Georgetown—

Sorber’s NAME has popped up all Across These Draft Boards, Some As High As 10th Overall One Way Or Another His Name Called Will Make Him The First Georgetown Player Drafted Since Otto Porter Jr. in 2013. He’s A “Rugged” School Big Standing 6’10 With A 7-6 Wingspan But A Lackluster Athletic Profile. He’s Not An Elite Jumper(Mostly Below The Rim Guy), Or Equipped With Quick Feet But Sets Solid Screens and can hit mid-range jump shots With Touch. Atlanta Could Also Target A High Upside Big Like Asa Newell Out Of Georgia.

23)Indiana Pacers, Noa Essengue, Forward, France— The Pacers Offense Has Earned Rave Reviews In These Playoffs And The Finals for Their fast Pace, frenetic, “Supercharged” Version Of the “Seven Second Or Less” Phoenix Suns’s Offense. Noa Essengue Has A Long Way To Go In Development And A Long Range Of Draft Outcomes From the Late Lottery To The Early Twenties. Then Out Comes March Essengue’s Gangly frame, He’s Not “Long”, Strapped With Just A 6’10 Wingspan But Standing 6’9, Nor Does He Posses Elite Explosiveness But He’s Quietly adept At Just Finding Cracks For Cuts, Angles In Transition And Finishing At The Rim. At Just 18 Until December He’s One Of The youngest Players In The Draft With A High Upside If He Can Develop The Rest Of the Game Like His Shooting Range And Offensive Skillset.

24)Oklahoma City Thunder, Will Riley, Guard, Illinois— The Thunder Could Move This Pick Given They Dont Have A Roster Spot But A Spot Can Become Available Through A Series Of Moves Or An Investment In An International Prospect. Will Riley Remains One Of The Best Players Left On The Board? Riley Can Space The Floor As A Shooter, His Wiry Frame Also Him To Squeeze through The Lane and He’s sort of “Unfinished” As A Offense Generator. He’s Not Particularly athletic, Quick, Or Nimble But His Height At 6’8 Allows Riley To Get His Shot Up Over Defenders. Noah Penda From France Can Fit This Spot As Immediate Contributor Or International Stash So To Hugo Gonzales Of Spain.

25)Orlando Magic, Maxime Raynuad, Center, Stanford—the Magic Have Built Through The Draft Over the Past Several Seasons But The Desmond Bane Trade Has Depleted The Teams’s Draft Capital Leaving The Team Without A Rounder For About Five Years. Orlando Also Has The Decision To Make On Pending Free Agent Big Mo Wagner—The Older Brother Of Franz— Who Missed most Of The Season With An ACL Injury. Maxime Out Of Stanford Gives The Magic Some Depth At Big As Well As A Shooter As Maxime Shot 35% On Threes On 5.5 Attempt At Stanford Last Season.

26)Brooklyn Nets, Adou Theodore, Forward, Arkansas—The Nets Have The Chance With These Picks On The Back End Of The Draft To Pick Up Some Valuable Prospects and Trade Assets. Adou Theiro From Arkansa Brings Heavy Upside He’s An Explosive Wing With One Of The Best First Steps In The Draft. He’s Well Built At 6’6-6’8, 220 lbs, Still Developing A Perimeter Game But The Rim Can Rest When He’s Around, He’s Not Safe in Space When Attacking The Basket.

27)Brooklyn Nets, Ben Saraf, Guard, Israel—The Nets Will Have To Haul In As Much Prospects At Multiple Positions Of Need Including Guard Where A Late Pick Like Saraf Could Emerge As The Team’s Starter. The Lefty Just Turned 19 Played In Germany Where He Broke Down Defenses with Nifty Ball Particularly A Perfect One-Two Crossover Which He Used To Get To The Rim Or Create For Teammates. His Shot Has Raised Questions with Critics And We’ll How That Develops.

28) Boston Celtics, Joan Beringer, Forward/Center, France—If The Achilles Tear Jayson Tatum Suffered Didn’t Silence Any Championship Aspirations for Celtics Next Season The Image Of The Fallen Celtics Star Clutching His Lower Leg Certainly Dulled The Hopes And The New NBA CBA Might Just Snuff out What’s Left By The End Of Free Agency. The Celtics Have To Make A Move Or Two To Meet The Association’s Cap Compliance And One of Those Moves Involved Dropping Off Kristaps Porzingis’s Contract Opening The Door For A replacement Big Like Joan Beringer Of France. A High Effort, Spindly Frame Big Whose Length Make Him A Menace Around The Rim As A Defender And Both A Dunker.

29)Phoenix Suns, Walter Clayton Jr, Guard, Florida—In One Way Or Many Ways The Sun's Roster Won’t Look The Same Next Season As Kevin Durant Will Dawn A New Uniform At Some Point This Offseason, And Who Else Knows. If The Suns Don’t Get A Return They Expect On Durant Could Devin Booker Be Next On The Trade Block? If The Suns Decide To Stay Competitive Senior Sharpshooter Walter Clayton Jr. Gives Them The Best Chance With His Capacity To Shoot The Three Or Pull Ups Or Catch And Shoots. He’s Not a “High Upside” Guy But An Expected Solid Contributor.  

30)Oklahoma City Thunder, Hugo Gonzales, Guard, Spain—With Limited Roster Spots The Thunder Will Most Likely Trade This Pick Or Take The Draft And Stash Route. Hugo Gonzales Projects As a Solid two-guard with a 6’6 Frame Excellent Shot Creation And Shot Capacity.