The former Rutgers star and No. 2 pick spoke with his new teammate in San Antonio after being taken in the NBA Draft.
The Clippers take Penn State center Yanic Konan Niederhauser with the 30th and final pick of the first round. He’s the first player to be selected in the first round in Penn State history.
Konan Niederhauser, 22, led the Big Ten in blocks last season. He should have a good mentor in center Ivica Zubac, who was named to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team earlier this year.
Because of a trade earlier tonight, Phoenix selected Liam McNeeley on behalf of Charlotte with the 29th overall pick. That means four teammates from Montverde Academy have now all been selected in the first round tonight.
McNeeley is a wing who has good size at 6-6 and his 31% 3-point accuracy is a bit of a misnomer. He took nearly five 3-pointers per game.
The Celtics are taking Spain’s Hugo González with the 28th pick.
González, 19, is a 6-6 wing who has played for Real Madrid and the Spanish national team. He joins a Boston team that’s re-tooling after trading away Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis.
If González is joining the team right away, he could have a real chance to see playing time. The Celtics seem content on taking a gap year with star Jayson Tatum injured, and that should benefit the younger players on the team.
Portland restaurants will be getting a really big customer.
Yang Hansen, the newest 7-foot-2 Trail Blazer, said he doesn’t have a personal chef and plans to take all of his meals at Rose City eateries.
“I only like to eat Chinese food and there is a lot of Chinese food in America,” he said through a translator. ” I only like Chinese food, especially hot pot.”
Michigan forward Danny Wolf is the fifth and final first-round pick taken by Brooklyn tonight. Wolf is 6-foot-10 and started his career at Yale before transferring to Michigan for last season, where he averaged 13.2 points and emerged as a nice passer. Sometimes he takes chances with those passes, however, after averaging nearly as many turnovers (3.2) as assists (3.6).
In the first of back-to-back picks, the Nets took Israeli guard Ben Saraf 26th overall.
Brooklyn has now selected four people in the first round with one more pick to go.
Saraf, 19, has been playing professionally since he was 16. He was named the Israeli League Premier Rising Star in 2024.
Orlando has a very interesting season ahead of it, after making a bold trade for Desmond Bane, and days later drafting Jase Richardson with the 25th pick.
The son of 13-year NBA guard Jason Richardson — and who spent parts of the 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons with Orlando — Jase is a smaller guard, at a shade under 6-1 and 178 pounds. He still has some of his father’s famous athleticism, though, and most intriguingly shot 41% on 3-pointers during his long college season at Michigan State.
Sacramento is acquiring the 24th pick to select Colorado State wing Nique Clifford, reports ESPN.
The Thunder were originally slated to make the pick, which would have been their second first rounder of the night, but instead they sent it to the Kings.
Sacramento entered Wednesday with only a second rounder.
As part of a trade from earlier tonight between New Orleans and Atlanta, the Pelicans officially drafted Asa Newell yet he will be playing for the Hawks. That means Newell, a Georgia native who also played in college at Georgia, will be staying home. He is the third player from Montverde Academy’s 2023-24 team — along with Derik Queen and Cooper Flagg — to be taken tonight.
Newell is 6-9 and averaged 15.4 points and 6.9 rebounds per game. He’s a bouncy athlete who can score at the rim easily with his athleticism.
New faces in Atlanta in the last 24 hours: Newell and Boston’s Kristaps Porzingis.
Brooklyn is taking Drake Powell with the 22nd pick, a selection the Nets acquired from the Atlanta Hawks in a trade that’s not yet finalized.
This is Brooklyn’s third(!!!) first-round pick of the night, the team still has two more to make. ESPN reports the Nets are expected to keep all five players they select tonight.
Look back on the top moments from Will Riley’s 2024-25 season for the Illinois Fighting Illini ahead of the 2025 NBA Draft.
One pick after Illinois teammate Kasparas Jakucionis was taken by Miami, Illini teammate Will Riley goes to Washington, which had acquired his rights from Utah.
The 6-foot-8 wing from Canada’s biggest challenge is developing a consistent jump shot after he shot 32% on 3-pointers last season. He’s also seen as a player who needs to add strength to defend his position.
A Lithuanian who came to Illinois via FC Barcelona, Jakucionis showed potential as a strong floor general who understands how to run an offense and is a creative passer. His shot was inconsistent, and his defense could make him a career backup point guard, but there is potential there.
The Heat are taking Illinois point guard Kasparas Jakucionis with the 20th pick.
Miami is expected to keep Jakucionis, reports ESPN, after previously shopping the selection during the Kevin Durant sweepstakes.
The Heat have a need at point guard, with restricted free agent Davion Mitchell the only player Miami has on the NBA roster at the position.
High-upside wing Noa Essengue (No. 12 to Chicago), shot-blocker Joan Beringer (No. 17, to Minnesota) and now, guard Nolan Traore (No. 19, to Brooklyn) have all added to the French connection inside the NBA. There were a record-tying 14 French players in the league last season, and that number could now grow.
Longtime French forward Nicolas Batum approves:
Brooklyn is taking guard Nolan Traoré with the 19th pick, who is best known for his passing and ball-handling. Traoré is the third French player to be selected in the first round so far tonight.
The Nets still have three more picks to make in the first round.
With both Collin Sexton and Jordan Clarkson on expiring contracts next season, the Jazz found potential replacements for both players in the first round.
After taking Ace Bailey earlier in the evening, Utah is now adding Florida’s Walter Clayton Jr., who starred for the team during its national championship run.
Bailey and Clarkson Jr. should both get plenty of opportunity to prove themselves as the Jazz continue to look for franchise cornerstones.
National champion guard Walter Clayton Jr. of Florida, selected by Washington, will be re-routed to play for Utah after the teams’ trade of the 18th overall pick. Clayton was the most outstanding player of the NCAA tournament, a player comfortable taking big shots.
With Portland drafting Yang Hansen, a 7-footer with a sweet passing touch, does that mean current Trail Blazers starting center DeAndre Ayton could be on the move during the coming season? Hansen will play for the Blazers and won’t be “stashed” away, spending next season abroad, ESPN reported.
He’s a project and it’s getting ahead of ourselves to think he would be the immediate center of the future in Portland. But it’s something to watch how his arrival could affect Ayton.
While Naz Reid served as Rudy Gobert’s primary backup this season, he isn’t the best defender, regardless of who he’s sharing the court with. Beringer may be raw offensively, but the above-the-rim athleticism and rim protection make him worthy of a look in Minnesota.
While Reid is likely to opt out of the final season of his contract to become a free agent, Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said earlier this month that he expects the 2024 Sixth Man of the Year to return. If so, that would give the Timberwolves time to develop Beringer.
After the Blazers pulled a shocker and took Yang Hansen at 16, the Timberwolves have taken another international player off the board: French center Joan Beringer, who most recently played professionally in Slovenia.
Beringer has only been playing basketball for four years, but his size and athleticism appears to be of interest for Minnesota. He should have the perfect mentor in his countryman Rudy Gobert.
The overall No. 1 pick and Duke star vividly recalled how he was celebrating a home win over North Carolina and then learning about the trade that shook basketball.
He recalled the “shock” of hearing that Dallas Mavericks star Luka Dončić had been traded on Feb. 1, leading to the Mavs tumbling down the to bottom half of the Western Conference — and eventually to the top pick of the NBA Draft.
“It is crazy the order of events — and here we are,” Flagg said.
Because of a trade earlier in the draft, Memphis has drafted the 16th pick on behalf of Portland, who will get 7-foot-1 big man Yang Hansen, a player who was projected to be selected in the second round — not just after the lottery. Yang is 20 and began to gain attention from scouts after playing for China’s under-19 team in the World Cup. Known as a good passer.
Fresh off an NBA championship three days ago, the Thunder are taking Georgetown center with their first of two first-round picks tonight.
Sorber averaged 14.5 points and 8.5 rebounds a night for the Hoyas during his lone season in college.
One of the most popular pipelines to reach the NBA in recent years has been playing at Montverde Academy, a Florida high school where numerous future NBA players have starred. Hoping to join them in 2025 are four players who all played together during the 2023-24 season in which the team never lost: No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg, No. 13 pick Derick Queen, Asa Newell and Liam McNeeley. Newell and McNeeley are projected as first-round picks, though they’re not expected to be selected until later tonight.
Bryant, a 6-foot-6 wing from Southern California who played last season at Arizona, projects as a prototypical NBA wing given his wingspan (6-11) on defense and his 37% shooting on 3-pointers last season.
The San Antonio Spurs will have 82 big-time challenges coming up this season and Dylan Harper nearly folded under pressure to beat one tough foe: Teardrops.
Harper vowed not to shed tears tonight but he nearly lost it after spotting his mom moments after he was ticketed for San Antonio.
“She started crying and I’m like, I got to look down now,” Harper playfully said. “‘You crying?’ I do not want to cry right now. So I just hugged her real quick, made sure she was good.”
For as long as he could remember, Harper knew he was the son of an NBA great but his parents never pressed him into pursuing hoops.
“Everyone knew my dad was Ron Harper, but to me, I was a regular kid like everyone else,” he said. “I never really felt pressure (to be great at basketball).”
After their trade with the Hawks, the Pelicans will select Maryland forward Derik Queen with the 13th pick in the draft. Queen will join Oklahoma guard Jeremiah Fears as a lottery pick headed to New Orleans.
French forward Essengue is headed to the Bulls, which will be tasked to develop the 18-year-old who has played professional basketball before — spending last season in Chicago. Chicago is getting a 6-foot-10 project with a lot of upside but a lot of work to realize it.
Chicago’s pick at No. 12 is its own. In that way, it is an outlier in this draft. Starting with the 13th pick and ending with the 27th, every single pick has changed hands at least once before ending up with its current owner.
Atlanta is trading the 13th pick to the New Orleans Pelicans for the 23rd pick and a future first rounder, reports ESPN.
The Grizzlies used one of the firsts they picked up in the Desmond Bane trade to move up for Cedric Coward tonight, per multiple reports.
With the 11th pick, the Blazers are selecting guard Cedric Coward, but according to ESPN’s Shams Charania, Coward will be heading to the Memphis Grizzlies in a trade.
The Grizz have been active this summer after trading away shooting guard Desmond Bane earlier this month. Coward now appears to be his replacement.
The Suns are trading the 29th pick in tonight’s draft as well as a 2029 first-round pick to the Hornets for center Mark Williams, reports ESPN.
This is…interesting. Phoenix just picked up center Khaman Maluach with the 10th pick. Now the Suns are trading two more firsts for Williams. Huh.
Williams was almost traded to the Lakers last season, by the way, but Los Angeles backed out of the deal due to health concerns over Williams’s back.
With apologies to Collin Murray-Boyles, Khaman Maluach was the first real big man to come off the board tonight. The first nine picks were all guards and wing players. Maluach goes to a Suns team that has desperately needed help in the front court.
The Rockets officially made the selection of Duke big man Khaman Maluach at No. 10 overall, but this pick is part of the trade that will send Kevin Durant to Houston, and thus Maluach will be re-routed soon to Phoenix — a team that badly needed a center. That trade is not yet official, which is why Maluach is wearing a Rockets hat on stage at the draft.
Murray-Boyles is the ultimate “if we can develop his shot” player in this draft. He’s very efficient around the rim, but at 6-foot-7 he’s undersized to play the five in the NBA like he did at South Carolina, so he’s going to have to develop a shot to be effective.
Murray-Boyles can be a disruptive defender both in the paint and on the perimeter, he can pass the rock and knows how to score around the rim. However, to fully reach his potential, it all comes back to his shot.
Looking for a boost in their frontcourt, the Raptors took South Carolina forward Collin Murray-Boyles with the ninth pick. Toronto reportedly shopped this selection ahead of the draft in search of an established veteran.
Instead, they take an athletic forward who can defend and has a knack for scoring in the paint.
Demin brings skills to the table: He is the best passer in this class, he has great positional size as a 6-8 point guard, he has an excellent feel for the game, and he was an underrated defender for BYU. However, he’s going to have to score more. He looked to set up his teammates first for the Cougars but he has to improve his shot and be willing to use it — and to get downhill on drives — to fully unlock his potential.
Brooklyn still has four more first-round selections after taking Egor Demin with the 8th pick. That makes the Nets a prime trade candidate tonight, as it could be a little tricky to roster five first rounders at once. Keep an eye on Brooklyn as the night continues…
With the first of their four first-round picks in tonight’s draft, the Nets selected Egor Demin from BYU. That is much higher than the 6-foot-8 guard from Russia was expected to be taken in most mock drafts. He’s a true, 6-8 point guard who is an excellent passer — but can he get stronger and add athleticism is the key question.
The Pelicans take Jeremiah Fears with the seventh pick, adding him to a backcourt that includes the newly acquired Jordan Poole.
ESPN’s Jonathan Givony reports that Ace Bailey, whom the Jazz selected fifth overall, did not end up at one of his preferred destinations.
Per Givony, Bailey preferred Washington, New Orleans or Brooklyn over the Jazz.
There may not be a better pure scorer in this class than Johnson. He averaged 19.9 points per game for Texas last season, which led all freshmen in Division I. He did that as the focal point of the offense in a tough conference. The 6-6 guard boasts a 6-10.25 wingspan and won’t turn 20 years old until March.
Johnson also averaged 3.1 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 2.7 triples per game. His 42.7 field goal percentage was subpar, but his 39.7 3-point percentage and 87.1 free throw percentage both showcase that Johnson will be a knockdown shooter at the next level.
The Washington Wizards need a lot of help to compete, but Texas wing Tre Johnson should help. The 19-year-old is 6-foot-4 but has a nearly 6-11 wingspan and can score with any other 2025 draft prospect. He averaged 19.9 points per game and is a terrific athlete.
Moments after being selected fourth to Charlotte, Kon Knueppel was interviewed alongside his four younger brothers, all of whom also play at a high level. In order, there is Kager, who is going into his junior year of high school; Kingston, a 6-foot-5 sophomore; and middle-schoolers Kash and Kid. They were once described as the “Flying Knueppel Brothers.”
Bailey checks all the boxes of a prototypical modern NBA wing: Great size, freak athlete, high motor, can create his own shot, can shoot the 3 (36.7% this season), and is a tough shot maker. However, he doesn’t show much desire to apply that athleticism in defense, he doesn’t have a great feel for the game or polish, and he had to be a tough shot maker because of his questionable shot selection. He’s a project.
The Ace Bailey “slide” stops at No. 5, where the Utah Jazz are taking the Rutgers swingman. Bailey was a controversial prospect in this year’s draft, as he didn’t work out for any team leading up to tonight.
Knueppel will immediately fill out a young, fun starting five for Charlotte next to LaMelo Ball, Brandon Miller, Miles Bridges and Mark Williams. Knueppel’s shooting will help a lot on one of the worst 3-point shooting teams in the league last season. He should be an efficient starter for the Hornets for a long time while providing a sense of stability in the rotation, which has been an issue in recent years. By adding Knueppel, Charlotte will have enough talent to make a return to the postseason, assuming health is on their side.
Perhaps the best shooter in the draft, Duke’s Kon Knueppel is taken by Charlotte with the fourth pick. He’s terrific at the catch-and-shoot — he made nearly half of his 3-pointers from the corner during his lone college season — but he can shoot while on the move and also can act as a playmaker with the ball in his hands. But how does he fit next to LaMelo Ball in that backcourt?
The athletic guard from Baylor can quickly make an impact in the NBA. He is one of the best defensive guards in the class, and that translated to plenty of steals last season. He was also an effective offensive player, though he wasn’t the most efficient scorer from any range.
He averaged 15.0 points, 5.6 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 2.1 steals and 1.6 3-pointers in 33 games last season. His 38” vertical also led to plenty of highlight dunks in college, though he still only shot about 60 percent on shots at the rim. Still, Edgecombe has all the tools to become a high-level two-way player in the NBA.
In Philadelphia, he joins a roster that boasts ample talent, led by Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and Paul George. Their inability to stay healthy is what landed the 76ers the third overall pick, but it’s also why Philadelphia could potentially be a player in the East next season.
Edgecombe is an elite athlete and uses that to be a fierce defender and projects as a strong cutter and finisher off the ball. However, what has impressed teams is how much his shot has improved from the start of the season through the combine (36.4 percent from 3 at Baylor). He’s going to become a high-level starter.
The Sixers take Baylor swingman V.J. Edgecombe with the third pick, after some rumors Philly could be looking to trade the selection.
No. 2 pick Dylan Harper is going to join Stephon Castle and De’Aaron Fox in the San Antonio backcourt. It will be interesting to see how much Harper plays early in his career for a Spurs team that made some win-now moves last year.
After one season at Rutgers, Dylan Harper is the second overall pick, taken by San Antonio, where he will play alongside past No. 1 pick Victor Wembanyama in what could be a fascinating pick-and-roll combination.
New No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg enters the NBA at just 18 years old after he reclassifying his graduation year. That makes him the second-youngest No. 1 pick all-time — behind only LeBron James.
Like Flagg, Harper is considered to be on a separate tier compared to the other lottery-projected prospects in this class. The former Rutgers star will team up with the likes of Victor Wembanyama, De’Aaron Fox and Stephon Castle, among others. While there are questions regarding the positional fit, Harper has the size needed to play on or off the ball in San Antonio.
Is the next Wemby in the house tonight?
San Antonio Spurs fan Anjali Ahuja was at Barclays two years ago when her squad hit it big with French unicorn Victor Wembanyama. Could the Spurs strike gold again?
“The Spurs historically, their picks have been good, so I’m really confident,” said Ahuja, a Brooklyn resident and south Texas native. “This is a different kind of event so it’s nice to see this arena in a different context.”
“He trends like LeBron James,” said Brian Scalabrine, who played 11 years in the NBA and has been training with Flagg since he was in his early teens. “LeBron has a beautiful mind when it comes to this game. Cooper’s brain is right on par with those guys. They just process the game differently.”
As expected, Duke forward Cooper Flagg goes first overall to the Dallas Mavericks.
Flagg may be the most NBA-ready No. 1 pick in recent memory (including Victor Wembanyama, although Wemby’s ceiling is higher). Flagg’s defense and his high motor will have him standing out from the opening game of the season.
Flagg would fit anywhere — he is the kind of player teams try to fit other guys around, rather than worrying about his fit. His defense and rim protection will have coach Jason Kidd playing him critical minutes Day 1, he is at his best in transition (which will fit great with Kyrie Irving and Dallas, once Irving recovers from a torn ACL), and his ability to create his own shot and get buckets means he can play the three or slide up to the four.
The Nets are poised to be an active trade team considering they own the eighth, 19th, 26th, 27th picks in the first round, and a high second-round pick, as well, at No. 36. Brooklyn surely will not be using all five to add to its own roster, so how do they make deals to improve their roster? The next two weeks will be fascinating to watch what it prioritizes during the draft and free agency; remember, they have the most available cap space this summer, at north of $40 million.
“I really think he’s going to be one of those guys who makes people around him better,” said Orlando Magic head coach Jamahl Mosley, who coached Flagg on the USA Select Team last summer. “People might get caught up in his numbers. But I think he’s going to be one of those pluses that’s always on the floor, all the while finding his range and his space.”
“He can read the game and figure out what’s needed from him for his team to have success,” USA Basketball managing director Grant Hill told NBC News. “He assesses what’s happening in the game and has the talent and ability to provide what’s needed, and that’s unique particularly for someone so young.”
Before Khaman Maluach grew to 7-foot-2 and starred at Duke last season as a freshman, he was born in South Sudan, raised in Uganda and lived a 40-minute walk from the nearest basketball hoop. Getting to the NBA draft, then, was no foregone conclusion.
Yet with help from the NBA since he was 14 years old, Maluach is now here as a likely first-round pick. Today at NBC News, we traced Maluach’s journey to this point, and the help of a little-known arm of the NBA that helped him at every step, from placing him in a developmental academy to helping him stay in the U.S. after the State Department revoke South Sudanese passports this spring.
The Pine Street State has never stood taller and Mainers couldn’t be more proud.
“It’s hard to believe it’s happening, like it never been done before,” said Nick Kozak, a pastor from Oakland, Maine with two sons and two family friends wearing capes at Barclays Center to celebrate presumed No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg.
“Watching him become a great player has been something exciting for our whole state. So we wanted to be here tonight and it’s very special.”
When you lose 58 games, it’s hard to “trust the process.”
But for Philadelphia 76ers fans like Stephen Frasca, even the prospect of drafting another disappointment like Ben Simmons and Markelle Fultz couldn’t keep him away from the hope that the NBA Draft brings.
“I come here for the excitement,” said Frasca, from Turnersville, New Jersey. “I still come her and enjoy it. It’s the hype of seeing players coming in and you hope for the best. I’m hoping for better days.”
Whatever the Pelicans roster looks like after Joe Dumars is done tinkering with it this summer, it will need more shooting and guard depth. Knueppel fills those roles. Shooting is his strength — he hit 40.6 percent of his three-pointers last season for the Blue Devils — and he can do some secondary shot creation, while also being a solid defender. He can step right in and give Willie Green some minutes.
Cooper Flagg, Dylan Harper, Ace Bailey and more showed off their fashion sense at the 2025 NBA Draft.
Getty Images; AP
Drew Dinsick explains why prospect Noa Essengue “stands out” at over-9.5 draft position ahead of the 2025 NBA Draft.
Drew Dinsick discusses the potential names to bet on for the No. 6 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, sharing why Ace Bailey is the favorite at +230.
1. Dallas Mavericks
2. San Antonio Spurs
3. Philadelphia 76ers
4. Charlotte Hornets
5. Utah Jazz
6. Washington Wizards
7. New Orleans Pelicans
8. Brooklyn Nets
9. Toronto Raptors
10. Houston Rockets (from Phoenix via Brooklyn)
11. Portland Trail Blazers
12. Chicago Bulls
13. Atlanta Hawks (from Sacramento)
14. San Antonio Spurs (from Atlanta)
15. Oklahoma City (from Miami via the LA Clippers)
16. Memphis (from Orlando)
17. Minnesota (from Detroit via New York, Oklahoma City, and Houston)
18. Washington (from Memphis)
19. Brooklyn (from Milwaukee via New York, Detroit, Portland, and New Orleans)
20. Miami (from Golden State)
21. Utah (from Minnesota)
22. Atlanta (from the Los Angeles Lakers via New Orleans)
23. New Orleans (from Indiana)
24. Oklahoma City (from the LA Clippers)
25. Orlando (from Denver)
26. Brooklyn (from New York)
27. Brooklyn (from Houston)
28. Boston
29. Phoenix (from Cleveland via Utah)
30. LA Clippers (from Oklahoma City)
“I think teams are overthinking it,” a Western Conference scout told NBC News. “I’ve heard his interviews have been ‘bad,’ but he’s a confident kid. Hard worker, believes in himself. Worst-case scenario he’s a Michael Porter Jr. type, and best case is a Paul George.”
Another college evaluator isn’t so sure. (The scouts spoke on the condition of anonymity because they’re not authorized to speak publicly.)
“He’s obviously a top talent in the draft if everything maxed out. He scores a lot but doesn’t impact the game a ton outside of scoring,” they said. “Now you add in the off-the-court stuff where there are some teams scared about how he interviews and the people around him.”
The trade market has already been active this month — even the Indiana Pacers made a trade during the Finals.
The Boston Celtics are a team to keep an eye on. The Celtics, in the wake of an Achilles tear to star Jayson Tatum, seem intent on reducing their massive payroll for next season. Boston has already shipped away guard Jrue Holiday, who was a member of the 2024 championship squad, to the Portland Trail Blazers.
The Oklahoma City Thunder are also always on the trade radar. The Thunder have two picks in this year’s first round, as well as several other assets in future years. As OKC tries to manage keeping its roster affordable around Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren, don’t be surprised to hear its name pop up in trade speculation.
“The Dan Patrick Show” highlights the underappreciated importance of the NBA draft’s second round, examining how, despite less fanfare than the first round, it has yielded plenty of standout players selected late.
Drew Dinsick examines the betting market for the 2025 NBA Draft, explaining why he likes Maryland’s Derik Queen to be selected before No. 11 in the first round.
From San Antonio’s perspective, this is an easy call — always take the best player on the board, and Harper is the clear second-best player in this draft. Teams that make picks based on positional need end up saying things like “We don’t need Luka Doncic, we have Fox” or “We don’t need Michael Jordan, we have Clyde Drexler.” Take the best player, figure it out, and, if necessary, make a trade later. The Spurs are nothing if not the most patient organization in the league.
Harper is a combo guard in the Castle mold, and a lot of scouts think Harper will be better at it. Harper averaged 19.4 points, 4.6 rebounds and 4 assists a game shooting an impressive 48% from the floor last season, and he demonstrated a fantastic feel for the game. Harper is not a classically explosive player, but his ability to get to the rim and finish or dish to the open man should pair beautifully with Wemby, as well as with players on the wing such as Devin Vassell. If Harper and Wembanyama start to show a real chemistry — and they are on the same age timeline — then the Spurs can lean into that and adjust as needed.
At the time of the lottery, the 76ers’ choice with the third pick seemed obvious: Rutgers guard Ace Bailey, who for a long time was widely viewed as the third-best prospect in the draft. Except Bailey’s stock has plummeted since then, both because of concerns over his actual play and because of his refusal to work out for any team during the pre-draft process.
That means the third pick should be the first inflection point Wednesday.
Will Philly take Baylor wing V.J. Edgecombe, as ESPN, USA Today and The Athletic all predict? Could the 76ers trade the pick? Will they maybe gamble on Bailey, anyway?
Philadelphia is in an interesting position. A year ago, it signed Paul George in free agency and expected to be one of the top contenders in the league. Instead, George and center Joel Embiid both had seasons marred by injury, and the 76ers ended up in the lottery.
Whatever Philly ends up doing, it’s worth analyzing the choice through the prism of whether the team is still interested in competing in the short term or whether the disastrous 2024-25 season portends a pivot to the future.
Grant Hill, the managing director of USA Basketball, said Flagg’s best attribute is his versatility.
“He can read the game and figure out what’s needed from him for his team to have success,” Hill told NBC News. “He assesses what’s happening in the game and has the talent and ability to provide what’s needed, and that’s unique particularly for someone so young.”
Drew Dinsick dives into the betting market for the No. 4 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, sharing why he likes Tre Johnson at +400 over the “big mover” in Duke’s Kon Knueppel at +230.
Drew Dinsick discusses why he thinks the Utah Jazz will select Oklahoma point guard Jeremiah Fears as the #5 overall pick in the NBA Draft and how he can impact their future.
Vaughn Dalzell looks at the NBA draft market, specifically Kon Knueppel’s draft position, questioning if the Duke product will be a top-five pick.
Brad Thomas and Vaughn Dalzell unpack Oklahoma’s Jeremiah Fears’ outlook for the 2025 NBA Draft, highlighting how his unique skillset will put him on a path to “climb boards” ahead of the event.
The Rutgers star has been criticized for his shot selection, but Bailey’s knack for taking and making tough buckets is an advantage he has over other top prospects according to ESPN’s Fran Fraschilla.
“His strength is his ability to take tough and make tough shots. Getting your own shot off in the NBA is a skill in and of itself,” Fraschilla told NBC News. “When you have a 24-second clock and you’re playing against a playoff-level team, you’re not getting an easy shot on the first pass or two in the offense. And oftentimes, with the shot clock running down, you need somebody that can rise up and take a shot and make a shot. And he certainly has shown that capability.”
Drew Dinsick examines top-four exacta betting markets ahead of Wednesday’s NBA draft, sharing how bettors can find value with Duke’s Kon Knueppel going fourth overall and more.
