2025 NBA Draft: Mavs choose Cooper Flagg, Does Ace Bailey match with Jazz?

Thirty gamers will hear their names referred to as and have their lifelong desires realized in the course of the first spherical of the 2025 NBA Draft on Wednesday on the Barclays Middle in New York.

Comply with alongside to seek out out the place Cooper Flagg, Dylan Harper and different high prospects land, together with how every participant will match the group that selects them:

Listed below are all 30 picks within the first-round of the 2025 NBA Draft:

1. Dallas Mavericks: Cooper Flagg, Ahead, Duke

Flagg will slot in seamlessly with the Mavericks’ lineup and roster-building philosophy. When Dallas traded Luka Doncic, president of basketball operations and common supervisor, Nico Harrison, cited protection as the inspiration for his or her future. Flagg brings that and far more. He is versatile, clever on the help-side and in pick-and-roll protection, and might guard gamers in any respect positions. Offensively, he is certainly one of, if not the very best, passers within the 2025 NBA Draft class and has displayed a capability to create his personal soar shot, and scoring alternatives for his teammates. 

2. San Antonio Spurs: Dylan Harper, Guard, Rutgers

The Spurs have had the Rookie of the Yr the final two seasons and have simply drafted somebody who may make that three in a row. Harper is the right participant for the Spurs so as to add to their younger core. He’ll complement Victor Wembanyama as a fringe scorer and maximize his offensive ceiling as a playmaker. He’ll play alongside a backcourt mate that has a really related recreation to him, in De’Aaron Fox, a fellow left-handed dynamic guard. That pairing will probably be attention-grabbing as Fox and Harper function in related elements of the courtroom, however Fox ought to supply a very good instance for the younger Harper. 

3. Philadelphia 76ers: VJ Edgecombe, Guard, Baylor

Edgecombe’s ceiling is as excessive as any prospect on this draft as he has a comparable construct and aggressive drive to that of dynamic NBA guards of previous and current akin to Anthony Edwards and Dwayne Wade. As for his match with Philadelphia, Edgecombe will present a right away drive on the defensive aspect and alleviate stress off Tyrese Maxey on that aspect of the courtroom. Offensively, he can play off Maxey and Joel Embiid, attacking shut outs, and creating offense along with his instincts and fast decision-making. It is going to be attention-grabbing to see the route the 76ers take now that they’ve Edgecombe. Do they lean into their younger backcourt, or use these items to encompass their veterans and push for speedy success?

4. Charlotte Hornets: Kon Kneuppel, Guard, Duke

Knueppel might need the best IQ of any participant within the 2025 NBA Draft class. He’s additionally one of many high perimeter shooters. From that standpoint, he ought to slot in effectively as a result of he would not want the ball to be efficient and LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller will command extra touches than Knueppel. Ball can set him up for 3-point pictures, and he may be the group’s secondary scorer behind Miller. That being stated, there are extra proficient gamers than Kneuppel that will probably be chosen after him, and the Hornets may very well be left regretting this decide. 

5. Utah Jazz: Airious “Ace” Bailey, Ahead, Rutgers

Bailey is the best enigma within the 2025 NBA Draft class. He’s the one American prospect to not have a single exercise with an NBA group previous to Wednesday’s draft. The Jazz are betting that is not a purple flag. In the event that they’re proper, Bailey may very well be the cornerstone of their future. He is a 6-foot-8 wing with the fluid deal with of a guard. Not solely is he the most effective shot creators within the draft, however he is proven chops as a help-defender and rim protector. 

6. Washington Wizards: Tre Johnson, Guard, Texas

Johnson is arguably the very best general shooter within the NBA Draft. He takes and makes the deepest weight-reduction plan of NBA-level pictures akin to step-back and pull-up soar pictures. From the second he steps into the league, he’ll be capable of rating. That is precisely what the Wizards want, as they’ve a trio of sturdy defensive prospects in Carlton Carrington, Kyshawn George and the second general decide within the 2024 NBA Draft, Alex Sarr. 

7. New Orleans Pelicans: Jeremiah Fears, Guard, Oklahoma

Fears has one of many tightest handles of any prospect within the 2025 NBA Draft class. Not many defenders can keep in entrance of him, which is critical as a result of his 3-point shot wants some work. Nonetheless, the slot in New Orleans is sensible as they traded their level guard CJ McCollum on Monday and had a gap at that place. Now, they add a high-ceiling prospect that matches the timeline of their younger core, together with Zion Williamson and Trey Murphy. 

8. Brooklyn Nets: Egor Demin, Guard, Brigham Younger

A artistic playmaker and passer, Demin may very well be the engine for an NBA offense. He is a giant guard who performs at his personal tempo and makes everybody round him higher. He nonetheless wants to enhance his particular person scoring, however confirmed that he was engaged on that all through the pre-draft course of. The Nets desparately want a reset to their core, so getting their ball-handler of the long run is an efficient method to begin. 

9. Toronto Raptors: Collin Murray-Boyles, Ahead, South Carolina

Murray-Boyles is the quintessential Raptors’ participant — a prolonged and versatile wing with a great deal of untapped expertise. Protection will come simply to Murray-Boyles, however he’ll want to enhance his exterior shot and talent to assault close-outs if he needs to achieve Toronto as a result of the Raptors have dominant ball-handlers who aren’t dynamic perimeter shooters themselves in Scottie Barnes and Brandon Ingram. 

10. Phoenix Suns: Khaman Maluach, Middle, Duke 

The Suns’ entrance workplace might need performed one thing proper. Maluach is the very best rim-protector within the 2025 NBA Draft class and has displayed spectacular contact for a 7-footer. He was key to Duke’s Remaining 4 run and can now be essential to the Suns’ retooling. He will probably be an amazing pick-and-roll companion for Devin Booker.

11. Memphis Grizzlies (through Portland): Cedric Coward, Ahead, Washington State

Coward has flown up draft boards in the course of the pre-draft course of. He performed simply six video games at Washington State final season, however displayed a capability to attain in any respect three ranges. That small pattern dimension makes him an ambiguous prospect, however he’ll present Memphis with a flexible two-way wing, which is a place of want for them, alongside Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr. Coward’s energy as an off-ball shooter will probably be maximized enjoying with Morant who generates as many open pictures as any NBA playmaker.

12. Chicago Bulls: Noa Essengue, Middle, France

There are a variety of unknowns with Essengue, a French prospect who performed professionally in Germany. He is athletic and makes use of that capacity to dominate the boards and fly up and down the courtroom. However, it is unclear how his offensive recreation will translate to the NBA, and it is much more confounding how he’ll slot in with the Bulls, who may have used a extra proficient on-ball asset. Chicago does, nevertheless, are inclined to play quick, so if Essengue can run the ground and end off the pace of guards Josh Giddey and Coby White, he may very well be a good piece for his or her future. 

13. New Orleans Pelicans (from Sacramento): Derik Queen, Ahead, Maryland

Queen joins Fears because the Pelicans’ second lottery decide within the 2025 NBA Draft. He is a big-man with the imaginative and prescient, deal with, and shot-diet of a guard. The Pelicans chosen Yves Missi, a dynamic rim protector, within the 2024 NBA Draft, and Queen’s perimeter-based recreation may match effectively subsequent to him. The Pelicans’ younger core now consists of Fears, Queen, Murphy, Missi and Jordan Poole, who they traded for on Monday, so there’s an opportunity this decide may spell the top of the Zion Williamson period.

14. San Antonio Spurs (from Atlanta): Carter Bryant, Ahead, Arizona

Bryant, a two-way wing, rounds out the lottery and is the second decide within the 2025 NBA Draft for the Spurs. It is an ideal selection because the Arizona prospect will present a right away defensive presence on the wing for a group ripe for a playoff leap. His offensive recreation has a methods to go, however he will not be requested to do an excessive amount of on that aspect of the ball because the Spurs can depend on Wembanyama, Fox, Devin Vassell and the second-overall decide, Harper, for that. 

15. Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder (from Miami): Thomas Sorber, Middle, Georgetown

16. Portland Path Blazers (from Orlando): Yang Hansen, Middle, China

17. Minnesota Timberwolves (from Detroit): Joan Beringer, Middle, France

18. Utah Jazz (from Memphis): Walter Clayton Jr., Guard, Florida

19. Brooklyn Nets (from Milwaukee)

20. Miami Warmth (from Golden State)

21. Utah Jazz (from Minnesota)

22. Brooklyn Nets (from the L.A. Lakers)

23. New Orleans Pelicans (from Indiana)

24. Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder (from the L.A. Clippers)

25. Orlando Magic (from Denver)

26. Brooklyn Nets (from New York)

27. Brooklyn Nets (from Houston)

28. Boston Celtics

29. Phoenix Suns (from Cleveland)

30. L.A. Clippers (from Oklahoma Metropolis)

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