The Dallas Mavericks will have the No. 1 pick and the opportunity to select Cooper Flagg when the 2025 NBA Draft begins on Wednesday.
After Flagg, there are at least two more players who might be considered the top selection in other years, according to Yahoo Sports NBA draft analyst Kevin O’Connor.
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Dylan Harper averaged 19.4 points, 4.6 rebounds and four assists, while shooting 33% on 3-pointers during his only season at Rutgers. Ace Bailey scored 17.6 points with 7.2 rebounds per game and shot 35% on 3s as Harper’s teammate with the Scarlet Knights.
Last year, there was no clear choice for the No. 1 overall pick and the Hawks eventually selected French star Zaccharie Risacher.
However, Flagg is the obvious prize of the 2025 draft class. The 6-foot-9 forward was named the Naismith National Player of the Year after averaging 19.4 points, 7.6 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game, shooting 39% on 135 3-point attempts. He led Duke to the Final Four as a freshman.
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Please check out all of Yahoo Sports’ NBA Draft analysis and previews.
Here is how the top 14 selections for 2025 line up after May’s NBA Draft Lottery:
2025 NBA Draft lottery
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. Phoenix Suns (acquired from Houston Rockets)
11. Portland Trail Blazers
12. Chicago Bulls
13. Atlanta Hawks (acquired from Sacramento Kings)
14. San Antonio Spurs (acquired from Hawks)
Rutgers guard Dylan Harper (ight) and Duke forward Cooper Flagg are the sure picks in the 2025 NBA Draft. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
(Michael Reaves via Getty Images)
Remainder of 2025 NBA Draft order
15. Oklahoma City Thunder (from Miami Heat)
16. Memphis Grizzlies (from Orlando Magic)
17. Minnesota Timberwolves (from Detroit Pistons)
18. Washington Wizards (from Grizzlies)
19. Brooklyn Nets (from Milwaukee Bucks)
20. Miami Heat (from Golden State Warriors)
21. Utah Jazz (from Timberwolves)
22. Atlanta Hawks (from Los Angeles Lakers)
23. New Orleans Pelicans (from Indiana Pacers)
24. Oklahoma City Thunder (from Los Angeles Clippers)
25. Orlando Magic (from Denver Nuggets)
26. Brooklyn Nets (from New York Knicks)
27. Brooklyn Nets (from Houston Rockets)
28. Boston Celtics
29. Phoenix Suns (from Cleveland Cavaliers)
30. Los Angeles Clippers (from Thunder)
When is the 2025 NBA Draft?
The first round of the 2025 NBA Draft will be held on Wednesday, June 25 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. TV coverage will air on ABC and ESPN beginning at 8 p.m. ET. The draft’s second round will be held the following night on June 26 and televised on ESPN at 8 p.m. ET.
Who are other top players available?
Flagg, Harper and Bailey top the list, but there are plenty more quality prospect, according to Yahoo Sports NBA draft analyst Kevin O’Connor.
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Also in the top five on Yahoo Sports’ big board are Flagg’s Duke teammate Kon Knueppel and VJ Edgecombe from Baylor on the wing. Guard Tre Johnson of Texas could go just outside the top five.
Check out the rest of O’Connor’s Big Board here, along with his final 2025 mock draft.
The Ace Bailey question
Forward Ace Bailey is listed as the No. 3 player available on O’Connor’s Big Board. However, there has been speculation that the 6-foot-8 Rutgers product could slide down the draft board after he canceled a visit and workout with the 76ers, who have the No. 3 selection.
Bailey is the only draft prospect based in the United States that hasn’t met with any of the teams in position to select him, believed to be in the No. 3 to No. 8 range, according to ESPN. Nor has he scheduled any individual workouts. The rumblings among draft insiders and reporters is that Bailey is receiving poor advice from his agent, who is irritating several teams with his tactics.
In his final mock draft, O’Connor projects Bailey going No. 7 to the New Orleans Pelicans, citing his shot-making talent yet acknowledging his shortcomings with his defense and creating his own shot.
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However, the Sixers could still select Bailey with the third pick. President of basketball operations Daryl Morey has previously drafted players with whom individual workouts weren’t held. Philadelphia found success with Tyrese Maxey and Jared McCain in those scenarios.
Why second round has only 29 selections
Astute NBA Draft observers might have noticed that this year’s second round has only 29 picks instead of the usual 30. What’s going on there? Aren’t there 30 NBA teams?
The New York Knicks were slated to have the No. 56 overall selection (or 26th in the second round). However, the Knicks forfeited that pick as a result of the NBA ruling in 2022 that the Knicks tampered with Jalen Brunson before signing him as a free agent.
The New York Knicks forfeited their 2025 second-round draft pick after the NBA determined that the team made a deal with Jalen Brunson before the league’s free agency period began. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images) (Photo by Brian Fluharty/Getty Images)
(Brian Fluharty via Getty Images)
Put another way, an investigation by the league found that New York had contacted Brunson before the official free agency period began. Brunson reportedly already had a deal in place with the Knicks before NBA free agency was to begin on June 30, 2022, quickly agreeing a four-year, $104 million contract.
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New York had also hired Brunson’s father, Rick, as an assistant coach for Tom Thibodeau’s staff before he signed. And team president Leon Rose had previously represented both Brunsons as an agent. (Rose’s son, Sam, is currently Jalen Brunson’s agent.)
The Knicks are surely content with that penalty since Brunson has emerged as a star point guard in three seasons with the team. He’s averaged 26.4 points and 6.7 assists per game while shooting 40% on 3-pointers.
