Ace Bailey dropped a couple of slots in the 2025 NBA draft. The Portland Trail Blazers made a surprising pick and took a chance on China’s Yang Hansen.
Is there a Tony Parker or Giannis Antetokounmpo-type player in this year’s draft? It’s way too early to tell. But in the present, there are winners and losers from the first round of the 2025 NBA Draft on Wednesday, June 25.
NBA draft winners
Duke and Blue Devils coach Scheyer
The Blue Devils had three lottery picks – Cooper Flagg No. 1, Kon Knueppel No. 4, Khaman Maluach No. 10 – making it the third time in school history that Duke has had three lottery pick in the same draft. It also happened in 1999 (Elton Brand, Trajan Langdon, Corey Maggette) and 2019 (Zion Willamson, RJ Barrett and Cam Reddish).
Brooklyn Nets
The Nets had five first-round picks as their rebuild continues. They might not hit on all of them, but the goal is to hit on some of them. Who will it be? They acquired BYU’s Egor Demin at No. 8, France’s Nolan Traore at No. 19, North Carolina’s Drake Powell at No. 22, Israel’s Ben Saraf at No. 26 and Michigan’s Danny Wolf at No. 27.
San Antonio Spurs
The Spurs have an outstanding track record of drafting and developing players. Selecting Dylan Harper No. 2 and Carter Bryant No. 14 gives San Antonio a chance to put two more solid contributors alongside Victor Wembanyama.
Hawks GM Onsi Saleh
For a first-time general manager two months on the job, Onsi Saleh kind of cooked. First, on Tuesday, June 24, he acquired stretch center Kristaps Porziņģis at a discount because Boston needed to trim its luxury tax payments. Then, he traded down with the Pelicans to take forward Asa Newell – a fringe lottery pick who fell – at No. 23. But, the real chef’s kiss moment was that, according to ESPN, the trade with the Pelicans was for an unprotected first-rounder in 2026. New Orleans currently has two picks in that draft: its own, and one that had belonged to the Bucks. Atlanta will get the most favorable of the two.
The Bucks will be without Damian Lillard (torn Achilles) and the Pelicans are coming off a season during which they went 21-61, fourth-worst in the NBA. Which means the Hawks could’ve just turned the No. 13 pick into one in the Top 5 … with Newell as a chaser.
SEC
The SEC had five first-round picks, including three lottery picks: Texas’ Tre Johnson (No. 6), Oklahoma’s Jeremiah Fears (No. 7), South Carolina’s Collin Murray-Boyles (No. 9), Florida’s Walter Clayton Jr., (No. 18) and Georgia’s Asa Newell (No. 23). Murray-Boyles is the Gamecocks’ first lottery pick in school history.
Dallas Mavericks and Cooper Flagg
Dallas rebounded from the Luka Doncic trade by winning the lottery with a 1.8% chance, and Flagg ends up in a solid situation where he can develop without extreme pressure.
Utah Jazz
They declined to buy into the fear that dynamic Rutgers wing Ace Bailey was trying to dictate his destination and opted for the best-player-available approach. Then, they moved up a few spots in a trade with the Wizards to pluck experienced and clutch guard Walter Clayton Jr. at No. 18, before teams like the Nets and Heat, which had reported interest, selected. It was a classic Danny Ainge draft: one based on projected impact and value.
Thirty first-round picks
In short time, players and their families sacrificed time, money and resources to chase a dream, and that dream became a reality for 30 players.
NBA draft losers
Kentucky Wildcats
For the first time since the 2009 draft, Kentucky did not have a single player selected in the first round. For reference, that was the year Blake Griffin (retired), Hasheem Thabeet (retired) and James Harden (to enter 17th season) were the first three selections. Since then, 36 Wildcats went on to hear their names called in the first round. Wednesday night – 16 years to the day of the ’09 draft, or 5,844 days – snapped that streak.
Phoenix Suns
The Suns have needed a center; now, they have two, and they acquired both within a span of minutes. Phoenix reportedly traded for Mark Williams – seemingly – because they didn’t expect Duke’s Khaman Maluach to fall to No. 10. He did, and that was great value for him. But the lack of patience cost the Suns a pair of first-round picks for Williams – the No. 29 selection Wednesday night and one in 2029. For a team lacking depth, the No. 29 pick could’ve provided value. And yet, the Suns still have their Bradley Beal problem, an expensive player with a no-trade clause in his contract, who will be difficult to offload.
Portland Trail Blazers
Similar to the Suns, the Trail Blazers apparently love them some centers. One draft after they took Donovan Clingan No. 7 overall, Portland had the big surprise of the night with Chinese 7-foot-1 center Yang Hansen at No. 16. This almost certainly spells the end for Robert Williams, who’s set to enter an expiring deal and whom Portland can offload in a trade. But these teams know that, typically, only one center plays, right?
The players who slid
You can throw in Kasparas Jakučionis (Heat; No. 20), Asa Newell (Hawks; No. 23), Jase Richardson (Magic; No. 25) and Liam McNeeley (Hornets; No. 29) as players who were drafted below where most mock drafts projected them to go. McNeeley was the most egregious example, and his shooting should instantly make a difference with the Hornets.
The players who slid out of the first round, entirely
A couple of obvious examples of players who likely just missed out on first-round selections are Saint Joseph’s forward Rasheer Fleming and Stanford center Maxime Raynaud. Still, this was not a draft with very many surprises. Players like center Ryan Kalkbrenner (Creighton) and forward Noah Penda (Le Mans; France) also had a chance at the first round, but ultimately just missed out.
