By Aidan Joly
The 2025 NBA draft is in the books.
It went mostly as expected at the top, but we had some twists and turns along the way. Let’s get into what the biggest takeaways from this year’s draft class are.
Cooper Flagg has Dallas ready to compete
The first overall pick was a no-brainer, with Duke phenom going first overall to the Dallas Mavericks.
Flagg was the best player in this year’s class and will make an immediate impact in Dallas. The Mavs don’t have a ton of shot creation on their roster with a lack of guards before Kyrie Irving returns from a knee injury, so Flagg will have to be part of the solution in keeping them afloat during the first part of the season.
Anthony Davis is a great player for Flagg to develop alongside of, and be a homegrown star for a franchise that is still dealing with the aftermath of the Luka Doncic trade. Landing the first overall pick changed the trajectory of the franchise quite a bit.
If he plays well, Dallas can certainly have a chance at competing for a playoff spot in year one. And certainly, Flagg is the top contender for rookie of the year.
San Antonio leaning into competitive window
San Antonio certainly could have traded the second overall pick in Dylan Harper, but chose not to in order to hurry up their competitive window.
It makes sense that there are some fit concerns, but San Antonio is going talent over fit with this selection. Things would likely be a little easier if De’Aaron Fox were not in the mix, but allowing Harper some time to figure out how to play alongside Victor Wembanyama and Stephon Castle is the right idea.
San Antonio must remember that their superstar in Wembanyama is still just 21 years old. He has plenty of time. And when you factor in the talent all around him, including Harper and No. 14 overall pick Carter Bryant, the Spurs look to have their next great group of players.
Good situation for Edgecombe
The Philadelphia 76ers took Baylor’s VJ Edgecombe with the No. 3 overall pick.
They likely could have gone after a better talent in Ace Bailey, who ended up going to Utah, but they take fit over talent here. Keep in mind, Philadelphia already has three ball-dominant players in Tyrese Maxey, Joel Embiid and Paul George, coupled with Jared McCain having a good rookie year in a small sample size. Edgecombe will be relied on more for defense and rebounding in his early years in the NBA, which works for him.
Philly also took Johni Broome with the 35th overall pick, which is a solid add to their frontcourt depth.
Charlotte’s awesome class
The Charlotte Hornets may have gotten the best first round class overall.
With the No. 4 overall pick Charlotte picked up Duke’s Kon Knueppel, who was perhaps the best pure shooter in the draft, and then got could end up being the best value pick in the draft with UConn’s Liam McNeeley at No. 29.
Charlotte also added Creighton’s Ryan Kalkbrenner in the second round.
Knueppel’s strength, style of play and toughness makes him very valuable to play alongside LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller, two budding stars of their own. As for McNeeley, he is a great shooter who did struggle at times at UConn, but a lot of that felt like it was because he was relied upon too heavily.
Kalkbrenner is an NBA-ready player who will see minutes as a second round pick. It needed it after trading away Mark Williams (which we’ll get into soon).
Ace Bailey’s potential
Despite all of the drama the past few weeks with Bailey and his preferred destination, and him not showing up in Utah until Saturday, it still feels like playing for the Jazz gives him the best chance to maximize his potential early on.
The Jazz have no real superstar power, but do have a very good young head coach and a passionate fanbase. He does need some time to shore up some things, mainly on defense and ball-handling, but Utah’s rebuild will give him time to develop. He should quickly realize that he has all-star potential and Utah is a good place to do it.
Utah also picked up Florida’s Walter Clayton late in the first round. Clayton is an NBA-ready player who will have an immediate role.
The best fit?
The best fit in the draft may have been in… you guessed it, Miami.
The Heat drafted Illinois’ Kasparas Jakucionis with the No. 20 overall pick.
It feels like clockwork every year with Miami. The Heat drafted a player who works so well in their style of play while also filling a roster need, and fits the culture.
Some had Jakucionis as a top-10 prospect, and Miami gets him at 20. He has a very good shot at operating well alongside Tyler Herro, and with the emergence of Davion Mitchell, he can develop well in Miami as a versatile player who can both be a shot-maker and play off the ball.
Phoenix’s strange strategy
Phoenix came into the draft with a need for a big man. It felt like they had gotten what they needed in drafting Duke’s Khaman Maluach with the No. 1o overall pick, but turned heads moments later by trading the No. 29 pick and a 2029 first for Mark Williams, another big man.
It came days after the Suns agreed to trade Kevin Durant to the Houston Rockets in exchange for that No. 10 overall pick, Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks and five second round picks.
Malauch is a very raw player, but he’s a great fit in Phoenix.
The Suns are going through a big roster makeover under new general manager Brian Gregory and first-year coach Jordan Ott, but this was certainly an interesting thing to do. We’ll see how the rest of the off-season looks for Phoenix, but the trade was a little bit of a head-scratcher.
Nets hold onto all of their picks
The Nets went into the first round with five picks and everyone assumed that they would do some dealing on draft night.
Nope. Brooklyn used all five of the picks, selecting Egor Demin (No. 8), Nolan Traore (No. 19), Drake Powell (No. 22), Ben Saraf (No. 26) and Danny Wolf (No. 27).
Demin is my favorite pick of the bunch. He played limited minutes at BYU this past season, but had a good impact. Traore has done well in international play. Wolf was great at Michigan.
If even two of these five picks work out, Brooklyn had a good first round. After failing to make it work with Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and James Harden, the Nets were in position to capitalize on all of the assets they got back in trades.
Was it a missed opportunity to not make any trades during the draft? One can surely make that argument. But with a need to simply have talent and develop it, at least a few of these guys are bound to work out.
AJ Hoops 