The draft order won’t be set until the lottery on Monday, May 12, but a consensus board is already starting to take shape with the early picks. Cooper Flagg is the lottery’s big prize as the no-brainer No. 1 overall draft pick. Rutgers guard Dylan Harper feels like a unanimous choice at No. 2 so far, with college teammate Ace Bailey, Baylor’s VJ Edgecombe, Texas’ Tre Johnson, and Maryland’s Derik Queen somewhere behind him.
It’s likely that the increasing NIL dollars in college basketball will adversely affect the depth of this draft class. A player like Yaxel Lendeborg has his name in the draft, but can transfer into Michigan for a multi-million dollar bag. Texas Tech’s Darrion Williams had a breakout NCAA tournament performance by carrying his team to the Elite Eight, and he faces a similar ‘stay-to-go’ decision as a fridge first-round pick. Neither Lendeborg or Williams appear in this mock draft, but both would be considered early second rounders.
We told you there were going to be March Madness risers in this draft class. Florida guard Walter Clayton Jr. is the biggest winner of the big dance. We had Clayton in our pre-tournament mock draft, but took him out of our second weekend projection. Clayton is back and higher than ever in this projection, and there’s still room for him to keep climbing the board.
Here’s our latest projection of the 2025 NBA Draft with March Madness now over. We’ll have more analysis of this draft class after the table.
Let be guided: The numbers represent positions from 1-30
Teams
Player
Position
School
Age
1
Utah Jazz
Cooper Flagg
F
Duke
Freshman
2
Washington Wizards
Dylan Harper
G
Rutgers
Freshman
3
Charlotte Hornets
VJ Edgecombe
G
Baylor
Freshman
4
New Orleans Pelicans
Ace Bailey
F
Rutgers
Freshman
5
Philadelphia 76ers
Tre Johnson
G
Texas
Freshman
6
Brooklyn Nets
Khaman Maluach
C
Duke
Freshman
7
Toronto Raptors
Kon Knueppel
G/F
Duke
Freshman
8
San Antonio Spurs
Derik Queen
F/C
Maryland
Freshman
9
Portland Trail Blazers
Jase Richardson
G
Michigan State
Freshman
10
Miami Heat
Jeremiah Fears
G
Oklahoma
Freshman
11
Houston Rockets
Kasparas Jakucionis
G
Illinois
Freshman
12
Chicago Bulls
Collin Murray-Boyles
C/F
South Carolina
Sophomore
13
Atlanta Hawks
Noa Essengue
F
Ulm
Born 2006
14
Dallas Mavericks
Asa Newell
F
Georgia
Freshman
15
San Antonio Spurs
Carter Bryant
F
Arizona
Freshman
16
Orlando Magic
Noah Penda
F
Le Mans
Born 2005
17
Minnesota Timberwolves
Nique Clifford
G/F
Colorado State
Senior
18
Brooklyn Nets
Nolan Traore
G
Saint-Quentin
Born 2006
19
Washington Wizards
Labaron Philon
G
Alabama
Freshman
20
Oklahoma City Thunder
Thomas Sorber
C/F
Georgetown
Freshman
21
Utah Jazz
Egor Demin
G
BYU
Freshman
22
Indiana Pacers
Will Riley
G
Illinois
Freshman
23
Miami Heat
Rasheer Fleming
F
Saint Joseph’s
Junior
24
Orlando Magic
Walter Clayton Jr.
G
Florida
Senior
25
Atlanta Hawks
Ben Saraf
G
Ulm
Born 2006
26
Brooklyn Nets
Thomas Haugh
F
Florida
Sophomore
27
Brooklyn Nets
Liam McNeely
F
UConn
Freshman
28
Boston Celtics
Danny Wolf
F
Michigan
Junior
29
Phoenix Suns
Joan Beringer
C
Cedevita Olimpija
Born 2006
30
Los Angeles Clippers
Johni Broome
F/C
Auburn
Senior
Which NBA Draft prospects helped themselves in March Madness?
A few names immediately come to mind for this one:
Derik Queen, C/F, Maryland: Queen hit the only buzzer-beater of the 2025 NCAA tournament with a ridiculous runner to stun Colorado State in the round of 32. He was even more impressive in his next game against Florida in the Sweet 16 … on offense, at least. Queen dropped 27 points on the Gators, including going 10-for-10 from the foul line. It’s possible he gave up just as many points as he scored on the defensive end, though. Queen is super strong, and has great quickness in tight spaces. He already draws fouls line a savvy veteran, and his touch around the rim is fantastic. He’s just a little too small to play the five at 6’10 with a 7’1 wingspan, and he’s a little too slow to defend NBA fours. Ideally, Queen needs a legit rim protector next to him who can also stretch the floor. San Antonio is his obvious best landing spot next to Victor Wembanyama, and it happens in this mock draft.
Kon Knueppel, G, Duke: Knueppel showcased his additive skillset during the Blue Devils’ Final Four run. He’s an absolutely elite shooter who ended the year at 40.6 percent on three-pointers on 207 attempts, while making 91.4 percent of his free throws. He’s more than just a shooter, though. Knueppel can run pick-and-roll in a pinch and showcased a great connection with teammate Khaman Maluach on lobs. There will be two knocks on his game: size and athleticism. Duke listed Knueppel at 6’7, but that seems like a stretch. He obviously lacks NBA explosiveness for a guard, so it will be interesting to see how he adjusts to the pro game. Still, Knueppel is such a smart and skilled player that it’s starting to feel like a lock he goes top-10.
Thomas Haugh, F, Florida: Haugh wasn’t really on the NBA’s radar for the 2025 draft until he forced his way into the conversation during Florida’s national championship run. He has an easy translation to the league as a low-usage forward who can space the floor on offense, defend forwards, and add some thump on the offensive glass. At 6’9, Haugh made 35-of-101 attempts from three-point range this season, and also posted a solid 3.2 percent block rate. His defensive evaluation will be trickier: can he be a wing stopper? Is he a secondary rim protector? Teams always want forwards who can impact the game while staying out of the way, and Haugh could be that.
Walter Clayton Jr., G, Florida: I went long on Clayton’s draft projection this week. More on him later.
Which NBA Draft prospects fell in March Madness?
Khaman Maluach, C, Duke: I remain high on Maluach and won’t be dropping him on my personal board after a rough showing in the Final Four against Houston. There’s no doubt it was a disappointing performance, though. Maluach had a six-inch size advantage on Houston’s front court and failed to grab a single rebound in 22 minutes. A narrative is starting that Maluach doesn’t play with a high motor, and his final college game will only play into it. The more worrisome trait for the Duke center is his poor hands and low feel. He ended his freshman year with 20 assists in 39 games, a shockingly low number. It must be noted that Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he’s revoking all visas held by South Sudanese passport holders hours before the Final Four, which could affect Maluach and may have been on his mind during a tough night. I’m still buying the Duke center for his massive size (7’2 with a 9’9 standing reach), very good finishing efficiency (73.6 percent true shooting), and combination of rim protection and shooting potential. I had Maluach top-3 in our pre-tournament mock draft, but that dream is probably dead for now.
Kasparas Jakucionis, G, Illinois: Jakucionis’ final numbers look great: 15 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 4.7 assists per game on 59 percent true shooting for a true freshman playing on American soil for the first time. There are some mock drafts that still have Jakucionis in the top-5, but the way his season ended should give any team pause about taking him that high. Jakucionis endured turnover issues all year, and it showed up again in Illinois’ season-ending tournament loss to Kentucky, when he finished with six turnovers. Part of his turnover problems come back up to the fact that Jakucionis is just a limited athlete who can’t jump and struggles to beat anyone with his speed. His NBA translation feels like it’s fully going to come down to his step-back jumper, which looked incredible at times, and if he can manage to continue getting to the foul line. I still like Jakucionis’ combination of passing vision, strength creation, and pull-up shooting, but he won’t have a wide margin for error because of his lack of explosiveness.
Liam McNeely, F, UConn: I was high on McNeeley coming into the year, putting him at No. 7 on my preseason board. His freshman season was a major struggle at times despite solid numbers of 14.5 points, six rebounds, and 2.3 assists per game. For one, McNeeley was a shooter who couldn’t shoot, hitting only 31.7 percent of his three-pointers on 145 attempts. His lack of explosiveness was even more concerning: he struggled badly finishing at the rim (48.5 percent), his statistical athletic indicators (steal rate, block rate, offensive rebound rate) all came back worryingly low, and his scoring efficiency (52.9 percent true shooting) was below average all year. He also only had 60 assists to 51 turnovers on the year. McNeeley should shoot it much better in the pros than he did in college, and he still has solid size for a wing. He was pretty great against Florida in UConn’s close round of 32 loss, finishing with 22 points and three assists, and getting to the foul line eight times. It will be fascinating to see how NBA scouts evaluate his season.
Is Walter Clayton Jr. a first-round NBA draft pick?
Yes he is. Read my piece on Clayton’s incredible backstory, the strengths and weaknesses of his NBA translation, and a pro comp. Salute to the Florida guard on an all-time March Madness run.
Should NBA scouts be discouraged by Cooper Flagg’s Houston performance?
Absolutely not. I came away from Duke’s horrifying Final Four chokejob actually feeling more positive than negative about Flagg’s NBA future.
Flagg faced the No. 1 defense in the country and finished with 27 points, seven rebounds, four assists, three blocks, and two steals on 8-of-19 shooting from the field, 3-of-4 shooting from three, and 8-of-8 shooting from the line line. He also only had one turnover against the Cougars’ swarming defense. Not bad for a guy who only spent three years in high school. The weakest part of Flagg’s game to this point has been his ball handling, and he looked fantastic picking apart Houston off the dribble as a passer against aggressive ball screen coverages. He reads the floor so well with the ball in his hands, and always seems to make the winning play. His size, athleticism, motor, and rapidly evolving offensive skillset have always been apparent, but don’t discount that he’s also a supercomputer in training as a decision-maker.
This loss is going to hurt Flagg for probably the rest of his life. He made some mistakes late, botching a switch on Emanuel Sharp’s late three, helping give up a tip-dunk to Jo Tugler, being whistled for a controversial foul, and then missing the go-ahead basket. There’s no question this was a historic collapse by Duke. There’s no reason for Flagg to come back to college, and it’s not going to happen, so stop talking about it. His next task will be uplifting one of the worst teams in the NBA (I’d personally like to see him on the Washington Wizards). This is a tough way to go out, but what an awesome freshman season from Flagg, somehow exceeding the substantial hype.
