The 2025 NBA Draft is done and dusted (see Draft Log). The league adopted a two-day format once again this year, and while reviews were mixed, it did allow teams to sit and stew on their decisions for an extra day. That helped some teams and it hurt others, as the league’s usual suspects tumbled over their feet while the more competent front offices took advantage of the mishaps. Like any draft, there were a handful of winners and a handful of losers. Some more obvious than others. Let’s take a look.
Draft Winners
Spurs
The San Antonio Spurs, like the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2022, are a team that expects to be in the NBA championship conversation sooner rather than later. The Spurs made the correct decision to draft Rutgers guard Dylan Harper with the second overall pick, as the versatile combo guard will be a perfect partner-in-crime for emerging generational talent Victor Wembanyama. Harper is an incredibly efficient inside scorer as a guard and his ability to also shoot from the outside makes him the most well-rounded scorer in the class, save for Cooper Flagg.
The Spurs closed the lottery by selecting Arizona’s Carter Bryant with the No. 14 overall pick, a player some analysts suspected San Antonio would have to trade up to take. Bryant projects as a 3&D player who could find a niche in the Spurs’ rotation, similar to the role Peyton Watson plays in Denver. Another common comparison for the player Bryant could grow into is someone like Josh Smith, though the 19-year-old will still require some development to reach his full professional potential.
Suns
The best case scenario for Phoenix at No. 10 overall was for Duke center Khaman Malauch to be on the board. With the luck of some questionable picks ahead of the Sudanese phenom, the Suns got their guy. Malauch will immediately enter as one of the high percentile shot blockers in the NBA, both in set defenses and in transition. He’s also very effective off the pick-and-roll at 7’2 and should be a suitable partner for Suns guard Devin Booker in that regard.
No. 31 overall pick Rasheer Fleming was one of the more intriguing two-way prospects in the draft out of St. Joseph’s and was someone who could have easily found himself taken in the first round as there were several teams vying for his services. I also think Koby Brea is a firm challenger to Texas’ Tre Johnson as the best shooter in the entire draft class, especially considering the fact that Brea led the nation in 3-point percentage as a junior at Dayton before leading the SEC in 3-point percentage as a senior at Kentucky.
76ers
Selecting V.J. Edgecombe over Ace Bailey was another decision in this draft that will age like fine wine, especially considering the fact that Bailey seems hellbent on sabotaging his situation in the NBA as soon as he can. Edgecome arguably projects as a better player outright, with Victor Oladipo-like slashing capability and lockdown defensive ability that will immediately translate to the NBA level and serve as a strong compliment to the game of former MVP Joel Embiid.
I’m also high on the Johni Broome selection at No. 35 overall. Any time you can get a player who was in the running for National Player of the Year, especially against a prospect as generational as Cooper Flagg, that player is worth a second-round flier at the very least. I’m well aware of concerns surrounding Broome’s age, durability and size at the next level, but we’re talking about a player who dominated perhaps the deepest college basketball conference of all time this past season.
Draft Losers
Pelicans
I’ll try to put this as professionally as possible. I’m really not sure what the hell David Griffin and the New Orleans Pelicans are doing. The decision to trade not only the No. 23 overall pick in the draft, but also the franchise’s unprotected 2026 first-round draft pick (Atlanta) to move up 10 slots for Maryland’s Derik Queen is one of the most astronomically dumb draft day decisions in recent memory. You could make a legitimate case that the organization would be better off if David Stern were still running it in his current state and he passed away over five years ago. God rest his soul.
While the team did get the Jeremiah Fears selection right at No. 7 overall, it reached for Georgetown’s Micah Peavy in the second round and selected him about 10 slots higher than his consensus mock position. The only way this draft ages well is if New Orleans is able to make the playoffs next season and diminish the value of their outgoing 2026 pick, but their current roster has a better chance of winning the lottery. Literally and figuratively.
Nets
Before the draft, fans across social media were comparing Nets GM Sean Marks to Thunder GM Sam Presti because of the five first round picks that Brooklyn held in the first round of the 2025 NBA Draft. The difference is, Presti actually knows how to draft. I do think the Nets achieved one of the most impressive drafting feats that I’ve seen in recent memory, which is the fact they made five first-round selections and only, maybe, got one of them right.
New Jersey reached for Egor Denim at eighth overall, a 6’9 playmaking wing out of BYU who was ranked in the 20s on several reputable big boards. I do like the selection of French guard Nolan Traore at No. 19 overall, but the Nets again reached for UNC’s Drake Powell at No. 22 overall, as several mocks actually had Powell going to the Nets at 27. The Nets took Israeli point guard Ben Suraf and Michigan center Danny Wolf with the 26th and 27th picks, respectively. Wolf does have some impressive tape but the 19-year-old Suraf is a developmental project at best at the NBA level.
TrailBlazers
The Blazers clearly loved Yang Hansen and even managed to trade down and get some extra bounty while selecting the Chinese center. The problem is, they could have traded down several spots further, even into the second round and collected an even higher trade ransom while still drafting their desired prospect. Maybe the Grizzlies heard rumblings that another team was interested in taking Yang before they could draft again, but that seems like a less likely outcome than the team pulling the trigger at the first somewhat reasonable offer they received to trade back. I wouldn’t put Portland’s night on the level that I put New Orleans’ and Brooklyn’s at, but they objectively could have done better.
