1/16/25
Whatever doubts some people might have had with Cooper Flagg he silenced them all with his massive 42 point scoring outburst the other night. There are other big time prospects in the 2025 NBA Draft but there is zero doubt who’s going no.1 on draft night. You can take it to the bank.
Tre Johnson is one of the more polarizing prospects in the class. He’s clearly a special scorer, has good size and a mean streak that allows him to takeover games. But he’s not an elite athlete and can often times do too much with the ball and fail to make the right reads. I’m higher on Tre than most and see him as a potential top 5 pick. I think some of the decision-making can be figured out and his passing instincts/ability will develop.
Another super polarizing player is French guard Nolan Traore, who was considered a top 5 pick a few months ago but is really struggling wit his shot this season. I’m still a believer and I just can’t drop him out of the late lottery/mid first round range. There’s a real chance he puts things together over the second half of the season and we could see him flying up the draft boards that have dropped him too far. He might not be a top 5 pick but he’s still a big time prospect who probably has more love from NBA scouts than the more reactionary draftniks.
Speaking of French prospects, Maxime Raynaud is having a really nice season at Stanford and is moving up my board. I could see him rising as high as the late first round but I currently have him mocked in the mid second.
12/4/24
There is lots of movement in the latest mock draft update. Players moving up in the latest mock include Thomas Sorber who is off to an impressive start to his Georgetown career.
Josan Sanon continues to shoot the ball at a high clip and continues to move up my mock draft. He doesn’t get a ton of press but the kid can play and looks like a first rounder to me.
Danny Wolf is playing lights-out basketball for the Michigan Wolverines. The 7-0 center has a really nice perimeter game, great movement skills and is looking like a career NBA level player.
Perhaps no player in the nation has been playing better than Rutgers guard Dylan Harper and he’s now put himself squarely in the conversation for the no.1 overall pick. I still think Flagg will go no.1 in June but it’s not a lock.
Boogie Fland is playing great ball for Arkansas. He’s not the biggest or most athletic guard in the world but he can flat-out score the rock. He’s a lottery pick in my book.
Johni Broome’s stock is moving up after a strong stretch of play for Auburn. The 6-10 veteran center is looking very NBA ready and could go in the first round to a playoff contending team. He’s probably not going to be a star in the league but he’ll be a contributor.
Egor Demin has cooled off after a smoking hot start to the season. He’s a streaky shooter and has some work to do on his 3pt shot. He’s bound to have more ups and downs throughout the season but is still tracking as a high lottery pick.
Nolan Traore is another guard who is struggling right now. His impressive spring and summer vaulted him into the top 5 conversation (and he could still end up as top 5 pick) but his recent struggles have him falling down draft boards. He comes in at no.13 in my latest mock.
11/1/24
College basketball season is just around the corner with a big slate of games scheduled for November 4th! Time to get pumped! There is so much talent in college basketball this year and it’s going to be such a fun season for scouts and draftniks.
This incredibly strong draft class keeps looking stronger and more loaded with talent. This Fall we’ve seen a few prospects emerge and move up draft boards, most notably Duke sharpshooter Kon Knueppel and Georgia big man Asa Newell. Knueppel is as pure of an outside shooter as we’ve seen in a long time. He’s just lethal from downtown. He’s also got the size and bulk to hold his own on both ends. He’s not a run/jump athlete but he’s got plenty of foot-speed, agility and terrific strength.
Asa Newell played a supporting role last year on a loaded Montverde squad, now it looks like he’ll step into a starring role for a young and exciting Georgia team. He’s a wiry and athletic big man who shows a really nice touch around the rim, from mid range and from 3 point range. He easily passes the eye test thanks to his size and athleticism and he’s got an emerging skill-set that should have NBA scouts very excited.
In other news the good folks at the NCAA have ruled Illinois freshman Tomislav Ivisic eligible to play this year, after his status was in question. Great news for the team and for draft fans. Tomislav might not be a one and done but he’s a high level talent who should be really fun to watch this year.
8/11/24
There is not a lot of movement in the mock or new developments this time of year but two players who have helped themselves this summer are VJ Edgecombe (Baylor incoming freshman) and Ben Saraf (Ulm/Israel).
Playing for the Bahamas national team in the Olympic Qualifiers Edgecombe showed off his usual elite athleticism, an ever-improving outside shot and the ability to more than hold his own against older, stronger players. He’s a special athlete with all the tools to be great. It’s going to be so fun to watch him in a Baylor Bears uniform next season.
Ben Saraf had himself a great summer, lighting up the EuroBasket U18’s. The 6-6 guard can do a bit of everything on the offensive end, from scoring in the lane, shooting the 3 and making plays for teammates. At the U18’s Saraf averaged an incredible 28.1ppg, 5.3apg, 5.0rpg and 4 steals per game. He had two 40 point games including 40 points in an improbable win against a loaded Spanish team. He is now flying up 2025 draft boards and has a chance to enter the lottery discussion.
7/15/24
Cooper Flagg did a lot this past week to solidify his standing as the likely no.1 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft. Playing for the USA Select team against the USA Olympic team he stood out as not only the best player on the Select team but able to hold his own against the best players in the world in three scrimmages against Team USA.
Doing this as a 17 year old is insanely impressive. Flagg is incredibly polished and poised for his age and has a game that looks ready to translate to the NBA right now. The 2025 NBA Draft is full of star talent at the top but after this past week of practices and scrimmages Flagg should be the odds-on favorite for the top spot.
As I wrote here I see the 2025 draft as having at least 5 major talents at the top. And the depth of this class is incredible, thanks in part to the NIL rules which encouraged many potential 2024 draft picks to stay in school and encouraged a number of high level international prospects to come play college ball. This is going to be an awesome year of scouting and the hype around this class is only going to grow.
6/25/24
In a massive move, the Nets just traded Mikal Bridges to the Knicks in exchange for a ton of draft capital, including multiple 2025 picks (from Knicks and Bucks). The Nets are going into a full rebuild and have a treasure chest of future first round picks to work with. They now have potentially four first rounders next year and a ton more in future drafts. See all the Nets future first round picks here.
5/26/24
It’s been a big week for international 2025 draft prospects as Real Madrid takes home the ANGT crown, behind the great play of Hugo Gonzalez and Egor Demin. Nolan Traore carried INSEP to the championship game and continues to be the breakout star of the past few months.
Egor Demin is really coming on as a big time prospect. The 6-9 point guard does everything on the court. He’s got great court vision and the height to see over defenses. He gets to his spots, despite not having an elite first step, finds teammates, rebounds the ball, defends at a high level and is loaded with upside.
Hugo Gonzalez sent the championship game to overtime with a clutch 3 pointer and is well on his way to being a lottery pick next June. He’s a high level offensive player and a standout defender who brings a ton of energy to the court.
But it was Nolan Traore who game out of the tournament as the star, continuing his torrid play this spring. He’s a lightening quick lead guard who is nearly impossible to keep out of the lane. He set an ANGT finals record with 45 points in a game over Barcelona to send INSEP to the championship game. He moves up to no.2 overall in my latest 2025 mock.
Kasparas Jakucionis, a 6-5 point guard for Barcelona had a great tournament, dishing the rock, hitting shots and defending at a high level.
Jonas Boulefaa, a 6-9 forward from France, had a monster championship game and a great tournament, showing off his great shooting touch and aggressive rebounding. He’s a crafty player who always seems to be in the right spots. Not a big time athlete but highly skilled and a great 3pt shooter. Born in 2007, he’s a good looking 2026 draft prospect.
Mitar Bosnjakovic looks like a potential NBA role player in time, coming from Madrid. He’s a streaky 3pt shooter who plays with a ton of passion.
Noa Essengue had a good tournament as well, showing off this elite athleticism for his size. He can handle the ball in the open court and has developing wing skills.
A select team from the Overtime Elite League made their ANGT debut, playing well and earning two wins.
One of the most intriguing prospects of the tournament, albeit with some controversy, was Barcelona big man Mohamed Dabone who is a special, special athlete with elite above the rim ability and mobility. He was listed as being just 12 years old but is most likely about 16. It will be interesting to see if his age gets updated over the next year. If he is just 12…he’s a lock for the no.1 overall pick in the 2031 NBA Draft :)
5/12/24
With so many college players opting not to enter this year’s NBA Draft and instead return to school, the 2025 draft has gained an insane amount of depth and talent. It looks like there will be legit NBA starter level talents available through the first round and many intriguing upside prospects/projects in the second round next year. The best of the returning players might be South Carolina forward Collin Murray-Boyles, who has as chance to be a lottery pick next June.
This past year a number of big name freshmen didn’t fully live up to their billing and were clearly not NBA ready. But another year in school could do them wonders. Players such as Aaron Bradshaw (now at Ohio State), DJ Wagner, Kwame Evans Jr, Xavier Booker, Caleb Foster, Mackenzie Mgbako and many more, should be in for breakouts seasons in 2024/25.
Then there’s the return of some great college players who aren’t necessarily big time NBA prospects, such as Kansas big Hunter Dickinson, who will, once again, be one of the faces of college basketball. Other’s in this category include Ryan Kalkbrenner, Grant Nelson, RJ Davis and Oumar Ballo (now at Indiana).
This is really good for the sport. Both college basketball and next year’s draft look like they’ll be loaded with talent. The NIL rules are certainly having a massive impact.
4/25/24
The high school All Star/Showcase season has been awesome to watch and has solidified our thinking that the 2025 draft class is a special group of prospects. There have been many standouts this spring but none bigger than Rutgers guard Dylan Harper, who has looked like the most dominant player on the court in multiple settings. While he might not have the enticing run/jump ability of Ace Bailey or the elite two-way play of Cooper Flagg, Harper is an alpha dawg on offense with the ability to take over games. He’s a big shot taker and a big shot maker. I’ve moved him up to no.2 overall in my latest 2025 mock.
Meanwhile in college basketball the transfer portal has been full of talent, with dozens of high profile players changing schools. A few of the most interesting changes include Omaha Biliew going to Wake Forest, Aaron Bradshaw to Ohio State, Kylan Boswell to Illinois, Saint Thomas to USC, Mark Mitchell to Missouri, Gavin Griffiths to Nebraska, and Carey Booth to Illinois.
We’ve also seen some top recruits reopen their commitment including former Kansas commit Labaron Philon. He’ll be a hot commodity. And of course all of the Kentucky recruits are on the open market again, after Coach Cal bounced to Arkansas.
3/30/24
It’s transfer season and the transfer portal is filling up with talented players looking for a new home. Some of the transfers are simultaneously testing the NBA Draft waters but are likely to return to school. USC wing Kobe Johnson is one of the big names in the portal. He’ll be a hot commodity. And speaking of USC, there’s still no word on Bronny James. He had a somewhat lackluster season and wouldn’t be on this year’s draft radar if it wasn’t for his dad, so returning to school seems likely.
It seems like half of the Stanford team is transferring including Kanaan Carlyle, Andrej Stojakovic, Maxime Raynaud and others.
Brandon Garrison is in the portal and will make some coach very happy. He’s a beast of a big man and is severely underrated IMHO.
Florida guard Riley Kugel is transferring after a tough season for the Gators. Jevon Porter, the younger brother of MPJ, is transferring from Pepperdine. Tucker DeVries is joining his dad at West Virginia. And Kentucky’s up and coming star Adou Thiero is in the transfer portal, although has left the option open to return to UK.
Yale star 7-footer Danny Wolf is transferring as well, along with many dozens of other talented D1 players.
Indiana basketball got two bits of big news recently with star recruit Bryson Tucker committing to the program and star freshman McKenzie Mgbako deciding to return for his sophomore season. The Hoosier will be fun to watch next year!
3/24/24
Earlier this month Khaman Maluach, a star center prospect from South Sudan, signed with Duke. Maluach is an incredibly exciting prospect, pushing 7-2, with a massive wingspan and an absurd 9-8 standing reach (higher than Victor Wembanyama). His height, length, athleticism and instincts make him a devastating shot blocker, above the rim finisher, and for good measure he’s also a silky smooth 3pt shooter. Duke is now loaded for next season, especially on the frontline, with Maluach being joined by incoming freshman star Cooper Flag plus Patrick Ngongba II along with the possible return of Mark Mitchell, among others.
With the recent decision to no longer continue the G League Ignite pro pathway program top prospects will have fewer options going forward. This also has a big effect on Dink Pate, an intriguing 6-8 guard who spend this past year with the Ignite but isn’t draft eligible until 2025. We could see Pate head overseas for a year before entering next year’s draft.
This is the time of year where we start getting excited about which current college players will return to school next season. After a second round loss to Creighton in which he played meaningful but not super effective minutes, Kwame Evans Jr is one to watch. He really looks like he could use another year or two in school before being pro ready. If he does declare he’s probably a mid to late second rounder, who will spend a season or two in the G League.
Kentucky has a few players with decisions to make. Aaron Bradshaw didn’t have a great year and would be well served to spend more time in school honing his craft. Justin Edwards would benefit from returning, although I could see him jumping to the pros. D.J. Wagner could definitely use another year at UK, as could Ugonna Onyenso and possibly Zvonimir Ivisic. This will be a really interesting group to watch.
In other news top 15 recruit Liam McNeeley de-committed from Indiana and has yet to make a decision on a new school. He could be a 2025 first rounder.
1/28/24
The 2024 McDonald’s All American game rosters have been announced and 16 of the 24 participants are currently projected to be one and done first rounders on my 2025 mock draft. And the other 8 players look like future NBA prospects as well.
Even though these are just All Star games with minimal defense the practices and the game itself often provide a showcase for one or two of the prospects to clearly standout from the rest. It’s easy to guess who that’ll be this year: Cooper Flagg and Ace Bailey. But I expect at least one other player (Maybe Bethea, or Harper or Edgecombe) to put himself into that top 3 discussion.
The 2025 mock lost a few talented players in recent updates, as I moved Johnny Furphy, Kyshawn George and Jared McCain to the 2024 mock. Ulrich Chomche, a talented big man from Cameroon, could be the next to be moved to 2024. Nevertheless, the 2025 draft class still looks incredibly strong with elite talents at the top and a ton of potential depth.
12/30/23
The 2025 NBA Draft continues to look more and more impressive. Yes, there’s a long ways to go but it’s already clear that there are a number of elite talents in this class.
Ace Bailey has been taking his game to a new level and grown into a truly elite prospect. He would probably go no.1 overall this year, if he were eligible, and could give Cooper Flagg a run for the top spot next year. The 6-9 does it all on the court and has the type of size and athleticism on the wing that NBA stars are made of. Between him and Dylan Harper Rutgers is going to be the most interesting and exciting team in the country next year.
The 2025 draft class also got the addition of 7-2 South Sudan PF/C Khamen Maluach, who classed up to join the 2024 recruiting class. He’s getting a lot of attention from Duke, Kentuck, UCLA, Kansas and Baylor. He’s one of the most intriguing prospects outside of the NBA right now, with his massive reach, good athleticism, 3pt shooting ability and solid feel for the game for a young 7-footer.
Dink Pate is back on the court after missing a bunch of time with a foot injury. The 6-8 point guard won’t get much playing time for the Ignite this year but should take over the starting point guard role next year and show why he’s considered by some (me included) as an elite prospect.
Elite shooting guard VJ Edgecombe has cut his list of schools to 3: Baylor, Duke and Kentucky. The 6-5 high-flyer from the Bahamas (and now New York) looks like a one-and-done lottery pick.
12/6/23
Huge news for Rutgers basketball as the Scarlet Knights land 5-star guard Dylan Harper (as has long been expected), giving them two of the top five recruits in the country.
Harper is one of the most polished and complete guard prospects you’ll ever see. He’s a sturdy 6-5 player with great strength and off-the-charts basketball IQ. He’s more of a below the rim type of player but is a crafty finisher around the basket and is a deadly mid range and deep range shooter. He joins Ace Bailey, a 6-9 freak athlete of a forward to form the most exciting recruiting class in the country.
8/14/23
It’s been a big week for news and updates regarding the 2025 NBA Draft. The biggest news came on Friday when Cooper Flagg announcement that he is reclassifying to join the 2024 recruiting class, making him eligible for the 2025 NBA Draft. This news has been expected for a while and now that it’s official he’s the heavy favorite to be selected no.1 overall in 2025. Flagg is now entering his senior year at Montverde and his recruitment remains open, with Duke seemingly in the lead.
Then on Saturday the top center in the incoming senior class, Flory Bidunga, announced his commitment to Kansas. Flory is an ideal fit for Bill Self and the Jayhawks, fitting the mold of the type of big man they like to mold and develop. The difference here is that Bidunga has much more upside than past Jayhawks bigs, outside of Joel Embiid. After coming to the States from the Congo Bidunga has quickly emerged as an elite prospect thanks to his unique physical gifts and all-out effort on the court. He reminds me a bit of Antonio McDyess with some Bam Adebayo mixed in.
Rutgers signee Ace Bailey has continued to shine this summer and is all the way up to no.2 overall in my latest 2025 mock, just after Cooper Flagg. Bailey is a 6-10 wing with awesome athleticism and shot-making ability. He just keeps getting better and better and the sky seems to be the limit for him. I’d be shocked if he’s not a one and done lottery pick.
Australian big man Rocco Zikarsky is also continuing to raise his stock. The 7-3 center is becoming a dominant force inside, anchoring the defense and protecting the rim on one end and dunking everyone around the rim on the other. At this point I see him as a potential mid first rounder. He’ll have to prove to be mobile enough to guard in space but the 17yo has already show plenty of upside to warrant a mid first round projection.
Jahlil Bethea has been another hot name this spring and summer. The 6-4 scoring guard from Pennsylvania is looking like one of the top bucket-getters in the class. He’s super smooth with the ball and gets it done from 3 levels. He’s got enough size and athleticism for the NBA level and is already looking like a pro-level scorer. He looks like a future first rounder to me.