Over the past few weeks I’ve gotten more and more bullish on this draft class. This class came in with a lot of hype but some of that hype faded and a bit of pessimism took over. I get the reasons for the pessimism, there have been a few big disappointments in this draft class, but we’ve also seen a bunch of big surprises to the upside, which has added a lot of strength and depth to this draft class.
There are some weaknesses in this class but overall I think this is a stellar group, with a couple of stars at the top and some really intriguing players throughout the first round.
I see a bit of a soft spot in the late lottery range. The prospects in the 7-15 range all come with a bunch of question marks and it’s a bit of a crap-shoot in this range. Some of these guys will answer all the questions and go on to be stars, while some will fade into obscurity.
The top of the big board remains about the same with the two superstars at the top (Flagg and Harper) followed by some really intriguing talents in Ace, VJ, Tre and Jaku. Draft classes are measured by star players and so even if some of the depth of this class doesn’t pan out the elite talents at the top will carry it.
One player I can’t stop watching and feeling big feels for is 6-8 Illinois wing Will Riley. He is one of the most effortless scoring wings in this draft class, right up there with Ace and Tre. He’s got really good size, shoots the ball with a ton of confidence (although not yet efficient enough) and has shown some nice flashes of play-making ability. Admittedly, the defense has been rough and he has a very long ways to go to become an average defender. But the offensive tools should be enough to see him land in the mid first round or even as high as late lottery.
Jase Richardson continues to shine at Michigan State, playing a consistent and efficient game. He’s flown up draft boards and is looking more and more like a mid first round pick with some lottery potential. It’s still not totally clear what his role will be at the NBA level; he’s a bit undersized for a scoring guard and isn’t a pure point guard, but he’s just an all around good player who makes winning plays.
I recently took a closer look at the international prospects in this draft class and the long and short of it is that it’s a good but not great group. I’m fairly excited about some of the projected late first/second round guys and wouldn’t be surprised if some of these names move up the mock over the next few months. On this big board I have Noah Penda and Bogoljub Markovic higher than consensus.
Boogie Fland continues to slide down the board. The 6-2 guard is out for the season and didn’t exactly light it up during his 18 games at Arkansas. He has the 5-star pedigree and is a big name player but the tape and the advanced stats don’t look great for him as a first rounder.
There are six new names on this top 70 big board, compared to the last edition including: Baye Ndongo, Wesley Yates III, Amari Williams, Igor Milicic Jr., Mouhamed Faye, Max Shulga.
2025 NBA Draft Big Board 4.0
- Cooper Flagg – 6-9 – PF – Duke
- Dylan Harper – 6-5 – PG/SG – Rutgers
- Ace Bailey – 6-10 – SF – Rutgers
- VJ Edgecombe – 6-4 – SG – Baylor (Bahamas)
- Tre Johnson – 6-5 – SG – Texas
- Kasparas Jakucionis – 6-5 – PG – Illinois (Lithuania)
- Derik Queen – 6-9 – PF/C – Maryland
- Collin Murray-Boyles – 6-7 – PF – South Carolina
- Liam McNeeley – 6-7 – SF – UConn
- Noa Essengue – 6-10 – PF – France
- Khamam Maluach – 7-1 – C – Duke (South Sudan)
- Kon Knueppel – 6-6 – SF – Duke
- Jeremiah Fears – 6-4 – PG – Oklahoma
- Jase Richardson – 6-3 – PG/SG – Michigan State
- Will Riley – 6-8 – SG – Illinois
- Asa Newell – 6-10 – PF – Georgia
- Carter Bryant – 6-8 – SF – Arizona
- Hugo Gonzalez – 6-6 – SG – Spain
- Egor Demin – 6-9 – PG – BYU (Russia)
- Nolan Traore – 6-4 – PG – France
- Joan Beringer – 6-10 – C – France
- Thomas Sorber – 6-10 – C – Georgetown
- Ben Saraf – 6-6 – PG/SG – Ulm (Israel)
- Noah Penda – 6-8 – PF – France
- Rasheer Fleming – 6-9 – PF – St. Joseph’s
- Johni Broome – 6-10 – C – Auburn
- JT Toppin – 6-9 – PF – Texas Tech
- Isaiah Evans – 6-7 – SG/SF – Duke
- Labaron Philon – 6-3 – PG – Alabama
- Kam Jones – 6-4 – PG/SG – Marquette
- Alex Condon – 6-11 – C – Florida (Australia)
- Miles Byrd – 6-7 – SG – San Diego State
- Bogoljub Markovic – 6-10 – SF/PF – Serbia
- Danny Wolf – 7-0 – C – Michigan
- Alex Karaban – 6-8 – SF – UConn
- Hansen Yang – 7-1 – C – China
- Nique Clifford – 6-6 – SF – Colorado State
- Maxime Raynaud – 7-1 – C – Stanford (France)
- Chaz Lanier – 6-4 – SG – Tennessee
- Boogie Fland – 6-2 – PG – Arkansas
- Ryan Kalkbrenner – 7-1 – C – Creighton
- Baye Ndongo – 6-9 – PF – Georgia Tech (Senegal)
- Adou Thiero – 6-8 – SF – Arkansas
- Johann Grünloh – 6-11 — PF – Germany
- Yaxel Lendeborg – 6-9 – PF – UAB
- Flory Bidunga – 6-10 – C – Kansas (Congo)
- Tomislav Ivisic – 7-1 – C – Illinois (Croatia)
- Sergio de Larrea – 6-7 – SG – Spain
- Drake Powell – 6-7 – SF – North Carolina
- Donnie Freeman – 6-9 – PF – Syracuse
- Joson Sanon – 6-6 – SG – Arizona State
- Ian Jackson – 6-5 – SG – North Carolina
- Michael Ruzic – 6-9 – PF – Croatia
- Rocco Zikarsky – 7-1 – C – Australia
- Izan Almansa – 6-10 – PF – Perth (Spain)
- Eric Dixon – 6-8 – PF – Villanova
- Cedric Coward – 6-6- SG/SF – Washington State
- Malique Lewis – 6-8 – SF/PF – SE Melbourne, NBL (Trinidad and Tobago)
- Moustapha Thiam – 7-1 – C – UCF (Dakar)
- Darrion Williams – 6-6 – SF – Texas Tech
- Dink Pate – 6-7 – PG/SG – Mexico City Capitanes
- Sion James – 6-6 – SG – Duke
- Amari Williams – 7-0 – C – Kentucky (England)
- Wesley Yates III – 6-4 – SG – USC
- Max Shulga – 6-5 – SG – VCU
- Chad Baker-Mazara – 6-7 – SF – Auburn
- Joseph Tugler – 6-7 – PF – Houston
- Mouhamed Faye – 6-10 – PF/C – Senegal
- Javon Small – 6-3 – PG – West Virginia
- Igor Milicic Jr. – 6-10 – PF – Tennessee (Croatia)
With March Madness just around the corner we’re sure to see some big time performances and a few players capture the nation’s attention. Big performances in March can catapult a player’s draft stock to new heights but one hot stretch of basketball shouldn’t completely alter a player’s draft grade. We’ve seen in previous years that drafting March Madness heroes early doesn’t always pay off. With that said, I’m sure this big board will change a bit over the coming weeks. Stay tuned for another update after the tournament. Enjoy the madness!
Thanks for reading! Here’s my latest 2025 Mock Draft