This article is part of our NBA Draft series.
The 2025 NBA Draft was the second time the draft was divided in two days, and it welcomed 59 new players to The Association. If you're looking for the biggest takeaways on what happened at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY, during the draft, we got you covered.
For up-to-the-minute updates on injuries, lineups, roster changes and more, head to RotoWire's NBA News or follow @RotoWireNBA on X.
Top Players Selected in the 2025 NBA Draft
Cooper Flagg went first overall to the Dallas Mavericks and Dylan Harper joined the Spurs as the No. 2 pick. There were some odd selections in the first round and a few players that slipped more than expected, such as Khaman Maluach barely slipping outside of the Top 10. For the most part, though, the top five picks in the 2025 NBA Draft were as predicted by most experts.
The selections of Flagg and Harper were no-brainers. Flagg is the top prospect not only in this class, but he's one of the best prospects to come out of college since perhaps Zion Williamson, while Harper was the undisputed second-best player in this pool despite playing for Rutgers, a team that didn't make it to the 2025 NCAA Tournament. It's hard to say the other three picks in the Top 5 were surprising, but there were some eye-popping outcomes.
The Sixers drafted V. J. Edgecombe with the No. 3 pick, and the Baylor prospect is probably the best fit for the roster alongside Tyrese Maxey
The 2025 NBA Draft was the second time the draft was divided in two days, and it welcomed 59 new players to The Association. If you're looking for the biggest takeaways on what happened at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY, during the draft, we got you covered.
For up-to-the-minute updates on injuries, lineups, roster changes and more, head to RotoWire's NBA News or follow @RotoWireNBA on X.
Top Players Selected in the 2025 NBA Draft
Cooper Flagg went first overall to the Dallas Mavericks and Dylan Harper joined the Spurs as the No. 2 pick. There were some odd selections in the first round and a few players that slipped more than expected, such as Khaman Maluach barely slipping outside of the Top 10. For the most part, though, the top five picks in the 2025 NBA Draft were as predicted by most experts.
The selections of Flagg and Harper were no-brainers. Flagg is the top prospect not only in this class, but he's one of the best prospects to come out of college since perhaps Zion Williamson, while Harper was the undisputed second-best player in this pool despite playing for Rutgers, a team that didn't make it to the 2025 NCAA Tournament. It's hard to say the other three picks in the Top 5 were surprising, but there were some eye-popping outcomes.
The Sixers drafted V. J. Edgecombe with the No. 3 pick, and the Baylor prospect is probably the best fit for the roster alongside Tyrese Maxey, Paul George and Joel Embiid. The Hornets didn't go with the consensus best player available and added perhaps the best shooter in the draft in Kon Knueppel, who made 40.6 percent of his treys in his lone college season at Duke. Ace Bailey, who declined a workout with the 76ers and was rumored to be interested in playing for a team in the East Coast, got drafted by the Jazz fifth overall.
Fantasy outlook for the Top 5 picks in the 2025 NBA Draft
From a fantasy perspective, Flagg and Harper should be ready to contribute right away across all formats, although Harper's minutes might be harder to come by compared to Flagg since the Spurs already have De'Aaron Fox and Stephon Castle on the roster. Edgecombe will depend on how well he fits in Philadelphia to have any sort of fantasy upside, and it wouldn't be surprising to see him start the season on the bench and with limited minutes. After all, the Sixers have assembled a roster to compete in the Eastern Conference in 2025-26.
Bailey has crazy upside as a shooting machine who can score at will, but it's unclear how many touches he'll have in Utah and the kind of role he'll receive. There are still questions on whether he'll fit in Utah, but if Bailey adjusts to life in the NBA -- and there's no reason to think he won't -- he should be one of the top scorers in this class. Knueppel could have some upside as a legit three-point threat, though he should have more upside in category-based formats that reward his efficiency from beyond the arc. He's not expected to be a go-to option on offense alongside LaMelo Ball, Brandon Miller and Miles Bridges in Charlotte.
What are the Nets going to do with their five first-round selections?
The Nets became the first team in NBA history to make five selections in the first round of the same draft. Even though there was some speculation that the Nets would move at least one or two of those picks, they ended up using them all. Surprisingly, that's NOT the most impressive thing about that five-pick outlet. The Nets used all of their five first-round picks in players who share similar traits... and similar weaknesses.
To note: Brooklyn drafted Egor Demin (BYU, 8th), Nolan Traore (France, 19th), Drake Powell (UNC, 22nd), Ben Saraf (Israel, 26th) and Danny Wolf (Michigan, 27th). That's four players who can play in the backcourt, including three who are considered natural point guards, and a big man who should add depth in the frontcourt. Demin, Traore and Saraf are excellent passers, but none are comfortable shooting the three. The same applies to Powell and Wolf, although Wolf can provide some size in the paint. It's unclear what the Nets will do with their overpopulation of guards, especially since Cam Thomas and Ziaire Williams are restricted free agents and could return to Brooklyn for the 2025-26 campaign.
It's hard to predict if any of these players will be able to make a sizable impact in fantasy. Demin has the better chance of making a fantasy impact due to his elite passing skills and the fact that he should see steady minutes in the rotation right away. However, the rest of these first-round picks could be months away -- in a best-case scenario -- from making a fantasy impact.
France puts an international touch on the 2025 NBA Draft
There were three French players selected in the first round: Noa Essengue (12th overall to Chicago), Joan Beringer (17th overall to Minnesota) and Nolan Traore (19th overall to Brooklyn). Noah Penda (32nd), Maxime Raynaud (42nd) and Mohamed Diawara (51st) were taken in the second round as well. That's six French players, and they headline a group of 23 international players taken in both rounds.
Australia had four players taken, all of whom were selected between the 45th and 55th picks. There were also three international players in the Top 10 in Edgecombe (Bahamas, third overall to Philadelphia), Demin (Russia, eighth overall to Brooklyn) and Maluach (South Sudan, 10th overall to Phoenix). 13 of those 23 international players were taken in the first round, which goes to show how much the game has grown on a worldwide stage. After all, each of the last seven MVP winners has been born overseas. This is a trend that's not going anywhere.
Which teams didn't have a single pick in the 2025 NBA Draft?
The Houston Rockets and the Denver Nuggets didn't have any selections in the 2025 NBA Draft. That's not much of an issue for the Rockets, who recently acquired Kevin Durant via trade and have all the makings of a contender for years to come in the Western Conference. It could be an issue for Denver, though, as the Nuggets need to find a way to boost their bench without hurting their salary cap. Plus, Denver needs to get younger, so the team could've made a trade to have at least one pick in what ended up being a loaded draft class.
