Draft day has arrived.
The 2024-2025 NBA season officially came to a close Sunday night with the Oklahoma City Thunder winning the championship over the Indiana Pacers. Unlike other major sports, the offseason is literally around the corner in the NBA, and we have already seen major moves being made. The Orlando Magic traded for Desmond Bane, and yesterday, the Houston Rockets made a big move to acquire Kevin Durant from Phoenix. There is sure to be more on the way, and the 2025 NBA Draft will provide plenty of opportunity for fireworks
While the No. 1 pick of the draft is already set in stone, there are questions throughout the rest of the lottery, and one of the most interesting teams to watch on draft night is going to be the Atlanta Hawks. The Hawks got some lottery luck by landing the No. 13 pick courtesy of the Sacramento Kings, but they no longer have the No. 22 pick after dealing for Kristaps Porzingis last night. In his media availability on Monday, Hawks general manager Onsi Saleh reiterated that Atlanta was going to take the best player on the board.
Here is my first and only mock draft for tonight's first round.
1. Dallas- Cooper Flagg, F, Duke
2. San Antonio- Dylan Harper, PG, Rutgers
3. Philadelphia- VJ Edgecomb, G, Baylor
4. Charlotte- Kon Kneuppel, F, Duke
5. Utah- Jeremiah Fears, PG, Oklahoma
6. Washington- Ace Bailey, F, Rutgers
7. New Orleans- Tre Johnson, SG, Texas
8. Brooklyn- Kasparas Jakuconis, G, Illinois
9. Toronto- Khaman Maluach, C, Duke
10. Phoenix- Collin Murray-Boyles, F, South Carolina
11. Portland- Carter Bryant, F, Arizona
12. Chicago- Derik Queen, C, Maryland
13. Atlanta (via SAC)- Cedric Coward, SG, Washington State
14. San Antonio (via ATL) - Joan Beringer, C, France
15. Oklahoma City (via MIA)- Thomas Sorber, C, Georgetown
16. Memphis (via ORL)- Noa Essengue, F, France
17. Minnesota (via DET) - Liam McNeeley, F, UConn
18. Washington (via Mem)- Egor Demin, G, BYU
19. Brooklyn- Asa Newell, F, Georgia
20. Miami (via GSW)- Danny Wolf, C/F, Michigan
21. Utah (via MIN)- Nigue Clifford, G/F, Colorado State
22. Brooklyn (via ATL)- Jase Richardson, G, Michigan State
23. New Orleans (via IND)- Will Riley, G/F, Illinois
24. OKC (via LAC)- Huge Gonzalez, G, Spain
25. Orlando (via DEN)- Walter Clayton Jr, G, Florida
26. Brooklyn- Rasheer Fleming, F, Saint Joseph's
27. Brooklyn- Nolan Traore, PG, France
28. Boston- Maxime Raynaud, C, Stanford
29. Phoenix (via CLE)- Ryan Kalkbrenner, C, Creighton
30. Los Angeles Clippers (via OKC): Noah Penda, F, France
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