NBA Draft to Follow Up Game 7 of NBA Finals

With their backs against the wall, the Indiana Pacers clutched up versus the Thunder, issuing a 17-point beatdown to force a winner-take-all Game 7.

The Finals haven’t lacked fireworks this year, with the West’s top-seeded Thunder and MVP candidate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander getting to three wins first. But the Pacers and Tyrese Haliburton evening it up with their pace and sheer determination. 

The early games were highlight-laden, too. Tyrese Haliburton's step-back mid-range to seal a steal in Game 1. Gilgeous-Alexander scoring 15 of the last 17 to swipe Game 4 in Indiana. And plenty in between.

The final game of the year will be the first Game 7 since 2016 between LeBron James’ Cavaliers and Steph Curry’s Warriors, where the former would go on to complete the 3-1 comeback. It will also be just the 20th Game 7 in Finals history.

The Finals has also offered a positive spotlight on the NBA Draft as a whole, with both Oklahoma City and Indiana having largely built or filled out their cores through the draft.

While the last series of the season has dominated the headlines, the draft still looms. 

This year’s iteration of Game 7 will be played at 7 p.m. CT Sunday, June 22, with the first round of the 2025 NBA Draft beginning just three days later.

Ace Bailey’s avoidance of in-person meetings and a subsequent potential slide has earned some buzz in the NBA space, but the Finals have remained the focal point. Still, teams league-wide are gearing up to add talent at the draft.

Dallas will leave with Duke's Cooper Flagg in a matter of hours. San Antonio will likely due the same with Rutgers' Dylan Harper. And the draft as a whole likely starts with the Philadelphia 76ers at No. 3.

From there, teams will gamble and roll the dice on various prospects in hopes of taking them where the Thunder and Pacers currently stand.