2025 NBA Draft Results - First Round Winners and Losers

June 26, 2025

NBA analyst Thunder Dan Palyo recaps the 2025 NBA draft results and gives his analysis on the first round. Read his best and worst picks as well as which players may have an impact on fantasy basketball next season.

The first round of the 2025 NBA Draft is over, and the second round is set to take place tonight. There is still plenty of talent left on the board heading into the second round, but the biggest impact players have already been selected by their new teams.

While many picks went as expected, there were still plenty of surprises and intriguing trades last night. While some teams drafted specifically for needs, others went with the best available player, and a few players were taken well ahead of or after their projected draft positions.

Let's evaluate which teams got the best first-round results, and at the end, I'll even toss in some takeaways for fantasy basketball, too.

First Round Winners

Instead of calling any individual player a winner or loser, I'll identify some of the teams whose drafts I liked and a few others that I didn't. Every kid who was drafted last night was a winner as they get a chance to play in the NBA. Let's keep some things in perspective!

Brooklyn Nets

• No. 8 - Egor Demin
• No. 19 - Nolan Traore
• No. 22 - Drake Powell
• No. 26 - Ben Saraf
• No. 27 - Danny Wolf

The Nets had five picks last night and chose not to package any of them together in an attempt to move up. Either that, or no teams picking higher were willing to trade down.

I've already seen some critics of this draft, since there's no flashy star power here, but I like what they did here by going with some unconventional picks and trying to address multiple different positional needs with players who have solid fundamentals.

Demin may have been a reach at eight, but he was rising on many teams' draft boards after the combine and wouldn't have been there for them at 19. One criticism of Brooklyn could be that Demin, Traore, and Saraf are all point guards. But each of them has a different style of play. Saraf could bump over to shooting guard, and Demin has the height at six-foot-eight to play SF.

NBA fans, remember the name Egor Demin. He's gonna be huge pic.twitter.com/MvxjC3QsW2

— Shane (@Shane00) June 26, 2025

Drake Powell is a lockdown defender on the wing, and Danny Wolf is a skilled big man who can shoot and pass at a high level. It might look like an Island of Misfit Toys right now, but if two or three of these guys end up being important rotational players for the Nets in the future, then they accomplished their mission. If they all pan out, then they'll have the ability to make some trades in the future to land the players they need at specific positions.

Charlotte Hornets

Sometimes you can judge the draft based on the casual fans' reactions. I saw a lot of Nets fans upset about their picks, and there were plenty of Hornets' fans who weren't thrilled with the organization's decision to take Duke's Kon Knueppel with the fourth overall pick.

Duke sharpshooter Kon Knueppel is a HORNET 🙌🎯

He drained 41% of his threes at Duke 🔥 pic.twitter.com/wGLFVH506j

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) June 26, 2025

But it was absolutely the right call. Knueppel was a top-5 talent in this draft, and like his teammate Cooper Flagg, he's about as NBA-ready as they come. I see him sliding into the starting shooting guard spot in Charlotte and fitting in perfectly alongside LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller.

The Hornets then made a surprise trade, sending Mark Williams to the Suns and landing the 29th pick. They used that pick to land UCONN forward Liam McNeeley. I was surprised to see McNeeley fall this far, as I had him going in the late teens, and most other mock drafts had him at least in the top 25.

Again, it's not a sexy pick, but McNeeley is a highly skilled player who addresses their need for help on the wing. Like Knueppel, he can knock down shots and is a high-IQ player who can help facilitate on offense while also grabbing boards.

San Antonio Spurs

We knew the Spurs were likely to take Dylan Harper with the second overall pick, and no team came with a Godfather offer to trade up, so they snagged the second-best overall talent in the draft.

San Antonio has absolutely knocked this draft out of the park so far

Dylan Harper and Carter Bryant are phenomenal players to add to San Antonio’s young core. Absolutely love their draft so far pic.twitter.com/gw6NmJm4RF

— nbadraftpoint (@nbadraftpoint) June 26, 2025

But I was stunned to see Carter Bryant fall to them at 14. I had Bryant going as high as 10th, and I'm surprised the Suns acquired two centers instead of taking Bryant there to address the Durant departure on the wing.

I love both the players they drafted, and it's easy to see that they are building something pretty special in San Antonio with the amount of talent they have there now. It may take a few more years to figure out how it all fits together or to make a few more moves, but the Spurs are clearly on the rise.

Orlando Magic

The Magic had already made news by acquiring Desmond Bane in a trade with the Grizzlies a few weeks ago. That move addressed their need for shooting on the wing and added a third scoring option behind Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner, though it cost multiple first-round picks in the future.

So they needed to nail their first-round pick this year, and I think they did by taking Jase Richardson (son of former NBA star Jason Richardson) out of Michigan State.

Jase Richardson x Orlando Magic = DREAM FIT

This is perfect for both sides. All his size concerns mitigated by this massive, lengthy Magic roster. Adds elite shooting and connective playmaking. Jase would've been top 10 on my Magic big board.

Many more shooters for the Magic to… pic.twitter.com/geaPzINBJR

— Kevin O'Connor (@KevinOConnorNBA) June 26, 2025

Richardson gives them another guard who can score in bunches, and I think he can potentially slide into a bench-scorer role as Orlando has been thin at the position for the last few years. Anthony Black hasn't panned out, and this team had to play guys like Cole Anthony, Gary Harris, Cory Joseph, and Trevelin Queen a ton of minutes last year when Jalen Suggs went down.

First Round Losers

We won't punish any teams that didn't have first-round picks last night. When the evening started, there were nine teams without a pick (CLE, DEN, DET, GSW, HOU, LAL, MIL, NYK, and SAC) but the Kings ended up trading a future first-rounder to the Thunder for Nique Clifford at pick number 24 (a move that I like a lot).

New Orleans Pelicans

I'm not sure what the Pelicans' plans were going into this draft. They made a big trade just a few days ago, acquiring Jordan Poole from the Wizards for CJ McCollum, so their starting backcourt is set with Dejounte Murray and Poole. They also bring back Trey Murphy III and Zion Williamson at the three and four. They needed a big man, and all of the top big man prospects were still on the board after the first six picks.

Then they took point guard Jeremiah Fears. I don't care how much Stephen A. Smith ranted about how he loves Fears; there are still a lot of questions surrounding him and how his game will transition to the NBA. I wonder if they were caught off guard that he was available, but I still think they should have gone with someone like Duke's Khaman Maluach.

So then they panicked and traded up from 23rd to 13th with Atlanta so they could land Derik Queen from Maryland. I think Queen is fine, but he's an undersized center who is more of an offensive player than a defender, and they already have that type of player at PF with Williamson. That move cost them a future first-round pick, which just seemed unnecessary for a rebuilding team to give up.

Utah Jazz

They did it. They took Ace Bailey with the fifth pick, even though Bailey doesn't want to play there and was hoping to end up in Washington, New Orleans, or Brooklyn.

I know many are very high on Bailey, but I am not among them. He has an NBA body and some fun highlight tapes, but there are just too many red flags for me. He reportedly was not a hard worker, played very questionable defense, and was not someone who created for other teammates at Rutgers either.

Bailey was the ultimate boom-bust pick in this draft, and Utah had a chance to take Tre Johnson here - a player who would have been much safer.

Since the Jazz missed out on a point guard with their first pick, they moved up three spots later in the draft to take Walter Clayton Jr. out of Florida. I like Clayton as much as the next guy, but he went ahead of guys like Powell and Clifford, who have prototypical NBA builds and trajectories. Clayton now joins a crowded Jazz backcourt and was one of the smaller point guards in the draft.

Both guys could turn out to be stars, but Bailey's bust rate is substantial, and Clayton could very easily end up being a solid backup. Utah has been rebuilding for four years, and I think they continued to stub their toe in this draft.

Portland Trail Blazers

When I saw the Blazers had selected Cedric Coward, I was stoked for them because he is a player I am very high on and someone who could make an immediate impact for them on the wing. But then they traded him to Memphis (great fit for Coward there, replacing the departed Bane) for the rights to Yang Hansen?

The Chinese center was not mocked inside the first round anywhere and was ranked in the 30s or 40s in every expert's rankings, so what gives? Oh, and the Trail Blazers already drafted a center last season when they took Donovan Clingan, and they already have Deandre Ayton as their starter. Perhaps Ayton is going to be traded away, but I still don't understand why they are so enamored with Yang.

Fantasy Basketball Fits: Potential Impact Players

Here we go with a few quick hitters on which first-round picks have the quickest paths to fantasy viability.

Cooper Flagg - Dallas

Flagg can do a little of everything, and I'd be surprised if he's not in the opening day starting lineup. His game should fit nicely for 9-cat as he has no real major weakness to drag him down.

📸🏀@Cooper_Flagg pic.twitter.com/I3Z28arPyv

— NBA (@NBA) June 25, 2025

Kon Knueppel - Charlotte

As I mentioned earlier, I think he can slot right into the starting SG role. He can provide points and threes with solid percentages, and I think his ability to contribute assists, too, may surprise some people.

Tre Johnson - Washington

The backcourt is going to be a bit of a logjam with Bub Carrington and CJ McCollum, but Johnson's talent should win out eventually. If nothing else, the Wizards are likely to stink again this year and give Johnson big minutes down the stretch while they tank.

Khaman Malauch - Phoenix

The Suns also traded for Williams, which means Maluach would start out as his backup. But Williams has yet to stay healthy for a full season, and I think his lack of durability is ultimately why Charlotte tried to move him last year (to the Lakers) and finally pulled the trigger this offseason.

Malauch could be a major asset in boards and blocks if he ends up starting at some point. Nick Richards is still there, too, but you'd have to think the Suns want to get Malauch on the court at some point.

Cedric Coward - Memphis

I mentioned earlier that I loved this move for Memphis. I had them mocked to get Clifford, but Coward is the same type of player and a guy who could fit nicely on the wing alongside Ja Morant. His long arms help him create steals in the passing lanes, and he should be a plus rebounder at his position.

Nique Clifford - Sacramento

Clifford is one of the older prospects taken in the first round, and that experience should help him make a pretty quick transition to the NBA. The Kings could really use his toughness on the wing. I think he will be in the rotation right out of the gate and battling for minutes.

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