NBA mock draft 2025: First-round picture shaping up after Cooper Flagg

The 2025 NBA Draft class is beginning to take shape as the ghosts of multimadness are approaching. This class is particularly heavy for college athletes. This was a good pace change from the last two drafts the international star made on the first pick, and the lottery was filled with prospects for emerging ventures such as the overtime elite and G-League Igneat.

The Duke Freshman Phenomee Cooper Flag is a big prize awaiting a lucky winner in the lottery. Near Top-5 there is an elite class of prospects that are shaped behind Flag, forming something. Rutgers Freshmanstar Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper, Baylor Guard VJ Edge.com, and fellow Blue Devils freshman Kaman Maruaha are names to watch after Flag leaves the board.

Previous mock drafts featured miniscout reports on top 30 prospects. This time, the entire mock draft is in table format, followed by some analysis of the biggest swing factors of this class. Let's get into it.

Dive into some of the most interesting players in this class.

VJ Edgecombe's explosiveness helps overcome his small frame

VJ Edgecombe will be one of the best run-and-jump athletes in the NBA from the moment he drafted. He will also be the smallest player on the floor in many games in his professional career.

The freshman security guards had summer success on the Bahamas national team (along with veterans DeAndre Ayton, Buddy Heald and Eric Gordon) and played a starring role in Baylor. Edgecombe leverages his elite's explosiveness for two-way shocks, but after measuring 6'3 (barefoot) at the Hoops Summit, he is skeptical of his top-five draft status.

Let's start with the good ones. When assessing security guards' prospects, I want to see what they can get easy It contrasts with something like tough shotmaking. Edgecombe passes its test with flying colors. He can beat the majority of defenders to his spot with elite speed and acceleration, and can actively attack the basket by exploding from the ground from one foot. Edgecombe's hangtime and ability to square themselves into the rim and finish through contact is a unique skill in this class. His athletic tools are equally impressive on the defensive side, with him posting monster 3.8 steel rates and 2.7 block rates so far. He can follow the path of a small but ferocious defensive guard like Gary Payton II, giving clear positive value to both ends of the floor.

If Edgecombe were 6'6 with long arms, he would be a No. 2 pick front runner. Unfortunately, he is pretty small for NBA players, especially those who are the best players to play ball now. Edgecombe looks like a solid shooter so far, hitting 36.4% of its first 118 attempts from the three innings. If someone creates advantages for him, he can hit the turbo and is blown away by defense. He is still going to target defensive targets due to his size, despite his high motor and elite athletic characteristics.

Currently, Edgecombe does not have the handle, decision-making chops, or pull-up shooting ability that requires high on-ball usage at the NBA level. If they develop, he has a path to own one of the highest ceilings in this class. He should still be a solid NBA player, provided his spot-up 3 continues to fall. For now, I consider Edgecomb as an obvious top five talent with the chance to become a guard for the main winner Oladipo type with proper development. New Orleans, Charlotte and Toronto feel particularly suited to him.

Khaman Maluach is too big to fail

When Khaman Maluach raises his arm over his head, he can actually touch the rim. The Duke Freshman Center boasts an incredible 9'8 standing reach. The size of the Maluach gives an elite physical profile of 7'2, 250 pounds, with a 7'5 Wingspan being reported.

Mallach has easily translated into the league as a major who plays drop coverage on attacks and can finish lobs on rims on attacks, but his game may be far deeper than that. Mallach shows impressive ground coverage that can make him easier to switch over at the next level, and even if Duke doesn't want to do that on him, he's not embarrassed to shoot Three. The shooting and switching will be upside down in Mallach's next stratosphere, but he can succeed through traditional big-name means, even if he only has modest developments in those fields. Mallach has already claimed himself as a catastrophic roll threat, embracing 73.5% true shooting and 52 dunks in 26 games, despite playing only half the time available for Duke. If you throw it high at Mallach, he will probably finish at two points.

Mallach's defense is affected to some extent due to his size, but he remains a little rough around its edges. The Duke freshman didn't immediately get off the ground as a leaper, obstructing his shot blocks and rebounds. Mallach's positioning remains an ongoing work, but it could be cleaned with more experience. The biggest negative in his game is his lack of playmaking offensively. He often plays three of four games at a time before recording an assist. His hands look unstable at this point, but this feels like something that can be moderately improved with experience.

Due to his outlier size, excellent rim finish and defensive potential, I am buying Mallach as a top five prospect in this class. The smart NBA team encourages him as a shooter and unleashes him as a boundary defender with more usefulness than traditional drop big names. Toronto, Brooklyn, Charlotte (if they're really out on the Mark Williams experience), and Chicago feel like a good landing spot for the lottery.

Kasparas jakucionis' limitations complicate his draft stock

Kasparas jakucionis was a highly anticipated point guard for Lithuania when he promised to play for Illinois in the summer, and after a strong start with Illini, he blossomed into a perhaps top-10 pick. Jakucionis has a best-in-class passing vision and a deadly stepback jumper to the left, but his departure issues and movement limitations pose a major problem for NBA evaluators.

There are many things I like about Jakucionis games. Listed in 6'6 (I think he's a bit short), the freshman security guard has put together an impressive combination of scoring efficiency and playmaking with an assist rate of 27.2% and true shooting so far of 61.1%. Jakucionis always wants to reach Stepback 3. This is the type of shot that will expand well into the league if you can continue to hit consistently.

However, turnover is a problem. His 21.9% turnover rate is an astronomical figure, because he often can't get himself, as he can't become what he can't get out due to high-end speeds or lack of handling. For years, you can find other security leads with high turnover (Jrue Holiday, John Wall and Anthony Black each exceeded 20%). Players like Jalen Brunson – perhaps an overly optimal upside comparison for KJ – have shown that turnover rates can be ulled over time. Villanova.

As winning games owned in the NBA becomes more and more important, teams don't want young security guards groping for the ball everywhere. I think Jakucionis can clean up this to some degree, but he will always be a sub-average run-and-jump athlete as an NBA guard. At this point, Illini freshmen look much more comfortable from the dribbling than their catch. He has painted fouls at an impressive level all year round, but it's easy to wonder how it translates against more athletic professional competition. The more Jakucionis sees him, the lower I find myself, but here's a path to being a solid NBA starter.

Jace Richardson needs a few minutes

It took Tom Izzo until the second week of February to make Jace Richardson his best player come true. The freshman security guards did not play for more than 25 minutes or start for the first time until February 8th.

The son of MSU legend Jason Richardson lacks his father's size and nuclear bounce, but makes up for it with a smart, shot-making touch. Richardson has shot 40% from three in his first 65 attempts of the season, with a 65.3% real shooting epic. His box score plus/minus is at the top 25 levels in America According to Bart Torvikand he did an incredible job limiting turnovers.

Richardson is not too big at 6'3, 180 pounds, and is not overwhelmingly explosive. His best role at the next level may be as an off-ball guard who can stroke it from the deep ara Six Rookie Jared McCain. The freshman security guard showed off some impressive body controls in the air, and he There are certainly some amazing genestherefore, as he gets older, he may have more athletic benefits. Even without the great tools, Richardson is really good at basketball and is worth considering in this class of lottery.

Before the NCAA Tournament, we'll be back with another mock draft, looking at potential prospects who could rise up during the insanity of March.