2025 NBA Draft live blog: V.J. Edgecombe joins Cooper Flagg, Dylan Harper in top 3

V.J. Edgecombe joined consensus top picks Cooper Flagg and Dylan Harper in the top three of the 2025 NBA Draft, each joining relatively established rosters considering the draft slotting.

The Phoenix Suns had an eventful first round, landing one Duke center in Khaman Maluach at No. 10 via the Houston Rockets before trading for another in Charlotte Hornets’ Mark Williams, dealing their No. 29 pick and more draft capital in the process.

This year’s draft is the second iteration of the first and second rounds being split across two days, and the Suns hold the Nos. 52 and 59 picks on Thursday.

2025 NBA Draft full order

1. Dallas Mavericks — Cooper Flagg, Duke forward

The obvious top choice, Flagg is a rare level of prospect who can play any position on either end. He averaged 19.2 points (38.5% from 3), 7.5 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.4 blocks per game while dominating at Duke.

2. San Antonio Spurs — Dylan Harper, Rutgers guard

Harper made Rutgers go as a freshman, leading the team in scoring, assists and steals. He has great positional size at 6-foot-6 and 213.2 pounds and knows how to get to his spots in the paint or in the mid-range. Some are concerned about his fit with De’Aaron Fox and Stephon Castle in San Antonio, but his ability to play on or off the ball should help.

3. Philadelphia 76ers — V.J. Edgecombe, Baylor wing

Edgecombe might be the best athlete in the class, and he showed while playing for the Bahamas in Olympic Qualifying last summer how he can thrive with NBA spacing around him. He adds to a fun young core in Philadelphia that also includes Tyrese Maxey and Jared McCain.

4. Charlotte Hornets — Kon Knueppel, Duke wing

Likely the best shooting prospect in the draft, the 6-foot-7 Knueppel shot a blistering 40.6% from 3 and added a steal per game with defensive tenacity that can’t go overlooked. He also has to be respected as a driver against a tilted defense, which Charlotte can manufacture with on-ball creators LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller.

5. Utah Jazz — Ace Bailey, Rutgers forward

Bailey’s pre-draft process was odd at the very least, electing to not work out for a single team and canceling the visits that were set. He was the only Rutgers player to average double-digit scoring (17.6 points) besides Harper and should give Utah some much-needed scoring punch. He was 99th percentile in isolation scoring as a freshman.

6. Washington Wizards — Tre Johnson, Texas guard

One of the best shot creators and makers in the class, Johnson was the leading scorer (19.9 points per game) in the SEC, the nation’s best conference in 2024-25. He hit on 39.7% of his 6.8 3s per game but can stand to improve as a playmaker with 2.7 assists per game. However, scoring is how he’ll make his money in the league.

7. New Orleans Pelicans — Jeremiah Fears, Oklahoma point guard

Fears will provide some perimeter scoring punch the Pelicans lost when they traded CJ McCollum to the Wizards. Jordan Poole came back in that deal, but Fears is much more of a prospect New Orleans would have long-term interest in.

8. Brooklyn Nets — Egor Demin, BYU point guard

The first surprise pick in the draft, Demin is a 6-foot-10 point guard that might be the best passer in the draft (5.5 assists per game). His 3-point shot has a ways to go (27.3% on 4.7 attempts per game), but his head coach and former Suns assistant Kevin Young has said Demin has the third-most upside in the class behind Flagg and Harper.

9. Toronto Raptors — Collin Murray-Boyles, South Carolina forward/center

One of the most unique players in the class because of how he defends at 6-foot-8 and 239.2 pounds, Murray-Boyles also has some of the highest IQ on both ends for how he facilitates his team’s offense through passes and screens. He makes an interesting potential pairing with center Jakob Poeltl.

10. Houston Rockets (for Phoenix Suns) — Khaman Maluach, Duke center

Because the Kevin Durant deal can’t be completed until July 6, Maluach wore a Rockets hat on stage, but he’ll end up in Phoenix. He’s an overly intriguing prospect the Suns didn’t expect to be on the board at No. 10 because of his frame: 7-foot, 3/4 inches without shoes with a 7-foot, 6.75-inch wingspan and 9-foot-6 standing reach.

11. Portland Trail Blazers (for Memphis Grizzlies) — Cedric Coward, Washington State forward

Coward is in a class of his own as a prospect who rose up from Division 3 to Eastern Washington to six games at Washington State before his season was derailed due to injury. Nonetheless, he intrigued NBA teams due to his frame at 6-foot-7, 213 pounds with a 7-foot-2.25 wingspan while shooting 40% on five 3s per game.

12. Chicago Bulls — Noa Essengue, French forward

Many viewed it as a red flag when Essengue departed his German team while it was in a championship run so he could be at draft events, but he’s been firmly on NBA boards with the strength of a 20-point preseason performance against the Trail Blazers giving him an advantage no one else in the class had.

13. Atlanta Hawks (for New Orleans Pelicans) — Derik Queen, Maryland forward/center

Queen is an especially intriguing fit next to Zion Williamson because of how much skill he offers at 6-foot-11, 247.8 pounds with a 7-foot-0.5 wingspan. He has slimmed down in a major way from when he first appeared on the major high school stage at Montverde, and it is yet to be seen if his NBA club will ask him to continue doing so.

14. San Antonio Spurs — Carter Bryant, Arizona wing

Bryant is a ready-made role player with potential upside beneath, so he should fit in well with a core that’s ready to contend and includes Victor Wembanyama, Fox, Castle and now Harper.

15. Oklahoma City Thunder — Thomas Sorber, Georgetown center

Sorber lucks out as far as prospects picked in the top 15, because he lands with a team coming off a championship that has room for a rotation center in the near future. Isaiah Hartenstein has one more year of $28.5 million before a club option.

16. Memphis Grizzlies (for Portland Trail Blazers) — Yang Hansen, Chinese center

Measuring in at 7-foot-1 barefoot with a 7-foot-2.75 wingspan at 252.6 pounds, Hansen averaged 16.6 points, 10.5 rebounds and 2.6 blocks in his second year in the Chinese league, where stats can be exaggerated. He lands with the franchise closest to his native China in Portland.

17. Minnesota Timberwolves — Joan Beringer, French center

Minnesota elected to pair Beringer, a French center, with Rudy Gobert, the greatest French center in the country’s history. He doesn’t have quite the same frame at 7-foot, 234.8 pounds with a 7-foot-4.5 wingspan, but it’s not far behind. Beringer also has better movement skills that could see him develop into similar impact.

18. Washington Wizards (for Utah Jazz) — Walter Clayton Jr., Florida guard

The star of the NCAA Tournament, Clayton grew his stock with a ridiculous shotmaking run, averaging 22.3 points (43.5% on 7.7 3s) per game en route to a title win over Auburn. The Jazz find a point guard who can provide elite scoring in bunches.

19. Brooklyn Nets — Nolan Traore, French point guard

The Frenchman marked the second international point guard taken by Brooklyn in the top 20, coming after BYU and Russian guard Demin at No. 8.

20. Miami Heat — Kasparas Jakucionis, Illinois point guard

Another unique prospect because of how he can dice up defenses in pick-and-roll and pull up from anywhere, Jakucionis stands at 6-foot-6 and is among the smartest players in the class. He gives Miami something it didn’t previously have off the dribble.

21. Utah Jazz (for Washington Wizards) — Will Riley, Illinois wing

Riley gives the Wizards a potential star creator who can hit shots from anywhere, but the consistency is not yet there, which is why he fell out of the top 20. He began his college career with a 31-point outburst and hit the 20-point mark on five other occasions, only three of which he started.

22. Atlanta Hawks (for Brooklyn Nets) — Drake Powell, North Carolina wing

Powell came on toward the end of the season after spending much of the year as a reserve, and he has real upside as a 3-and-D wing. He carries a 7-foot wingspan along while measuring at 6-foot-7 and 200.4 pounds.

23. New Orleans Pelicans — Asa Newell, Georgia forward/center

Newell keeps with the frontcourt trend for New Orleans after it drafted Queen earlier in the first, and Newell is more of a traditional big than what Queen offers. He could feasibly stretch the floor eventually, but he shot 29.2% on 2.7 attempts as a freshman.

24. Oklahoma City Thunder (for Sacramento Kings) — Nique Clifford, Colorado State wing

Clifford is a perfect culture fit in Sacramento considering it already has defensive guards like Keon Ellis and Devin Carter. Clifford is bigger than both and has guarded up lineups as well, so he can continue that in Sacramento next to frontcourt players like Keegan Murray and Domantas Sabonis.

25. Orlando Magic — Jase Richardson, Michigan State guard

Concerns are there with Richardson’s size at 6-foot-2 and 178.4 pounds with a 6-foot-6 wingspan, but he forced his way into the Spartans’ starting lineup with how he produced and the toughness he brought to the floor. Over his last 15 games (all starts), he averaged 16.1 points on 42% 3-point shooting.

26. Brooklyn Nets — Ben Saraf, Israeli guard/wing

The 6-foot-5 Saraf has a lot of on-ball potential, averaging 4.6 assists to 2.5 turnovers in 16 EuroCup games this season, but his 3-point shooting lags far behind at 22.2% on 2.8 attempts per game.

27. Brooklyn Nets — Danny Wolf, Michigan forward/center

Wolf is a unicorn of sorts for how he runs the pick-and-roll at times as a 7-foot, 251.8-pound big pan. He averaged 3.6 assists per game but can stand to dial down the turnovers from 3.2 per game.

28. Boston Celtics — Hugo Gonzalez, Spanish guard

Gonzalez was once viewed as a potential lottery pick in this class, so in that sense, the Celtics may have found a steal. He has played in the elite Real Madrid system for a few seasons but never reached consistent playing time, capping out at 14.2 minutes per game in Spanish league play this season. He scored in double digits twice to end the season, doing so only one other time.

29. Phoenix Suns (for Charlotte Hornets) — Liam McNeeley, UConn wing

One of the better shooters in the class, McNeeley lands with Charlotte after a decent fall. The Hornets had the pick because of the Mark Williams trade Phoenix made earlier in the night.

30. Los Angeles Clippers — Yanic Konan Niederhauser, Penn State center

Niederhauser burst onto the scene due to how some advanced metrics favor his defense, as well as his performance at the G League Elite Camp and NBA Draft Combine. He’s above 7 feet with a 7-foot-3.25 wingspan and moves much more fluidly than the frame would suggest.

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