2025 NBA Draft Winners and Losers

NBA DraftNBA DraftFrom the Pelicans going full Joe Dumars to the Nets’ wild hoarding spree, we analyze the most interesting picks and trades from the first round

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By Danny ChauJune 26, 12:40 pm UTC • 9 min

Is the act of declaring winners and losers of an NBA draft a completely futile endeavor that reinforces a paradigm of instant gratification? Absolutely. But it’s also very fun to assign value to such hurried thoughts! One of the best parts of the draft is that sense of certainty in the moment—the crushing disappointment from a reach, the elation of seeing a top-10 prospect fall into your team’s lap—and how those intense feelings evolve over time to make you look like a genius or the biggest idiot on the planet. It’s all a part of the journey.

With that in mind, let’s look at some of the biggest winners and losers from the first round of the 2025 NBA draft. (Check out J. Kyle Mann’s Round 1 grades for pick-by-pick analysis.)

Is there a Portuguese word for mourning a future that can no longer exist because you’ve already destroyed the seeds of possibility? If there is, I can say with confidence that Pelicans executive vice president of basketball operations Joe Dumars and GM Troy Weaver aren’t familiar with it. Never mind the picks made Wednesday night—the most stunning development was news of the certain pick that was given away.

The Pelicans moved up 10 spots in the first round, trading the no. 23 pick to the Atlanta Hawks in exchange for the no. 13 selection, by including a 2026 unprotected first-round pick that will either be conveyed by the Pelicans or Milwaukee Bucks—whichever team has the more favorable pick. As a reminder, New Orleans won a measly 21 games last year; traded for the polarizing talents of Jordan Poole (whose Wizards won 18 and 15 games in his two seasons with the team) earlier this week; will soon have multiple projected starters coming back from season-ending injuries; and now has selected two rookies, Jeremiah Fears (no. 7) and Derik Queen (no. 13), in the lottery who need a ton of reps and a long runway to make good on their potential. They are building for the long term but made an extremely shortsighted bet on the present. In other words, that 2026 first could be a hell of a pick.

More on the 2025 NBA Draft

(Two months ago, the Atlanta Falcons made a similar bet, trading into the back end of the first round of the 2025 NFL draft by giving up their 2026 first-rounder to the Los Angeles Rams, in a move that similarly places an immense amount of pressure on the team to win immediately with a roster that isn’t a certain playoff contender. Extremely bold strategy, fellas!)

While it seems we say this about every draft, the 2026 class is shaping up to be rich in elite talent and depth. This trade is a massive bet on Derik Queen, who was taken with the 13th pick. Queen was seventh on my personal big board, so this takes away nothing from Queen as a player and prospect. There are few players in the draft who can match his potential as a mismatch beater on offense, with his remarkable ballhandling, passing creativity, and scoring touch for his size. In a vacuum, the Pelicans planted their flag on one of the best pure talents in the draft. But the draft isn’t a vacuum, it’s a symposium of perceived value. The Pelicans made a massive, potentially franchise-crippling bet in which the only real ways that they can “win” the trade is if Queen is a surefire star, or they are much better than the projections make them out to be. The pressure is on.

“The long nights… I lived off a generator for 7 years. I didn’t have electricity – I lived off a generator for 7 years. To see what she had to go through just to feed us? Crazy.”

VJ Edgecombe is impossible to dislike & will become a fan favorite in Philly very soon… pic.twitter.com/6x2xZeXsjA

— Josh Reynolds (@JoshReynolds24) June 26, 2025

After a season from hell, the Philadelphia 76ers were sent manna from heaven after lucking into the no. 3 pick. And after all the dust had settled and all the exploratory phone calls were made, Philly got its guy. There might not be a more ideal fit for the Sixers both in the short term and in the long term. Assuming health for the Philly core (wild thought, I know), Edgecombe is in the perfect place to develop his creation skills gradually as he makes his name on defense right out of the gate. Edgecombe is a breathtaking athlete who is one of the most disruptive defensive playmakers in the draft, with outrageous steal and block rates for a player of his size. He combines hang-glider aerial talent with cannonball violence and velocity. Alex Caruso will be the blueprint to start, but there are pathways to true two-way stardom if he’s given time and reps.

You can’t always get what you want …

Predraft reports suggested that Ace Bailey and his management were trying to maneuver themselves to one of three preferred destinations: Washington, New Orleans, or Brooklyn. Just three days ago, Bailey declined to work out for the Utah Jazz, according to ESPN’s Jonathan Givony. And with a whole lot of chalky picks from no. 1 to no. 4, it seemed like Bailey might have gotten away with it. But Ace must have thought he was intimidating some other nepo baby executive. He must not have been familiar with Austin Ainge’s game. With the fifth pick, the new Jazz president of basketball operations Tommy Lee Jones’d the kid.

And honestly, as far as teams with infrastructure, commitment, and wide-open spaces go, Utah’s probably an ideal landing spot, whether Bailey realizes it or not. A win for both parties. (I love a red herring.) The Jazz have been searching for a true star wing since Gordon Hayward’s departure damn near a decade ago. Bailey might be the most talented player they’ve drafted in more than a decade, a long-levered contested-shot magician who has the frame and the requisite athleticism to become the kind of modern two-way star the team has hoped for years to find.

… You get what you need.

Not to twist the knife too much regarding the Pelicans’ draft-night trade, but between sending Dyson Daniels away last summer and relinquishing a future unprotected 2026 first without just cause, the Pelicans should probably stop dealing with the Hawks, who have had an extremely interesting past two days. After buying low on Kristaps Porzingis on Tuesday, the Hawks selected Georgia big man Asa Newell with the no. 23 pick—a player that the team was reportedly considering at no. 13 before pulling the trigger on a trade-down.

In the span of 24 hours, Atlanta’s frontcourt rotation has undergone a massive facelift, adding new dimensions in preparation for Clint Capela’s departure. Porzingis, health permitting, gives Trae Young one of the rarest archetypes in the league: a floor-spacing rim protector. In Newell, the Hawks are getting an indefatigable big with switchability on defense and arguably the best offensive rebounding instincts in the draft. Young was one of the more underrated players in the league this past season; now surrounded by the best defensive talent Atlanta has seen in years, the Hawks could make an unexpected run in a suddenly wide-open Eastern Conference.

Seemingly in one fell swoop, the Phoenix Suns traded for Hornets center Mark Williams, a gargantuan center from Duke with a staggering 9-foot-9 standing reach, and then used the no. 10 pick to draft Khaman Maluach, a gargantuan center from Duke with a staggering 9-foot-8 standing reach. It appears that new Suns general manager Brian Gregory might have a type.

Not to be outdone, the Portland Trail Blazers traded down from no. 11 to draft Yang Hansen at no. 16 (and picked up a 2028 first-rounder and two second-rounders for their troubles). It was hands down the most shocking pick of the night; shades of Georgios Papagiannis going 13th back in 2016. Yang joins a crowded Blazers rotation that includes Deandre Ayton, last year’s no. 7 overall pick, Donovan Clingan, and Robert Williams III. Did the Blazers just pull off a Rube Goldberg trade for a fourth-stringer, or is this actually interdimensional chess?

Oh, it’s interdimensional chess, baby.

The Nets really just drafted five players in the first round. And they’re going to keep all of them!? That is unprecedented. No team in NBA history has ever had possession of five first-round picks in a single draft; before Wednesday night, the most any team has ever had was four, and the most first-rounders a team has ever drafted and kept was three.

This is a franchise where first-round picks under their control have been impossibly hard to come by. Then, on Wednesday, they had five of them. That’s as many first-rounders as the team has drafted in the past eight seasons combined—dating back to their Jarrett Allen pick in 2017. (And Allen has been a Cavalier for five years!)

The Nets are clearly all in on the talent and team-building charisma of head coach Jordi Fernandez, who is renowned for his player development skills. The Nets’ clear focus is on creativity and playmaking in all shapes and sizes, across all positions. Egor Demin (no. 8), Nolan Traore (no. 19), Ben Saraf (no. 26), and Danny Wolf (no. 27) are all FIBA junior circuit legends who’ve been projected to go in the lottery at some point during this past season. (Drake Powell—no. 22—bucks the trend to some degree. He’s more of a garden-variety 3-and-D athlete, although that’s also one of Brooklyn’s preferred developmental archetypes.)

The strategy is clear, if a bit unimaginative: There have to be at least a couple of darts in the lot that’ll stick. The Nets have consistently mortgaged their future in a desperate hunt for win-now glory, but they were finally in a position to take the scenic route. Still, there wasn’t any compelling offer that could have tempted them to consolidate all those picks?

This is in praise of the teams that simply let the board dictate their actions and landed on some ideal situations:

The Spurs head into Round 2 with both Dylan Harper (a crafty, off-tempo big guard who would be in consideration for no. 1 pick in most drafts) and Carter Bryant (a lab-created 3-and-D athlete with a strong feel for the game on both ends of the floor), giving this organization precisely the optionality it needs to fully flesh out the blueprint around Victor Wembanyama.
The Thunder stay winning, landing Thomas Sorber at no. 15. OKC has long been in need of some beef in the front line, and Sorber could be a plausible replacement for Isaiah Hartenstein down the road as a screener, physical rebounder, and high-feel playmaker at center.
The Heat landed Kasparas Jakucionis at no. 20, which could be one of the steals of the draft. There are legitimate concerns about his ability to get a step on defenders, but he is as imaginative as it gets as a passer, and there’s a chance that he’ll find more success as a shooter given NBA spacing.

Might this be the end of an era for the Magic? After years and years of drafting tall athletes with arms that go down to their shins, the franchise has seemingly reached an epiphany this offseason: Maybe the biggest inefficiency within the Magic’s own philosophy is the fact that they’ve prioritized prospects capable of blocking out the sun over players with skills that fill their needs.

To wit: The Magic’s massive trade for Desmond Bane felt momentous. Not because of the four first-round picks exchanged in the trade, but because Bane’s wingspan is famously shorter than his height. And on Wednesday, the Magic drafted the shortest player in the first round—and it was one of the highest-value plays of the night.

Jase Richardson, the son of former slam dunk contest champion Jason Richardson, measured in at just 6 feet at the combine. Although I suppose some old habits do die hard, as Jase’s impressive 6-foot-6 wingspan compensates for his stature. Richardson is a perfect fit among the trees in Orlando. He’s a smart and incisive off-ball mover who knows how to manipulate defenses with the pace and decisiveness of his cuts, which, combined with his excellent catch-and-shoot ability, makes him an ideal release valve for Orlando’s two jumbo star initiators, Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner. Orlando’s spent years trying to sock dingers in the first round, and Richardson is more of a conservative swing—one that could make all the difference if his plug-and-play efficiency scales up to the big leagues.

So Duke now has two different draft classes wherein three players were drafted in the top 10. Cooper Flagg (no. 1), Kon Knueppel (no. 4), and Khaman Maluach (no. 10) of the 2025 class now share the distinction with Zion Williamson (no. 1), R.J. Barrett (no. 3), and Cam Reddish (no. 10) of the 2019 class.

Meanwhile, the nation of France is yawning. Get back to us when you can claim three players in the top six, like we did last year.