Updated 2025 NBA Mock Draft: Predictions for Every Lottery Team (Picks 1-14) | Analysis & Best Fits

Updated 2025 NBA Mock Draft: Predictions for Every Lottery Team (Picks 1-14) | Analysis & Best Fits

[Music] Welcome back into Spotlight. Yes, just seven days, one week away until the NBA draft lottery till you find out exactly where your team is going to be. Of course, that means it is a mock draft Monday. The most soughtafter player is Cooper Flag, who is pretty much minus a zillion to go number one overall. If you’re curious about odds, the Jazz, the Wizards, the Hornets, they are all tied with 14% to land that number one overall spot. After that is the Pelicans with 12.5% and the 76ers. Uh boy, what a season y’all had with 10 and a half percent. Let’s welcome in Adam Finglestein, Gary Parish. Uh faint, this is your mock draft. It was posted just a couple hours ago on cbsports.com. We’re going to go in order since we don’t know the order yet of the best chances to landing that number one overall spot. But first, I want to ask you guys this about Cooper Flag and Adam, I guess I’ll start with you. Where does he rank all time among draft picks? I mean, we’ve had so many phenomenal ones. Does he crack the top 10 for you? Uh, not yet. And and I’m going to be honest. I think like the curse of Cooper Flag has been to have to deal with such hyperbole over the course of the last few years. Uh, but to the kid’s credit, he’s handled it really well. Listen, he would have been the number one pick last year. Um, but if you look at the five years prior to that, we had Webby, we had Paulo, Cade Cunningham, Anthony Edwards. uh those are like four of the best players in the NBA just in the last five years. So that’s just elite company to be in from the very beginning. So before I think we start talking about him as one of the top 10 ever, we just got to kind of let him kind of wet the beak if you will and and get used to being in the class as some of those guys because as I said, they’re already the best of the best in the NBA right now. Yeah, I think got this right. Cooper Flag is obviously a terrific prospect and is barring a surprise going to be the number one overall pick in this draft. And so he’s on the list of of prospects who going into a draft have been a consensus number one overall selection. In other words, it doesn’t really rem matter which of the 30 franchises would be picking first. They almost certainly would pick him. Not every number one pick fits that description. Last season, Zachary Rishet, I don’t think fit that description. So, I’d put it somewhere like this. I I think on paper he’s a better number one pick than the one we had last season, but probably not as good as the one before that, which was Victor Women to the San Antonio Spurs. How good was Greg Odin supposed to be as a number one pick coming out of Ohio State. Terrific, right? You would have put him in the Hall of Fame, but injuries robbed us in and himself of being able to see what he actually could become. So, as always, we’ll see. But Cooper Flag, barring a surprise, is going to be the first player selected and then obviously he’ll be the face of a franchise and and be given the responsibility of trying to take it to a place that, you know, great players tend to take franchises. So, you talked about uh being the face of the franchise. Let’s go with the number one overall pick, which is the Jazz right now. Uh Adam, getting Cooper flag, and you mentioned in your article, this is what their rebuild was for over the past couple of years, to get that next star player. Can he be the face of this franchise? But and remember Utah was was pretty good. They had Donovan Mitchell. They had Rudy Goar. But Danny A arrived having previously run the front office in Boston where he built a a national champion. And then he gets to Utah and he says, “You know what? We’re not quite good enough. We are not championship caliber.” So he dished away those top assets, Donovan Mitchell, Rudy Gobear, and entered into this long rebuild. And not only have they not won a playoff series, they haven’t been to the playoffs. And I also don’t think that they’ve really gotten their alpha. They’ve had some solid draft picks. Walker Kesler, Isaiah Collier most recently. But Cooper Flag would be the reward at the end of the the path here. The guy that they were banking on getting three years ago because if all goes right, this could be one of the best players in the NBA. And even if it doesn’t go that right, he’s still going to be darn good because his floor is significantly higher than anyone else in this draft. He impacts the game on both ends of the floor. Utah would embrace him like crazy from day one. And if the shooting and the self-creation continues to grow this year like we saw it at Duke, then they really could have a bonafide star on their hand for the next 15 years. He’s going to be really good. I I don’t think there’s any evidence to suggest otherwise. Barring injuries or other things like that. This is going to be a highlevel NBA player. We’ve known that for years. The question becomes, and I I think it’s a reasonable question, is can he actually be the best player on a championship team, like the leading scoreer on a team that holds the trophy at the end of the playoffs some season? Some people absolutely believe so, but I think would back me up on this. When you talk to people who work in NBA front offices, not everybody is convinced of that. Nobody is comparing him to either one of these players, but think more Scotty Pippen than Michael Jordan. If you’re trying to win uh championships in an NBA franchise, he is more of a a box score stat stuffer than he is somebody who’s going to go out and consistently get you 25 points, certainly early in his career, I would assume. But just like he impacted winning in a variety of ways at Duke, he will be able to impact winning in a variety of ways in the NBA. And I suspect you’re going to see that very early in his career. A lot of pressure on Cooper Flag. We’ll see if he can live up to those expectations, but he has done so so far. Let’s go to the Wizards coming in at number two. Uh and and Adam, not only is this your pick, this is also Kyle Boon. Gary, I just checked out your latest mock draft. You also have Dylan Harper from Ruters. Uh is he a lock, Gary, at number two since we’re seeing his name so much here? I don’t think he’s a lock, but I think he’s the most likely person to be selected first after Cooper Flag is is removed from the board. He’s a a jumbo point guard who uh was really good in his one season at Ruckers, even if Ruckers wasn’t very good in his one season at Ruckers. And I know some people get caught up in that. Like, if this guy is so special, why couldn’t he impact winning in a more obvious way? Fair question, I guess. But, you know, Anthony Edwards didn’t win in college either, and that didn’t seem to hurt his NBA career in any way whatsoever. He was the number one pick in a draft and now looks like one of the best young players in the world is in the Western Conference semi-finals as the face of a franchise. So, that’s one example where you don’t have to get too caught up on the losing, although the losing was um you know, if we were doing pros and cons, you put it in the cons. But to answer your question directly, I don’t think he’s alive, but I do think he’s probably going to be the second player selected. And make no mistake about it, this would be an absolute home run for Washington. And listen, everybody wants Cooper Flag. And of course, Washington would be disappointed if they don’t get him. Everybody will, but when you look at Washington’s roster and the young assets they’ve been able to draft or acquire in the last year or two, the gaping hole right now is at the point guard position. and Dylan Harper would give them their point guard for again the next decade, decade and a half. Uh he’s that good. He’s that talented. He’s a jumbo lead guard just as GP said. He’s got strength. He’s got length. He’s got size. He’s got feel. The the questions with Dylan are the consistency of the shooting. It’s an area we saw some strides in early in the year and then kind of reverted back to what we saw in high school. And then the second thing, quite frankly, is just the durability. He was banged up a lot in high school. always played but banged up and then obviously he missed quite a bit of time this season. But to his credit, there were questions about whether or not he would shut it down after he got that injury after, you know, he was playing some of the best basketball of anyone in the country in late November and December. He got hurt and everyone said, “Okay, he’s done what he needs to do. He’s probably going to shut it down now.” He did not shut it down. So, I think the competitive character of Dylan Harper is also something I like. And as I said, if you can’t get Cooper flag for Washington, Dylan Harper would be pretty darn close to perfect. I was just looking up because of course Chicago Bulls fans would love to be around this area. They have a 1.7% chance of getting the number one overall pick, but hey, maybe you can land somewhere around here at two. Let’s go to the Hornets at three. Another Ruters player. Uh you have them taking Ace Bailey. But Adam, you mentioned it’s going to be interesting for the Hornets in this position. Do they go for fit or the best player available? Yeah, I I don’t love the fit. next to Brandon Miller here. But I I’ve got to be honest, Amanda, everybody is kind of starting to sell their Ace Bailey stock. There’s all kinds of questions about his impact on winning, how ready he is, does he have bust potential? And let me be very clear, I am not selling my Ace Bailey stock. Not when you’re talking about a guy who’s a 6’9 jumbo wing, extreme athlete, and tough shotmaker. Does he still need to smooth out areas of his game and still learn to play a little bit to be quite candid? Yes, he does. But the upside in him is absolutely undeniable. And so I I think I I would put it to you this way. You remember Kevin Willard had that quote about Derek Queen about, “Hey, if this guy played abroad, what would people be saying about him?” Well, here’s my thing about Ace Bailey. If we were talking about a 6’9 jumbo wing tough shotmaker who played in Greece and whose win- loss record we weren’t able to pick apart at Ruters, what would we be saying about him? we’d be saying he’s a lock top three pick and that’s still where I have him although I think uh most people are a little bit more leerary of Ace Bailey than I am at this point. I can be a little skeptical uh of Ace Bailey as a long-term prospect just because there are obvious questions there. But Amanda to to answer your initial question, I wouldn’t worry about fit at all here. I I rarely would worry about fit in the top three of a draft. I’m trying to to knock a a home run here and and get the best prospect available. And if it happens to overlap with Brandon Miller, well then we just got a Brandon Miller problem. But we’re not going to pass on somebody we believe is the best prospect available if we genuinely believe it is Ace Bailey. Like Fin said, he’s 6’10 and I genuinely believe if every player in this draft became the best version we could imagine of them becoming. Now we’re in a conversation about do you consider Ace Bailey even over Cooper Flag because the upside potential stuff is off the charts. 610 can shot create, can shot make, but people do wonder, you know, how does he impact winning? Does he do much more than score? Can he do much more than score? Does he even want to do much more than score? So, there are some stuff to work out, a lot of things to develop, but if you’re just looking for raw material to try to mold into an elite all-star level basketball player, there’s a lot of stuff to like with Ace Bailey. All right, maybe take a big swing, get a big home run with him. Uh, maybe not. Guys, thanks for just getting started with our latest NBA lottery month draft. Adam Finglestein’s coming up. The Pelicans are on the clock and you know, Zion Williamson was supposed to be the answer when he went number one overall. six years ago. They are desperate for building blocks. Can they find it in this draft? We’ll tell you who they take coming up. Welcome back into Spotlight here on your Monday mock draft Monday. Going through the NBA uh lottery picks, which by the way, those lottery picks are going to be one week from today. We pick it up with the Pelicans at number four. Guys, Zion was supposed to be the answer for this team. Uh, not only has he been riddled with injuries, his team has been riddled with injuries. There are way more questions than answers. Adam, who do you think would be a good fit for the Pelicans at four? Well, what I think the Pelicans need more than anything else is a culture reset. Obviously, Joe Dumar is now in to run the front office. Uh, they they made a a big trade right before he got there. Is he or is he not going to continue to build around Zion Williamson, which really comes down to a referendum on whether or not they think he can ever stay healthy? VJ Edgecom, according to everybody who’s ever been around him, is a elite competitor and an elite teammate, and that’s exactly what this franchise needs. He’s also probably the best athlete in the draft. He’s got a ton of defensive upside, although I don’t know that he is quite as polished on that end of the floor as as some may say right now as particularly off the ball. Then offensively, this is a guy who was more of a wing in high school, but really started to develop into more of a guard this year at Baylor. We saw progression of his ball handling, of his shooting, so he’s trending in the right direction. Listen, I don’t think he’s a finished product, but I think everything that VJ Edgecom is about is exactly what this franchise needs at this crossroads for them. There’s obviously all of that stuff and then the athleticism is is top tier and that is remains. You know, the the game can change a million different ways and it often does, but athleticism is always among the most important things in the NBA and VJ Edge uh would bring that from day one. He most notably put Mark Fuse on a sun on a poster in the season opener and it was mostly nothing but good stuff after that. Uh the three-point shooting needs to improve some, but there’s a long list of men who have entered the NBA, particularly at a young age, as a questionable three-point shooter, but then develop that skill over time. Obviously, if you’re going to use a pick this high on him, you are betting on that becoming his reality. And as long as it does, the other stuff is in place. We find the 76ers with the fifth overall pick in this mock draft. Uh this is a team I went back that had not had a losing season in nearly 10 years. They won less than 30% of their games this year. It’s interesting you’re you’re going at him with Trey Johnson out of Texas. Kyle Boon has him a little bit lower. Gary had him going number three overall. Adam, should he be a top five pick? Yeah, I think he should be and I I think his range is probably about 3 to six, three to seven. So, I think it’s appropriate that we have a that range represented in our our three different mock drafts. The thing you need to know about Trey Johnson, and this guy is a prolific shotmaker and a prolific bucket getter, and he’s been that since he was a freshman in high school, known for his scoring prowess throughout his high school career, came to Texas. And the question that everyone had, myself included, is how efficient can he be? We knew he was going to be the focal point for Rodney Terry’s offense. And quite frankly, we thought that was a lot to ask a freshman in what has become a 22 and 23 year old’s college game. But Trey Johnson responded. He put up 20 points per game and he did it with far greater efficiency than anyone could have anticipated. He also made strides as a passer and remember he’s got NBA size for a two guard at just about 66 with shoes on. So listen, I think he’s played his way into contention to be a top three pick. I’m on record as saying Ace Bailey is my guy, but there’s a reason why I went with Trey Johnson in the top five because you just don’t find bucket getters like this too often. I wouldn’t have had him this high a year ago, but he exceeded all expectations in his one year in Austin. You know, he shot roughly 40% from three on nearly seven attempts per game. And like Fininsk said, averaging 20 points per game on the season, got even better as the season progressed was around 22% in the final 10 games of the season. So, he didn’t put together the classic 50 40 90 season that people hold up as the gold standard for a score, but it was pretty close to that. Around 43, 44% from the field, around 40% from three, close to 90% from the free throw line. I would have him as a top three pick and feel very good about it. He answered a lot of questions for me in this one year at Texas. Gary, very high on him. Uh, the Texas Longhorn, Trey Johnson. We find the Nets on the clock at six here. We have a couple Duke players that are still on the board here and Adam has been taking Duke standout Conupell. Uh Gary, do you think he is worthy of being the second Duke player to go in the lottery? Absolutely. I think he will be the second Duke player to go in the lottery and worthy of of going this high. He was the robin to Cooper Flags Batman, if you will, and is labeled as a drop dead catch and shoot guy who is going to be able to shoot incredible percentages from beyond the arc. But anybody sort of putting him in a box and and labeling him as little more than a shooter is really missing the bigger picture on this guy. Yes, he is an incredible shooter, but he’s also a well-rounded basketball player. He can playmate. You can put him in pick and rolls. he can guard his position better than some might assume. It’s very easy to fall into stereotypes with a a guy with size who, you know, can catch the ball and knock down shots one after the other, but he’s a much more diverse player than that. And with shooting being as valuable as it is in the NBA these these days, and by valuable as ever, I mean like never before have front offices prioritized it as much as they do right now. This is a guy who should be a top 10 pick and I suspect that he will be. Yeah, I I’m a Khan Kapple, huge fan, card carrying member of the fan club. And the reason being is this is that I I think when it comes to floor and I know all these scouting terms people are going to get sick of me talking about and it’s only going to get worse over the course of the next, but his floor is very very high. And that means that the worst case scenario is him being a very functional NBA player for a long long time and probably an NBA starter for a long long time. He was listed at 68 at Duke this year. I think he’s gonna measure in at closer to 6’6. He makes fun of his own athleticism and for that I will love him forever. Uh but listen, the kid has an elite skill set and an elite feel for how to play. When Cooper Flag went out with that ankle injury in the ACC tournament, you saw Khan Canppel show that hey, I would have been capable of being the alpha for this team and still leading them to a championship. When Cooper Flag was on the floor, like Gary said, you saw him say, “You know what? If he’s Batman, I’m Robin and I’m pretty darn good at this, too.” And that is the value in Khan Canapple is the ability to play multiple roles because he’s got positional size, a whole lot of strength, really high skill level, specifically his shotmaking, and then a very high feel for the game. Adam, you use every term you want because you are an elite co-orker. You’re great in the locker room. You pump us all up. Your ceiling is very high. And that is exactly why we are going with your mock draft right now. Uh, six picks in. We got a ways to go here, guys. Hang on just a second. Speaking of Duke players, there’s still a very talented Duke player on the board. The Raptors, the Spurs, the Rockets, they are about to go on the clock. So, will they take him or find potentially a better fit for their team? We’ll keep things rolling here with our NBA lottery mock draft. Mockdraft Monday here on HQ Spotlight NBA lottery mockdraft. We pick it up with the Raptors at seven. So about halfway through. Uh and there is where we find Adam. We’re going with your mockdraft. The third Duke player going off the board. Come on. Malawatch 7276 wingspan. I mean it seems like any team would want this guy. Yeah, that’s big, right? I mean that’s even by NBA standards that’s big. And when you talk about Messiah Jiri who is the decision maker in Toronto, historically he has coveted two things. coveted length and athleticism. Now, when you look at the current iteration of this Raptors team, they are not high on either one of those. And yet, they are locked into a variety of fairly long-term contracts. So, this pick to me just makes sense. Even though I might have Malawatch a little lower on my personal board, I think the fit here is really important. I will also say this, 7’2 with a 7 foot6 wingspan and very mobile for his size. This is a guy who covers the court and moves very well. He is the ultimate lob threat as you can see on these highlights. Was Cooper Flags favorite target. Just throw it up there with Sean James. Here’s Cooper. Throw one on down. But I think the area where there’s still room for growth is actually with his shot blocking, believe it or not. And I know that’s hard to really wrap your head around given how big he is. And I think he will make those gains. And when he does, you’re talking about an archetype as this rim running, lob threat, shot blocking big man that is one of the easiest to translate to the NBA game. So, I think this would make a lot of sense for Toronto at seven to plug this hole. I don’t know that anybody projected to go in the top 10 had as subpar of a final impression, at least in terms of their college career, than Kamala. That zero rebound effort against Houston in the Final Four was obviously not ideal, but if you can get past that, and I understand that it’s hard, but if you can get past that, this young man otherwise had a really impressive freshman season and all the reasons you would be interested in him at this place of the draft are things that Fink has already said. 7 foot2, 76 wingspan, good athlete, moves his feet. like that alone is enough to put you on radars even if you can’t do some of the other stuff that he can already do. And so, sure, the shot blocking needs to improve. The rebounding needs to be more consistent. Is he ever going to be a a stretch the floor threat? I’m not sure. But as we’ve learned in the NBA, though it can be fun, the idea of playing small up until you run into Rudy Gobear and you’re the Lakers, the truth is having gigantic people on your roster is still important. You’re going to need them every once in a while. And good luck trying to find somebody who is this size and can move this way. There aren’t many people, not only in the NBA who can do it, but in the world, in the entire planet, there aren’t many people built like him who move like him. Yeah, it would be uh hard to move if you were that tall. I will mention though, Gary, you did have him a little lower uh going 12th overall to the Bulls. However, that was seven days ago. So, we’ll take a look when your next mock draft comes out. Uh let’s find the Spurs at 8. This is a very interesting team. Look, this this team is on the rise. You have Wimi there. We know Pop is moving over into the front office. Mitch Johnson taking over fulltime. Adam, when you’re the Spurs and you go on the clock, I mean, it feels like maybe you’re looking more for fit here than best player available, or are you going the other way? I went best player available, but I’m This took a lot more than the five minutes the Spurs are going to be allotted on draft night because listen, Casper Yakonis was one of those guys who was considered a potential top three pick as recently as December. I mean, he was playing phenomenal basketball for Illinois. Now, he hit that freshman wall. He hit it in a big way. And obviously Illinois turned into one of I think it’s fair to say one of the bigger Jackal and Hyde teams in all of college basketball. And the concern with Yakachonis is this. He’s a big lead guard who is credited for having a high skill level and a really good feel for the game. And yet his shooting numbers are low and he’s got a really high turnover ratio. And it’s hard to really live with those things when those are supposed to be the strengths that outweigh his lack of compelling athleticism. So, this very much is going to be a pick where beauty is in the eye of the beholder. He is a polarizing prospect right now. Some people may still have him in the top five. Other people may have him outside the top 10. And to be totally honest, he has slid down my board. I’m not entirely sure what to do with him. And I will tell you this, the pre-draft process is going to be very important for him. How he works out, how he interviews, how the medical comes back. We’ve still got 6 weeks for that stuff to all shake out. A lot of it’s going to be intensified next week with the combine where a lot of these first round meetings will take place and that is going to be as important to his draft status as anybody we’ve talked about so far today. So got him going eight. In my latest mod my draft I had him going seven. So we’re both fans but probably not as big a fans as we were maybe two or three or four months ago. The thing you like the most is the size at the position. 6’6. every position in the NBA is is getting taller by the year and it’s becoming more and more difficult to get by with six foot point guards, 6’1 point guards. It can happen obviously, but they better be super special. Otherwise, you would prefer somebody um more properly sized for the position. Yakonis is going to bring that to the table. High basketball IQ, can get to his spots despite a lack of athleticism. And though the three-point shooting wasn’t great at Illinois, certainly wasn’t consistent, there’s enough stuff in his past that uh can uh reassure front office executives that the shooting is actually better than it might have shown in his one season of college basketball. Perhaps he goes a little higher than this, maybe a little lower, but it’s hard to imagine a scenario where Yakatunis is not in this range somewhere. A polarizing player, but as you mentioned, both of you guys have him kind of around the same area. Uh not so much with this next player. So Gary, I want to start with you on this. Uh Rockets just got ousted from the playoffs. Uh Adam has them taking Carter Bryant out of Arizona. Average six points, four boards per game. Adam said this may be a little high from him. Gary, you didn’t even have him as the lottery pick. So what do you think about this election? I believe if you check out latest mock and my most recent mock, this is where you’re going to find the biggest discrepancy. And it doesn’t mean that he’s wrong and I’m right or vice versa. The draft is very hard. Even the people you think are great at it, the people running NBA franchises and like get it right often still miss all of the time. And so there’s going to be a wide range of opinions connected to Carter Bryant because the stuff that would make want to take him in the top 10 is obvious, but the production that you normally want to see with somebody you take in the top 10 just was not there. He was a bit player in his one season of college basketball. And it’s not like this guy was a a consensus top five or top 10 even prospect in his high school class. More of a borderline top 30. So does he have tremendous size for his position and incredible defensive versatility where he can guard one through at least four I think at the NBA level with time as his body develops and consistently knock down three-point attempts. Yes. All of that stuff is in place. But has he ever been a great basketball player relative to the other people he’s playing with at that time? I I don’t know how true that is. So, you’re betting on something we certainly didn’t see at Arizona, but bets like this have paid off before. Yeah, listen, this guy averaged six and a half points and four rebounds per game, and I put him right smack in the lottery. So, I I I deserve all the skepticism there is at this point. But here is what I will say. This is a lottery and in fact the draft that has a very limited number of 3 and D wings and the 3 and D position basically means you can space the floor from behind the three-point line and then you can be a versatile and impactful defender. Carter Bryant is a highle athlete. He’s got a terrific frame. He very literally guarded point guards at times last year for Arizona and yet played the majority of his minutes at the four or the three. So he’s multi-positional on both ends of the floor and then some. The shooting, which quite frankly was only consistent out to about the mid-range area in high school, at least when I saw him in national settings, all of a sudden expanded out to the three-point line very consistently. In fact, he shot 46% on open catch and shoot threes last year for Synergy. And that is an archetype that in the modern-day NBA can really, really fit. And when you look at what teams are coveting, they need this type of player. And there just aren’t very many other options. So, is this a little high for me? Yeah, it is. But there weren’t any better options on the board if you’re looking for a three and D wing who could be just scratching the surface of his potential. All right, Gary, no better options on the board. What would you be looking for here since, as you mentioned, this is where you guys are are the most separate? I I’m still looking for for best player available at this point in the draft, barring very specific lineup situations. In other words, let’s say you’ve got a young franchise point guard and you know that you think’s going to be the face of your thing for the next 10 years. Maybe even if the best player available is a traditional point guard, you don’t use that pick on that person at this point because you’ve got that position locked up. But outside of that, at this point in the draft, I’m still looking just best player available, whoever that might be. We find the Trailblazers at 10. Adam, you have them taking Jeremiah Fears out of Oklahoma. And look, I know so many people are high on him. Gary’s high on him. I’m obviously high on him as a Sooner. You didn’t sell me in your little like uh what is it called? Paragraph here. Long-term contingency plan. Won’t be able to play right away. And maybe you’re taking a shot at Portland saying they need to accept the fact that their back court hasn’t gelled right away. But why do you like Jeremiah Fears in this position? Trying to suggest I was hedging my bet just a little bit here because I wasn’t sold on this myself because I would never ever do something like that. let the record show. Uh here’s my thing with Portland. Um I I think that they have addressed basically all five positions on the floor in recent draft classes or with recent acquisitions. Denny Abdia had a a breakout end of the season last year and they drafted Donovan Mitchell. That’s their front court of the future. Prior to that, they drafted Scoot Henderson, Anthony Simons, and Shaden Sharp. That was supposed to be their back court of the future. The only problem is those three guys don’t fit together. I know this is a team that made great strides uh late in the season. And that’s why Chanty Bilips got that extension. But it still doesn’t solve the problem that this backcourt hit has had now multiple years to fuse together and it hasn’t happened in the right way. What Fears does is give them a dynamic playmaking lead guard and a contingency plan if and when they decide they have to move off of one of those three guards. And again, they’ve had a lot of draft picks over the years. They’ve got a lot of different guys. Fears is one that has a wider degree of potential outcomes. I think it’s very possible he spends significant time in the G-League next season. He’s got to bulk up. He’s got to learn how to play without the ball in his hands and he’s got to learn to get more efficient. He was number one in usage in the SEC last year. He’s not going to be number one in usage on his team next season. So, his game’s going to have to evolve. But the upside when you’re talking about his pace, his burst, and his just sheer amount of game with the ball in his hands, there’s a very high ceiling that is possible with Fierce. There’s some people, I’m certain, who would just look at the 28% from three in his one season at Oklahoma and call it a non-starter in the top 10 of a draft. And I don’t totally disagree with that, but he’s so gifted in other areas that you you have to at least pay attention. The way he can keep defenders off balance, change speeds, f mentioned the burst. There are, even in this version of the NBA where shooting is as valuable as ever, there are incredible guards who get to the bucket and score points without being a reliable, consistently ri reliable three-point shooter. I happen to live in a city where one exists. John Mor when healthy is nearly impossible to keep away from the rim. Even though he is not a consistent threat from the three-point line, he’s so good at the other stuff, people have a hard time keeping him from getting where he wants to go. To be clear, I’m not saying Jeremiah Ferris is is John Morant, but I’m saying he can get to spots in different in different ways that allow you to overlook some of the shooting uh deficiencies. I’ve seen some player comps connected to him. Folks throw out stuff like Jamal Murray, maybe Jordan P, and I get it because I see some of that as well. But I did think it’s important to note that, you know, Jordan P shot it pretty well in college and Jamal Murray shot it pretty well in his one year at Kentucky. Fears again was below 30%. So if you’re going to spend a pick on him this high, you’ve got to bet that that’s going to be better or that he is going to be one of the real great elite top 1% on ball playmakers in the NBA. I would hope the shooting comes around. If so, this could be a steal. If not, it could be the type of thing where people look back in three years and go, “Well, that’s the franchise that decided to take a shooting guard who can’t shoot. This is what they get.” Uh, I like the way you put it there, Gary. Adam, thanks. We are 10 picks in, four picks to go. The Mavs are on the clock at 11. Can they finally make fans happy? But also in Texas today, look, there’s Pop LFA. We love him. Spurs back on the clock. Who do they take with their second lottery pick? We’ll have that answer coming up. [Music] Welcome back. Four more picks to go in our latest NBA mock draft lottery. This is Adams. You can find it on cbsports.com. Uh guys, let’s pick it up with the Mavs at 11. Adam, like do you look to try to figure out what Nico Harrison is trying to do or are you going with best player available? Well, if you read the fine print here, I just assume this is being traded to the Lakers for a 2037. Um, so, uh, truthfully, I think if Derek Queen is on the board at this point, then it is an absolute no-brainer. I I think it is a very high probability that he is gone in the top 10. And had the order broke a little differently, I would have mocked him in the top 10. Uh, but Derek Queen is a very specific type of player. He is little bit of a throwback big man combined with some modern like point forward type abilities because he’s got this wider body and he has absolutely magnetic hands which make him a terrific ball handler, a very good passer and also an elite rebounder despite the fact that he’s not a great athlete. So you can play through him at various spots of the floor. The key with Derek Queen is going to be can he turn that touch into floor spacing. If you see him make that shot consistently in the NBA, people will look back on this mock draft and they will tell you how stupid I am for having not mocked him in the top 10. Um, and I will say this too, if he and Derek Lively get paired up together for the foreseeable future, I know Anthony Davis is there, but just long term Derrick Lively and Dererick Queen, I really like how that tandem could play out in the long run. Nobody’s going to call me stupid for not projecting Derek Queen in the top 10 because I have him in the top 10. I’m a believer. The lack of athleticism is something to note. Like you should, you know, put that on a list of things to consider. But he’s so good in so many other areas and was so productive in one of the best leagues in college basketball that I’m willing to assume the stuff that he was able to take from high school and translate to college is also going to be able to translate to the NBA. He got that game-winning runner in the NCAA tournament against Colorado State. Scored 27 against the eventual national champion, Florida in the Sweet 16. I know because of the Kevin Willard situation, that whole week got weird around the Maryland program, but Derek Queen was an absolute star from from start to finish. And um you know, I don’t know that if I’m sitting in the spot, I’m trying to figure out what Nico Harrison would do. In fact, maybe I try to figure out what he would do and then do the opposite because recent decision- making suggests that he doesn’t make proper decisions too often. But either way, if Derrick Queen is on the board and he has an opportunity to pick him, that will be at least one place Nico and I will will will agree. And Mavs fans, look, they need to be happy about something. So, both of you have said if he’s on the board still at 11, absolutely take him. Uh, so hopefully something will work out for Mavs fans. Let’s go to the Bulls at 12. Uh, Adam, you have him taken Colin Murphy Boils from South Carolina. Some people do have him a little bit higher. Gary, you had him around 11. So, kind of the same thing. What makes him so attractive in this position, Gary? Well, I the thing that is a concern is he’s a, you know, a non-shooting undersized front court player. That’s a bad place to start any evaluation. Starting with the bad. Yeah, that is not an ideal place to start any evaluation. But this is just a guy where the intangibles are really, really impressive. He, you know, can guard multiple positions. He just gets things done even if he doesn’t necessarily look the part. And the NBA has been filled with people like that over the years that just do a lot of the dirty work. And so I completely understand why somebody else would have him going not only lower than me, but lower than this. But I’m a believer in in just the production that this guy is going to be a solid basketball player because he’s already been one, even if there’s some obvious shortcomings that that do need to be addressed. Yeah. So, how does a player who is an undersized non-shooting post find his way into the potential lottery? He does it by combining, first of all, strength. Second of all, tremendous length. I mean, his wingspan compensates for whatever he may be lacking in terms of sheer height. Third is physicality. And fourth, and this is maybe as important as anything, is just a mind for the game. This guy has such an elite processing ability on both ends of the floor. You don’t see very many college big men who can make short roll touch passes, and that is exactly what this guy does. Now, how does that translate to modern NBA offenses where there’s a premium on front court players who can make decisions out of short rolls, out of dribble handoffs, when they’re surrounded by shooters? It translates seamlessly and that is why I think Colin Murray Boils can be the exception to the rule when it comes to what archetype can be successful. The players like him should not say I’m going to model no one should say I’m going to model my game after Colin Murray Boilles if I’m an undersized big because almost no one’s going to be able to achieve what he did did. He is not the the uh he’s not the example. He’s the exception to the rule. And those players often get undervalued in the draft process, but then end up making people look very smart when they invest in them. Okay, I’m going to try to make you look very smart with this next one because I thought you guys most disagreed on Carter Bryant. It might be with this next pick because at number 13, the Hawks, you have them, Adam, taking Walter Clayton Jr. Uh the only player from the national championship winners, the Florida Gator that you have in the lottery said he played his way into lottery consideration. Gary, you have him at 29th overall. So, Adam, I guess I will start with you and you can make your case. So, here’s my thing. I did not put Walter Clayton in here because he le led Florida to a national championship. I put Walter Clayton in here because he’s an elite shooter of the basketball who can make tough shots, who has onoff ball versatility, and is a better defender than he gets credit for. And regardless of what happened in the NCA tournament, that is an archetype that is really important in the modern NBA and that we do not have a whole lot of players who check this box in this draft. In fact, even after the first week of the NCA tournament, I had him mocked at 24th, which was at the time perceived as a little bit of a hottake. And that was before he went and basically played hero ball three different times to lead Florida to a national championship. Now, I do not expect him to be that alpha type of score in the NBA. Could he do it on a second unit? Sure. But what I think he can do is slide in next to any team that has a jumbo primary playmaker, provide floor spacing. And in Atlanta specifically, when the Trey Young experiment, when we don’t really know, are they going to resign him? Are they going to move off him? They finally have to make that decision this off season. Walter Clayton Jr. gives him an insurance policy because he can play next to him or he could potentially take up some of those minutes if they decided to make a move. Obviously, he was terrific for Florida all season long. Especially so in the NCAA tournament, above 42% from three, most outstanding player of the Final Four. I’m not against it, even though this is higher than I would have him, but the concerns are he’s a little small. You know, we’re talking about a mock draft where we’re consistently talking about 66 lead guards and he’s closer to 63, maybe 6’2. Yes. An incredible shot maker. like if we were drafting for horse players, I would maybe take him first overall. Incredible horse player. And that’s dismissing it a little bit. But, uh, you know, is he going to be able to to make all these shots in the NBA when you’ve got NBA athletes guarding them as opposed to, you know, guys from LSU and and Vanderbilt? Um, the attention to detail on the defensive side of the ball just was not there at Florida. Now, maybe, you know, that was by design because you need him running around a lot on offense and not using all of his energy on the defensive end of the court, but little guards who aren’t plus defenders can be problematic in the NBA. It’s one thing to fall in love with the shot making ability, but if he can’t do the other things to stay on the court, you don’t make many shots watching from the bench. Let’s go to 14, our final lottery pick. Here we find the Spurs yet again. Uh, we just got to say how much we love Pop. I love that he showed up wearing an Elfeafe shirt to the press conference today from Mitch Johnson taking over there as head coach there. Um, and this is another player, Adam, where you said there may be some bad stats. I need you to look past them. Liam McNeely out of Yukon. Why do we need to look past some of those bad statistics? Well, it’s contextual. It’s because of the role he was asked to play at Yukon for the two-time defending national champions under arguably the biggest magnifying glass in college basketball. and he was coming off a month-long ankle injury. He came in and then they said, “Okay, take us to the NCA tournament and he did that.” And here’s the thing, Liam McNeely has fallen on boards in these types of mock drafts since he came back. Now, why do I still have him in the lottery? It’s one of two reasons. Either it’s confirmation bias because I’m just determined to say he’s the top 10 player I said he was coming out of high school, or it’s because I’ve watched him longer and more than most people who are projecting him to fall. He’s not going to be a 32% three-point shooter in the NBA. He will be closer to 40. I say that. I know that’s a big variance, but I say that with confidence. He has a terrific feel for the game. He’s an elite competitor. It’s got to get better defensively. The finishing has got to get better. I even thought some of the the reads he made as he got closer to the paint, those have to progress as well. But you have to be able to look at the types of shots he was getting in that Yukon system later on when they asked him to be the focal point and then look back and say, “Hey, how was Yukon when he wasn’t in the lineup?” And then you get a better appreciation for exactly how good Liam McNeely still is. I also have McNeely in the lottery, 13th in my latest mock draft. And Fin’s exactly right. Sometimes a shooting percentage attached to you becomes a big issue that front officers have to wrap their heads around and wonder if they can believe in it or if they should dismiss you based on that number alone. Every once in a while it’s not that concerning and this is one that’s not that concerning because there’s enough track record in his history where we know Liam McNeely is a highlevel shooter. Maybe he didn’t show it from a percentage perspective in his one season at Yukon, but he didn’t start playing basketball at Yukon and we didn’t first see him at Yukon. We’ve seen him for years. He can make those shots. Bradley Bill did not shoot a great percentage in his one season at Florida. NBA evaluators were not concerned with it. This can be something similar. Jent, I love you. Thank you so much for taking us through this. By the way, uh again, the lottery one week from today, taking a look at Adam Finkelstein’s mock draft. Cooper Flag going number one overall. both agree Dylan Harper should be number two. Keep an eye on Ace Bailey. Adams says his stock may be falling, but he is keeping his Ace Bailey card at least. Spurs pick twice in 8 through 14. Kind of a controversial pick with KJ, but could hit a home run there. And Liam McNeely out of Yukon at 14. And Dallas fans be thrilled if Derek Queen is still on the board at 11.

Adam Finkelstein and Gary Parrish join CBS Sports HQ to bring you their updated 2025 NBA Mock Draft.

[00:00:00] – #1 Utah Jazz
[00:05:29] – #2 Washington Wizards
[00:08:08] – #3 Charlotte Hornets
[00:11:15] – #4 New Orleans Pelicans
[00:13:41] – #5 Philadelphia 76ers
[00:15:46] – #6 Brooklyn Nets
[00:18:52] – #7 Toronto Raptors
[00:22:02] – #8 San Antonio Spurs
[00:24:52] – #9 Houston Rockets (via PHX)
[00:27:51] – #10 Portland Trail Blazers
[00:32:38] – #11 Dallas Mavericks
[00:35:39] – #12 Chicago Bulls
[00:38:05] – #13 Atlanta Hawks (via SAC)
[00:41:02] – #14 San Antonio Spurs (via ATL)
[00:43:21] – Full Draft Order + Picks

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