2025 NBA Mock Draft 4.0: FULL First Round (All 30 Picks) | Player Comps, Best Fits & Team Needs

2025 NBA Mock Draft 4.0: FULL First Round (All 30 Picks) | Player Comps, Best Fits & Team Needs

back here on cbs sports hq spotlight it is mock draft monday we only have two more of these before the draft a week from wednesday nine days away from the nba draft being held in brooklyn where the nets have a draft high four first round picks good afternoon i’m chris hassel we are joined by matt norlander and kyle boon matt is bringing us his one and only mock draft and it begins obviously with cooper flag matt going to the dallas mavericks we’ve heard a lot about his ceiling as the slam dunk number one pick one of the top prospects in a couple of decades but what’s his floor in your mind uh his floor is as high i think as any prospect this is actually a talking point that i don’t think has been discussed nearly enough you want to talk about top prospects to come into the nba over the past 15 years you go to victor wmanyama this is again their stock at the time they entered the draft on draft night victor wemanyama zion williamson anthony davis are three of the best you want to put cooper flag in there make it a fourth i think that flag has the highest floor of any of those prospects and his worst case scenario to me like if this is an absolute bust he’s the fourth most valuable starter on a team by year three by year five by year seven i think the ceiling is a hall of fame career and winning multiple championships and becoming an all-time great but i it’s just i don’t have a lot of guys on my will not fail list in this draft and flag is one of three or four there he will not fail this will not go this will it could go you know there’s a chance that he might wind up being the third fourth or fifth best player in this class when we get five seven years down the road because you just never know how these things are going to go but cooper flag will not fail he will not be a bust he’s obviously worth everything that is uh that has been attached to him and it’s just a matter of time only a formality now nine more days before dallas makes it official and picks him number one matt norlander giving us the picks for his mock and kyle boon’s going to give us a player comp and at number two it’s likely going to be dylan harper to the san antonio spurs kyle your comp is a budding superstar yeah that’s right it’s jaylen brunson from the new york knicks uh formerly of the dallas mavericks you know this is a dylan harper who you know is the son of ron harper he’s excelled at rutgers in his one season in college i think the the comp with brunson makes a lot of sense right they’re both lefties they’re both really skilled crafty lead guards who can make plays on the ball who can shoot at a pretty high level you know there’s some questions right about his shooting even dating back to his high school career um he was he’s always been a good shooter but not a great shooter and that continued over at rutgers the hope here obviously with with harper is he’s such a good prospect with the ball in his hands at number two the san antonio spurs obviously have a franchise cornerstone in victor womenyama getting dylan harper next to him adding another play maker i think makes a ton of sense here obviously for the san antonio spurs those guys likely going to go one two unless we’ve got some sort of a trade but it it feels as though the draft really starts at three with the philadelphia 76ers and and they’re deciding between ace bailey johnson edgecomb what are the the risk rewards of taking bailey here at number three matt well the rewards are that ace bailey there is a scenario in which ace bailey turns out to be the best player in the 2025 nba draft class it’s not the most likely scenario the most likely scenario is obviously cooper flag but ace baileyy’s scoring ability his athleticism his length he can really fill it up he is both a shooter and a scorer those are two different skill sets and he is uh has a very very high ceiling if it all comes together and ace bailey plays to his maximum potential this is a talent who’s capable of making you know 8 nine 10 all-star games over the course of a very long career however he’s got a lower floor in my opinion than trey johnson and dj edge now i go bailey three here which means we i’ve got i’ve got dylan harper 2 ace bailey three and that’s coming off a ruters team that didn’t make the ncaa tournament this rush team will make history because it’s going to be the first team ever to have two top five picks let alone maybe top three picks uh in the same year that didn’t even make the ncaa tournament but baileyy’s skill set overall is why i go with him at three i think it’s a very narrow close call i think bailey could theoretically slip to to five at the worst but i think his act actual fit even alongside a tyresese maxi i i get uh i get why some people might think that philly should shy off that and try and go elsewhere but uh if you’re going for the highest upside on the board at three i think bailey’s it and then the hornets come up at four and and matt makes the pick of trey johnson to the hornets and and he says that johnson really i mean he’s the best texas freshman to to be a oneanddone and enter the draft since kevin durant but the comp kyle is not kevin durant unfortunately no that’s right different player different prospect absolutely and trey johnson reminds me a little bit of shades of malik monk the former kentucky product someone who in college and even in his nba career largely seen seen as a flamethrowing scorer uh that is trey johnson he led division one among all freshman in scoring last season averaged 19.9 points per game you know charlotte is kind of i think where this draft is going to swing at number four i think they will consider and i think right now i would suggest that they probably will likely add vj edge not trey johnson but johnson here makes a lot of sense he’s a tremendous scoreer and i think fitting next to lamelo ball fitting next to brandon miller uh you could do worse i think with trey johnson someone who i think his skill set is going to immediately produce in the nba yeah i mentioned cooper flag is on my will not fail list the next player i have i could see scenarios in which harper or bailey you know broadly speaking fail trey johnson will not fail i mean the the intel back on him uh for a while now as his work ethic is maniacal i personally am super high on him on my personal like if we were going big board this is me projecting what i think teams will do i would have cooper flag one i would have trey johnson number two his scoring ability is so innately natural and his competitive drive i think he is set to to flourish he’s almost i wouldn’t say definitely but i think he’s almost talented and good enough to overcome no matter the situation he’s drafted into uh there hasn’t been an overwhelming amount of buzz with trey johnson to charlotte i’m not going to let that slow me down on this projection because we’ve seen plenty of times over the years where teams that are picking inside the top five the top seven the top 10 wind up selecting a player and surprising some in the process because they weren’t um at least in league circles indicating that that was the way they were leaning here i’m not saying it’s the most likely outcome but i’m telling you if i’m charlotte and i’m at four and trey johnson’s still on the board i’m absolutely taking him yeah matt said it’s it’s likely to be some order of bailey johnson and edgecom 345 that leaves vj edgecom to the utah jazz matt why do you believe that he can go one-on-one with guys who might even be 2 three inches taller and 20 pounds heavier because i don’t think there are many players in this draft class and really over the past few years that combine finesse and physicality uh and a guard’s body the way that edge edge does um and these first five picks we’ve talked about there all of these players have real real capability and potential of of bringing about star power i could see all of them although this will not happen you never have the top five picks in the draft go on to all be all-star players i could see a scenario in which any of these guys turn into three five seven time all-stars edgecom is on that list as well i think that you you really bunch up edge and bailey and trey johnson alto together but yes he is uh he is an unafraid player he’s got some real dynamism to his game and i this is his window he will get picked at best number three and at lowest number five and i think with the jazz that actually from a team needs perspective i think he fits best with utah matt has mentioned his will not fail no matter what list and there aren’t many players on it and there could be some busts here even in the lottery but at six he has the wizards going with khan canipple and and kyle he says that canipple is one of those guys that is not going to fail in the nba do you agree i agree we should be talking about khan canipple as a possible top four pick in this class i don’t know if he’ll go top four i think this would be great value for the washington wizards at number six but feel very confident that conanipple is gonna have a long and successful nba career he is the best shooter chris in this year’s draft class he shot 40.6% on threes as a true freshman for a 35 win duke team he was 90 plus percentile on jump shots in the catch and shoot and as norator wrote during the season he was a tremendous uh robin to cooper flags batman obviously cooper flag got a lot of hype and it was warranted uh but duke was really good in part because khan canipple was fantastic as a freshman he had he reminds me a little bit of tai jerome austin reeves he could put the ball on the floor he could shoot it at a high level washington has a a really exciting young core with alex sar with bob carrington adding canipple to the mix i think would make a lot of sense here all right let’s move down to the pelicans at number seven and the pick from matt in his mock and this is what he thinks the fit would work best as it’s not necessarily what he would do but it’s casperis yakunis matt it does the draft start to get hairy kind of in this position right here as far as a boom or bust potential i think it does um because you know i agree with kb like canipple should be in the conversation to be a top five pick maybe we get to draft n and actually he he gets a little bit of momentum and he winds up going four or five he will not fail but here right like after you get to that top six that’s where it gets a little bit hairy just in terms of you know players and we’ll see what their impact is you even look historically you know across the top 10 and you’re going to have some guys that wind up hitting as expected but inevitably and invariably there just will be two or three guys at least in a top 10 that are harder to pin down and their and their career projections are tougher but i do think that yakonis is the second best prospect as a lead guard in this class only behind harper overall he had some good moments especially in the first half of illinois season hit a little bit of a freshman wall but i think the pre-draft process at least the the feedback that i’m getting has certainly helped him i am admittedly i just want to be clear on this this projection i do like to get at least a le a little bit aggressive on a couple of these picks because we always have some surprises on draft night i think the highest you’re going to see yakonis is where i have him here at seven objectively speaking if you told me his floor was 13 or 14 and that’s where he went on draft night it wouldn’t surprise me but i actually if if new orleans is really wondering how much longer they’re going to be have alfred payeyton he doesn’t have a long-term deal they bring in yakonis he can grow in my estimation he can grow by the end of his rookie season start year number two he could be their go-to premier starting option at point guard i i like his size i like his passing ability he’s got some work to do on his game but uh but i think this is a sneaky good pick for a pelicans franchise that’s just it’s a little bit in no man’s land right now and certainly boosting your backourt is always a good option there when you’ve got a top seven pick in the draft also in no man’s land the brooklyn nets who are are hosting the draft at barlay center but they do have four first round picks the first of which is at number eight and kyle matt has them going with come on malawatch out of duke that would be the third duke player in the top eight picks yeah that’s right in in brooklyn four first round picks as you mentioned chris i would set the overunder on malawatch in his draft stock at like eight and a half so this is exactly where i would expect him going either eight or number nine to the toronto raptors malawatch is 7 foot2 he’s got a 7 foot6 wingspan this guy has length for days and you know i think the the raw aspect of what he brings is very exciting he only began playing basketball when he was 13 years old organized basketball shortly thereafter uh he developed in nba academy africa played one season at duke and there’s a lot of potential upside with malawatch just because of his length his defense and his energy now there’s some questions about what he’s going to bring on offense can he be a shooter but there’s a lot to like here with tom malawatch at number eight for the brooklyn nets yeah to uh quick on malawatch and then duke overall malawatch is uh i think he’s sealing as the best defensive player in this draft class and even if he never really develops a serious offensive game if he winds up being a top five defensive force in the nba i mean top five then he’ll have proven to have been underdrafted even at number eight because if you can have a big that’s that good that’s switchable ever present around the rim that’s huge as for duke uh this all tracks in this regard you’ve got flag going to go number one canipple will go anywhere from four to seven almost definitely in the malawatch i just can’t imagine him falling past even like 9 10 at the absolute worst i wrote it in my mock draft for cbs sports if brooklyn has malawatch on the board at 8 they have to take him duke was the highest rated team in the country last season it didn’t win the national title but it was one of the best rated teams over the past 25 plus seasons in all men’s college basketball it stands to reason that a team that was that good that dominant this talented would wind up having that translate to having three lottery level picks and that’s exactly what it has and it’s not even three lottery level picks his three top 10 picks three players oh by the way who have very different game skill sets the kind of things that they will bring to teams are different overall but yes this is a this is a bit of a a big-time thing for john sh’s young resume as a head coach obviously he wants that national championship doesn’t have that yet but getting three top 10 picks after just a couple years on the job uh that speaks well of him and his staff ability to recruit and develop at that level three in the top eight and the first of four picks for the brooklyn nets as we look back at the first eight picks in matt norlander’s one and only mock draft you can find the whole thing at cbsports.com and uh full detailed explanations for each pick as well when we come back we’ll start getting into some of the international guys how high will the first international player go spurs coming up with their second lottery pick as well back here on cbs sports hq spotlight i’m chris hassel joined by kyle boon and matt norlander right in the middle going through his mock draft he used to do more of like a big board mock draft that not the case this year we are at number nine with the raptors and matt this is a this is kind of a key point here in the difference between this mock you’re doing and what you’ve done in the past jeremiah fears is the pick why wouldn’t you have him this high listen i just i find him to be he’s he had a fine first season uh a really really good season but i and invariably and inevitably you know you do this you you talk to nba sources you try and project out what teams are going to do you’re just going to have differences of opinion and for me jeremiah fears happens to be the most overrated of the projected lottery picks on the board this season uh he can be a blur on the floor uh he’s got good ball handling skills i just find him not to be ultra efficient uh defensively he was a civ often and he he wasn’t overly efficient and he’s under size and and not being an efficient player so i think that he’s going to probably go in the top 10 somewhere there are obviously aspects and attributes and fores to his game that have led him to this point but personally i just i sell on him relative to the crowd in a in a major major way this season now i’ve got a couple other guys that i’m way heavier on inversely but for me here in particular i think toronto if it winds up holding on to this pick plenty of buzz that toronto will trade out of number nine we’ll see if that actually winds up being the case um i could see them going with with the talent here he’s also young so he’s developed and advanced for his age and that’s also adding to why he’s projected in many spots to go as a top 10 pick matt mentions in his article how picks eight through 12 or so we could see quite a bit of movement teams moving up teams moving down you got the rockets at 10 and they were a two seed this year in the western conference arrow pointed straight up there the pick from matt is carter bryant and kyle he says that this would be an ideal ad for this houston team do you agree i do agree norlander got this one right carter bryant and houston makes a lot of sense here he’s a big wing he’s a really talented scorer uh can shoot threes at a really high level last season in arizona played mostly in a bit role but he was really really flashy as a defensive prospect and you know i think for a houston team that already has kind of the foundation for what it’s building with alpurn shenon with amen thompson i think carter bryant could fit in as a 3 and d type player someone who could grow into his role he was a prolific scorer in high school there’s no reason to believe that he won’t develop into something similar at the nba level and carter bryant one of the youngest players in this draft someone who i think houston would make a lot of sense for at number 10 in this draft there are teams that can make luxury picks and there are teams that really need to hit and and here come the blazers at number 11 matt why do you think they should jump at the chance if derek queen is available right here because there are maybe three players three bigs in this draft that are as skilled and proven high iq players at the level of queen great passer good shooter good instincts really mature for his age um he was the focal point on a crab five maryland team that was the best that school had had in a number of years and i think he is ready he gets a little bit kevin willard actually made some headlines with me last season when he told me in a feature i wrote about queen that if he was european and white he’d be in the conversation to go number one in the nba draft well he’s not and he’s not in the conversation to go number one to me queen’s range feels anywhere from number nine to maybe number 15 or so uh man i think he’d be tremendous in portland i love his potential to be i don’t know if he’ll ever be an all-star level kind of player but i just think he has the natural skill set to stick and play at least three contract cycles in the nba speaking of european you we have our first international player our first international player that didn’t also go to college in the united states and at number 12 it’s the bulls taking noah aseni and kyle i i’ve seen your mocks i’ve seen gary parish’s mocks finkelestein’s mocks i haven’t seen an international player taken this high yeah and this is representative i think uh chris of where he is at right now he is skyrocketing up boards a lot of people think he could go top 10 on draft night number 12 makes sense for a singing the second youngest player in this draft 6’9 combo forward he’s really matured and developed overseas in germany having a strong finish to his season you know the movement skills the fluidity had his size and position all at a premium a singway keeps rising and someone who i think realistically will go in the lottery on draft night next week wow quite the bump uh bump because this is a guy i think uh a lot of drafts that we’ve done we haven’t seen an international player fall in the top 17 or even 18 but at number 12 to the bulls atlanta hawks at 13 here jagor demen is the pick matt why do you think he when all is said and done has the potential to be a top five player in this draft class this is if it all hits and the reason why i say that is he’s a tall point guard who has proven it even before getting to byu now he definitely hit a wall in his freshman season his one and done season with the cougars last season but if he can put all the tools together develop a reliable jump shot that’s clearly the thing that is preventing deon from being a top 10 pick if he had even been three or four percentage points better in his shooting both inside the arc and beyond the three-point line last season i think you’d see deon across the board be projected into the top 10 that wasn’t the case and so here we are with him in that fringe lottery range she could be anywhere from 12 to 18 or 19 but there’s just not a lot of guys at the nba level that are as skilled with him can see the floor like he is uh at that size running uh and being like a true point guard so playing the point in the nba you got to have the ability to also score at least keep the defense semi-honest that’s going to cost him a few spots overall but if he hits and really develops yes i think his best outcome is we look up by 2031 2032 and say “well look at this dem being one of the four or five most impactful players in the class.” if it all comes together and he can develop a true three-point shot only one more lottery pick and it’s the only team with multiple lottery picks the san antonio spurs and kind of the same case with with this pick it’s asa newell who didn’t quite realize his talent in his one year in college but certainly has a lot of it dylan harper was the pick earlier in the draft for the spurs what do you think of newell here at 14 kyle yeah norlander selected ace newell for the spurs here at number 14 and i think this makes a lot of sense um dylan harper if they do add him at number two give him someone to throw lobs to obviously victor womenyama is already there adding more size to the front court i think makes a lot of sense on paper uh newell i think could play off of wimbeyama this is a guy who was a former five-star recruit someone who can be a lob threat an energetic big man uh who who blocks shots at a really high level i think adding size for san antonio allowing victor womenyama to free up and and play virtually anywhere on the floor would make a lot of sense so dylan harper asa newell at picks two and 14 for the spurs i’m here for it all right let’s recap picks 9 through 14 here with matt norlanders mock draft it’s the second pick for the san antonio spurs ace and newell we are also going to get many more picks from the brooklyn nets who at 8 took cam malawatch they’re going to be coming up next along with uh the oklahoma city thunder and their first first round pick [Music] about to hit the halfway point in matt norlander’s nba mock draft with the draft coming up a week from wednesday kyle boon is with us as well i’m chris hassel it’s the okc thunder at number 15 who knows they might be the nba champs come draft night the pick is danny wolf matt i i know you loved him in college you you admit that this might be a little bit of a stretch but you love the fit with okc why i love the fit it might be a stretch in terms of if you took aggregate uh mock drafts and wolfe probably wouldn’t be top 15 top 16 uh but for me he just has a skill set first of all oklahoma city’s forte is what it’s defense wol isn’t an elite defender but he was competent enough and so you can afford to spend a first round top 15 pick on a guy who’s more offensive oriented this would just make a very very strong team even more superpowered overall wol’s dexterity with his hands his passing he is he is one of the better passers at 7 feet or taller to go into the nba in the past five six seven years i just i i love his potential i live here in connecticut he previously played at yale so i actually got to see him up close and personal for a couple years at yale before going to michigan when he was once a fringe maybe okay nba prospect to clearly in my estimation he is he has shown uh that he has the skill set and is a worthwhile top 20 pick um i imagine sam prey and that organization are putting uh plenty of eyes and and intrigue and and and real uh consideration under wolf at 15 so why not we take a little bit of a of a shot here he’s the first pick outside the lottery i love the fit for the okc thunder we’ve done a ton of mock drafts lately and there was a change this week that desmond bane trade the grizzlies are jumping up to grab that magic pick here at number 16 and the pick from matt is colin murray boils one of those four first round picks that the grizzlies got from the magic kyle yeah and you know what i’m kind of skeptical uh that colin murray boils will be on the board this late in the draft this is a guy who i have as a top 10 prospect in this year’s class someone who i project will be a potential top 10 pick on draft night but look if he’s available at number 16 for the grizzlies this would be an excellent value he’s a tremendous defensive presence uh a little bit of an old school type power forward who needs to improve his shooting a little bit you know the the concerns here are obviously with his offensive limitations more of an old school type big but you know i think for memphis this is a this is a team that has been willing to buck traditional norms they drafted zack edy last year colin murray boils would be another kind of against the grain type pick at number 16 for the for this memphis franchise all right let’s go to the minnesota timberwolves at 17 now and it’s jace richardson matt you mentioned in your article how he needs to grow more into a combo guard at the next level how does he do that why is that uh because well listen he was a player who was not projected to be in this spot a year ago he was a high-end four-star prospect and he’s a lefty and he suddenly found himself in a role where he was the go-to guy for michigan state and turned into a starter uh in mid january for tomo’s program so um he’s he made the right decision he should be a one and done player he almost certainly will be a top 20 pick he’s got to put on some muscle he’s got to really develop more of a of a a game where he can go right in and left he tends to lean with his left hand a little bit too much but i actually think the fit here does make a lot of sense he’s just got to have the mentality the physicality to be able to handle being a true league guard cuz that’s what he’s going to have to be i mean he’s given his size and what he’s going to do he’s not going to be a two he will have to be a one there but he has a high iq really good locker room presence and he’s the kind of player that uh that is going to certainly pass the test from an interview standpoint you know being there his father played for the you know for in the league for a decade and a half so he understands the assignment i don’t think that he will uh he will play his way out of the league by any means but if he wants to get to a level to justify this draft pick i think he’s got some real work to do on his game and kind of bulking up in the in the weight room as well and uh and i do think that minnesota would be an ideal place for him to go play let’s jump to a really interesting uh draft prospect at number 18 for the washington wizards it’s cedric coward matt you say that that this could be the next jaylen williams type and jaylen williams of the thunder just made his first all-star team this year yeah and i want kb’s thoughts on this real quick after i’m i’m actually writing a feature on cedric coward as well so i’ve gotten to know him uh really well and he has a story unlofone story real quick on him he grew up in fresno did not make his varsity basketball team until his junior year did not receive a division one scholarship offer played division three for a year then played at eastern washington for two years and then only played six games at washington state this past season had a shoulder injury out for the year and yet in spite of this cedric coward is going to go anywhere from 15 to 25 on draft night he really doesn’t have a repeatable story up to this point there have been similar stories in fact jaylen williams is one such player from a few years back and i do think in hearing from a few nba people if he does put it all together because he’s got the frame he’s got the length he’s got the attitude he’s got the smarts he’s got the iq he’s got the shooting form if he puts it all together yes you are talking about a player in my opinion who has all-star upside so um he may well still be there at 18 if washington could get him it should not hesitate whatsoever i am in on coward and i think generally speaking even though he has had more stock rising than uh bigger stock rising than any player in this draft i still think he might be a tad bit undervalued heading into draft night no i think this is absolutely right norlander and this is someone who i i don’t think anyone’s stock has been hotter over the last month than cedric coward i walk into the nba draft combine in chicago last month as he was someone who was a potential late first round pick he walked out of the combine in chicago at the end of the week as almost a surefire firstrounder someone who many expected in chicago would end up being a top 20 pick he’s 6’5 he has a 7 foot2 wingspan he’s a career 39% three-point shooter he checks all the boxes of a modern-day nba wing a winner someone who can make plays at a really high level at number 18 in this draft like i think this is about right this is someone who has a chance to go late lottery early 20s on draft night next week and we’ll finish thing things up in the teens with the brooklyn nets they’re second of four picks in the first round matt you had them taking malawatch at eight how about liam mcneely out of connecticut at 19 i think this would be a one some of these hassle i’m trying to project where i think these players are going to go and then as a byproduct of that okay would this actually be a good fit does this make sense i think mcneely to the nets would be wonderful northeast guy uh and his his his toughness uh his shooting ability i just you know if you’re brooklyn and you’re just trying to get get out of the cellar just try and get yourself into relevancy get into that that you know playoff playin kind of situation there you need players that will uh rally guys around him and and mcneely certainly is that i don’t know if he has uh his his high and potential is super super high but i think his floor is as good as any player you’ll find between 15 and 30 in this draft all right let’s check back on 15 through 19 here and it’s danny wolf going to oklahoma city the thunder have another pick coming up at 24 right after the pacers at 23 that’s next as we hit matt norlander’s first round mock we are going through matt norlander’s first round mock draft with the first round a week from wednesday i’m chris hassel also joined by kyle boon uh in the break matt told kyle “hey if you hate the pick bash me.” so kyle what do you think of the pick here nick clifford who’s gonna turn 24 his rookie season in the nba to the heat at 20 i think it’s fine i think it’s fine i’ll save my bashing for a little bit later in this draft this feels about right for nick clifford you know i was expecting him to go somewhere in the top 20 uh on draft night going in number 20 feels about right um miami needs to invest at the guard spot you know i think to surround tyler hero with more weapons nick clifford played like a top 10 player in college basketball the last two months to end the season he’s a 3 and d weapon he’s a little bit older uh but someone who i think for miami can can step right in and contribute just with his shooting ability his ability to make plays i think miami may look at nolan treyor they may look at walter clayton but if nick clifford is on the board i think this would be a really quality pick for the heat well walter clayton is the next pick number 21 to the utah jazz mat your ion college basketball cohort gary parish almost had him slipping out of the first round in his mock last week he went number 30 overall why do you have him this high come on gp get it together uh well okay so we’ve got two players here i like you know it’s good to see college players who stay three four years get rewarded with a nice draft pick and not have their age used against them here by pure coincidence i have clifford and then and then clayton here i think this will be a little bit of a jaylen brunson effect and not just him but uh but you know the players who were established clearly did a ton in college um made it to a final four won a national championship i think clayton will benefit from that he also was by the way a 39% shooter oh by the way if you’ve forgotten he was the third best player in the sport last season only cooper flag and janai broom were objectively better than clayton he is a guard big shot shot taker shot maker really really tough uh in my opinion he has zero business falling past 24 25 at the worst i happen to like the team fit here so yeah give me clayton at 21 okay so you you hit a couple of guys there that had been in college for a long time and now at 22 the atlanta hawks selecting joan beeringer uh i i think clayton was in college when beeringer started playing basketball on a team for the very first time kyle does he have what it takes to to come into the nba and contribute right away he certainly has the tools now i don’t know about immediately contributing in the nba but i think the tools and what he has physically there’s a lot to like here and you know i i promise to call norlander out if he’s wrong i think he’s probably wrong here uh 22 feels extremely low for behringer i think he could go as high as like number 12 10 spots higher on draft night he’s still just 18 years old he’s a rim running lob threat shot blocker very predictable skill set uh incredible athleticism there’s a lot of teams that are really interested in behringer obviously playing overseas has not quite gotten the recognition that maybe some of these college players did but you know i think on draft night we could see behringer go you know as high as the lottery u just because there’s a lot of steam around his draft stock right now all right well let’s get to the indiana pacers at number 23 the pick here is noah penda why does he fit the pacer profile to you matt well you look at the pacers coming off their nba finals run and how well constructed that team is and the kind of players they have he is another high energy wing that they could put in there and also would not have the expectation of really producing and logging serious you know game altering minutes as a rookie for for indiana you know every team is looking to get better in every draft and every offseason i get that but uh the pacers from a big picture perspective they’re in a really nice spot right now uh why not take a chance on a foreignb born prospect who’s got some good who’s got some good potential but uh is safely in this range so we happen by pure coincidence run a run here a mini run of foreignb born international prospects and i like of the guys in that you know 21 to 25 range from a fit standpoint and talking to some folks i think penda makes the most sense for indiana all right well let’s go to the team that they are currently tied in the nba finals with at two games a piece heading into monday night the week before the draft oklahoma city thunder it was danny wolf at 15 the pick from matt the pick here is nolan trayor kyle what do you think yeah this is a guy who started the draft cycle as a projected top five pick now he struggled to start the year but has really come on strong overseas to finish his season in france you know last year oklahoma city drafted a guy who was projected as a potential top five pick and nicola topic he had a torn acl ended up slipping in the draft treyor is you know a similar prospect in that you know he’s not a top five pick in this year’s class now but someone who i think a lot of teams will be interested in buying low on he’s a six foot three combo guard can play multiple positions and okc has built a potential nba championship by show by sto stock stating two-way guards uh treyor just with the multiaceted skill set i think would make a lot of sense for the thunder and for okc three straight players out of france 22 23 and 24 after a couple of uh longtime college basketball players at 20 and 21 with the most outstanding player walton clayton jr going to the jazz at 21 coming up next a couple more picks for the nets all right have six more picks to make here in matt norlander’s mock draft 25 26 27 28 29 and 30 let’s start at 25 because we’re going in order like they do in real life magic at number 25 thomas sorber is the pick matt uh this is lower than all of your cohorts have sorber most of them have him uh in the early 20s why do you think he might slip a little bit well um okay one i’m letting some of my big board bias influence here to me sorber wouldn’t be a top 25 maybe not even a top 30 pro personally for me in this particular draft he did have some good initial signs georgetown also had a foot injury um but for orlando in particular you know paulo vancero didn’t even play 50 games last season you want to have some front court insurance he obviously this would be an upside swing you take a chance here so go with sorba there he invariably feels like a player who’s going to go i personally i don’t think he’s going in the teens when we by the time we get to draft night i think he’ll safely go somewhere in the 20s from a fit perspective i think orlando fits him better than any other team in the surrounding three or four picks okay well you got another center going at number 26 to the brooklyn nets they’re third of four picks it’s ryan caulk brener out of kraton who was just won big east defensive player of the year year after year matt says his game will fit in right if the right team drafts him is brooklyn the right team kyle depends on how the draft unfolds now if it unfolds like matt norlander has projected here in his mock uh you know i i think this would be kind of a worst case scenario uh they already drafted kan malawatch a seven-footer coming back later in the first round and adding another seven-footer would be a little bit of a curious decision but you know i think colbrer would be great value here at number 26 in the draft he’s a four-time defensive player of the year winner in the big east someone who has produced year in and year out and consistently got better at kraton this is a guy who i think will end up going somewhere in the late 20s on draft night so you know depending on what brooklyn does with its four first round picks ended up staying pat and taking him at number 26 here i think that could end up being excellent value for this franchise all right they’ve got one more pick to the nets their fourth of first round picks and it’s a point guard ben saraf out of israel matt what do you make of the hall that you’re giving the nets here in this first round i mean solid enough uh kb even beat me to it i just i find it likely that brooklyn will trade at least one of its picks it just doesn’t seem unless one of my suspicions with this draft is it’s really not that deep we’ll see what kind of value they can get to trade out but uh saraf would be you know a good swing at this at this point you want to add someone in your back or particularly if you’re brooklyn um he’s as talented as anyone that’s really on the board at this point so why not get ahead of it they’re going to almost definitely keep at least one of these two picks you figure if that’s the case it’ll be a backcourt player so i go with sarra all right so the celtics come up at 28 the pick is drake powell matt says you know obviously he’s got work to do if he would have come back for another year in college maybe he’s a lottery pick but kyle i believe matt’s the only one of our mock drafters right now that have him in the first round what do you think of this pick i think this is fine here uh this is a guy who actually i have ranked higher than i have projected uh this he ranks number 21 on my big board right now former five-star recruit he mostly blended in during his one and done season with the north carolina tarheelss but showed incredible defensive promise there was some flashes of being able to shoot at a high level and i talked to him at the combine he said “look like i was not able to showcase my entire skill set i still believe in myself i believe that i am the prospect that i was once built as a fivestar recruit so at number 28 for boston i think this would be a really high upside swing for the celtics.” i know kyle likes number 29 as well because he has it in his very latest mock draft the suns taking maxim rayod but i who knows if the suns end up with this pick or how many first round picks they get with the potential kd trade on the horizon exactly so we don’t even know when we’re going to get to draft night what the deal is with this 29th pick i’m just saying if the suns can get him they should he’s smart he’s big stat monster at stanford would come in uh be an excellent team player in a supporting role the suns are obviously on the on the cusp of some serious rebuilding here but this is very much best player best resume available for phoenix at 29 if they can keep the pick clippers with the last pick in the first round it’s will riley kyle how do you think about that yeah i love it this is uh the franchise that only has one first round pick between now and 2027 riley feels like a a proper big swing if you’re picking late in the first round 6’7 scoring wing showed some promise at illinois last season still kind of scratching the surface of what he can be but i liked his mid-range scoring in college uh he was able to really finish at a high level despite you know a little slender frame there’s a chance that in a few years uh he could be a developmental wing that ends up paying off big time for a franchise that doesn’t have a lot of draft picks here over the next couple years all right that’s matt norlander’s first round mock the first round is a week from wednesday the second round will then be the following night on thursday in brooklyn where you see the nets with four first round picks we will give our takeaways from the latest mock on the other side we just went through matt norlander’s first round mock which you can find at cbsports.com i’m chris hassel kyle boon is with us as well matt despite cooper flag at the top and some other potential stars in that top five top six is there much meat on the bone beyond that in the first round i actually don’t think so in fact even in the first round and accounting to the second round i think it’s been under discussed to this point now that we’re a week out of the draft you know a year ago heavy talking point 2024 draft just not that deep not that strong overall um because this draft has cooper flag i think some of that has been glossed over a little bit because you know harper has had such a a good reputation for a couple years that’s been glossed over a little but i actually think that this draft big picture one of my big takeaways is it’ll be remembered to be the cooper flag draft no matter how good or not he is this will be the cooper flag draft um but also how how many guys in this pool are going to wind up being relevant impactful nba players for two or three contracts keep that in mind and then one last hit from me um in that top five overall flag harper bailey edgecom and trey johnson it will be a great top of the draft if three of those five wind up being allstars or borderline all-stars it will be a good draft if it’s two and if it’s only one that’s really not that good so keep an eye on that some of the guys are invariably they’re just not going to hit um but uh but overall yeah lacking in depth in my opinion from 1 to 30 1 to 60 disagree matt norlander i love this draft i think there’s a lot of depth in this draft jeremiah fierce is someone who i think a lot of teams believe has star power you have him projected at number nine in this mock draft he ends up being a star and hitting in the way that you know if things go right he could end up being an all-star carter bryant another one who you have projected top 10 in this draft uh there’s a lot of optimism excitement around him jay gordon noah asin you know these are guys who we all are projected as lottery picks in this draft and obviously we’re going to judge the draft based off how cooper flag and dylan harper do but i think there are some real uh de developmental depth pieces who could end up hitting in a real way in this draft and i’d be really excited picking anywhere outside the lottery i think there’s a lot of productive nba players that you can get all right kyle boon finally some disagreement there toward the end of the show uh you can hear matt norlander on the eye on college basketball podcast with gary parish talking draft and starting to talk top 25 moments over the last 25 years in college basketball

College Basketball Insiders Matt Norlander and Kyle Boone join CBS Sports HQ to bring you their updated 2025 NBA Mock Draft.

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[00:00:00] – #1 Dallas Mavericks
[00:01:57] – #2 San Antonio Spurs
[00:03:21] – #3 Philadelphia 76ers
[00:04:42] – #4 Charlotte Hornets
[00:06:50] – #5 Utah Jazz
[00:08:03] – #6 Washington Wizards
[00:09:23] – #7 New Orleans Pelicans
[00:11:23] – #8 Brooklyn Nets
[00:14:21] – #9 Toronto Raptors
[00:16:04] – #10 Houston Rockets (via PHX)
[00:17:10] – #11 Portland Trail Blazers
[00:18:15] – #12 Chicago Bulls
[00:19:13] – #13 Atlanta Hawks (via SAC)
[00:20:34] – #14 San Antonio Spurs (via ATL)
[00:21:56] – #15 Oklahoma City Thunder (via MIA)
[00:23:45] – #16 Memphis Grizzlies (via ORL)
[00:24:47] – #17 Minnesota Timberwolves (via DET)
[00:26:15] – #18 Washington Wizards (via MEM)
[00:28:24] – #19 Brooklyn Nets (via MIL)
[00:29:44] – #20 Miami Heat (via GSW)
[00:30:42] – #21 Utah Jazz (via MIN)
[00:31:48] – #22 Atlanta Hawks (via LAL)
[00:32:58] – #23 Indiana Pacers
[00:33:54] – #24 Oklahoma City Thunder (via LAC)
[00:35:16] – #25 Orlando Magic (via DEN)
[00:36:25] – #26 Brooklyn Nets (via NYK)
[00:37:34] – #27 Brooklyn Nets (via HOU)
[00:38:15] – #28 Boston Celtics
[00:39:09] – #29 Phoenix Suns (via CLE)
[00:39:42] – #30 Los Angeles Clippers (via OKC)
[00:40:39] – Full First Round Takeaways

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