2025 NBA Draft Round 1 Recap, Who were the biggest winners, surprises & losers? | FIRST THINGS FIRST

2025 NBA Draft Round 1 Recap, Who were the biggest winners, surprises & losers? | FIRST THINGS FIRST

nba fast break it’s like a no huddle but with basketball fill in the blank edition we’re starting with the winner of the draft cooper flag obviously went first but who else won the night or fill in the blank the winner of the night was blank
all right good news okay Dust because Dust our producer is like “Guys we went a little short last segment we have extra time here.” I can do 20 minutes on this first thing so you’re just going to have to stop me when you want but the biggest winner of night one is the Atlanta Hawks because the Atlanta Hawk Hawks and I’m sorry this is one of those awkward things where I’m going to talk about a guy that my I don’t know this for sure but I’m almost certain Brew probably has a great relationship with
the Atlanta Hawks were able to do business with Joe Dumars and in NBA history that has been pretty good business to be on the other side of that phone call and when you
are running the New Orleans Pelicans
build one of the most elite championship teams I’m just saying this was not It was back in 04 no this was back this was bad
when you are the New Orleans Pelicans and your starting point guard has blown his Achilles sadly into DeJonte Murray and your star player Zion Williamson is maybe these one of the biggest injury risks in the league and you’ve just traded for Jordan Pool and you’re in the Western Conference and you just won 21 games the best thing you have going for you is at least you own your own draft pick next year and it’s better than it being just your own draft pick you own your pick but if for some reason Milwaukee trades Giannis or Giannis god forbid suffers an injury himself milwaukee instantly becomes the worst team in the league if Giannis misses real time you can swap that for their pick almost a a better chance than maybe any other asset in the entire league to land you AJ Deansa next year’s number one or just a top five pick in next year’s draft
well New Orleans itself might not be very good they going to have a
No that’s what I’m saying like they’re going to be in the lottery that it but even if you’re good if Milwaukee is not you could still have an amazing pick to give that away unprotected to move up from 23 to 13 is one of the most baffling seismic decisions I can remember on draft day since the Atlanta Hawks were on the other side of one of these trading away Lukanic for Trey Young it i if I were ranking most valuable future assets in the league right now I suppose Utah’s number one next year is the most valuable but this Pelicans Bucks best of the two combo platter is on the very short list i and to trade that away to Atlanta and Atlanta just moves back 10 spots and Atlanta’s still got new they I think had a good off seasonason already by getting off some money and adding Chris Staps i obviously like Dyson i obviously like Jaylen Johnson they had the number one pick last year that nobody talked on Risa Shay like they might actually be able to be fun in the East this year and then be sitting on a gold mine of a pick for next year and even if you’re New Orleans just real quick and then go Brew or respond whatever even if you’re like “No we love Derek Queen we think Queen and Zion will work together which is weird but I like Queen too we’re gonna be good but Milwaukee might not milwaukee might trade Giannis or Giannis might God forbid get hurt and then you could be good and you still give away a top five pick i can’t believe they did it and the Hawks being on the other side of it is all time
it was a bad trip i mean like you said the fact that that’s unprotected is just it could really come back to bite him and Derek Queen who I like a lot but he’s does he’s not a shooter um he’s not I don’t know that he’s really 610 i don’t know how you can play him and at the same time
right and even when Deante’s back that’s three of your maybe your three top players can’t shoot
you know none of them are real shooters and you got P who can shoot but so it’s it’s it’s interesting what they’re doing
i just they they trade for P and then they get a player at seven who profiles like P and fears you trade for Z i you you trade up to get
Derek Queen when it’s and I like Queen a lot but he’s a high ceiling low floor guy because people have questions about is he in shape work ethic it’s a little scary but I don’t see how you can play him and Zion together and the other last thing point is this if you love Derek Queen that much to give up that pick then how do you not just take him at seven like you know what I mean like and I and I think fears is better prospect right
it almost feels like an oversight which is
not good
what it feels to me like is
the ticking clock
like this trade doesn’t get done with those protections if it’s not
oh there’s three minutes left to get this done
you know what I mean like I think there’s more eyes on it whatever it is and last point a guy who was in the New Orleans front office just went over to Atlanta and I forget the guy’s name i apologize he’s like the second in commander oh that’s uh Bryson
uh okay there and
Bryson Graham
so I I think that’s right so I wonder if he had intel guys they love Queen like we could you know what I mean like he’s available we’re on the clock but remember Dumar is just coming in
no but he was there was some overlap when Dumar was there and this guy was still there so
anyway I’m not going to overthink it the Mavericks
all right and here’s why it’s not just that they got a potentially generation let’s not overthink it the Mavericks all right what two months ago they were in the worst shape of any team in the league and I get it again nick’s going to get mad it was luck but so what the Mavericks now not only got a what we think will be a great player
but they have won back their fan base
they have won back their fan base now the stench of the Luca trade at least for the time being is off and so that that trumps everything
i’m going with Malawatch from Duke going to Phoenix phoenix is kind of lost in the sauce they don’t you know had
you like what they’re doing
they’re 27th best defense last year you know that defense wins championships copyright uh but this is a a strong move he’s got a great story great guy won at Duke obviously um can get better they also got Mark Williams so this is more of like a Suns thing which when Mark Williams was going to the Lakers I guess he was going to be Will Chamberlain now he’s at the Suns no one’s talking about him but I kind of like what the Suns are doing but Mark Williams can ever stay healthy i mean he’s he’s a good player
so here’s the other Can I add to that
yeah go if I’m Washington or sorry Charlotte I’m quite annoyed with the Lakers because the Lakers traded for Mark Williams Dalton Connect who was a top 20 pick a swap in 31 and 2031 unprotected that was the trade they then back out of it and the trade becomes the 29th pick and then a 2029 pick so they got you know what I mean like it’s significantly less than they thought they were getting from the Lakers i I agree with you in this regard Wilds the Suns still oddly they they went into the draft with nothing but shooting guards now they have shooting guards and centers they still don’t have forwards or point guards but
but Right you now have Now you’re going to have 48 minutes of
center compliment right you’re going to have Mark Williams cuz Malawatch I think we agree is a bit of a project but he you know he’ll play some Mark Williams will play they got that position taken care of so I give him credit for that
like maybe letting go of DeAndre Aton wasn’t the best thing when I saw him in the finals and now we’re just lost
okay shooting guards tall people
with that said the team that has DeAndre Aton drafted a center in the top 10 last year and then drafted a center the 16th pick this year so they might might not love DeAndre Aton so much themselves Fair uh second pick of the draft Dylan Harper to the Spurs was not a surprise but which pick did surprise you
well or or theme yeah biggest surprise to me that there were no huge trades and I understand I just talked about what I thought was a a terrible trade but I thought that there was going to be potentially big teamplayer movement centered around the draft i thought it was on the board jaylen Brown got moved i thought it was Did you on the board i didn’t that I didn’t think it was likely but I thought it was on the board i thought it was very on the board that Philadelphia used the third pick as a carrot to get someone to potentially bite on Paul George i certainly thought it was on the board that Brooklyn packaged three of those first round picks to move up for ace you know I thought it was on the board that the Lakers traded Austin Reeves for the ninth ninth pick to take Malawatch and so and I I I would have liked it but the um I just thought
we were going to see more significant trades where contenders try to leverage the draft and that just didn’t happen and so that was I’m not saying it’s bad it just surprised me that that’s not how it played out
well remember if if the Durant trade had not happened already it may have happened with the draft the Boston trades you know what I mean so some of it was already happening
um I was surprised and he’s he’s been a staple in today’s show ace Bailey that Utah took him
right down the middle because it he just didn’t you know he wasn’t looking to go there obviously and like Nick said it just you know I I give Austin A credit though just he doesn’t want to come here we love him as a player though and they had have talked to him you know at at uh the workouts and stuff not his workout but you know pre-draft camp and stuff um and I think it’s a good opportunity for him and we’ve seen it before where a guy didn’t want to go somewhere but it worked out and uh so I think
is there a good not to put you on the spot but is there a good example of that
of where it did work out or did
where it like works out swimming like you know what I didn’t want to go here and but it turns out I love it
so the example I’m thinking of is the opposite steve Francis sobbing about Vancouver taking him and never playing for them uh
and he’s not I’ll give him credit because he seemed he did not seem bothered by going to Utah like those are the reports but he see he handled himself well
no he didn’t seem thrilled
i thought he Well thrilled is one thing but I thought he seemed happy to be drafted
yeah the only the only table that seemed really upset was and gosh remember the kid the kid that went to Toronto afterwards he said he would had a great press conference yeah so that was it was just like in the moment and it seemed like his girlfriend was super upset and then he was bummed murray the Murray Boils
yes that’s right the kid from South Carolina and again that’s probably unfair it might just be like in the- moment snap reaction like “Oh man I’ve never been there.” And then it settles in you realize and so I don’t know
uh my surprise I like Walter Clayton Jr to the Jazz a lot
i love Walter Clayton Jr you know why i like winning games yeah I knew this was
I’m not a huge I mean I like potential but on on my huge list of things like you know this guy uh isn’t very good and doesn’t win a lot of games but we love him we project him to be amazing i’ve heard that a lot in the NBA draft it doesn’t always work you know what I like guys hitting big shots and leaving with championships so Walter Clayton Jr i don’t think he I don’t if I was on the Wizards I would have taken but I know the Wizards aren’t interested in winning all of a sudden him and ace will be a nice little combo
all of a sudden the Jazz him going 18th was a great a great rise over the course of the year for him i guess so cuz I think he was projected not in the first round
going into the year he was not a first round pick
he can play i watch the games
well again you’re seeing guys I always like guys that stay three or four years particularly as role players yes but again and I’m not saying he’s going to be Jaylen Brunson but similar situation in that Brunson won a championship won two I believe championships at Villainova but nobody thought he’s going to do anything at this level too little and you see works hard and this kid has the character i Yeah I’ll use a different comp for him that I think’s more realistic as far as his NBA because Jay Brunson’s a superstar um Fred Van Vleet who didn’t you didn’t win championships but basically c took Witchah State as far as is realistic to take him and you know what I mean stayed in college played well questions about his size but no questions about his toughness work ethic clutch and has had an awesome career and is a champion in the pros
sleeper of the draft time a lot of people like Cedric Coward who ends up in Memphis after starting his college career paying tuition at D3 3 Will University in Oregon they got some good ballers in D3
yeah but so Drew was one of them drew he he went D3 for a year then was Eastern Washington for two
and then at Washington State only played six games got hurt and was transferring to Duke and then crushed the combine and now so shout out to Cedric not Colin Coward um shout out to Colin as well yeah my answer is admittedly someone I’ve watched none of but I like the idea of Yang here’s the deal yang Hansen also some people are reporting his name is Hansen Yang i apologize that that is not necessarily the NBA guide and so but so if I have this wrong I apologize so is this partially because Jake Fischer said a Nugget source said he’s the new Nicola Joic partially but here’s the other reason china and India have onethird of the world’s population other than Yao we have not gotten any NBA stars from that entire you know section of the world like we haven’t had I don’t think a Chinese player and I’m including India because it’s similar piece part of the world and similar in population i don’t think we had a firstrounder post YA other than Yin Leang and he obviously didn’t work out i truly believe in the power of inspiration by uh someone from a country being awesome turning into a player and then the young great athlete in that country being like you know what
I want to pick that up instead of whatever the typical sport is i thought post Yao there would be a lot more Chinese kids that came into the league and made waves it has not yet happened i think it would be amazing for the NBA which is the world’s second most popular sport it is soccer then basketball as far as people that play the sport worldwide if we get more from kind of the Asian subcontinent and from China and so I hope Yang works out i think it is the Blazers i don’t totally understand their plan i’ll be honest you trade for Drew Holidayiday because you want to win now you spin a top 10 pick on your guy uh the center from Yukon last year
oh Don Mclling klingan and now you trade up to get or you end up getting Hansen when a lot of people are going to be a second round pick i hope he’s great because I just think the league becoming more and more global the rising talent tide would be great so I’m rooting for him
no it’d be it would be nice um my guy is also an international player kasparis Yakais wow
i like him a lot
he’s good
the comps are Goran Draic who obviously was an all-star with the Heat but the Heat got him at 20 seems like he dropped but I like him at Illinois like great passer can shoot better than his percentage showed because he he can hit some threes um can get to the rim and he’s a pass first guy
right right and he’ll fit he’s 6’5 so he’s got size he’ll fit nicely next to Hero and uh I I think this is a really good I think this guy’s gonna be might be a star like Yeah I I think he’s really good yeah
from Lithuania
i’m ready to make a prediction
okay on this show something that has become popular I think you popularized it Brew is that you want either the Lakers or the Warriors to get a 7 foot guy in the you set the bar at walk and chew gum okay
at the same time
at the Yes I’m sorry not separately if they’re sitting down and chewing gum
it doesn’t work ryan Caulbriner from Kraton okay 71270 granted I’ve watched more Big East basketball than SEC basketball fourtime Big East defensive player of the year averaged 199 two assists he shoots 65% from the field there was games where he was matched up against smaller teams and he was basically unstoppable do I think he’s going to get a lot better i don’t know but I do think he’s being penalized for being a four-year college player it’s like there’s not a ton of potential what you see is what you get
he’s good he can play defense he can catch lobs he’s got a little post game it would He would work on the Lakers if whoever’s if if Pelinka wants to make a strong move get up and grab him you know how good mediocre centers are with LeBron
it’s like max contract times for Ilgowskis lebron’s there getting Come on i mean I was actually a pretty good player i know i mean one will make guys great
a guy you love is Is this guy better than Jackson Hayes
you love Jackson Hayes
jackson Hayes is a bit unserious is Is this
I think he’s better than
Are you But is this guy Are you telling me this guy is like a poor man’s Edy no he’s better no he looks like he’s way better
well I don’t know about better edy actually was a top 10 pick ed was better than Zack Edy he’s more fluid player of the year he moves well
his game will translate to the NBA better than Edies
edies has translated
okay what do you I like
me and Dustin you guys like he’s too tall
if this guy is way better than Zack I think he will be better than Zack
you’re right about the biggest sleeper part that is a take that’s a take
someone should go up and try to get him if
the Lakers just bought they paid cash to move from 55 to 45 you got to love if you’re a Bulls fan thanks for watching

Nick Wright, Chris Broussard, and Kevin Wildes discuss the biggest winners and losers of Round 1 of the 2025 NBA Draft so far. Plus, they discuss the biggest sleepers and surprises.

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2025 NBA Draft Round 1 Recap, Who were the biggest winners, surprises & losers? | FIRST THINGS FIRST
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