Cooper Flagg arrived at Duke as a 17-year-old and went on to win the Wooden Award, dominating college hoops and leading the Blue Devils to a No. 1 seed. Duke was up six points with a little over one minute left in their Final Four showdown against Houston. If not for one of the most shocking collapses in NCAA history, we might be talking about Flagg as a March Madness champion right now.
Even without a ring to his name, Flagg is the undisputed top prospect in the 2025 NBA Draft. Few prospects generate this level of consensus, especially in such a strong class. Dylan Harper, VJ Edgecombe, and several others probably would've been the No. 1 pick last season. This is a strong draft class, but none really hold a candle to Flagg.
That said, the draft is always unpredictable. There are countless instances of the consensus No. 1 overall pick not ending up as the best player from a specific class. Ben Simmons, Markelle Fultz, Anthony Edwards (I'll stand on this). You can argue Devin Booker is better than Karl-Anthony Towns. You can argue Ja Morant is better than Zion Williamson. It always ends up far less cut and dry than folks expect.
So, with such a strong crop of talent behind him, Flagg will probably be the best player to emerge from this draft, but not definitely. Here are a few names would could surpass him in the end.
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3. Khaman Maluach, Duke
What if Flagg isn't even the best player from Duke this season? It's not an impossibility. Khaman Maluach can reasonably claim the highest ceiling in the draft. That is an amorphous and at times impossible term to drill down, but at 7-foot-2, 250 pounds with excellent mobility and elite foundational attributes, Maluach certainly offers immense upside.
Maluach is one of the best rim finishers in recent draft history. He boasts a 7-foot-6 wingspan and a wide catch radius around the basket. Get Maluach the rock with position in the post, or with momentum toward the basket at the roll man, and he's a strong bet to put points on the board.
What could unlock Maluach as a truly special talent, however, is his shooting touch and perimeter fluidity. Maluach has minimal ball-handling chops to speak of and he only attempted 16 3s at Duke, but he's a steadfast free throw shooter. He made four of those 3s. Maluach is 18, so he has a lot of time to grow into his frame and harness his unique athletic gifts. If the South Sudan native can develop a dependable jumper, add a few ball-handling moves to his repertoire, and emerge as a bonafide face-up scorer, the league will struggle to put a lid on his production.
All this, of course, is operating under the assumption that Maluach emerges as a DPOY candidate anchoring the middle. He has all the tools. Improved physicality is a must, but few players at Maluach's size can move and anticipate plays at the rim like him.
2. VJ Edgecombe, Baylor
VJ Edgecombe isn't quite on the Amen Thompson plane of athletic absurdity, but he's awfully close. The Baylor guard went through his shares of ups and downs as a freshman, but he finished on a high note. Flagg won the head-to-head in the NCAA Tournament, but there's a world in which Edgecombe wins the long game and becomes the top player from this draft.
He isn't blessed with elite positional size or length — 6-foot-3 barefoot with a 6-foot-6 wingspan — but he's exceptionally strong and otherworldly in his movement. Edgecombe can phase through the air for weak-side blocks. He's a menace in passing lanes, a blanket at the point of attack, and an encouragingly productive positional rebounder. Edgecombe's defensive playmaking (2.5 steals, 0.6 blocks) is unmatched in this class.
The 19-year-old still has a ways to go before he surpasses Flagg, but the tools are there. He possesses a deadly first step, with the burst and strength to absorb contact and draw fouls at the rim. His physicality on finishes is mighty impressive and Edgecombe is enough of a spot-up shooter to space the floor and force closeouts. A huge swing skill for the Bears guard will be his pull-up jumper. He's comfortable firing off the catch, but Edgecombe is generally spotting up or attacking the lane. If he can translate his touch into more fluid, dynamic pull-up jumpers, a whole new world will open up before him.
With his functional athleticism, two-way motor, and strong basketball IQ, Edgecombe has a clear path to NBA stardom. If he maxes out his ceiling, there's absolutely a world in which he's going No. 1 in re-drafts a decade from now.
1. Dylan Harper, Rutgers
Dylan Harper has cemented his status as the clear second-best prospect in the 2025 NBA Draft. Rutgers' season was a massive disappointment with two projected top-five picks on the roster, but Harper shouldn't suffer on the basis of team-wide failure. He dealt with a few bumps in the road due to injury, but overwhelmingly so, Harper was the most consistent positive in a dour Scarlet Knights campaign.
The son of five-time NBA champ Ron Harper, Dylan packages excellent positional size with dynamic skill and high feel. He's a bonafide point guard at 6-foot-6 and 215 pounds. What Harper lacks in burst, he makes up for with strength and craft, uncorking arrhythmic ball-handling cadences and slick, tight dribble moves to create advantages. He finishes mostly below the rim, but Harper uses his broad shoulders and polished footwork to negate shot-blockers and carve out space in traffic.
He's a pick-and-roll natural, which is essential to modern point guard play. Harper reads the floor from a high vantage point and regularly leverages the screen to put his defender in jail and generate lanes to the hoop. His feel, creativity, and touch are all excellent. Harper needs to get more consistent as a shooter, especially pulling up, but the baseline tools are exceptional.
Harper should defend at a high level, too. He probably won't stop the twitchiest guards on an island, but he's impressively versatile. The 19-year-old is a point guard who can switch elegantly between three or four positions on a nighty basis. Harper displayed quick hands in passing lanes (1.8 steals) at Rutgers.
There is something so quintessential to how Harper runs an offense. He feels tailored to the modern NBA. He is probably the strongest bet to challenge Flagg for the title of 'best player' from the 2025 NBA Draft.