FanSided's NBA Draft Central has you covered from every angle with the latest mock drafts, rankings, detailed notes on every top prospect and more.
The 2025 NBA Draft will commence on Wednesday night. It's an event rooted in the inherent optimism of basketball fandom. Every team has a chance to strike gold. We want good things to happen. Every fan and fanbase will feel a range of emotions throughout the night, but in the end, we can all have faith that several meaningful, longtime NBA players will hear their name called and began their professional journeys.
You can check out FanSided's NBA Draft Central for all your pre-draft needs — a full big board, a mock draft, aggregate predictions from various experts, all in one place. In this exercise, rather than predicting what will happen, we will focus on what should happen. And what shouldn't.
Several teams will determine the course of their organizational future on Wednesday night. Here are a few dream pairings between prospect and team, as well as some more troubling potentialities.
What we need to see: Kasparas Jakucionis in Portland
The Portland Trail Blazers delivered a surprising trade late Monday night, acquiring Jrue Holiday from the Boston Celtics in exchange for Anfernee Simons and two second-round picks. Much has been made of Holiday's hefty contract and his imminent decline, but he is an immediate upgrade for a team inching toward the postseason. Simons was not long for Portland; Holiday can mentor the likes of Scoot Henderson and Toumani Camara, while also giving the Blazers much-needed connective tissue as a playmaker.
So why another guard? Because the Blazers need need to stock up on high-level decision-makers next to their core of downhill scoring guards and high-level defenders. Kasparas Jakučionis needs a solid defensive infrastructure around him, which Portland can provide. He's also 6-foot-6 with a solid frame, so Portland can run plenty of two or three-guard looks without sacrificing too much size.
Jakučionis is probably the best pick-and-roll guard in the draft. He's not overly explosive, but he operates with pristine footwork, unique ball-handling cadences and a sharp eye for passing. The turnovers were a problem at Illinois, but the Blazers can ease pressure with Henderson, Holiday and Shaedon Sharpe. It feels like Jakučionis would immediately elevate Portland's offensive functionality without being too catastrophic to a potential top-five defense.
What we need to avoid: Ace Bailey in Washington
Ace Bailey has gone scorched earth in the pre-draft process, essentially refusing to work out with teams in an effort to maneuver his way down the board. He doesn't want to play a bit part next to Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey in Philadelphia. He doesn't want to go to Charlotte with LaMelo Ball, nor does anyone else apparently.
The most popular projected landing spot for Bailey right now is the Washington Wizards at No. 6. There's no denying Bailey's immense ceiling. Players with his blend of size, athleticism and shot-making are not exactly a dime a dozen. Bailey has special movement shooting ability and he's an incredible bailout option when the clock dwindles and a team needs an isolation go-getter. But he's also deficient in terms of feel and rim pressure. Bailey sucked up a lot of oxygen at Rutgers. Rather than embracing a more refined role and shot diet on a contender, it's clear he wants to go to a team like Washington and operate with total freedom.
That is... not ideal. Washington has patiently centered its rebuild on a collection of high-level defenders, with a commitment to size and versatility that most closely aligns with a team like Orlando. Bailey is tall, he can defend when he wants to, and yeah, Washington needs a bit more offensive firepower. But turning over the offense completely to Bailey, at this stage of his development, won't help anyone. It won't help Bailey buck bad habits and develop as a decision-maker. It won't help Washington win games. Bailey needs to be learning from a Paul George or a Trey Murphy, not a Jordan Poole. It feels like he's prioritizing the wrong things right now. Washington should not take the bait.
What we need to see: Jase Richardson in Minnesota
With all due respect to Rob Dillingham, we need to get him to a team with less immediate title aspirations, where his defense isn't such a deal-breaker. In that vein, the Minnesota Timberwolves need a guard they can play right away — a solid positional defender whose off-ball scoring and connective playmaking can grease the wheels on a good-not-great offense and relieve some of the pressure on Anthony Edwards.
That brings us to Michigan State's Jase Richardson, the son of former NBA star Jason Richardson. Whereas his father was a turbo-charged athlete with size and explosiveness, Jase Richardson is a smaller, floor-bound guard with incredible touch. He's the most advanced off-ball scorer on the board — a savvy cutter, always relocating into open space, attacking closeouts with a purpose, and making quick decisions in the flow of the offense, never letting the ball stick for too long.
It's fair to be skeptical of any 6-foot-2 combo guard, but Richardson has a stout frame, long arms (6-foot-6 wingspan) and a real appetitue for generating stops. It feels like he can earn his spot in a rotation, even for a team with title aspirations like Minnesota. If the defense holds up, there's no reason to believe the offense won't. Richardson can bomb 3s, slither down the lane for teardrop floaters and generally make sharp, timely decisions to sustain advantages and keep the defense in flux. Learning from Mike Conley is a great way to develop your point guard skills, too.
What we need to avoid: Tre Johnson in Philadelphia
There has been a late surge of Tre Johnson buzz around the Philadelphia 76ers, which is deeply unnerving. We know the Sixers like VJ Edgecombe, who remains the odds-on favorite. We also know Ace Bailey would like nothing more than to avoid the Sixers. But what about Tre Johnson, a sweet-shooting guard with a distinctly Daryl Moreyian skill set?
Morey has earned the trust of the fanbase in the draft, if not in other settings. So if Johnson is the pick, so be it. But this feels like a reach, especially if the Sixers don't trade back a few spots. Johnson is probably the best shooter in the draft, with crisp, clean mechanics and incredible versatility to his shot-making. He can fly around screens, uncork a step-back — the movement shooting under duress is an attribute that has historically aligned well with Joel Embiid. Factor in Tyrese Maxey and Jared McCain in the backcourt, and Philadelphia would have an incredible collection of floor-spacing guards who can put stress on a defense.
The vision is clear, even appealing, but Johnson is also a negative defender who will struggle to stay on the floor with Maxey and McCain as a rookie. He doesn't really pressure the rim or create for teammates. The shot-making is undeniably elite, but the Sixers feel like a team that needs physicality and defense more than they need finesse and spacing. The track record for high-level perimeter scorers who don't really get downhill or create for teammates, or at least defend at a passable level, is mixed. Philadelphia should just stick to Edgecombe.
What we need to see: Derik Queen in Washington
The Wizards are quietly one of the more interesting teams in the lottery. This team does have the defensive infrastructure, in theory, to support an offensive lodestar with limitations on the other end. I'd prefer Jeremiah Fears to Ace Bailey, but there is some logic to betting on a centerpiece-type scorer who can improve Washington's makes-to-misses ratio.
But what about Derik Queen? This feels like a match made in heaven. Alex Sarr is an absurdly mobile and rangy defender, but he also spends too much time on the perimeter offensively and doesn't really operate with force in the paint. Derik Queen's mobility and rim protection has been cast into question, but he's a legitimate playmaking fulcrum in the frontcourt — a high-level passer with the strength, coordination and touch to carve defenses up in the paint. His fluid drives, bruising post-ups and balletic in-between shots would slide perfectly into Washington's broader offensive game plan.
The Wizards would have two bigs with ball skills and playmaking upside. Queen can pound the interior and collapse the defense, while Sarr spaces out to the 3-point line and does more finesse work. Defensively, Queen would have a strong apparatus around him with Sarr cleaning up messes from the weak side and Bilal Coulibaly stifling ball-handlers on the perimeter. Queen isn't a complete zero on defense either. His strength, dexterity and motor should help him stick, even if he's not making any All-Defense teams.
What we need to avoid: Collin Murray-Boyles in San Antonio
Collin Murray-Boyles is the No. 3 prospect at FanSided, but there's a real chance he is on the board for the San Antonio Spurs at No. 14. That is tremendous value, and there's no begrudging the pick from a best-player-available standpoint. But for the sake of Murray-Boyles and his NBA development, he should probably hope to avoid the Spurs.
San Antonio needs shooters, point blank. CMB is a tremendously physical and versatile defender in the frontcourt. He's a perfect complement to Victorr Wembanyama on paper — a bullish, all-around stopper who can attack mismatches in the paint offensively while Wemby spaces out to the 3-point line. But the Spurs also have De'Aaron Fox and Stephon Castle. Dylan Harper is going to be the pick at No. 2. That is three subpar shooters in the backcourt, with Jeremy Sochan also soaking up important minutes in the second unit.
The Spurs can only afford so many non-shooters. There's reason to believe CMB can develop from a nonshooter into a passable spot-up threat, but he needs time — a runaway to workshop his mechanics and translate his touch from the interior to the perimeter. He won't get that runway in San Antonio. Put CMB on a team with more floor-spacing, like Chicago, Phoenix or OKC, and it's easy to envision him realizing a lofty two-way ceiling. The fit is more complicated in San Antonio, though. This is not a bad pick for the Spurs, but it may be a challenging destination for CMB, even if you believe wholeheartedly in San Antonio's player development staff.