NBA

Chasing top talent: these teams will be eyeing a move up in the 2025 NBA Draft

With the NBA Finals over, attention quickly turns to the 2025 draft, with teams already starting to look ahead to the 2025/26 season.

JAMIE SQUIRE | AFP

Roddy Cons

Scottish sports journalist and content creator. After running his own soccer-related projects, in 2022 he joined Diario AS, where he mainly reports on the biggest news from around Europe’s leading soccer clubs, Liga MX and MLS, and covers live games in a not-too-serious tone. Likes to mix things up by dipping into the world of American sports.

Update: Jun 23rd, 2025 09:40 EDT

With the NBA Finals now over - the Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Indiana Pacers in Games 7, in case you somehow missed it - attention now turns to the 2025 NBA Draft in the world of basketball. And we don’t have to wait long to have our appetite whetted for next season, with franchises getting ready to (further) reshape their rosters with new talent.

When and where is the 2025 NBA Draft?

The 2025 NBA Draft will take place at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York on Wednesday, June 25 and Thursday, June 26.

The event will get underway on Wednesday, June 25 at 8pm ET.

How to watch the 2025 NBA Draft

The upcoming draft will be broadcast on both ESPN and ABC, and can also be streamed on NBA Pass.

Even with an NBA Finals-winning roster, the Thunder have 11 first-round draft picks to improve it further‼️

◽️ 15th pick in 2025 via Miami
◽️ 24th pick in 2025 via LAC
◽️ 2026 top-4 protected pick via Philadelphia
◽️ 2026 top-8 protected pick via Utah
◽️ Own 2026 pick
◽️ 2027… pic.twitter.com/CUICUekiqH
— The Athletic NBA (@TheAthleticNBA) June 23, 2025

How is the NBA Draft order decided?

The order is determined by a combination of the NBA Draft Lottery and the reserve order of regular season records (win percentages) from the previous season.

The lottery, won this year by the Dallas Mavericks, determines the first four picks. The team with the worst regular season record in 2024/25, the Utah Jazz, therefore has the fifth pick, with the franchise with the second worst record, the Washington Wizards, going next (and so on).

Matters are then complicated significantly by picks which have been traded between franchises as part of other deals. As a result, the Thunder, the best team in the regular season, would normally have picked 30th in the first round, but will actually have the 15th selection.

2025 NBA Draft order

First round

1. Dallas Mavericks
2. San Antonio Spurs
3. Philadelphia 76ers
4. Charlotte Hornets
5. Utah Jazz
6. Washington Wizards
7. New Orleans Pelicans
8. Brooklyn Nets
9. Toronto Raptors
10. Phoenix Suns
11. Portland Trail Blazers
12. Chicago Bulls
13. Atlanta Hawks (from Sacramento Kings)
14. San Antonio Spurs (from Atlanta Hawks)
15. Oklahoma City Thunder (from Miami Heat via LA Clippers)
16. Memphis Grizzlies (from Orlando Magic)
17. Minnesota Timberwolves (from Detroit via New York, Oklahoma and Houston)
18. Washington Wizards (from Memphis Grizzlies)
19. Brooklyn Nets (from Milwaukee via New York, Detroit, Portland and New Orleans)
20. Miami Heat (from Golden State Warriors)
21. Utah Jazz (from Minnesota Timberwolves)
22. Atlanta Hawks (from the Lakers via New Orleans)
23. New Orleans Pelicans (from Indiana)
24. Oklahoma City Thunder (from LA Clippers)
25. Orlando Magic (from Denver)
26. Brooklyn Nets (from New York)
27. Brooklyn Nets (from Houston)
28. Boston Celtics
29. Phoenix Suns (from Cleveland via Utah)
30. Los Angeles Clippers (from Oklahoma City)

Second round

31. Minnesota Timberwolves (from Utah)
32. Boston Celtics (from Washington via Detroit and Brooklyn)
33. Charlotte Hornets
34. Charlotte Hornets (from New Orleans via San Antonio, Phoenix and Memphis)
35. Philadelphia 76ers
36. Brooklyn Nets
37. Detroit Pistons (from Toronto via Dallas and San Antonio)
38. San Antonio Spurs
39. Toronto Raptors (from Portland via Sacramento)
40. Washington Wizards (from Phoenix)
41. Golden State Warriors (from Miami via Brooklyn and Indiana)
42. Sacramento Kings (Chicago via San Antonio)
43. Utah Jazz (from Dallas)
44. Oklahoma City Thunder (from Atlanta)
45. Chicago Bulls (from Sacramento)
46. Orlando Magic
47. Milwaukee Bucks (from Detroit via Washington)
48. Memphis Grizzlies (from Golden State via Washington and Brooklyn)
49. Cleveland Cavaliers (from Milwaukee)
50. New York Knicks (from Memphis via Oklahoma City and Boston)
51. Los Angeles Clippers (from Minnesota via Atlanta and Houston)
52. Phoenix Suns (from Denver via Charlotte and Minnesota)
53. Utah Jazz (from LA Clippers via LA Lakers)
54. Indiana Pacers
55. Los Angeles Lakers
— New York Knicks (forfeited)
56. Memphis Grizzlies (from Houston)
57. Orlando Magic (from Boston)
58. Cleveland Cavaliers
59. Houston Rockets (from Oklahoma City via Atlanta)

The New York Knicks will forfeit their second-round pick because of a tampering violation related to their signing of Jalen Brunson in 2022.

First pickers and projected first picks

As a result of the draft lottery, the Mavericks are in pole position to scoop the top player from the 2025 NBA Draft. Dallas is expected to select Duke forward Cooper Flagg, who put together one of the best seasons in college basketball history.

Rutgers guard Dylan Harper is the standout No. 2 pick and could therefore end up with the Spurs, unless San Antonio decide to get creative.

The Philadelphia 76ers, followed by the Charlotte Hornets, were the other two franchises that benefited from the lottery, with Bahamian shooting guard VJ Edgecombe, Ace Bailey, also of Rutgers, Duke’s Kon Knueppel and Texas Longhorn shooting guard Tre Johnson expected to be snapped up in the first few picks.