Why don’t the Lakers, the Warriors and the Knicks have a first round pick in the 2025 draft?
The 2025 NBA Draft is nearly here but there are a few teams that will not select a player in the top 30.
The eyes of the basketball world will be on Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York this week for the 2025 NBA Draft.
The two-day event will span Wednesday, June 25 and Thursday, June 2026 as the cream of the crop of college talents learn where they will start their professional careers. This year there is little discussion around the identity of the No. 1 pick, with Duke freshman Cooper Flagg almost certain to be selected first by the Dallas Mavericks.
Elsewhere, there are three teams who will not get a pick in the NBA Draft until the second round, having given up their first round picks. Those teams are the LA Lakers, Golden State Warriors and New York Knicks.
For the Lakers, the big work was done during the season as they stunned the league with a blockbuster trade involving Luka Doncic. Head coach J. J. Reddick will hope that Doncic can help facilitate one last crack at a championship for LeBron James. They will use their No. 55 pick to flesh out a limited roster.
Similarly, the Warriors gave up their 2025 first round pick in the trade that brought Jimmy Butler to the Bay Area. In recent years Golden State have found success later in the draft and they will have to wait until the 41st pick to get their choice.
Finally the Knicks are also without a first round pick as they look to build on a team that made it to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2024/25. The recently-fired Tom Thibodeau focused almost entirely on his starting five and the new head coach may wish to build out the roster a bit deeper. They hold the 50th pick at the 2025 NBA Draft.
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