Duke freshman Cooper Flagg will be one of the top targets in the 2025 NBA Draft.
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We’re counting down 24 key storylines heading into the 2024-25 NBA season. Our senior analysts will dissect a new topic each day as we help you get ready for opening night on Oct. 22.
Here is storyline No. 9:
Another huge name will cross the stage during the 2025 NBA Draft, and that could be great news for these teams.
Everyone saw the highlights and read the stories. You’d have to be under an NBA rock not to know that the stakes are high for Duke freshman Cooper Flagg. And he’s not alone. An army of ascending talent, with fellow first-years (the Rutgers tandem of Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey, UNC’s Drake Powell), international options (France’s Nolan Traore, Australia’s Rocco Zikarsky), and one who is both – VJ Edgecombe matriculates to Baylor after a Bahamian breakout during Olympic qualifying – is right on Cooper’s New Balance-clad heels.
The Nets begin the ascent after the fall, repositioning themselves for a massive haul. Brooklyn holds four picks, notably including their own after a clever sendoff of future selections to the rising Rockets. A pick from the Bucks is only top-4 protected, and a Knicks pick goes to the Nets outright. The fourth pick for Brooklyn will either belong (by record) to the Thunder, Rockets or Suns, with the Thunder first making a call on their pick vs. Houston (top-10 protected) or the Clippers’ outright; the Rockets then determine whether that Suns pick is to their advantage in either scenario.
The Spurs, meanwhile, have several chances to either place developing pieces on the board, or cash them in for top-level talent, or cash them in for future assets. The optionality here is high, which is what happens when you’ve already landed Victor Wembanyama. San Antonio controls its own pick and a potentially juicy Hawks selection outright, with a top-10 protected Bulls pick possibly incoming. A lottery-protected Hornets choice is unlikely to convey, leaving them with 2026 and 2027 second-rounders instead.
Even after rising to the top of the West, the Thunder again enter a Draft with multiple picks. This time as many as four come due: a potential swap of their own with the Clippers or Rockets; a lightly (top-6) protected 76ers pick, a top-10 protected Jazz selection and a lottery-locked Heat choice. Contract management has become critical in OKC, and hitting on the picks you keep helps make the options clearer once those rookie extensions enter the picture. Having extra heading in means being better able to target who you want, so expect Sam Presti to continue doing the thing – overpaying as needed to ensure the result.
Meanwhile, joining Brooklyn at the bottom of the expectations barrel, the Wizards, Trail Blazers, Pistons and Hornets each have lottery protections likely keeping a pick on hand, which – by the numbers – should leave one (or all four!) of these squads drafting a top-tier talent. With solid recent selections on all fronts, the linchpin piece to future success could be imminent. Or touching down somewhere else after the lottery. The rebuilds go on.
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Ben Couch is director, editorial content for NBA.com.
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