2025 NBA Draft Winners & Losers: Mavericks, Spurs Land Good Fits While Suns & Pelicans Make Head-Scratching Moves

The 2025 NBA Draft proved an eventful affair. The first half of the lottery didn’t provide much in the way of drama outside of Ace Bailey ending up with the Utah Jazz, but things really kicked into gear as the night went on. There were numerous trades, more than a few surprising selections and in general, a lot of NBA draft night action.

NBA Draft Winners

International Prospects

The rise of NIL in the college basketball realm has, among other things, led to a huge hit in NBA draft depth, and it was really felt this year. The ripple effects of that are only just starting to be felt, but the 2025 draft showed the opportunity it provides for international players. Six players from overseas who didn’t play in the NCAA last year were selected and four were picked in the second half of the first half of the first round, including one absolute wild card in Yang Hansen, the Portland Trail Blazers’ pick at 16.

Dallas Mavericks, San Antonio Spurs & Miami Heat

The Mavericks are the biggest winners of the night by far. Against significant odds, the lottery fell in their favor, gifting the Mavericks the right to pick first overall. There was only one choice to make, and they made it, taking Cooper Flagg out of Duke. Flagg is one of the best prospects to enter the draft in the last decade and will be warmly welcomed by a Mavericks fan base desperate for some good news.

The San Antonio Spurs didn’t do anything crazy with their two first-round picks, but they used them well. They picked Dylan Harper at No. 2, as expected, and they nabbed Carter Bryant at No. 14. Both players come to the Spurs looking like great fits with their young core.

The Miami Heat’s selection of Illinois prospect Kasparas Jakucionis was seen as a possible high-end lottery pick at the beginning of the draft process, but his stock slowly chipped away as evaluators delved further into his game. Entering the night, he was one of the prospects who had a wide range of outcomes, but few analysts predicted he’d fall into the back half of the draft entirely. But he did, and the Heat are the beneficiaries as things stand.

NBA Draft Losers

Ace Bailey

Bailey’s refusal to work out or meet with teams, capped off by bailing on the Philadelphia 76ers a day before a planned draft visit, did not paint him in the best light as the draft approached. Then on draft night, Bailey got picked fifth by the Jazz, and ESPN’s Jonathan Givony immediately reported the Utah Jazz was not one of Bailey’s preferred draft destinations (which Bailey later refuted). He also immediately reported that the team will not be trading Bailey.

The Phoenix Suns, New Orleans Pelicans & Brooklyn Nets

The Phoenix Suns entered the draft in dire need of foundational players and armed with two first-rounders to do so, No. 10 and No. 29. So what do they do? They acquired two centers. The Suns picked Khaman Maluach in the lottery and flipped the 29th pick, along with a 2029 first-rounder, to the Charlotte Hornets for Mark Williams. The Suns really needed to add talent in the frontcourt after shuffling through multiple substandard center options last season and then trading Kevin Durant ahead of the draft, but did they have to double-dip?

The New Orleans Pelicans jumped up 10 spots in the draft, trading with the Atlanta Hawks for the right to select Maryland’s Derik Queen with the No. 13 pick. That alone is not a terrible move, given the Pelicans need depth in the frontcourt to prepare for Zion Williamson’s annual stretch of missed games, and generally, the roster needs talent. Queen is definitely that, even if his fit as an NBA player isn’t as clean as players usually drafted in that range; however, the Pelicans traded their 2026 first-rounder to get the deal done, and questions have arisen on whether that was the right decision.

The Brooklyn Nets entered the draft with five first-round picks thanks to various wheeling and dealings in the last 12 months. It was a bit of a ridiculous cache, and pretty much the entire NBA expected the Nets to move off at least one, if not two, of those picks. The 2025 draft class was perceived as somewhat top-heavy, and even in a strong draft, it’s challenging for an NBA team to successfully integrate that many rookies onto a roster at once, regardless of how far the franchise may be from contention. The odds are not in their favor that all five first-round picks will work out.