The Best And Worst Picks From The 2025 NBA Draft (So Far)

The 2025 NBA Draft class wasn't necessarily hyped up as a group that was expected to be one of the stronger classes we've seen in recent years, but despite labels of it being quote-unquote weak, we saw plenty of guys emerge as legit forces in the NBA out of the gate last season as rookies. Rookies get a lot of leeway to make mistakes, but after that, those rookie mistakes start to just become mistakes, so a year two leap is expected from them. Now that these guys have begun their second seasons, we're starting to get a better idea of who is looking legit, who is ready to take a leap, and who might be lagging behind, which brings us to today's video. Today we'll be going through and picking out the best and worst selections from the 2025 NBA draft so far based on what they are showing at this point in time. Before we start, though, it would be greatly appreciated if you could all utilize YouTube's new hype feature and hype this video up, along with liking it and subscribing to the channel, as it does actually help out quite a bit. Now, with that being said, let's begin. Starting with the first of the best picks from this draft, we have Cedric Coward of the Memphis Grizzlies, who was taken 11th overall. Coward actually came into this draft as more of a mystery than the others because, even though he was an older prospect, his college journey wasn't very conventional. He started at the D3 level, then he transferred to mid-major Eastern Washington for two years, then he transferred again to Washington State, but he suffered an injury after playing just six games for them. He didn't come in with as much experience against the higher levels levels of competition, but his tape was incredibly intriguing, and he was a sick 6 foot 6 shooting guard with a 7 foot 2 inch long wingspan, so he had the physical tools that teams love on top of it. Still, being taken 11th overall turned some heads at the time, yet he pretty much immediately quieted those doubts once he stepped onto an NBA court last season. Coward finished 5th in the Rookie of the Year voting last year behind averages of about 14 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists per game, shooting 47% from the field. I would say he is the ideal 3 and D type of wing that That undersells what Coward provides, because he is way more than just 3 and D. Coward is actually very crafty scoring inside the arc with a bit of skill in the post, taking on smaller defenders when the opportunity comes, he has good feel for positioning and finding the open space, and he's a team player making the extra pass and taking what comes to him without forcing it. He's not necessarily going to be a go-to scorer or top option, but he converts very very efficiently in the role that he's in. This season, he is once again off to a hot start for a surprisingly good Memphis Grizzlies team scoring a bit more, grabbing more rebounds this season, and shooting a red-hot 50% out of the gate early on, so all in all, this was a home run of a selection. Speaking of the Memphis Grizzlies, we can head over to Calshi and see that they are given a 43% chance to win their next game against the Toronto Raptors. Personally, I like those chances for them to win the game, so I will be taking them to win, and at that price, a $25 trade pays out $55 if you're right. Sure, the Grizzlies have cooled off a little bit since their red-hot start to the season, but they are still playing good basketball overall, plus the Raptors will be without Kawhi Kawhi Leonard for this game. So it's going. Now, for the first of the worst picks made in this draft that we'll be discussing, we have the San Antonio Spurs taking Carter Bryant 14th overall. Unfortunately, this just doesn't seem like a pairing that will work out in the grand scheme of things with the timeline required to make it work being so drastically different than the timeline that the team is actually on. Bryant's appeal as an NBA prospect has always been based around his defensive impact, and in his one season at Arizona in college, that was where he stuck out as an elite player. He's a strong six foot eight wing player with explosive athleticism and impressive mobility and he can truly cause fits for opponents at varying different positions because of that size strength and agility. There was a catch though. He wasn't even a starter on his team in college. He came off the bench solely for defensive purposes and on offense he lagged way behind. He averaged six points per game in college, occasionally knocking down a three, getting out in transition or making a nice cut to the basket for an an easy layup or dunk, but he never had any kind of on-ball creation skills to really tap into. For him to work as a prospect, he was going to have to be a high-level 3 and D player, and while he has the defense that the Spurs would love to be able to utilize, they can't justify giving him any minutes right now because he literally provides nothing on offense. In year two, the team is trying to find minutes for him game after game, but his court time is very limited because he's been cratering the offense. He averages just 2.5. points per game so far this season, shooting an abysmal 31% from the field and 26% from three, and he wasn't very involved as a rookie last year very consistently. Teams leave him wide open, and he can't do anything about it, and at this level, with a Spurs team trying to win a championship, they don't have the patience for that. Now back to the next of the best picks made in this draft, we have the Charlotte Hornets selecting Kon Knueppel fourth overall. In this draft, the top was basically already decided, with Cooper Flagg being the consensus number one pick and Dylan Harper being the consensus number two. After that, reports also indicated that the 76ers were pretty set on selecting Selecting VJ Edgecombe number three. So, number four was the first pick where a real tough decision needed to be made between taking Kon Knueppel and Ace Bailey, and if you asked the general public at the time, most of them probably would've taken Ace Bailey. The Hornets stuck to their guns, took Kon Knubble, received some pushback for it at the time, but as time passes, this selection is looking better and better. Kon Knubble was on the verge of snatching the Rookie of the Year award last season, up until the very end of the year when Cooper Flagg went But, despite being beat out, he did still set the tone for an incredible career he has coming up with Charlotte. Overall, Knubble averaged about 18.5 points per game, shooting a red-hot 48% from the field and 43% from three. His three-point percentage ranked in the top ten of the entire NBA, and he took more three-point attempts per game than every other player in the league with a better percentage than him. So there was a real argument to be made that he was the best volume shooter in the whole Now, for the next of the worst picks made, we have the Portland Trail Blazers selecting Excepting Yang Hansen's 16th overall. Hansen will unfortunately represent what it looks like to overreact to a very small sample size for the foreseeable future when it comes to analyzing draft scouts, and will probably be used as a reason not to get too carried away at the Combine moving forward. Throughout most of the pre-draft process, Hansen was viewed as second-round talent with some intriguing upside, but also some blatantly obvious limiting factors. He is a prospect from China who dominated in the CBA before coming over, but the level of play over there is substantially At the Combine, he was dominating the scrimmages there, showing off a Nikola Jokic-esque skill set as a hub of creation, creating, dishing, and throwing out some flashy assists from the high post. Spacing the floor with his jumper, and utilizing flashy post moves to score around the rim. The guys participating in the combine scrimmages are largely all players that won't be making it at the NBA level, though. Against NBA competition, Hansen's slow foot speed and overall processing of the game has been easily exploitable, and he is just a flat-out liability out there at this point in time. As a rookie, the Trail Blazers pretty much only ever played him during garbage time, and now to start this second season, he is once again And not even in the rotation at all. This pick becomes even more baffling when you see that the team had already just drafted their center of the future in Donovan Clingan, so using another valuable selection to reach this heart on a flawed center that at best is a long-term project never really added up. Now for the next of the best selections, we have the Toronto Raptors selecting Colin Murray-Boyles ninth overall Colin Murray-Boyles isn't going to be someone that jumps out on the stat sheet night after night, nor is he someone who will turn heads in the highlight reel, but if you ask Toronto about this pick, they would tell you there is no chance in hell they would want anybody else that was available here. The Raptors as a unit have blossomed back into a playoff team, thanks in large part to the defensive identity that they have established. Scottie Barnes is an elite two-way all-star, but defensively is really where he shines. Kawhi Leonard is now in town to defend the perimeter at a high level when he's healthy Jamal Shead is a great perimeter defender, RJ Barrett has been more locked in on that end on the defensive side of the ball, but while Jakub Poeltl has been good on defense in years past, he is now dealing with lingering back and shoulder injuries that started to really impact his play last year, and this season that trend is continuing. Colin Murray-Boyles came in last season as a rookie and plugged a lot of holes for this for this group en route to a playoff berth. He is naturally more of a power forward because he's slightly undersized, but he is strong enough to handle center minutes too, and he is nimble and versatile enough to defend multiple different positions as well. He's a very good rebounder, he's a reliable interior scorer with a useful combination of power and finesse, and with Jakub Poeltl's health and production regressing, Colin is seeing his role expanded, and it has benefited this team tremendously. The Raptors' advanced metrics show that they as a team perform about nine points better per 100 possessions, with Murray Boyles on the court compared to when he is on the bench. He's the kind of guy that loves doing the dirty work, he is a genuine positive on the floor without needing to dominate the ball, and he was a great positional fit for what the team needed, which all contributes to him being on this list today. Now for the next of the worst picks made in this draft, we have Trey Johnson who was taken sixth overall by the Washington Wizards. Trey Johnson came in as a prospect hype up as a spark plug scoring talent that can heat up in a heartbeat and shoot with ease with deep shooting range. A sweet shooting stroke like that will always catch the attention of NBA scouts, but unfortunately, a lot of his deficiencies got glossed over and when you factor those in, Trey's margin of error was a lot smaller in hindsight. Trey Johnson was not a very good defender at all as a prospect, but the good thing was that he was well aware of it and would be the first one to acknowledge that about himself. He's been outspoken about his willingness to want to improve on that end, whether it be his work rate or just knowing where to be and when to be there, but of course, all of that is easier said than done. Last year as a rookie he got more leeway because they were tanking and he showed off the scoring chops that he was hyped up to have, but his efficiency was wavering like most rookie guards do. His defense though was a liability. This season the Wizards have a new look team with some all-star caliber guys leading the way and they have their sights set on the playoffs which means there is less leeway for mistakes and bad defense and Trey's role has been reduced because of that At this point, his way into a big role is by dominating in the areas that he's- supposed to have as his strengths, but instead of proving to be the sharpshooter he was labeled as, he's gone ice cold to start this season. This year he is averaging just 8 points per game out of the gate, shooting 38% from the field and just 26% from three. Even if his shot does start falling more reliably, it is still a bit of a disappointment for this to be the player that they took 6th overall when there were loads of other more productive two-way players selected I did later on in this class. Now, for the last of the best picks from this draft class that we'll be discussing today, we have Maxime Reynaud of the Sacramento Kings, drafted 42nd overall. Reynaud was easily the biggest gem found in the second round of this draft class, and based on where the Kings are headed, he may be taking over as their starting center sooner rather than later. Domantas Sabonis wants out, and it seems as though he will be traded sooner rather than later, and the reason why the Kings feel more comfortable moving him is because of the fact that they found Maxime in the draft this year. it last year. Injuries to Domantas Sabonis last season actually gave him way more opportunity than he was expected to have right away as a rookie, but Maxime ended up taking over the starting job and proving that he could handle that load. As a rookie, he averaged about 12.5 points and 7.5 rebounds per game on the year, making him as productive as any rookie big last season, and he was named second team all-rookie because of it. Maxime is a terrific pick-and-roll man. He finishes so reliably around the rim, he runs the floor well, and he even has a bit of a jumper to tap into as a stretch big. Over the last month and a half of the season, he was actually averaging even more across the board, putting up about 18 points and 8 rebounds per game, showing what he could do in an expanded role, and to find all of that in the second round of the draft? It's as good as it gets. He's been injured to start this current season, but he is set to return soon, and And it already feels like he is a big part of this team's future. And finally, the last of the worst picks we'll be discussing today is the Brooklyn Nets taking Ben Sharaf 26th overall. This inclusion isn't totally on Ben himself, it's a combination of his shortcomings and the fact that the Nets made other selections in this very draft that made this pick even more head-scratching. The Nets made five selections in the first round of this draft class, and three of those picks were point guards or playmaking type of prospects. With Ben Sharaf being the last of those three picks, it really just felt like way too much unnecessary overlap after having taken both Yegor Geoman and Nolan Traore before this. It pretty much immediately sets him behind the learning curve, having to battle it out with two other rookies plus the rest of the backcourt on the roster all set up to start ahead of him in the pecking order. Then, when it came to actually playing, he hasn't really done himself any favors. Last season, Ben Sharoff averaged about seven points in the and three assists per game, shooting 39% from the field and just 21% from three. A complete non-threat from the outside. He spent a lot of time down in the G League too, but this is a new year. This season, Sharoff isn't even in the team's rotation at all, riding pine at the end of the bench with just one single appearance in garbage time so far. It's not as much that he's already a bust, it's just that the Nets really didn't need him and he could have found more opportunity elsewhere, which also makes it really bad as a pick in hindsight. And with that being said, that's all I have for you today. Make sure to like the video, subscribe to the channel, and comment down below which selections from this draft class you thought were the best and worst. Thanks for watching, and I'll see you all next time.