2025 NBA mock draft: First-round picks after March Madness - ESPN


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Summary

This ESPN article presents a 2025 NBA mock draft, combining the analysts' scouting with information from NBA executives. The draft order is based on ESPN's BPI forecast. The article highlights several college players who impressed during March Madness, including Walter Clayton Jr. (Florida), Kon Knueppel (Duke), Derik Queen (Maryland), and Nique Clifford (Colorado State). International prospects Joan Beringer (Cedevita/Slovenia) and Noa Essengue (Ratiopharm Ulm/Germany) are also mentioned as top prospects. The article includes links to further resources, such as player comparisons, scout opinions, declared draft entrants, and previous mock drafts.

Key Players

  • Walter Clayton Jr. (Florida)
  • Kon Knueppel (Duke)
  • Derik Queen (Maryland)
  • Nique Clifford (Colorado State)
  • Joan Beringer (Cedevita/Slovenia)
  • Noa Essengue (Ratiopharm Ulm/Germany)

The mock draft itself is presented visually within the article (though not fully included in the snippet). The article's focus is on providing an early projection of the upcoming NBA draft, leveraging both statistical analysis and expert opinion.

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  • Jonathan Givony

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    Jonathan Givony

    ESPN
      NBA draft analyst and writer Joined ESPN.com in July 2017 Founder and co-owner of DraftExpress.com, a private scouting and analytics service used by NBA, NCAA and international teams
  • Jeremy Woo

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    Jeremy Woo

    ESPN
      NBA draft analyst and writer Joined ESPN.com in 2023 Covered the NBA and NBA draft for Sports Illustrated from 2015-2023
Apr 8, 2025, 07:00 AM ET

With men's college basketball crowning the Florida Gators as champions Monday night and the NBA in the final week of its regular season, the NBA draft will soon take center stage for the prospects and teams focused on their futures.

The NCAA tournament served as quite the platform for players such as Florida's Walter Clayton Jr., Duke's Kon Knueppel, Maryland's Derik Queen and Colorado State's Nique Clifford to showcase their talents in front of NBA executives.

On the international stage, Joan Beringer (Cedevita/Slovenia) and Noa Essengue (Ratiopharm Ulm/Germany) have also impressed scouts, consolidating their standing in the top-20 among talent evaluators.

ESPN draft experts Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo lean on their own scouting and exclusive intel from league executives to inform and guide their latest mock draft, slotting prospects to teams. The first- and second-round order was generated by ESPN's BPI forecast, which predicts how well all 30 NBA teams will perform during what's left of this season.

Notes: The draft order, as updated through April 7, reflects picks owed and owned via trades. True shooting percentage (TS%) is a formula that blends field goal percentage with free throw shooting and 3-point shooting into one catchall number.

More NBA draft coverage: Flagg's NBA comps | Scouts weigh in on Flagg Declared for draft: Queen | Fears | McNeeley Top 100 rankings | Previous mock draft | More

First round

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