Round-up of NBA Draft 2025 Expert Mock Drafts After NCAA Championship

College basketball's championship has been claimed, and the NBA will soon crown its biggest loser (i.e., winner of the tank race).

Draft season is upon us, folks, and the mock draft world is predictably buzzing with expert analysis.

We're here to dissect the latest prognostications from B/R's Jonathan Wasserman, ESPN's Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo and USA Today's Jeff Zillgitt, Lorenzo Reyes and James H. Williams to highlight both common trends and key disagreements.

Top Two Picks Cemented?

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While you don't have to dig too deep to find differences within these expert mocks, you do have to scan past the first two picks.

Those are the same in all three mocks with Duke forward Cooper Flagg holding the top spot, and Rutgers guard Dylan Harper sitting second.

"Aside from exceeding expectations this year with his evolving creation and shotmaking, Flagg greatly impacted games with his passing and defensive playmaking as well," Wasserman wrote. "He wound up leading the nation in box plus-minus at 17/18 years old."

As for Harper, Woo wrote that his "archetype as a jumbo playmaking guard with real feel isn't easy to find." Harper might have to answer some questions about his shotmaking in predraft workouts, but he feels like the No. 2 pick even with that question mark hovering above.

Consensus Top-10 Prospects

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While the actual draft and mock drafts can both serve up surprises, there are five prospects not named Flagg or Harper who should feel great about their chances of cracking the top 10.

That's because all three expert mocks featured all five of the following players within the top 10 picks: Baylor wing VJ Edgecombe, Rutgers swingman Ace Bailey, Texas guard Tre Johnson, Duke wing Kon Knueppel and Duke big man Khaman Maluach.

Bailey was the third pick for the ESPN and USA Today crews and the fourth for Wasserman. Edgecombe held the Nos. 3 or 4 spots the other way. Wasserman put Johnson in the No. 7 spot, two picks behind where he went in the other mocks. Knueppel went eighth at B/R and ESPN and sixth at USA Today, while Maluach was seventh at ESPN, ninth at USA Today and 10th on B/R.

The Bailey-vs.-Edgecombe debate seems like the first real argument in this draft, then. For the USA Today team, Bailey's blend of size (6'10") and explosive athleticism gave him the nod in "a league that prioritizes players built exactly the way he is with exactly the skill set he has." For Wasserman, Edgecombe got the nod at No. 3 for the chance that teams "deem him the safer, more well-rounded prospect."

The Near-Consensus Top-10 Picks

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While seven prospects were top-10 picks in all three mocks, three others just missed out on that distinction. One was Maryland big man Derik Queen, a top-eight pick for B/R and USA Today who went 11th at ESPN. Another was Illinois guard Kasparas Jakucionis, who went seventh at USA Today, ninth at ESPN and 11th at B/R. The last was Oklahoma guard Jeremiah Fears, who went sixth at B/R and ESPN but slipped to 11th at USA Today.

Woo credited Queen as "the most offensively gifted big in this draft class," noting his "ability to handle, pass and create mismatches, along with flashes of shooting potential." But Woo also dinged Queen for the fact his "motor on the defensive end and on the glass were often questionable."

With Jakucionis, Wasserman noted there is "currently both optimism and debate about how much his positional size, clever maneuvering, shooting skill and passing IQ can offset his lack of explosiveness and quickness." However, Wasserman also opined that "recent evidence suggests skill and IQ can outweigh athletic limitations for a ball-handler, particularly for a plus shooter."

Wasserman credited Fears for having "extraordinary quickness and shiftiness to create, three-level shotmaking flashes and beautiful ball screen passes." The questions with Fears, Wasserman noted, "ask where he'll improve his shooting and decision-making."