Trade or Keep: What Mavs, Spurs and NBA Lottery Teams Should Do With 2025 Draft Picks
For the second time in 2025, the Dallas Mavericks shocked the NBA world.
Only this time, they had no control over the outcome that sent NBA analysts and fans into a tizzy on Monday night.
Despite entering the draft lottery with just a 1.8 percent chance to land the top pick, Dallas jumped 10 spots and will be selecting first (barring a trade) in a draft that includes Cooper Flagg.
But the Mavs weren't the only team that got lucky. The San Antonio Spurs moved up six spots to No. 2, and the Philadelphia 76ers went from fifth to third.
Now, it's time to talk about what each of those teams, as well as the rest of the lottery, should do with those picks. And that doesn't just mean it's time to talk about who each organization should target in the draft. For some, it makes more sense to trade the 2025 pick for someone who can help now.
Below, we'll make the call, one way or the other, for everyone in the lottery.
13. Atlanta Hawks (via Sacramento Kings)
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You may notice that we skipped the Spurs and their 14th pick that came by way of the Atlanta Hawks. That's simply to avoid spoiling the verdict of what should happen with San Antonio's No. 2 overall pick. Stay tuned for that.
In the meantime, the Hawks worked their way back into the lottery by trading Kevin Huerter to the Sacramento Kings, where Bleacher Report's Jonathan Wasserman has them taking Collin Murray-Boyles.
Whether it's him or someone else who might be available in that range, Atlanta should go ahead and make the pick. It has something brewing with a young core that includes Zaccharie Risacher, Dyson Daniels and Jalen Johnson.
Adding another up-and-coming talent to that group is a wiser path forward than spending some of it on a role player who probably won't lift the Hawks out of mediocrity.
Verdict: Draft
12. Chicago Bulls
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The Chicago Bulls, like Atlanta, are nowhere near close enough to meaningful contention to justify moving a back-end-of-the-lottery pick for a role player.
Instead, they should be taking as many bites at the draft apple as possible to see who jells with a budding core that includes Josh Giddey, Matas Buzelis and Coby White.
Wasserman lists Georgia's Asa Newell as a potential fit, which makes sense, since Chicago may soon need a big man to replace 34-year-old Nikola Vučević.
Verdict: Draft
11. Portland Trail Blazers
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Justifying a trade here would be a lot easier than it would be for Atlanta or Chicago.
The Portland Trail Blazers, led by Deni Avdija (23.3 points, 9.7 rebounds and 5.2 assists after the All-Star break), Shaedon Sharpe (21.2 points, 3.3 assists and 2.3 threes over the same span) and Anfernee Simons (21.0 points, 4.4 assists and 3.2 threes) looked well ahead of schedule toward the end of the year, and adding a veteran to that group wouldn't be a hard sell.
But Portland is in that sweet organizational spot where you can settle on either path and probably feel good about it.
Avdija can be a star. Scoot Henderson and Donovan Clingan have plenty of room to grow, too. There's plenty of time to develop all three of the above, and adding more potential to the roster can only lengthen that timeline.
Verdict: Draft
10. Houston Rockets (via Phoenix Suns)
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If the Blazers are ahead of schedule, the Houston Rockets absolutely blew past theirs in 2024-25.
They finished second in the loaded Western Conference. Six of their top eight in total minutes played are under 25 years old. And it looks like they might already have at least two potential cornerstone-level talents in Alperen Şengün and Amen Thompson.
Adding this pick to a package that includes plenty of outgoing salary (they can get to almost $80 million with Fred VanVleet and Jalen Green alone) and more draft assets could make the Rockets realistic contenders for Kevin Durant and maybe even Giannis Antetokounmpo.
And adding a bona fide star to just about whoever's left after the trade could have Houston on the title contenders' tier within the next couple years.
Verdict: Trade
9. Toronto Raptors
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The Toronto Raptors have a core that looks destined to compete for play-in spots for the foreseeable future with Scottie Barnes, RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley.
And it's not like that group is completely devoid of potential, but outside of Barnes (who turns 24 in August), it's not exactly young either.
The Raptors should already be thinking, at least a little bit, about what comes after this era. And they need promising prospects to make those thoughts a little more pleasant.
French forward Noa Essengue, a 6'10" athlete with budding scoring ability, may be exactly that kind of prospect.
Verdict: Draft
8. Brooklyn Nets
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The Brooklyn Nets figure to come up in countless trade rumors this offseason. They're in a huge market. They have a couple interesting win-now players already on the roster in Cameron Johnson and Nicolas Claxton. And they're in an Eastern Conference that feels ripe for the taking after Jayson Tatum's conference semifinal injury against the New York Knicks.
They also have the ability to offer a unique trade package that may intrigue teams enamored with this particular draft class.
Beyond this eighth overall pick, Brooklyn owns the rights to Nos. 19, 26 and 27. Putting all four of those together with some salary and a handful of future picks could put the Nets in the mix for some of the big names who might be available this summer.
For example, the ultra-expensive Boston Celtics, upon learning they may be without Tatum for all of 2025-26, may want to dump Jaylen Brown into someone's cap space. Brooklyn may be the perfect landing spot, in that scenario.
Verdict: Trade
7. New Orleans Pelicans
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The New Orleans Pelicans, much like Toronto, looks like a team that could get cozy with the play-in for the foreseeable future, though their prospects aren't the result of a lack of high-end talent.
Actually, New Orleans has one of the most explosive scorers in the NBA in soon-to-be-25-year-old Zion Williamson. It just happens to be impossible to count on him playing anywhere near a full season.
The most dramatic potential move would be unloading Zion, but New Orleans would likely be looking to get some picks back in that deal.
So instead, we'll suggest that the Pelicans, who've done a solid job of drafting in recent years, keep adding talent to whatever era is around the bend.
Duke center Khaman Maluach could be an interesting defensive anchor for a team with or without Zion, particularly since he has some upside as an outside shooter.
Verdict: Draft
6. Washington Wizards
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The Washington Wizards were among the big losers in this week's lottery. They, the Utah Jazz and Charlotte Hornets all had a 14 percent chance to land the top pick, and they all tumbled.
Washington fell the furthest, all the way to No. 6, but that shouldn't change its approach to this draft.
Regardless of where the Wizards wound up, they're way too far from playoff contention to think about going for a veteran.
Instead, adding a young shot-maker like Tre Johnson to a young roster that already includes Alexandre Sarr and Bilal Coulibaly is the way to go.
Verdict: Draft
5. Utah Jazz
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This is one of the more difficult calls of the entire exercise.
The Utah Jazz slide could read roughly the same as the Wizards blurb you just passed, and no one (at least no one outside Utah) would likely bat an eye.
But Utah's situation is slightly different. It already has Lauri Markkanen, who's performed like a fringe All-NBA player when healthy. It has Walker Kessler, who's a bona fide defensive anchor.
What it doesn't have is the draw of a big market, which makes free agency dramatically different for teams like the Los Angeles Lakers or New York Knicks.
The Jazz can't bank on free agency for a star. The three years post-Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert trades have demonstrated they can't bank on that either. There are several players on rookie contracts on this roster, and none of them look like franchise cornerstones.
So, instead of taking a few more cracks at the tanking approach, Utah could justify putting together some shorter-term salary with picks to try to add Brown to Markkanen and Kessler.
That might not make the Jazz a contender, but it would at least give them a chance to return to the playoffs.
Verdict: Trade
4. Charlotte Hornets
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Like Washington (and unlike Utah), the Charlotte Hornets' two most important players—LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller—are both under 24 years old. Adding young talent to that duo should be the goal.
If Ace Bailey falls to them at No. 4, as Wasserman projects, his game would make a lot of sense next to those two.
Ball's playmaking or pick-and-roll action with Mark Williams in the middle of the floor, flanked by outside shooting from Miller and Bailey, could give Charlotte the potential for a dynamic attack.
Verdict: Draft
3. Philadelphia 76ers
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The Philadelphia 76ers could probably justify trading the No. 3 pick to add a veteran to a roster that already includes Joel Embiid and Paul George.
But the 2024-25 campaign should've been all the evidence Philadelphia needed to know that doubling down on this core might not be wise.
George is 35. Betting on Embiid's availability may be riskier than Zion. Moving a top-three pick to supplement that duo is a textbook example of "throwing good money after bad."
Instead, Philly should be looking toward the next era, which will undoubtedly be led by 24-year-old Tyrese Maxey.
Whether it's V.J. Edgecombe, Bailey or Dylan Harper who's available at No. 3, any of them could fit next to Maxey, who's capable of playing on or off the ball and adapting his role and usage to multiple situations.
Verdict: Draft
2. San Antonio Spurs (and 14, via Atlanta)
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The moment it became clear that the Spurs had moved into this draft's top four, they became one of the most obvious potential landing spots for Giannis Antetokounmpo.
They can put together enough salary to get to Giannis' $54.1 million. They have plenty of picks to add to the two in this year's lottery. And most importantly, Victor Wembanyama has proven he's more than ready to win now.
A frontcourt with those two would be one of the best, biggest and most athletically gifted in NBA history. With them and De'Aaron Fox, it almost wouldn't matter what the rest of the supporting cast was able to provide. That's a title contender.
Verdict: Trade
1. Dallas Mavericks
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Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison has spent the last few months seemingly trying to build a team fit to contend in the year 2018. If this was a "find the next number in the sequence" problem from your elementary school math book, adding KD would probably be the answer.
But given the blowback Harrison just survived after his incomprehensible Luka Dončić trade, even he can't be bold enough to move the No. 1 pick and the opportunity to draft Cooper Flagg.
Instead, Dallas should (and almost certainly will) add this potential Gerald Wallace/Jayson Tatum hybrid to a team of veterans that could be back in the postseason as early as next year.
This almost unbelievable stroke of good luck doesn't erase all of the silliness of the Luka trade, but it at least restores the team's future to a certain degree.
Verdict: Draft
