15 Last-Minute Predictions for the 2025 NBA Draft
Rumor has it there is no better way to ring in the 2025 NBA draft than with a batch of 11th-hour predictions.
Good thing we have our crystal ball(s) at the ready.
Bleacher Report's Grant Hughes and Dan Favale have been tapped to gaze into their freshly polished, frantically whirring orbs and interpret what comes next. Some of their predictions (i.e. trades) will spill over into the new league year, but they are proposed with the idea they'll be agreed upon by the end of Wednesday's or Thursday's festivities.
Ready? Set? Let's get clairvoyant!
The Spurs Will Keep No. 2, Draft Dylan Harper
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The San Antonio Spurs should be prominently featured in the fake-trade marketplace—for Giannis Antetokounmpo and everyone else—because they've got loads of young players and picks to deal, and because they have perhaps the most attractive "I've got to team up with that guy" player in the league.
Do you really think De'Aaron Fox is going to be the last guy to steer himself toward Victor Wembanyama?
With that said, San Antonio can't justify including this year's No. 2 pick in any hypothetical swap. Dylan Harper has too much playmaking and backcourt scoring upside. And while the Spurs would be right to view themselves as something close to a win-now operation after Wemby played at an All-NBA first-team level until deep vein thrombosis shut him down for the season, they still have to acknowledge their cornerstone is only 21 years old.
Don't take this prediction to mean San Antonio will be outside the news cycle on draft night. If they keep the pick and take Harper, it could produce some intriguing fallout.
—Hughes
Word Will Leak that De'Aaron Fox Is Willing to Take Less Than the Max
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De'Aaron Fox and the Spurs probably had some idea of what his extension, which he can sign on Aug. 3, would look like when the two parties came together at the February trade deadline. He's eligible for up to four years and $229 million.
But that was before San Antonio leapt up the lottery to No. 2, putting itself in position to grab Harper.
It's hard to argue the backcourt fit of reigning Rookie of the Year Stephon Castle, Fox and Harper is ideal, if only because all of them deserve big minutes.
This is a bet on one of two things leaking on draft night. Either the Spurs will signal an intent to play some negotiating hardball, knowing they have two younger, cheaper players at Fox's position and don't need to spring at the chance to pay a speed-based 28-year-old the max for the start of his decline phase.
Or Fox will recognize his loss of leverage and get out in front of the whole thing by broadcasting his plan to be a team-first guy. Maybe we'll hear he'd take a two-year deal with a player option on the third, or that he'll extend for four seasons at less than $200 million.
Fox directed himself to San Antonio, which suggests he won't be eager to leave—even if the Spurs will be drafting and developing his replacement.
—Hughes
The Philadelphia 76ers Will Trade the No. 3 Pick
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Dealing the No. 3 pick can see the Philadelphia 76ers check any number or combination of boxes.
Maybe they use it to move down and pick up additional first-round compensation either this year or sometime in the future. Or maybe they land a lower pick attached to a veteran who can crack the top of their rotation now.
Perhaps they dangle No. 3 as a way of kissing the balance of Paul George’s contract (three years, $162.4 million) goodbye while scooping up a lower pick or veteran. Or perhaps the price for a star drops so low that the Sixers dangling No. 3, George and (maybe) something else gets the job done.
Heck, Philly could simply move off No. 3 with the sole intention of avoiding the Ace Bailey dilemma and recouping additional assets in the process. Everything feels like it’s on the table. For a team saddled with win-now expectations and so many questions near the top of the roster, it has to be.
—Favale
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The Suns Aren't Done
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The deal that brought in Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks, the No. 10 pick and five future second-rounders for Kevin Durant, as first reported by ESPN's Shams Charania, was just the beginning.
Expect the Phoenix Suns to keep working as they try to cobble together a win-now operation in keeping with team governor Mat Ishbia's preferences.
Those five second-rounders are practically fated to function as sweeteners in other moves—perhaps even ones involving a re-route deal for Green. At the very least, the Suns could attach them in trades that feature Grayson Allen and Royce O'Neale.
While the No. 10 pick probably isn't going anywhere, and while Brooks looks like an ideal defensive complement to the rest of Phoenix's offense-first core, the rest of the Durant return package could be on the move.
—Hughes
The Milwaukee Bucks Will Deal Their 2031 or 2032 First-Round Pick
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Giannis Antetokounmpo is starting to sound like someone who won't be requesting a trade. And the Milwaukee Bucks apparently have aggressive plans up their sleeve to reorient the roster.
That should only mean one thing: The Bucks are preparing to kiss a distant first-round pick goodbye. Nothing else fits the "aggressive" billing.
Milwaukee will not have more than the $14.1 million non-taxpayer mid-level exception in free agency to spend, and its roster houses exactly zero players aside from Giannis with blockbuster standalone value.
If the Bucks have successfully sold their two-time MVP on returning, it's not because they've mapped out the perfect gap-year plan. That blueprint lacks luster (and coherence) when they don't have any blue-chip prospects to develop or control the rights to their 2026 first-round pick.
No, if Giannis is sticking around, it's because Milwaukee has an impactful trade lined up—a move that necessitates the front office parting with the rights to at least one of the team's 2031 or 2032 first-round picks.
—Favale
Oklahoma City Will Trade Both of Its 2025 First-Rounders for Future Picks
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Take everything we said about the Rockets' issues with onboarding another lottery pick, multiply it by five and add the constraint of 13 guaranteed contracts for 2025-26, and you've got the Oklahoma City Thunder's justification for dealing its pair of first-rounders on draft night.
OKC has the best possible problems. Two players whom it drafted—Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren—are in line to sign rookie-scale maxes this summer, and the rest of the roster is populated by positive-value contracts. Lots of them.
While that leaves little room for incoming first-rounders who'd have guaranteed contracts, it does set up the Thunder to do one of their favorite things: trading for other teams' future assets.
It's possible the Thunder could repeat what they did at the 2024 draft with Nikola Topić by grabbing a talented but injured player they won't need in the upcoming season. Call it a high-level draft-and-stash gambit.
But the simpler approach will involve OKC sending out the Nos. 15 and No. 24 picks for higher-risk, higher-upside selections toward the end of the decade. When you're as good and as young as the Thunder, you can just keep kicking the draft-pick can down the road.
—Hughes
The Cleveland Cavaliers Will Make a Substantial Salary Dump
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The Cleveland Cavaliers’ 2025-26 cap sheet currently puts them nearly $13 million above the second apron. They are good enough to stomach the tax bill and transactional restrictions for at least a year, but those salary projections do not include a new deal for free agents Ty Jerome or Sam Merrill.
Cutting costs either to skirt the second apron entirely or render the return of Jerome slightly more palatable is a distinct possibility, if not the ultimate goal. The Cavs are already trying to find a taker for the two years and $22.8 million left on Isaac Okoro’s contract, according to Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com (h/t Fear The Sword), so far to no avail.
Cleveland has other players with more standalone value it can explore if Okoro proves too difficult to move. It would be genuinely shocking if the Cavs deal Darius Garland or Jarrett Allen, but De’Andre Hunter, Max Strus and certainly Dean Wade fit the bill whether the front office is trying to shave its tax bill or clear the way for Jerome’s return without going much (or any) deeper into the second apron.
—Favale
The Minnesota Timberwolves Won't Run It Back
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The Minnesota Timberwolves didn't win the Kevin Durant sweepstakes, but that won't discourage them from pursuing another upgrade.
Plan B cannot simply be the preservation of the status quo—both because it'll be difficult to split up approximately $54 million for Julius Randle (player option), Naz Reid (player option) and Nickeil Alexander-Walker (unrestricted free agent), and because the 2025 playoffs showed Minnesota's offensive core wasn't good enough.
Minnesota needs a secondary-scoring upgrade, and its interest in KD didn't seem player-specific. It has to find someone with similar defense-frightening clout so next postseason's main narrative isn't "Anthony Edwards has to do too much heavy lifting."
Durant was the most obvious target for the Wolves, but they could easily turn their attention to trades for anyone from Darius Garland to DeMar DeRozan.
—Hughes
The New York Knicks Acquire a First-Round Pick in This Draft or a Future One
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Though the New York Knicks do not have any outright first-round picks to trade, they can dangle their own swaps in 2026, 2030 and 2032, as well as a Washington Wizards 2026 first-rounder that will likely turn into two second-rounders. Offering some combination of those could be enough to bag a first-round pick from one of the teams with plenty to spare.
The calculus behind such a move is twofold: It would either set up the Knicks to have a cost-controlled flier on the roster as they navigate the aprons in future years, or it would arm them with a more tangible asset to ship out in other trades.
Bet on the purpose tilting toward the latter, especially if New York acquires a 2025 first.
The Knicks' cap sheet is so tight that even adding an immediate later-round rookie-scale salary to the equation could cost them access to the taxpayer mid-level exception. Plus, their window to win is now. Unless they're hiring a coach with a knack for developing youth on a team attempting to contend, the acquisition of a first-rounder will portend a move that shakes up one of the top-seven spots in their rotation.
—Favale
The Lakers Will Trade Their 2031 First-Round Pick
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The Los Angeles' Lakers only 2025 pick is No. 55, but they're still going to be players on draft night.
This feels like low-hanging fruit considering the Los Angeles Lakers already traded their 2031 first-rounder once. That was part of a rescinded deal for Charlotte Hornets center Mark Williams, and it also involved Los Angeles sending out a 2030 first-round swap and Dalton Knecht.
Heading into draft night, the Lakers have even more information about their needs in the middle than they did when they dealt for Williams. Their brief postseason foray shone a spotlight on their lack of a center, and any team built around Luka Dončić will perform its best with a rim-rolling, shot-blocking presence in the middle.
The Lakers could put together a deal with the Utah Jazz for Walker Kessler, who's extension eligible. They could put another call in to Nico Harrison in Dallas, hoping to pluck Daniel Gafford out of a suddenly clogged center rotation that'll also likely introduce Cooper Flagg to the frontcourt mix.
One way or another, L.A. is going to get itself a big man. That 2031 pick, the only one the Lakers can trade, is bound to be the main outgoing asset.
—Hughes
Masai Ujiri Swings a Deal Using the Toronto Raptors' No. 9 Pick
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Toronto Raptors team president Masai Ujiri isn’t one to shy away from aggressive or against-the-grain moves. It just so happens that entering the draft, he’s actually in the market for one.
“The Raptors are a team that is starting to make noise within the league about looking for a big fish,” ESPN’s Brian Windhorst reported on an episode of The Hoop Collective podcast from earlier this month (around the 22-minute mark). “There are some teams that sniff the ability to make a move, and I think Toronto is one of those teams," he added.
Windhorst’s final point is spot-on. The Raptors have all of their own firsts moving forward, in addition to No. 9 this year, as well as a handful of contracts priced perfectly for matching money to facilitate bigger swings, but not so lucratively sized that they carry negative value.
Tack on the addition of—and extension for—Brandon Ingram and the start of Scottie Barnes’ max deal, and the Raptors are in prime “Let’s speed this up” territory. Whether that leads them to trade for Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jaylen Brown, Jarrett Allen, Derrick White, Rudy Gobert, Paul George (in a deal for No. 3) or somebody else doesn’t matter.
Whatever they do will be something on a level that requires them to jettison No. 9.
—Favale
Jeremiah Fears Won't Make It Past the Pelicans at No. 7
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This may feel controversial, because Jeremiah Fears is among the more polarizing first-round prospects in this year's draft. Some mock drafts have him in the top five, while others have him in the 15-20 range.
The high end owes to Fears' elite speed, quickness and handle. The low stems from his iffy decision-making, lack of size and a 28.4 percent hit rate on threes in college.
The New Orleans Pelicans still can't afford to pass on him at No. 7.
Woefully thin at point guard due to Dejounte Murray's torn Achilles, New Orleans won't want to risk waiting on lower-upside prospects by trading down or waiting to address the issue with the No. 23 pick they snagged from the Indiana Pacers during the NBA Finals.
Although Fears is far from a perfect prospect, the Oklahoma product should be worth the risk—particularly considering he is one of the youngest lottery options in the draft. With his 19th birthday not until October, it's fair to believe Fears has a more realistic road to major growth than most of the other options at his position.
—Hughes
Ace Bailey Will End Up on the Brooklyn Nets
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Choose your own adventure for how Ace Bailey winds up with the Brooklyn Nets.
Will he fall to No. 8 after refusing to meet with teams, seemingly in an attempt to steer his way somewhere he can actualize the stardom for which he and his camp believe he’s headed? Or will the Nets consolidate some combination of their four first-rounders to trade up for him?
Either option works for Brooklyn. The Nets are in the early stages of a rebuild, so they're uniquely positioned to swing on a divisive prospect, largely because they don't yet have anyone capable of becoming a primary cornerstone.
Bailey could potentially be that player. And he seemingly wants to be on a squad that won’t see his profile eclipsed by established veterans or a crowded pecking order of youngsters.
This isn’t just an interesting or convenient player-team pairing. It’s starting to feel like a necessary one.
—Favale
The Grizzlies Will Use No. 16 to Draft Collin Murray-Boyles
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The Memphis Grizzlies snagged the No. 16 pick in this year's draft from the Orlando Magic in the blockbuster trade that sent Desmond Bane to the Eastern Conference. They're going to use it to snag South Carolina's Collin Murray-Boyles if he's still on the board at that spot.
With bruising physicality and great feel, Murray-Boyles could be an impactful and versatile defender in the mold of Draymond Green, complete with high-end connective passing and playmaking. Questions persist about his ability to shoot at the NBA level, but the overall package should have massive appeal to Memphis, which needs secondary playmaking and a bigger wing defender than Jaylen Wells.
The Grizzlies may need to trade up to get their man, as many mocks have him coming off the board in the top 10. Considering the Grizzlies onboarded four other first-round assets in the Bane trade and could re-route Cole Anthony or Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, they should have what it takes to land Murray-Boyles.
In that sense, this isn't a prediction he'll fall to 16th. It's a bet that Memphis will use that pick as part of a package to acquire the burly forward somewhere in the lottery.
—Hughes
The Boston Celtics Will Trade At Least Two of Their Core Players
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Trading Jrue Holiday to the Portland Trail Blazers kicked off the Boston Celtics' Summer Salary Slashing of 2025. And they're far from done. They are still almost $20 million above the second apron, and there's no way they'll stay there after Jayson Tatum suffered a ruptured right Achilles that almost assuredly will keep him sidelined through next season.
Real cost-cutting will require a more aggressive approach than just flipping Holiday for a cheaper-but-not-actually-cheap player like Anfernee Simons. That will culminate in the Celtics exiting the draft having agreed to ship out at least one of Kristaps Porziņģis (one year, $30.7 million), Derrick White (four years, $125.8 million), Simons himself (one year, $27.7 million) or even Jaylen Brown (four years, $236.2 million).
This sounds somewhat dramatic, but under the circumstances, it's not. Boston isn't just tasked with preparing for one down season. It must be ready to slog through another grace-period year in 2026-27, when Tatum is still presumably trying to regain his footing.
That type of break in contention opens the door to marquee selloffs—a process that is already underway and will continue this Wednesday and/or Thursday.
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