NBA Draft 2025 Last-Minute Rumors Around Ace Bailey and All 30 Teams
The 2025 NBA draft is here.
Well, the first round of it, anyway.
The draft tips off tonight (8 p.m. ET on ABC on ESPN) and will soon link potential game-changers to optimistic fanbases and fingers-crossed executives. Some picks will be home runs, others will be big whiffs and a lot will likely land in the middle.
With the talent grab so close, it's no surprise to see the rumor mill erupting with activity. Let's dig into the latest draft-related buzz around the Association.
Wizards Targeting Ace Bailey?
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Rutgers swingman Ace Bailey, perhaps the biggest boom-or-bust prospect in this draft, has sat out the workout process, apparently hoping to fall out of the top five.
The Washington Wizards, who hold the No. 6 pick, reportedly hope that's how this plays out.
The Wizards want to use that pick on Bailey, per Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer.
This makes a ton of sense. Washington remains in the infant stage of its roster rebuild and lacks an obvious cornerstone talent. Plus, the players who come closest to wearing that label—Alex Sarr and Bilal Coulibaly—do their best work on the defensive end, which only adds to the appeal of Bailey, a big-wing scorer with slippery handles and all kinds of shotmaking in his bag.
Raptors Shopping No. 9 Pick?
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When the Toronto Raptors made a deadline deal for Brandon Ingram, it signaled one of two things. Either they were looking to accelerate their rise around Scottie Barnes, or they simply felt Ingram's value had fallen far enough to make it a bargain buy.
It sounds like the former was true, with ESPN's Brian Windhorst reporting on SportsCenter that the Raptors "have been looking to use the No. 9 pick to upgrade their roster in the short term."
"They haven't been able to find a deal for that yet, but I expect them to continue to be active," Windhorst said.
This draft's second tier of prospects—i.e., those not named Cooper Flagg or Dylan Harper—arguably runs out around the No. 8 pick, so the Raptors might be hoping for a surprise selection ahead of them. The No. 9 pick should hold decent trade value regardless, but it would look more appealing if a well-regarded prospect or two unexpectedly made it to that point.
Kings Trying To Trade Into the First Round?
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The Sacramento Kings need young talent in the worst kind of way. As currently constructed, they're built around the 29-and-over (-and expensive) trio of Domantas Sabonis, DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine, which underwhelmed down the stretch and failed to protect its home floor in a play-in loss to the Kyrie Irving-less Dallas Mavericks.
It's hardly surprising, then, to see that Marc Stein and Jake Fischer of The Stein Line reported the Kings are seen as strong candidates to try trading into the back half of the first round. The insiders listed the Nos. 21 (held by the Utah Jazz) and 24 (owned by the Oklahoma City Thunder) picks as possible targets for the Kings.
The Kings' own first-rounder, which landed at No. 13, was sent to the Atlanta Hawks as part of the 2022 trade for Kevin Huerter (who was sent to Chicago in February as part of Sacramento's trade for LaVine). Should Sacramento fail to broker a trade, it would only have the 42nd pick in this draft.
The Kings have to make this work. Their roster is crying out for more youth and upside. Keegan Murray, who feels like the closest they have to a long-term building block, turns 25 in August and has statistically stagnated. Devin Carter, a 23-year-old taken 13th overall last summer, struggled to get going after his rookie debut was delayed by a shoulder injury and has already popped up in trade rumors.
