One of the more fun exercises during the NBA calendar year is picking the teams that “won” and “lost” the NBA Draft. While it’s impossible to accurately judge a team’s draft just days afterwards, consensus rankings, scouting reports, mock drafts and big boards do serve as useful tools in quickly assessing the decisions.
So, let’s do just that — and then come back in five years and have a laugh. Here are some winners and losers of the 2025 NBA Draft.
2025 NBA Draft Winners & Losers
NBA Draft Winners
Charlotte Hornets
The Hornets killed this draft. For a franchise looking for its first playoff berth in a decade and a culture shift, Charlotte made huge strides in achieving both. They came away with Kon Knueppel and Liam McNeeley in the first round, then Sion James and Ryan Kalkbrenner in the second. Charlotte sent former starting big Mark Williams to Phoenix in exchange for McNeeley and a 2029 first-round pick.
It’s cliche, but all four of these draftees are winners. Knueppel and James started for a Duke team that just made the Final Four, McNeeley was the third-leading scorer on the 2023 Montverde Academy high school squad that won the National Championship before heading to UConn for a season and Kalkbrenner spent five years at Creighton where he led the Bluejays to two Sweet Sixteens and an Elite Eight.
Executive vice-president of basketball operations Jeff Peterson had a goal heading into Wednesday night, and it seems he accomplished it.
Atlanta Hawks
Atlanta’s 2025 draft in a word: Value. Hometown big man Asa Newell from Georgia was the Hawks’ only selection at pick 23 after a trade-down. It’s been rumored that Newell was a target at 13, where Atlanta was originally positioned. The trade-down came after the Hawks and New Orleans struck a deal that saw the Pelicans move up 10 spots to select Maryland’s Derik Queen.
New Orleans sent their unprotected 2026 first-round pick (or Milwaukee’s, whichever becomes more favorable) to Atlanta in the deal. The Hawks effectively have New Orleans’ 2026 season in the palm of their hands — or claws. Better yet, if Giannis Antetokounmpo asks out of Milwaukee and Damian Lillard doesn’t play at all next season, the Hawks have a shot at that selection instead.
All in all, the Hawks acquired a player they liked and a pick that projects to be in the NBA Lottery next season for essentially nothing. If the rumors that Newell was the likely pick at 13 are true.
Sacramento Kings
The Kings came into the draft with pick 42 and came out with Nique Clifford and Maxime Raynaud. All it cost them was a 2027 Spurs pick that’s top-16 protected. That’s pretty good business.
Clifford, one of the most experienced and well-rounded players in the class, will be an immediate factor off the bench next season alongside Keon Ellis and last year’s first-rounder, Devin Carter.
Raynaud, the biggest faller of the Draft, enters the picture behind Jonas Valanciunas in the Kings’ rotation. With Trey Lyles headed for unrestricted free agency, perhaps Raynaud can play at power forward next to Valanciunas.
Phoenix Suns
Charlotte, Sacramento and now Phoenix are winners? Who would’ve thought? Much like Charlotte, the Suns had an obvious plan of attack in this Draft: Get bigger and more athletic.
In acquiring Mark Williams, Phoenix now has the starting center that they’ve been after since shedding Deandre Ayton‘s salary in 2023. With the 10th pick, which the Suns acquired in the Kevin Durant deal, they selected Duke’s Khaman Maluach.
Maluach is an unrefined 7-foot-2 center with physical tools that terrified his collegiate opponents. Because the 18-year-old has only been playing basketball for less than five years, there’s optimism that Maluach isn’t even close to reaching his potential.
In the second round, the Suns made a series of aggressive moves that vaulted them up to the top of the second round, where they selected Rasheer Fleming. The 6-foot-9 forward from St. Joseph’s measured in with a nearly 7-foot-5 wingspan at the combine. Phoenix also added the sharpshooting Koby Brea with pick 41.
Yang Hansen (C – POR) and Yanic Konan Niederhauser (C – LAC)
Getting to see Yang Hansen and Yanic Konan Niederhauser come down from the stands of Barclays Center to shake hands with Adam Silver was pretty cool. Draftees have done it before, but that doesn’t make those moments any less special.
NBA Draft Losers
Ace Bailey (G – UTA)
Ace Bailey looked downright miserable after being drafted by Utah. He can dress up his presser comments all he wants, but that was not the face of a happy, soon-to-be NBA player.
ESPN’s Brian Windhorst reported that Bailey and his camp have had “minimal contact” with Utah brass since Wednesday night. Windhorst also stated that while fellow first-round pick Walter Clayton Jr. has already flown to Utah, Bailey has not.
New Orleans Pelicans
As previously mentioned, the Pelicans traded up from 23 to 13 to select Derik Queen at the expense of their first-round pick next year. All conversations surrounding next year’s class are about just how stacked it is. AJ Dybantsa, Cam Boozer and Darryn Peterson are the headliners, and some think that they all could have challenged Cooper Flagg for the best player title this year had they been a year older.
With Dejounte Murray out for most or all of next season, a slew of inexperienced players and Zion Williamson‘s injury history, the decision to trade away the pick is mystifying.
To give the Pelicans some credit, Jeremiah Fears gives them a chance at developing a future lead guard. His passing abilities and nasty handle are promising signs that he can become just that.
Brooklyn Nets
Brooklyn made history when they selected Danny Wolf with the 27th pick by becoming the first team to make five first-round selections in a single draft. Nets general manager Sean Marks added Egor Demin, Nolan Traore, Drake Powell, Ben Saraf and Wolf to a team without much high-end young talent.
These players are fine in a vacuum, but to add them to the same roster at the same time doesn’t make much sense. Demin, the eighth pick, who’s being considered a reach depending on who you ask, and Traore both project as lead guards. Saraf is more of a combo guard who’s shooting 29% from three overseas and Wolf is a point guard in a center’s body. Powell is the only player of the bunch you can pencil in for an off-ball role.
Bringing in players who do a lot of the same things instead of packaging picks together to target a different type of prospect is an odd choice. With Brooklyn rumored to have been a preferred landing spot for Bailey, a trade-up would have made some sense, too.
Minnesota Timberwolves
Minnesota has expressed confidence in its ability to retain Julius Randle and Naz Reid when free agency opens. However, that doesn’t take away from the fact that they’re staring down a summer in which they could lose both of them and Nickeil Alexander-Walker.
Timberwolves general manager Tim Connelly must feel pretty darn confident, considering he made the Joan Beringer pick in the first round and the Rocco Zikarsky pick in the second round. Both are overseas big men who can’t shoot a lick, making play time next to Rudy Gobert unlikely.
If a Gobert trade is secretly in the works, these selections make much more sense. Conventional wisdom suggests a team coming off back-to-back Western Conference Finals appearances would target either win-now players or players who can replace potential losses.
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