We are less than two weeks away from the start of the NBA season. But with the Nets expected to be one of the worst teams in the league, many fans’ attention will be equally focused on the start of the college basketball season in two weeks. With four first-round picks in next June’s draft, presumably including a high lottery pick, the Nets have a lot at stake in the 25th class. The worst record in the league would give them a guaranteed top-five pick and a 14% chance at the No. 1 pick in Draft.
What do you expect? One of the NBA’s most experienced draft analysts, Sam Vecenie of The Athletic, has put together a new mock draft for 2025. The news for Nets fans is not the ranking of the projected top picks, which seems quite conventional, but Vecenie’s opinion on the overall quality of the draft, which some analysts have described as the best since years.
Much has been written about the excitement regarding the 2025 project. It looks dramatically better at the top of the class than the 2024 iteration. …but I would preach some caution. I will not exaggerate and say that this is a super class. I would say it looks like a fairly average draft class. Depth remains an important question for teams. Furthermore, there are some differing opinions on how good the top five projects in this category are.
Vecenie presents the pros and cons of each projected first-round pick, starting with presumed top pick (initially assigned to the Nets based on Las Vegas’ worst showing in the league) Cooper Flagg. He calls Flagg, Duke’s 6’8″ forward who won’t turn 18 until December, “among the best defensive prospects I’ve ever evaluated. He’s incredibly competitive, with a drive and tenacity that never stops for a second in Pitch. But he also wonders: “Can Flagg create enough?” [offense] For himself to be a well-deserved No. 1 pick?
Numbers 2 and 3 on Vecenie’s list are Rutgers prospects Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper. Bailey, a 6’9″ wing, “looks more like an NBA star than anyone in this category,” but “seems to tend to fall in love with hard shots” and “doesn’t seem to create many easy shots.” . Shots as you want.” Harper, a 6’5″ guard, is “more polished,” but “not quite as explosive a player. “He doesn’t have a lot of vertical pop, and his first step isn’t impressive,” forcing him to rely on “footwork and grinding.”
Vecenie’s fourth and fifth picks are a pair of 6-foot-3 guards, Baylor’s VJ Edgecombe and Saint-Quentin (France)’s Nolan Traoré. Edgecombe is “a powerful athlete who will throw thunderous throws or spin around the field for huge blocks at least once or twice per game,” but his weak left hand “prevents him from being a major league option.” Traoré has been up and down since his impressive display at the Nike Hoop Summit. “He hasn’t always been a consistent shooter, and his shooting leaves something to be desired at times in terms of how well he tries to score off the rim.”
If they finish in the bottom five this season, Brooklyn will have a 50% chance of landing one of these players. Deep down, Vicini believes the Nets will end up with No. 24 (of the Bucks), No. 28 (of the Knicks), No. 29 (of the Thunder,) in the first, No. 31 (of their own) and No. 29 (of the Thunder). 45 (from heat.)
It’s clear that all of these players could improve dramatically over the next few months. The future prospects of adolescence often, but not always, do. The real question right now, given the uncertainty of where the Nets will pick, is whether the draft as a whole, and especially the higher draft picks in the lottery, will turn out to be closer to “over-the-top” or “fairly average.” Given the team’s significant investment in the future, this may be the most important question looming at the end of a very long season.
