Bold Trades Shake Up NBA Draft After Predictable Start

NEW YORK — A 2025 NBA draft that started entirely without suspense quickly leaned into unpredictability. 

After the Mavericks, as expected for weeks, selected Duke star Cooper Flagg with the No. 1 pick and the Spurs followed at No. 2 with Rutgers guard Dylan Harper, the rest of the first round contained a wild sequence of twists and turns, including a flurry of mid-round trades. Among the events that unfolded Wednesday night:

• Rutgers star Ace Bailey, who originally was projected as a top-three pick behind Flagg and Harper, landed at No. 5 to the Jazz after falling even lower in some pre-event mocks. Bailey did not visit any NBA team facilities before the draft and declined workout invites from several teams. Even that two-pick slide cost Bailey more than $9 million over a four-year period, as he’ll now be eligible for a $41.2 million rookie contract. 
• Soon after selecting Duke’s Kon Knueppel at No. 4, the Hornets traded center Mark Williams to the Suns for the No. 29 pick, which became UConn’s Liam McNeeley, and a 2029 first-round pick that will be the least favorable of Cleveland, Utah, and Minnesota. The Suns made that trade for a frontcourt player just as they also selected Duke center Khaman Malauch at No. 10, with that pick recently acquired from the Rockets in the Kevin Durant trade. 
• The Blazers traded No. 11 pick Cedric Coward from Washington State to the Grizzlies for the No. 16 pick, which became Chinese player Yang Hansen, a first-round selection in 2028, and two second-round picks. 
• The Hawks selected Maryland’s Derik Queen at No. 13 and dealt him to the Pelicans for the No. 23 pick, which became Georgia’s Asa Newell, and a 2026 first-round selection.
• The Wizards traded Florida’s Walter Clayton Jr., the No. 18 pick, to the Jazz for No. 21, which became Illinois forward Will Riley, and second-round picks. 
• The Kings traded with the Clippers for the No. 24 pick, selecting Colorado State’s Nique Clifford. 
• A trade by the Spurs of the No. 38 pick in Thursday’s second round to the Pacers for a future second-round pick and cash.

Before the draft, there were plenty of other moves, too, as teams sought to retool their rosters significantly and avoid the particularly punitive measures that come from an extended stay above the second apron of the NBA’s salary cap. 

The Celtics cut a record $500 million tax bill by roughly half going into next season, particularly through trades of Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porziņģis. Durant, a future Basketball Hall of Famer, is now on his fifth team. The Rockets, meanwhile, prepared themselves financially for the arrival of Durant by re-signing team captain Fred VanVleet to a two-year, $50 million deal. 

Duke continued its dominance as a preeminent NBA feeder school, sending three players in the top 10 to the league between Flagg, Knueppel, and Malauch.

Wednesday’s draft, meanwhile, also represented the extension of an extended grind in the basketball calendar that includes the two-month postseason and a seven-game Finals that ended just three days ago, to be followed by the NBA Summer League starting in just two weeks. Before then, teams can begin negotiating with free agents on June 30 and signing them on July 6.