The 2025 NBA Draft has a strong group of prospects throughout the lottery. Cooper Flagg is one of the best No. 1 overall picks in recent memory, Dylan Harper would have had a case to go No. 1 in some recent drafts (especially last year), and players like Khaman Maluach, Jeremiah Fears, and Derik Queen all flashed star traits at times to turn themselves into projected lottery picks.
This draft gets less exciting at the end of the first round into round two, and the NIL is to blame. Several potential first-round picks chose to return to school for a big bag of cash, including Iowa’s Bennett Stirtz, Michigan’s Yaxel Lendeborg, and San Diego State’s Myles Byrd. In the process, the depth of this draft class took a huge hit.
What’s a team drafting outside of the top-20 to do when they come on the clock? We have a few suggestions. Here are our favorite sleepers in the NBA.
For more draft coverage, check out our piece on three prospects we’re fading compared to consensus boards. Check out my full big board of the top-60 players in the class, and read our latest NBA mock draft. Draft day is here. Let’s celebrate with some potential hidden gems.
Kam Jones, G, Marquette
The sell: Jones stepped into a starring role at Marquette this year with former teammates Tyler Kolek and Oso Ighodaro off to the NBA, and he morphed into one of the best playmakers in the country. After primarily being an off-ball shooter in his first three years, Jones blossomed as the Golden Eagles’ lead engine, showing the burst to generate paint touches with ease and newly developed passing vision to spray the ball out to shooters. For a player who had never really played on the ball in college before, it’s kind of amazing that Jones was able to put up a big 38 percent assist rate while avoiding turnovers with a highly impressive 3.2 assist-to-turnover ratio. He was always a good shooter early in his career and knew how to work off the ball, but the shooting numbers fell off considerably (31.1 percent) with more on his plate this past season. Jones just feels like a solid backup guard who can play on- or off-the-ball and at least has enough size to compete a bit defensively.
What could go wrong? Jones is on the cusp of being considered a small guard at 6’3 barefoot with a 6’6 wingspan. He’s more of an offensively-slanted player, so he’ll need to focus on improving his defense to get a really chance in the NBA. He doesn’t have much of a pull-up game as a shooter. He’s going to need to be a good shooter to really make it work.
Ryan Kalbrenner, C, Creighton
The sell: Kalkbrenner is a massive center (7’1 barefoot with a 7’6 wingspan) who provided elite rim protection and consistent scoring punch during his decorated five-year college career. He was a three-time Big East Defensive Player of the Year for his fearsome shot-blocking, with an impressive 7.5 percent block rate for his career. Kalkbrenner also dunks everything down low with 107 made dunks this season ranking among the best in the class, and a 79.5 percent conversion rate at the rim. As a senior, Kalkbrenner started to expanded his shooting range, and knocked down 21-of-61 three-pointers (34.4 percent). He has a slow release, but it looks good leaving his hand even if he only made 68 percent of his free throw this year. If Kalkbrenner can continue improving as a shooter, he has a pretty easy translation as a backup center with size and shot-blocking who can finish in the dunker’s spot and hypothetically space the floor.
What could go wrong? NBA bigs as usually super strong, really athletic, or both. Kalkbrenner is neither. He can only really play drop coverage in the NBA, and stronger bigs with a lower center of gravity will try to bully him inside. His rebounding numbers were pretty average for his size most of his career, so he probably needs to play next to forwards who can hit the glass hard. Kalkbrenner’s has a signature skill with his shot-blocking, but he’s going to have to develop either his strength, his quickness, or his shooting to earn real rotation minutes.
Adou Thiero, F, Arkansas
The sell: Thiero has a fantastic combination of explosiveness and length for an NBA wing. He challenges Edgecombe as the best pure athlete in this class with ridiculous leaping ability around the paint and the burst to zoom past defenders when he gets even the slightest opening. Thiero has the strength to play through contact at both ends, and his 7-foot wingspan helps him get into the passing lanes and contest shots defensively. He often plays like he was shot out of a cannon, whether he’s exploding off the ground to finish inside, forcing the defense to foul him, or shining in transition. Thiero is a power player in every sense of the word, and if his jump shot improves at all, he should be a quality energy guy off the bench.
What could go wrong? Thiero is a bad shooter, making just 28.4 percent of his threes on low volume, and just 71 percent of his free throws across his college career. Will NBA defenses guard him at the arc at all? SEC defenses sure didn’t. Thiero is also a little older than most of these prospects as a 21 year old rookie, so it’s a bit concerning his shooting remains so far away.
