Another professional draft is in the rear-view mirror, as the 2025 NBA Draft drew to a close Thursday night after two rounds and 59 selections. But as is tradition, the best part of any draft is now here.
Picking winners and losers.
Our NBA Draft expert Ricky O’Donnell put together his list of winners and losers already today, but we want to focus on the positives here, and give you all a chance to weigh in. Who won the 2025 NBA Draft?
Here are our suggestions, but sound off in the comments!
Mark Schofield: San Antonio Spurs
Having missed out on the Cooper Flagg sweepstakes, the Spurs settled into the No. 2 spot and made the pick everyone anticipated, adding guard Dylan Harper out of Rutgers. Harper’s combination of ball-handling, playmaking, and defensive prowess make him an ideal guard at the next level.
But what sets the Spurs’ draft apart is what they did with their next pick. That’s where they added Arizona swingman Carter Bryant out of Arizona. The 6’7 Bryant has huge potential as a 3-and-D player in the NBA, who converted at a 37% clip from beyond the arc last year for the Wildcats. That makes him an almost ideal fit on a roster that already sports Victor Wembanyama, De’Aaron Fox, and now Harper.
Still, San Antonio had one more pick, and the Spurs added Marquette guard Kam Jones on Thursday night. Jones is a solid depth addition with a decent combo-guard set of skills.
But the focus is at the top. If Bryant can unlock more of his court vision and passing skills, this could be a home run class for the Spurs.
James Dator: Phoenix Suns
The Suns have a very weird future after trading Kevin Durant. The organization still has a legitimate star in Devin Booker, but saddled with the disastrous Bradley Beal trade left the organization with some soul searching to do in this draft.
And they knocked it out of the park in every way.
It starts with Khaman Maluach at No. 10, who was Ricky O’Donnell’s No. 3 ranked player in this class. Maluach is already an NBA-ready player in the paint with the talent and drive to work on his perimeter defense and outside shooting. This was a home-run pick and a guy who can contribute significantly as a rookie.
Then came the trade with Charlotte to acquire center Mark Williams. It might feel a little odd to get Williams and draft Maluach, but they’re very different players. The Suns didn’t have to give up a lot to get Williams (a first rounder in 2025 and another in 2029), and for that they’re getting a double-double center when healthy who compliments Maluach, rather than duplicating him.
Round that out with an absolute steal in the second round with Rasheer Fleming and Phoenix did absolutely tremendous work bouncing back from trading Durant and finding a path forward. I love all three of the moves the Suns made, and while this team takes a hit right now by losing KD, this draft took them three steps forward.
Jacolby Hart: Washington Wizards
The Wizards finished this past season with the worst record in the Eastern Conference, and the second worst record in the NBA, but were only given the 6th pick after suffering through a…transitioning period for the franchise. Though they clearly were not ready to play winning basketball, the young talent that the Wizards have accumulated over the years is intriguing, and it was important for them to continue to add more in this draft with Eastern Conference more wide open than it’s probably ever been before.
They managed to do just that with their selections of Tre Johnson at #6, Will Riley at #21 and Jamir Watkins at #43.
More than anything else the Wizards need to be able to score the basketball with significantly more consistency than they did this past season, so the decisions to take both Josnson and Riley in particular made all the sense in the world to me.
Suddenly a franchise that’s been trapped in the doldrums on the NBA’s inferior conference has a young nucleus that’s will grab the attention of the most loyal league pass viewers.
They’re still a year or two away from actually being competitive, but a team with Alex Sarr, Bilal Coulibaly, AJ Johnson, Kyshawn George, Bub Carrington and the aforementioned Johnson and Riley should bring a level of excitement back to DC that’s been long overdue.
Ricky O’Donnell: Read my winners and losers here
Sorry guys, I’m already on to covering the 2026 NBA Draft class.
