The Dallas Mavericks, with a 1.8% chance to win the NBA draft lottery, earned the first pick of the 2025 NBA Draft.
The consensus projected top pick for 2025 is former Duke star Cooper Flagg.
With the draft approaching, the University of Kentucky hopes to extend its streak of 15 years (2010-24) with a player selected in the first round.
The last Louisville basketball player to be selected in the NBA draft was David Johnson, who was drafted by the Toronto Raptors in the second round (47th pick overall) of the 2021 NBA Draft.
Former Wildcats Reed Sheppard and Rob Dillingham were selected in the first round last year. Former UK star Antonio Reeves was a second-round pick in 2024.
On April 29, 106 early-entry candidates were in the 2025 NBA Draft, but some already have opted to return to school. Kentucky junior Otega Oweh is the only player from the commonwealth on that list. He has until 5 p.m. June 15 to withdraw his name from the draft.
The NBA draft is scheduled June 25-26 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Two players with ties to the commonwealth are listed in mock drafts by NBA draft analyst Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report, Sam Vecenie of The Athletic, and Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo of ESPN.
- Bleacher Report: Utah Jazz (via Mavericks), 43rd overall (Wasserman)
- The Athletic: Indiana Pacers, 54th overall (Vecenie)
- ESPN: Indiana Pacers, 54th overall (Givony and Woo)
- 2024-2025 stats: 11.6 points per game, shooting 43% from beyond the arc, averaging 2.1 3-pointers per game.
- Bleacher Report: N/A
- The Athletic: Houston Rockets, 59th overall (Vecenie)
- ESPN: N/A
- 2024-2025 stats: Amari Williams led the Wildcats in rebounds (8.5 per game) and averaged 10.9 points.
Reach sports reporter Prince James Story at pstory@gannett.com and follow him on X at @PrinceJStory.
