First the caveats and there’s a few of them both for the Brooklyn Nets and the 29 teams currently with picks in the 2025 NBA Draft (We see you Denver):
- Everyone expects the Draft to be crazy, as more than one pundit has said, with trades galore, perhaps starting next weeks as the Finals wind down.
- No one expects the Nets to use all five picks they currently have at Nos. 8, 19, 26, 27, and 36, most in the league. It would be a development disaster, goes the thinking, particularly since the team has one of the youngest rosters in the NBA already.
- So there’s little to no clarity and as reports Thursday lamented, little to no intelligence on how teams will move.
Moreover, ESPN, the mock draft gold standard, hasn’t posted a mock in nearly a month, the last one May 19. And of course some draftniks rank players based on where they think they should be taken while others are in the prediction business.
As Bobby Marks told Malika Andrews Thursday, “Talked to one league executive this morning and he said he expects we will see the most activity as far as tradeable picks in this year’s first round.” (He refers to the Nets as one of four teams he’s watching for trades on Draft Night, calling them “the bingo board,” the only team with four firsts.)
All that said, Hoopshype on Friday tried its best to give fans a sense of where thinks stand by compiling an aggregate mock draft based on the 10 best guesstimates by ESPN, CBS Sports, The Athletic, Bleacher Report, Babcock Hoops, USA Today, NBAdraft.net, SB Nation and FTW. It’s what we’ve done more than a few times this spring with a bit less details.
So here’s what they see in the aggregate for Brooklyn: big man-centric, international and on the youngish side.
No. 8: Khaman Maluach, 7’2” Center, Duke (South Sudan)
Khaman Maluach is a modern rim protector with a 7-6 wingspan and flashes of perimeter mobility. Brooklyn may eye Maluach as a long-term center (to allow them to move off Nic Claxton), with several scouts believing he could go as high as No. 5 if a team bets on his upside.
“Patience required, but the tools are obvious,” an Eastern Conference scout said.
No. 19: Joan Beringer, 6’11” Power Forward, Cedevita (France)
Joan Beringer divides the room. Some love his tools, others question if he has an NBA-ready skill. He’s a likely draft-and-stash, with Brooklyn betting on their development pipeline. We doubt they’d take back-to-back bigs, however, we expect they walk away from draft night with at least one frontcourt player selected either in the lottery or here.
“If you trust your system, he’s worth the flier,” one exec said.
No. 26: Hugo Gonzalez, 6’7” wing, Real Madrid (Spain)
Hugo Gonzalez offers wing size and passing flashes but isn’t seen as a primary initiator. His stock hinges on developing a more consistent jumper, but teams love his feel and projectable frame. His problem is that he becomes incredibly passive on offense and disappears into the background of plays.
“If the shot comes, he’s a rotation wing,” one scout said.
No. 27: Rasheer Fleming, 6’9” Power Forward/Center, St. Joseph’s (USA)
Rasheer Fleming is marketing himself as a wing, but most scouts project him as a shot blocking stretch four. He can potentially play the 3/4/small ball 5 due to his massive wingspan.
His ball-handling is seen as “more show than go,” but his defensive energy and offensive scoring flashes as a slasher keep him in first-round conversations.
No. 36: Hansen Yang, 7’2” Center, Qingdao Eagles (China)
At 7-1, Hansen Yang’s sheer size and defense could make him worth a late flier for a team willing to be patient. Still a major project with mobility questions, but the physical tools are there to be a floor spacing shot-blocker.
Where do some of the Nets fan favorites fall in the aggregate? Jeremiah Fears goes to the Washington Wizards at No. 6; Tre Johnson goes to the Utah Jazz at No. 5; Kon Knueppel to the New Orleans Pelicans at No. 7.
