The strength of the 2025 NBA Draft class was always going to be threatened by the NIL money flowing through college basketball. Now that college players have the opportunity to make millions per season and offer themselves up to the highest bidder via the transfer portal at the end of every year, the allure of trying to grind out an NBA career through the G-League or end-of-bench opportunities doesn’t sound as appealing as it used to.
After the college basketball withdrawal deadline passed on Wednesday night, the full picture of the 2025 draft class is coming into focus. This year’s draft will have the fewest early entry candidates in a decade. The depth of this class has been decimated by players returning to college, and suddenly the late-first and second rounds look a lot less promising.
Check out our latest 2025 NBA Draft here with the full lottery order determined. Here are the biggest winners and losers from the early entry withdrawal deadline.
Winner: Michigan
Yaxel Lendeborg was starting to feel like a likely first-round pick after an impressive showing at the draft combine. He was reportedly looking for a first-round guarantee that never came, so instead he’s going back to college, where he will star for Michigan.
Lendeborg has a chance to be the best player in college basketball next season. An athletic 6’9 big man with a 7’4 wingspan, Lendeborg is a remarkably polished scorer and playmaker who also has two AAC Defensive Player of the Year awards on his mantle. Michigan should be absolutely loaded with him as their offensive hub and defensive anchor, and it deserves to start the year as a top-10 or even top-5 team in the preseason polls. Lendeborg will be flanked by former UNC point guard Elliot Cadeau, former Illinois forward/center Morez Johnson, former UCLA center Aday Mara, as well as returning wings Nimari Burnett and Roddy Gayle, plus five-star freshmen Trey McKenney.
Lendeborg will turn 23 years old before the season, so he’ll be a 24-year-old NBA rookie next year. I’m a bit surprised he decided to stay at the college level, but the money at Michigan is likely better than his projected draft slot, and NBA teams will be more sold on him if he continues his production in a tougher conference. The Wolverines look like a national title contender to me with Lendeborg leading the way.
Loser: Duke
Duke thought they had the ideal 3-and-D wing locked down in the transfer portal to complete a killer rotation for next season. Instead, Cedric Coward was so impressive with his measurements and interviews that he’s staying in the draft, where he’s projected as a likely first-round pick.
We named Coward the biggest winner from the draft combine, and his gain is Duke’s loss. He measured with a +9 difference between his height (6’5) and his wingspan (7’2), which tied for the biggest margin in the class. NBA teams seem to be sold by his 40 percent three-point shooting stroke last year at Washington State, even if it only came in six healthy games. Coward started his career at D3 Willamette, and hit 38.6 percent of his threes across two seasons at Eastern Washington before arriving at WSU. His rise is the most inspirational story in this draft class.
Of course, it’s hard to keep Duke down for long. They rebounded by signing Italian wing Dame Sarr, formerly of Barcelona, after an impressive showing at the Nike Hoop Summit. I’m tempted to say that I like Sarr even more than Coward as a long-term prospect, but he’s also three years younger and has never played college basketball before. I still love Duke’s roster next year as it builds around Cameron Boozer, who I think can be every bit as good as Cooper Flagg was. With Sarr joining Isaiah Evans, Cayden Boozer, Patrick Ngongba, and Caleb Foster as Cameron Boozer’s supporting cast, the Blue Devils will still have a shot at making another Final Four. Their roster just would have been a little stronger with Coward.
Winner: Auburn
I had Tahaad Pettiford projected as the No. 25 overall pick to the Orlando Magic in my last mock draft. Since that was published, Pettiford went to the draft combine and looked like the best player on the floor in his lone scrimmage and put up a 42-inch vertical leap, the second-best of any player tested. Pettiford measured small — 6-foot with a 6’5 wingspan while being the lightest player at the combine at 168 pounds — but that was to be expected. I really thought he would stay in this draft.
So much for that. Pettiford is going back to Auburn for his sophomore year, where he should be the best scoring guard in the country. The Tigers are losing a ton from their Final Four last season — including Johni Broome and Dylan Cardwell, who should both be drafted — but Pettiford’s return gives them a chance to keep pace in the SEC. Pettiford is almost impossible to keep off his spots with his blend of burst and tight ball handling, and he can put up points in a hurry as a pull-up shooter or rim attacker. Auburn will have a lot of new pieces around their star guard, with former DII wing Elyjah Freeman and UCF transfer Keyshawn Hall headlining the supporting cast.
Pettiford isn’t going to get any taller with another year of college, so I’m surprised he’s back. Still, this is a flat-out superstar at the college level who will make the SEC race so much more exciting.
Loser: 2025 NBA Draft’s depth
Trying to pin down the strength of the 2025 NBA Draft class has been something of a rollercoaster ride. This was believed to be a super strong draft coming into the season, but it quickly felt a little disappointing as Egor Demin and Kasparas Jakucionis struggled in conference play and Ace Bailey emerged as a polarizing prospect among evaluators. I think I’ve settled in to believing this class is slightly stronger than the average draft class overall, in part because Cooper Flagg is stronger than the average No. 1 overall pick. After so many defections over the last few days, though, there’s no doubt this draft is underwhelming after the first 20 or 25 picks.
Losing players like Lendeborg, Pettiford, and Alabama guard Labaron Philon is a brutal blow for the depth of this draft class. All three of those players could have been top-25 picks, and I viewed Philon as a potential lottery prospect.
The NBA playoffs have been littered with contributors who were taken in the second round or went undrafted. Andrew Nembhard and Miles McBride were second-round picks, and Lu Dort, Naz Reid, and Alex Caruso went undrafted. Does the 2025 draft have enough depth to produce more diamonds in the rough? Probably, but teams would have liked a few of these players returning to school to turn pro.
Winner: Houston
The Houston Cougars lost the 2025 national championship game in heartbreaking fashion. Somehow, head coach Kelvin Sampson might have an even better team next season.
Milos Uzan decided the NBA can wait after showing up at the combine. He’ll return to Houston for his senior season, where he should be one of the best point guards in the country. Uzan will be joined by veteran contributors Emanuel Sharp and Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year Jojo Tugler, as well as three incoming McDonald’s All-Americans joining the roster as freshmen. Uzan will the lead engine offensively as a big guard who create scoring chances for himself and his teammates. His return gives the Cougars enough offensive firepower around what’s sure to be an elite defense. The Cougars are a national title front-runner once again.
Winner: Florida
Is a Florida vs. Houston rematch in the 2026 national championship game in the cards? It could be after the Gators returned their starting center, and added another talented guard via the transfer portal after both bypassed the draft following the combine.
Big man Alex Condon is returning to Florida for his senior season after testing the draft waters. Condon was a breakout star last season, providing a combination of rim protection, offensive rebounding, and playmaking as a passer that helped spark the Gators on their title run. He joins returners Thomas Haugh and Rueben Chinyelu in the Florida front court, which will be among the strongest in America.
Florida got another big win when former Arkansas guard Boogie Fland withdrew from the draft and committed to the Gators in the transfer portal. Fland looked like a lottery pick at times during his freshman season with the Razorbacks, but a thumb injury limited him down the stretch, and concerns about his thin frame quelled NBA optimism about his projection. Fland is a super speedy ball handler with good passing vision and some shooting range who could be in for a sophomore leap with the Gators. He’ll join Princeton transfer Xaivian Lee in the backcourt.
The big boys of college basketball were mostly able to keep the NBA away from their top players, so long as they were considered lottery picks. It’s a new world in college basketball, and it’s an adjustment even for the NBA.
