The Brooklyn Nets are still almost two months away from the first round of the 2025 NBA Draft, but the preparation for the Draft is ramping up at this point of the year. The NBA Draft Lottery and the Combine start next week and with the Draft drawing closer, Brooklyn is able to begin workouts for prospects that could be in the range of their five total picks.
According to a report from Ary on X (h/t NetsDaily), the Nets held a pre-draft workout on Wednesday with Wake Forest guard Hunter Sallis, West Virginia guard Javon Small, Houston forward J’Wan Roberts, and Temple forward Steve Settle III. NetsDaily pointed out in its article discussing the news that there were likely more players involved in the workout, but that Brooklyn is not one of the teams that announces which players partake in these workouts.
The Nets will be making four of their first five picks in the first round as they have the sixth (prior to the Lottery where the pick could change spots), 19th (via the Milwaukee Bucks), 26th (via the New York Knicks), and the 27th (via the Houston Rockets) overall picks heading into the Draft. Brooklyn’s lone second-round pick is 36th overall, meaning that they will be selecting almost all first-round talent.
In Jonathan Wasserman’s latest mock draft for Bleacher Report, he had Sallis going to the Orlando Magic with the 46th overall pick. This could indicate that the Nets, assuming that they are following a similar process in terms of evaluating players, could be targeting Sallis with their second-round pick or could even be evaluating him as an undrafted free-agent that could be a good fit for the organization.
Sallis, who Wasserman compares to San Antonio Spurs guard Malaki Branham and Detroit Pistons guard Tim Hardaway Jr., is listed at 6-foot-5 and 185 pounds, could profile as a player that can play some shooting guard and some small forward at the next level. “There is enough production and tape of three-level scoring for scouts to put limited stock into Hunter Sallis’ shooting percentages. His archetype has a small margin for error,” Wasserman wrote.
Small, Roberts, and Settle do not appear on Wasserman’s latest mock draft so it’s possible that those guys will be under consideration as undrafted free-agents/training camp invites if the Nets came away with the workout impressed with their performance. Either way, there is plenty of time for Brooklyn to evaluate players as the NBA heads into Draft season.
