Who Were the Top Picks in the 2025 NBA Draft?

Fans are still collecting themselves from the Oklahoma City Thunder’s 7-game flex to win this year’s NBA title — but already the basketball buzz is beginning to surge for the still-distant 2025-2026 season. 

Round 1 of the 2025 NBA draft is officially in the books, which means it’s also officially fine to start penciling in those new rookie names onto your favorite team’s roster. As the draft continues into its second day, we’re taking an early peek at how the Top 10 picks stacked up in Round 1 — all while taming our excitement for the start of the next NBA season, when the league makes its hugely hyped return to live televised broadcasts on NBC (and Peacock)!

RELATED: NBA Legend Michael Jordan Joins NBA on NBC Broadcast Team (DETAILS)

The top picks in the 2025 NBA Draft

Cooper Flagg #2 of the Duke Blue Devils dunks the ball against the Houston Cougars in the first half during the Final Four round of the men's NCAA basketball tournament at Alamodome on April 5, 2025 in San Antonio, Texas.

Photo: Lance King/Getty Images

Just three months ago, he was leading the Duke Blue Devils deep into Final Four of the NCAA Tournament. Now Cooper Flagg brings his versatile skills as a laser-sharp small forward to a Texas-sized pressure cooker in Dallas, where the Mavericks took Flagg as the draft’s overall top pick. For Mavs fans, nabbing the 6’9’’ Flagg in the draft lottery’s number-one spot is definitely something to cheer, in the wake of the team’s bombshell late-season trade that sent star guard Luka Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers. 

With Flagg off the board, Rutgers guard Dylan Harper was bound to be snapped up at the first opportunity, and the San Antonio Spurs did just that — no doubt with schemes already in place to make full use of his surprisingly physical 6’6’’ frame. The draft’s third pick continued with the Texas theme, sending Baylor shooting guard V.J. Edgecombe and his hard-charging transition skills to the Philadelphia 76ers. 

The complete rundown of the Top 10 picks from Round 1 of the 2025 NBA Draft

Cooper Flagg #2 of the Duke Blue Devils reacts after scoring a three point basket to end the first half against the Arizona Wildcats in the East Regional Sweet Sixteen round of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Prudential Center on March 27, 2025 in Newark, New Jersey; Dylan Harper #2 of the Rutgers Scarlet Knights brings the ball up court during the game against the USC Trojans in the Big Ten Men's Basketball Tournament first round at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on March 12, 2025 in Indianapolis, Indiana; VJ Edgecombe #7 of the Baylor Bears plays against the Mississippi State Bulldogs during a first round game of the men’s NCAA basketball tournament at Lenovo Center on March 21, 2025 in Raleigh, North Carolina. 

Photo: Patrick Smith/Getty Images; Michael Hickey/Getty Images; Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images

1 — Cooper Flagg (Duke): Selected by the Dallas Mavericks — Small forward / shooting guard

2 — Dylan Harper (Rutgers): Selected by the San Antonio Spurs — Point guard

3 — V.J. Edgecombe (Baylor): Selected by the Philadelphia 76ers — Shooting guard / small forward

4 — Kon Knueppel (Duke): Selected by the Charlotte Hornets — Shooting guard / small forward

5 — Ace Bailey (Rutgers): Selected by the Utah Jazz — Small forward

6 — Tre Johnson (Texas): Selected by the Washington Wizards — Shooting guard

7 — Jeremiah Fears (Oklahoma): Selected by the New Orleans Pelicans — Guard

8 — Egor Demin (Brigham Young University): Selected by the Brooklyn Nets — Point guard / small forward

9 — Collin Murray-Boyles (South Carolina): Selected by the Toronto Raptors — Power forward

10 — Khaman Maluach (Duke): Selected by the Phoenix Suns — Center

When will NBA games air on NBC this fall?

For the first time since 2002, the NBA is bounding back to NBC as the weekly televised home for live games throughout the 2025-2026 season, a multi-game package that also includes a slate of national Monday night matchups that will be exclusive to Peacock. NBC and Peacock also will feature national coverage of regional doubleheader games every Tuesday this fall.

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Beginning early in 2026 (just as the regular season is heating up), NBC Sports will complete the picture with the launch of Sunday Night Basketball, a weekly simulcast on both NBC and Peacock that slots right into the same weekend time slot left open after the seasonal NFL conclusion of Sunday Night Football.

Click here for more details on the NBA on NBC while we await the league’s announcement —  coming later this summer — of the official 2025-2026 season schedule.