NBA Draft 2025: Kam Jones? Tyrese Proctor? Who will be selected in Round 2?

New York Times

3 days ago

The first round of the 2025 NBA Draft is in the books, and it brought its fair share of surprises, including a wild New Orleans Pelicans trade, a Yang Hansen selection in the first round and the Brooklyn Nets actually choosing to make five first-round picks.
And yet, it also went somewhat by the numbers. Of the 30 players I projected to go in the first round, 27 got picked. I have zero top-20 players remaining on my personal board, and only one top-25 player (Noah Penda).
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Additionally, with how the name, image and likeness marketplace has impacted the pool of potential players, teams have certainly been negotiating with players throughout the week to try to come up with advantageous deals that make sense for everyone involved before the draft. Don't be surprised to see two-way contracted players get taken in the 30s, and don't be surprised to see some surprising stashes later in the draft.
Here's a quick projection of the second round Thursday night.
Fleming fits the Tim Connelly archetype that he's previously drafted in the second round, as a toolsy, athletic big at 6-foot-8 with a 7-5 wingspan (see: Josh Minott and Leonard Miller). I think he's a bit more of a big than a wing and might be position locked at power forward, but Fleming improved as a shooter this year and has some real athleticism that allows him to make a big impact. He needs to improve his overall feel for the game and continue to grow as a passer and decision-maker.
Raynaud has the kind of game that has to appeal to the Celtics. He's a big man who can dribble, pass and shoot the basketball after averaging 20 points and 10 rebounds last season at Stanford. He's not the best passer in the world, and he's a bit slow. But he's also highly intelligent and has been on a rapidly positive ascent over the last six years of his basketball career. It's easy to buy into him continuing to work to figure it out.
James is one of the draft's best bets to become a serious defender, as the big, physical guard can take on assignments across the positional spectrum with serious switchability and make disruptive plays with how strong his hands are. Offensively, it's a bit more of an adventure, but he makes good decisions and has shown some improvement as a shooter over the last two years. The NBA playoffs showed that players such as this are in high demand.
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The Hornets traded starting center Mark Williams on Wednesday and have a real need on the interior, even with Moussa Diabate and Jusuf Nurkić in the fold. Kalkbrenner is also quite different from those players as a drop-coverage guy who can also step away and shoot and is quite efficient around the rim offensively. This would be a fantastic get for the Hornets, who seem to be prioritizing a positive culture in their draft picks in the first round with Kon Knueppel and Liam McNeeley.
Proctor has been very impressive in pre-draft workouts with his ability to knock down shots and potentially play minutes both on and off the ball. He's a monster shooter, having hit 40.5 percent from 3 this past season at Duke while playing next to an awesome team around him. He also processes the game at a strong level and makes quick decisions with the ball. Proctor is also a willing defender, but he needs to put on a bit of weight over the next few years to deal with the physicality of the NBA.
Penda is my top player remaining on my board, a terrific 6-7 Swiss Army knife of a wing who can dribble, pass and defend at a high level who also comes in at 245 pounds. He processes the game extremely well and is very switchable. There are worries about his frame holding up long-term and his shooting ability, but I think Penda is a good bet to be a rotation player at some point if the shot comes around.
Lanier is one of the draft's premier shooters, having taken more shots off screens this year than any player in college basketball and converting them at a solid clip. Overall, Lanier averaged 18 points per game while drilling 40 percent of his 3s last season at Tennessee and is seen as a very real potential floor spacer at the NBA level. He has a real shot at being a guaranteed deal.
This would be a nice way to get some further backcourt depth after the Pacers got this pick from the Spurs before the first round. Jones is a terrific player in a pace-and-space scheme after having played at Marquette over the last two years, and he fits the successful model the Pacers employed a few years ago when drafting Andrew Nembhard. Jones is a very skilled driver and scorer who can also shoot and pass.
Martin is a monster on the court, an athletic freak who plays with serious power and explosiveness while also letting his motor run at 100 percent all the time. He's one of the best perimeter defenders in the class and is tough and physical at the point of attack while also providing a weakside rim-protection presence. Offensively, Martin is a bit small for someone who isn't a lead guard, but he's hit 36 percent of his 3s over his college career, and teams are interested in him as a defensive stopper.
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I don't know what the Pelicans are doing, but if the Troy Weaver experience has taught us one thing, it's that shooting is optional. Thiero is a monster athlete and a tremendous defender who creates serious force on the rim in transition. But he's a non-shooter, and teams are worried about him being able to consistently provide value on offense. Thiero is in my top-five remaining players, though, so I would approve of this.
Brea is this class' best shooter off the catch, having drilled 45 percent of his nearly six 3-point attempts per game over the last two years. He is a historically relevant shooter. Having said that, Brea is also not quite at the level of most other NBA skills at this point. He'll need to work on his defensive ability to stick in the NBA.
Small turned heads during the pre-draft process with his ability to knock down shots. He's quite small at the lead guard spot, but he's a tremendous pick-and-roll playmaker because of that ability to pull up from any spot on the floor. He averaged nearly 19 points and six rebounds in the Big 12 this past season and has a proven ability to get to paint touches at his size.
Markovic is one of the most productive European players in the class, averaging 14 points and seven rebounds for Mega this year. He also came over to Hoop Summit this year in Portland to perform in front of scouts, but they were relatively unimpressed due to his lack of physicality and size. Still, if you're looking for a big who can step away and shoot as well as make quick passing reads, Markovic is a good bet.
Few organizations scout Australia better than the Thunder, and Toohey would be a player who ticks a lot of the boxes they look for. He's a wing who has the potential to dribble, pass and shoot while also being versatile and flexible on the defensive end. He guards up and down the lineup and has a real chance to be valuable at some point in a couple of years if the jumper works out its kinks.
Sanders impressed during the pre-draft process with his ability to make quick decisions and dribble, pass and shoot. He was among the best players at the Portsmouth Invitational and lifted his stock among evaluators. Having said that, he's not all that impressive of an athlete, which makes for some concern about how he'll translate to the NBA.
Goldin is a massive big man who started his career at Texas Tech before coming into his own at Florida Atlantic on Dusty May's Final Four team. He followed May to Michigan, where he had a terrific season as Danny Wolf's running partner in the frontcourt. He's elite at establishing position due to his wrestling background and has great hands and touch on the interior. He's seen as a potential third center.
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Zikarsky had a bit of a tough season in Brisbane this year, dealing with a couple of minor injuries as the second-youngest player in the NBL. Having said that, the tools leap off the page. He's a legitimate 7-3 and has long arms. He has good hands and is a fluid athlete, even if he also has high hips and can get out-leveraged on the interior. Still, he's worth a flier as a project big because it's hard to find real size in the draft.
Tonje had a breakout season with Wisconsin after transferring there following a lost season at Missouri. He was an All-American, playing a rugged style of power basketball that saw him regularly parade to the foul line. The real skill that is interesting from an NBA perspective, though, is the jumper. He made 39 percent of his 3s and 90 percent of his foul shots on his way to nearly 20 points per game and has a strong physical frame that holds up on defense if he can stay in front of his man.
Few players look the part physically in the second round more than Watkins, a 6-5 wing with a 6-11 wingspan and a powerful build to match. He is best on defense right now, where he covers ground at a high level and is a physical on-ball defender. Offensively, his game will need to shift into more of an off-ball role, but he has some potential to do that as he started to make catch-and-shoot 3s at a higher clip in his last two years.
Broome is coming off a terrific fifth season where he was the runner-up for national player of the year because of his physicality and ability to establish position on the interior. He also has the potential to shoot it and is sharp positionally on defense. However, he's a bit slow and is undersized in a way that concerns teams.
Hepburn was one of the surprise elite transfers this past season, going from Wisconsin to Louisville and turning into one of the best players in the ACC. He's a demon defensively who makes life miserable for the opposition at the point of attack with his disruptive hands and lateral quickness. He also averaged 16.4 points and 5.8 assists per game and hit 35 percent of his career 3s, so there is a chance he can stick as a 3-and-D guard with further on-ball development.
Bates was one of the big risers of the pre-draft process this cycle, going from a strong Portsmouth Invitational to earning his way into the NBA Draft Combine from the G League Elite Camp. He's a 3-and-D guard who is a real shooter but who needs to increase his volume from 3 and continue to get stronger to match up defensively.
Barnhizer could end up being a surprise pick on Thursday after missing a large portion of his final season because of injury. The 6-5 wing defends multiple positions at an extremely high level and is built like a tank, giving him the ability to load up on drives against elite players. Offensively, he's not that skilled, but he's an extremely sharp passer and is a fearless driver, even if his jumper will need to improve.
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Peavy had long been a terrific defender through his career at Texas Tech and TCU, but he took a massive step forward on offense this season at Georgetown, where he started to knock down 3s and become an effective driver of the basketball. Teams still don't totally buy into the shot translating back to the NBA line, so he's seen as more of a second-rounder. But the defense has teams very intrigued.
Williams is a large human with an incredibly long wingspan at 7-6. Offensively, Williams is one of the best big man passers in the draft, with the ability to run dribble handoffs and play at the top of the key before making reads to cutters and kickouts to his teammates. Defensively, Williams is quite slow, but he uses his length on the interior well and is seen as an intriguing third center option for NBA teams with potential to develop into more.
Diawara is an athletic 6-7 wing/forward type with long arms playing in France, currently for Cholet. Diawara's game is predicated upon his ability on the defensive end, where he has a chance to develop into something of a stopper because of his massive wingspan and powerful frame. There's a lot of work to do offensively, though, and he must improve as a shooter. He stayed in the draft as an early entrant, and team sources have speculated that there could be an assurance that he gets picked.
Olbrich had a great combine week, where he was one of the top performers in the five-on-five portion of the G League Elite Camp and NBA Draft Combine itself. The 6-9 big man has great hands and a soft touch around the rim, as well as a terrific perimeter game for a big man due to his ability to handle the ball. However, he's seen as a potential liability on defense because he's somewhat between positions at the four and five.
Niang is a 6-7 athletic wing currently playing for Trento in the Italian league and decided to stay in the draft as an early entrant. He has intriguing defensive tools and is a willing cutter off the ball while averaging 7.9 points and 5.2 rebounds. He needs to work on his jumper. He'll be a draft-and-stash who gets left overseas to see how his development goes for the next few years.
Nembhard's stock will be helped by the performance of his brother Andrew during Indiana's run to the NBA Finals. Ryan is similarly a high-IQ point guard with sharp passing skills and a terrific ability to run an offense. The issue is that he's undersized, but he has enough potential as a shooter and distributor to where I think someone takes a bet on him being their third guard.
(Top photo of Tyrese Proctor: Jared C. Tilton / Getty Images)