The One and Only RezBall 2025 NBA Draft Big Board
Better late than never! Steve's Final Draft Rankings for the 2025 NBA Draft Class
Hello everyone and welcome back to RezBall! I hope everyone is having a great Summer in 2025 so far and thank you for taking the time to read the SubStack. This 2025 NBA Draft Class is a top heavy draft that has some big potential for superstars at the very top, a lot of role player potential after that, and then a big ol’ free for all afterwards.
If you are new here, I always break up my Big Boards into tiers to give you an idea where the talent levels change and, sometimes, to group together prospects I think have similar talent level and explain why I rank those players in the order that I do. Some times I will say the order I rank them is the order I believe they should be selected and that should not change. Other times, I will explain that I think the tier contains a certain number of players and the rankings are my personal opinion but I would not argue if anyone wanted to argue for a different ranking. This year we are starting off with six different Tiers.
Tier 1 is “Hand in the Card Already.” This tier consists of the two players 99.9% of draft evaluators have at the top of their Big Board this year: Cooper Flagg and Dylan Harper. Both of these players have made it clear they should be at the top of this draft and should go in this order. Where I am different than other evaluators when it comes to Coop and Dylan is that I do think they have similar talent levels and should be in the same tier. I will get into my specific thoughts on this in the entries for Tier 1, but let it be known that it IS Cooper #1 and Dylan #2 the rest of the way for me.
Tier #2 is “Star Potential.” This Tier consists of seven players this year who all profile as good role players at the very minimum, but also have clear indications in their game that they could be much more. They might not have the game right now that screams #1 option on offense or top NBA playmaker that runs one of the best offenses, but they have consistent flashes that you can see these players reaching this potential with the proper development.
Tier #3 is “Role Player Supreme.” After the potential to be a primary offensive option, or a defensive anchor, the next most important thing I want to identify is whether or not you can play an NBA role. This tier is not only saying with confidence that theses are the guys I believe will play an NBA role for a long time, but they will play it at the highest level possible. Think of current players like Aaron Gordon or Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. They are not a top option, but they do all the supplementary work that perfectly benefits their superstar teammates and can even help win them a title or two! The rankings in this tier are my preference, but I would not argue if another evaluator put them in a different order.
Tier #4 is “Time to Gamble.'“ This tier has a lot of players with a huge amount of talent with an equal amount of question marks about how their game will translate to the NBA. While every NBA Draft is a gamble on prospects at every pick, there are certain picks that teams know have big time talent yet are hesitant to invest in with a top pick due to a huge list of concerns about the player themselves or their game. You can think of players in the past like this that paid off big time: Giannis Antetokounmpo. You can also think of players like this in the past who ended up unable to show any of the potential Draft Evaluator salivated over: Thon Maker. Every draft has this tier, in my opinion, but this year I think that tier has way more guys than in years past. I cannot reiterate this enough, I am not saying the players in this tier are bad, I am saying for ME AND ONLY ME this is the earliest I would take them based on my film study and evaluation of their stats.
Tier #5 is “NBA Rotation Piece.” These are the players I think have at least one NBA level skill that should get them drafted and that teams should give at least three seasons of development time to fit into their rotation. I think every player in this tier has the potential to crack an NBA rotation, but outside of their one or two NBA skills, they have deficiencies in their profile that keep them from projecting higher.
Tier #6 is “Future Miami Heat UDFA All-Star.” If you don’t know, the Miami Heat’s track record of finding Undrafted Free Agents (UDFA) and turning them into impactful role players is second to none. This particular group of players outside the top 60 are ones I still REALLY want to believe in and can see the skill or skills that could blossom into real NBA minutes if they end up in an ideal development system like the Miami Heat.
And our final tier is Tier #7 “Intrigue Worth the Investment.” This is filled with players that don’t have clear NBA skillsets completely ironed out, but still possess a high level of intrigue in their game that should warrant an organization to stick them on their G-League team and see if these players can mold their game to succeed on an NBA court.
And one final note before we dive into the Board itself: I posted individual scouting reports on 42 of the 100 players listed here and will link out to the podcast and YouTube videos accordingly. I will also continue to post individual scouting reports on the other 63 players this summer on Spotify, Apple, YouTube, and wherever else you get your podcasts. Let’s get into it!
Tier 1: Hand In the Card Already
1. Cooper Flagg, PF/C Duke
2. Dylan Harper, PG/SG Rutgers
Tier 2: Star Potential
3. Khaman Malauch, C Duke
4. Kasparas Jakucionis, PG Illinois
5. Tre Johnson, SG/SF Texas
6. VJ Edgecome, SG/SF Baylor
7. Kon Knueppel, SG/SF Duke
8. Derik Queen, C Maryland
9. Ace Bailey, SF/PF Rutgers
Tier 3: Role Player Supreme
10. Liam McNeeley, PF/SF UConn
11. Rasheer Fleming, PF/C Saint Joseph’s
12. Carter Bryant, PF/SF Arizona
13. Asa Newell, C/PF Georgia
Tier 4: Time to Gamble
17. Thomas Sorber, C/PF Georgetown
18. Ben Seraf, PG Ratiopharm Ulm
19. Jeremiah Fears, PG Oklahoma
Tier 5: NBA Rotation Piece
20. Drake Powell SG/SF North Carolina
21. Nique Clifford, SG/PG Colorado State
22. Bogoljub Markovic, PF/C KK Mega Basket
23. Tyrese Proctor, PG/SG Duke
24. Cedric Coward, SG/SF Washington State
25. Johni Broome, C Auburn
26. Noa Essengue, PF/C Ratiopharm Ulm
27. Maxime Reynaud, C Stanford
28. Wooga Poplar, SG/SF Villanova
29. Alijah Martin, SG/PG Florida
30. Hunter Sallis, SG Wake Forest
31. Payton Sandfort, SF/PF Iowa
32. Will Riley, SF/SG Illinois
33. Noah Penda, PF/SF Le Mans Sarthe Basket
34. Kobe Sanders, PG/SG Nevada
35. Hugo Gonzalez Peña, SF/PF Real Madrid
36. Ryan Kalkbrenner, C Creighton
37. Micah Peavy, SF/PF Georgetown
38. John Tonje, SG/SF Wisconsin
39. Adou Thiero, SF/PF Arkansas
40. Danny Wolf, C/PF Michigan
41. Nolan Traore, PG Saint Quentin
42. Nate Santos, SF/PF Dayton
43. Max Shulga, SG/PG VCU
44. Kam Jones, PG/SG Marquette
45. Dink Pate, PG/SG Mexico City Capitanes
46. Hansen Yang, C Qingdao Eagles
47. Jamir Watkins, SF/PF Florida State
48. Chaz Lanier, SG Tennessee
49. Walter Clayton Jr. PG/SG Florida
50. Yanic Konan Niederhauser, C Penn State
51. Joan Beringer, C Cedevita Olimpija
52. Caleb Love, SG/PG Arizona
53. Jacksen Moni, PF/C North Dakota State
54. Igor Milicic Jr. PF/C Tennessee
55. Viktor Lakhin, C/PF Clemson
56. Vladislav Goldin, C Michigan
57. Ryan Nembhard, PG Gonzaga
58. Koby Brea, SG/SF Kentucky
59. Eric Dixon, PF/C Villanova
60. Keshon Gilbert, PG/SG Iowa State
Tier 6: Future Miami Heat UDFA All-Star
61. Rocco Zikarsky, C Brisbane Bullets
62. Zeke Mayo, PG/SG Kansas
63. Julian Reese, PF/C Maryland
64. Michael Ruzic, C Joventut Badalona
65. Matthew Cleveland, SG/SF Miami
66. Augustas Marciulionis, PG/SG Saint Mary’s
67. Jevon Small, PG, West Virginia
68. Nelly Junior Joseph, C/PF New Mexico
69. Chibuzo Agbo, SF/SG USC
70. Brice Williams, SF/SG Nebraska
71. Zach Hicks, PF/SF Penn State
72. Kadin Shedrick, C Texas
73. Gabe Dorsey, SF/SG William & Mary
74. Chase Hunter, PG/SG Clemson
75. Jayden Nunn, SG/SF Baylor
76. Tyrese Hunter, PG/SG Memphis
77. AJ Clayton, SF/SG Ohio
78. Brooks Barnhizer, PF/SF Northwestern
79. Curtis Jones, SG/SF Iowa State
80. Arthur Kaluma, PF/SF Texas
81. CJ Huntley, PF/C Appalachian State
82. Jahmyl Telfort, PF/SF Butler
83. Tamar Bates, SG/SF Missouri
84. Chance McMillian, SG Texas Tech
85. Jonathan Pierre, PF/SF Belmont
86. David Joplin, SF/SG Marquette
87. Amari Williams, C Kentucky
88. Sion James, SG/SF Duke
Tier 7: Intrigue Worth the Investment
89. Samson Johnson, C UConn
90. John Poulakidas, SF/SG Yale
91. Patrick McCaffery, PF/SF Butler
92. Jahmai Mashack, SG/PG Tennessee
93. Sean Pedulla, PG Ole Miss
94. Cameron Matthews, PF/SF Mississippi State
95. Obinna Anochili-Killen, PF Marshall
96. Zakai Zeigler, PG/SG Tennessee
97. Ace Baldwin Jr., PG/SG Penn State
98. Mark Sears, PG Alabama
99. Kobe Johnson, SF/SG UCLA
100. Khalif Battle, SG Gonzaga
Thank you so much for another great NBA Draft Season and please keeping tuning into the podcast and YouTube channel! Your support is greatly appreciated.