Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Wasserman updated his 2025 NBA mock draft on Monday in wake of the 2024 Olympic Games, and incoming Duke basketball star [autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag] remained the first overall pick.
Flagg, one of four Blue Devils in Wasserman’s one-round projection, has been the heavy favorite to go first overall next summer since he reclassified to the Class of 2024. The top-ranked player in the freshman class made national waves when he played for the Select Team at USA Basketball Olympic training camp, earning praise from NBA stars and scouts.
He ended up with the Brooklyn Nets in Wasserman’s projection.
[autotag]Khaman Maluach[/autotag], the 7-footer from South Sudan who recently played in the Olympics, comes into the year as the consensus second-best prospect in Duke’s 2024 recruiting class. However, Wasserman thinks five-star [autotag]Kon Knueppel[/autotag] could be the second Blue Devil off the board. He paired the Wisconsin native with the Houston Rockets at 12th overall.
“Even if he comes off the bench…Knueppel’s skill level, IQ and efficiency should pop similar to how Reed Sheppard did in a reserve role at Kentucky,” Wasserman wrote.
Updated 2025 draft projections after summer of FIBA/Olympic play, NBA camps https://t.co/1OLz2GaL5f
— Jonathan Wasserman (@NBADraftWass) August 12, 2024
Maluach went 18th overall to the Indiana Pacers, and Wasserman highlighted his exceptional performance against Team USA in an exhibition match ahead of the Olympics as a tease of his enormous ceiling.
North Carolina native Isaiah Evans, the last of Duke’s four five-star signees, went 25th overall to the Orlando Magic.