We didn’t see any Oregon Ducks get selected in the 2024 NBA Draft this week, though N’Faly Dante did sign a two-way contract with the Houston Rockets when all was said and done.
Going forward, though, that is expected to change.
Now that the 2024 draft is behind us, all eyes are looking forward to the 2025 draft now, with some impressive talent set to come off the board. For the Ducks, there is a pair of players who are expected to be drafted in the first round, one of whom is projected to go in the lottery.
According to the latest 2025 NBA mock draft from CBS Sports, Oregon sophomore Kwame Evans is projected to go to the Houston Rockets with the No. 11 pick in the draft.
A jumbo southpaw wing who covers the court effortlessly with extreme fluidity, Evans may never be an alpha type scorer or playmaker but he’s a projectable shooter, virtually ambidextrous, and has defensive upside. He might have had some real NBA intrigue this year but opted to go back to Oregon for his sophomore season.
Meanwhile, fellow Oregon sophomore Jackson Shelstad is projected to come off the board next, going to the Dallas Mavericks with the No. 24 pick.
Shelstad is a potent scorer out of Oregon who can fill it up in a hurry. He lacks size for a scorer at just 6-foot-1 but he has lots of game and if he proves himself as a playmaker, he could become a household name in college basketball.
If both of these players end up going this early in the draft, it likely means that the Ducks had a great season in 2024-25, so I have a feeling that Oregon fans would be okay with that.
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