Prez’s 2025 NBA Draft Tiered Big Board
Prez reveals his final big board for the 2025 NBA Draft.
Pens down. This is my final big board!
The class is hard to project after Cooper Flagg and Dylan Harper, who have established themselves as the clearest mix of can't-miss-talent and predictability in the lottery. General managers picking from 3-14 have their work cut out for them, as the class immediately becomes devoid of consensus, which means good GMs can find steals and bad ones may lack low-risk, high-upside picks. This is why I have a large group of 11 players, divided into two sub-tiers, from 3 to 13.
And yet… even the players after that possess a mix of gifts and risks that could see them become mediocre bench players, or better than those 10 players ahead of them! Different teams, with different playoff aspirations, development philosophies, and established stars are going to approach things differently. In my board, I tried to balance for an imaginary team who has roster spots, sound developmental chops, isn't a turbo-tank-fest, but is looking for a fairly even mix of upside and reliability.
There are a few players I am VERY high on relative to consensus: Noa Essengue, Jeremiah Fears, Ben Saraf, Danny Wolf, Thomas Sorber, Adou Thiero, Rasheer Fleming, Bennett Stirtz. I think all of these guys possess the gifts to make both immediate impacts and have upside in spades (to different degrees), and think all are underrated for one reason or another. For more thoughts on those guys and more, be sure to check out my intro to the 2025 draft. But for now, let’s get into the big board, piece by piece:
The Entire 2025 Prez NBA Draft Big Board
Tier 1: Potential Cornerstones
Player highlight: Cooper Flagg
Questions about his absolute offensive ceiling – can he be the best scorer on a top NBA team? – have obscured how insanely dominant he’s been on both ends of the court despite being only 17 years old for much of the season.
Tier 2: Potentially Star Ceilings
Player highlight: Ace Bailey
A 6-foot-10 rail-thin, shoot-first, shoot-second, shoot-third sniper who can create space for his jumper in any situation. Surprisingly feisty on the boards. Still a ways from figuring out how to actually read defenses and offenses and think the game on the fly.
Tier 3: Probable Role Players, Possibly More
Player highlight: Kon Kneuppel
A 6-foot-7 high-ranking recruit. Monster shooter. High-feel – not the most physically gifted, but absolutely competes. Sneaky good pick-and-roll ball handler and operator.
Tier 4: Beauty Is In the Eye Of the Beholder
Player highlight: Miles Byrd
Historic stock machine. Defensive wing is a willing gunner from deep (though not the most accurate). A bit shaky inside the arc despite being a sneaky-good ball-handler.
