Latest / Bleacher Report / Winners & Losers of the 1st Round _ 2025 NBA Draft Reaction

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Winners & Losers of the 1st Round _ 2025 NBA Draft Reaction · Bleacher Report

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Look backward, let's recap everything that we saw tonight, and
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: then we'll go through and give some of our winners
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: and losers. At the end of Night one of the
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: NBA Draft, of course, we went Chalk early Cooper Flagg
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: to the Mavericks still in Harper, to the Spurs VJ.
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  Speaker 1: Edgecomb to the Sixers who stayed pat at three, Konk
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  Speaker 1: Nipple at four. Really, when Ace Bailey came off the
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  Speaker 1: board at five, that felt like the big jumping off
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: point that set the rest of the first round in motion.
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  Speaker 1: Looking at this first group of ten picks here, KRT,
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  Speaker 1: do you have a favorite pick here that jumps out?
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  Speaker 2: I mean, I said once, I'll say Jeremiah Fears going
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  Speaker 2: through the Pelicans. I think that they need a dynamic
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: guard on that team. Deonta Murray coming off injury, Jose
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: Alvarado's more of a backup guard at this point, is
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: a bench energy guy. I just think that Jeremiah Fears
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: brings some playmaking, some versatility. Also, he's so young, he's
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: still getting better, you know, being a reclass point guard.
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  Speaker 2: I just think that that fit with that team given
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  Speaker 2: some of the pieces around him. I think there are
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  Speaker 2: some things to truly be excited for. If you're a
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: Pelicans fan.
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: Looking back, wasp what was the best and worst value
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  Speaker 1: pick of these first ten?
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  Speaker 3: You know, it's funny, I want to said malawatch.
• 1:11
  Speaker 4: If they didn't trade for Mark Williams two minutes later,
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  Speaker 4: you know, it's like, now he's gonna I thought that
• 1:18
  Speaker 4: that was going to be a really good opportunity for
• 1:20
  Speaker 4: him to play with some established stars.
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  Speaker 3: And have an opportunity to play.
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  Speaker 4: I love Trey Johnson, so I like Trey Johnson in Washington,
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  Speaker 4: and I think to play with CJ McCollum and to
• 1:31
  Speaker 4: learn from CJ is going to be a very valuable
• 1:37
  Speaker 4: you know.
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  Speaker 3: He's going to be a very valuable mentor for trades game.
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: Yeah, okay, all right, And then we had the Yegor
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: Demon pick at eight as well. Obviously what Brooklyn did
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: later got more interesting from there, but even that felt
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  Speaker 1: like a little early for mister Demon. All right, that
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: got us through the first ten into eleven through twenty.
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: Here we have the Cedric Coward trade. He will be
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  Speaker 1: making his way to Memphis, sort of backfilling the vacancy
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  Speaker 1: left by Desmond Bain. We started to see a couple
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: of these international prospects come off the board, and I'll
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: be honest with you, guys, I think the most shocking
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  Speaker 1: moment of the first round for me was Hansen Yang
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: going off the board sixteenth overall to Portland.
• 2:18
  Speaker 5: Wass I'll throw it back to you here.
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  Speaker 1: What was your biggest takeaway from this group of picks.
• 2:23
  Speaker 4: Well, I'm going to avoid Yang so when in five
• 2:27
  Speaker 4: years from now and he's baby joker, you know you're
• 2:30
  Speaker 4: not replaying this video of me trashing Portly. But I
• 2:36
  Speaker 4: think Yakachona's slipping to twenty to Miami was a surprise
• 2:40
  Speaker 4: and just such a perfect landing spot in terms of
• 2:45
  Speaker 4: there's a starting point guard slot available for him, So
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  Speaker 4: I love that.
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  Speaker 3: I love that pick there.
• 2:51
  Speaker 4: But I don't want to take up all the names here,
• 2:54
  Speaker 4: but the centric Colard pick was also a fascinating development
• 2:58
  Speaker 4: in terms of what Memphis gave up to go up again.
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: Card.
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  Speaker 5: Do you have a favorite from this group?
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: I like the Casparis fit. I'm also not scared to
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: have this clip replay in five years, so I'm gonna
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: go ahead and say it. Yet, they have like four
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: other centers on that roster. Eighten's on the roster they
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: just drafted Klinging. I'm pretty sure Robert Williams is still
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: on the team as well. I'm just I'm so confused.
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: I like the player, but the fit just makes absolutely
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: no sense to me. So I'm fine throwing myself out
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  Speaker 2: there on that one.
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: And when you add that they traded down right, they
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: were sitting at eleven. This is before Derek Queen and
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: Thomas Sorber had come off the board. I'm not saying
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: those guys are guaranteed to be better than you five
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: years from now, to Wats's point, but it's just interesting
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: you drop five spots thinking you're probably still gonna get
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  Speaker 1: a guy that was mocked in this general range, and
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: instead you get a guy that was mocked very very
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  Speaker 1: late into the second round.
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  Speaker 5: It's fascinating move.
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  Speaker 1: And then let's move to the final ten picks of
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  Speaker 1: the first round. Here, the ten that we just wrapped
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  Speaker 1: up will Riley off the board at twenty one. That
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: value with those Illinois picks back to back to me,
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  Speaker 1: the story here was just what Brooklyn did, and I
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: think you saw me react in real time and almost
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: become speechless to it. I just truly cannot believe they
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  Speaker 1: spent their five picks on four past first bald Hominin
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  Speaker 1: type players. Wass what jumps out to you? Here is
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: the story of these ten picks.
• 4:21
  Speaker 4: I love twenty four and twenty five. It gave back
• 4:24
  Speaker 4: to back a pluses. I don't think I've ever done
• 4:26
  Speaker 4: that grating draft picks. But I love Meek as a prospect,
• 4:30
  Speaker 4: and I like him in Sacramento. And I love Jase
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  Speaker 4: Richardson as again, he's top ten on my personal board.
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  Speaker 4: So to get him at twenty five and to go
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  Speaker 4: to a spot where I think they can use him
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  Speaker 4: and I'll be able to play.
• 4:43
  Speaker 3: I'm a big fan of Sacramento.
• 4:45
  Speaker 2: When Orlando did a twenty four and twenty five kart, Yeah, honestly,
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  Speaker 2: I really like this that group of twenty one through
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  Speaker 2: twenty five. Also, I can't wait tell my son where
• 4:52
  Speaker 2: I was at when wash Gate two back.
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  Speaker 5: To back eight plus grades.
• 4:55
  Speaker 2: It's a mining at the moment here on the bleacher stream.
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  Speaker 2: I like Will Riley. I like Will Riley going to
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: the Wizards. I think that they did some good stuff
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  Speaker 2: early in the draft, and I'm just so intrigued with
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  Speaker 2: Will Riley's potential given what he was doing towards the
• 5:09
  Speaker 2: end of the Big ten season. I think that Washington
• 5:12
  Speaker 2: might look back on this and they could look back,
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  Speaker 2: like maybe five years from now and just be thankful
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  Speaker 2: that they got Will Riley down in twenty one.
• 5:18
  Speaker 5: I really like that pick. Yeah, I totally agree.
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: All right, we are going to wrap the show tonight
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  Speaker 1: with one winner and one loser each, Carl, I'll throw
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  Speaker 1: it to you first. Give us your one winner and
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: one loser.
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  Speaker 2: I think the winner I'm gonna go ahead and go with.
• 5:34
  Speaker 2: I'm gonna go with the Pelicans Dereck Queen Jeremiah Fears.
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: They match that up with some of the younger core
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  Speaker 2: payers they have. I think if they get the vision
• 5:43
  Speaker 2: clear on what they want to do with that team,
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  Speaker 2: I think there is a clear one there. I just
• 5:46
  Speaker 2: think as far as coaching and front office direction, they
• 5:50
  Speaker 2: could really pull the right strings and maybe make something
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  Speaker 2: happen there. And then should I get to my loser.
• 5:54
  Speaker 5: Right now, go to your loser. I'm gonna take the
• 5:57
  Speaker 5: lay up here.
• 5:58
  Speaker 2: The Brooklyn Nets gotta showed me something. That team is
• 6:01
  Speaker 2: going to be a team that I think is going
• 6:04
  Speaker 2: to be subject to a.
• 6:05
  Speaker 5: Lot of shot clock violations this year.
• 6:07
  Speaker 2: From guys just passing it around to each other with
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  Speaker 2: no one wanted to shoot the basketball. I understand the
• 6:12
  Speaker 2: vision might be just to have a bunch of guys
• 6:14
  Speaker 2: who are willing to make the extra pass, but at
• 6:16
  Speaker 2: a certain point, someone has to shoot the basketball. Not
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  Speaker 2: everyone can play point guard.
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  Speaker 5: I'm just a.
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  Speaker 2: Little bit confused on the vision for the Nets in
• 6:25
  Speaker 2: this one, to be honest with you.
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: Yeah, on that note, my winner of the night was
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: Cam Thomas. I mean, is anyone happier tonight than camp Thomas.
• 6:33
  Speaker 2: If you need someone that can shoot, Cam Thomas will shoot.
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  Speaker 5: Congrats to that man.
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  Speaker 1: He's got to be ecstatic with the way this played
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  Speaker 1: out from Brooklyn.
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  Speaker 3: No.
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  Speaker 1: On a serious note, I liked the jazz Is draft.
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  Speaker 1: I thought Ace Bailey and Walter Clayton as a tandem
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: is something that will get Jazz fans excited. At the
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: bare minimum. I thought both those picks were good value
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  Speaker 1: where they were taken. My loser has to be Portland
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: for the reasons I just laid out. And yeah, maybe
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: this does get clipped to Wats's point, but I cannot
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  Speaker 1: believe they traded five spots down to sixteen to Conson
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  Speaker 1: Yang and that was the move.
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  Speaker 5: Wasss we'll go to you next.
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  Speaker 1: Give us your winner and loser.
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  Speaker 4: Please, I'll go with Charlotte as a winner. Maybe they
• 7:11
  Speaker 4: did reach a little bit on k Nipple, but I
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  Speaker 4: think he's a surefire asset in somebody who's going to
• 7:16
  Speaker 4: improve that team. And then to get McNeely at twenty
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  Speaker 4: nine and then add another first round pick, I need this.
• 7:24
  Speaker 4: I forget exactly what it was, but I believe they
• 7:26
  Speaker 4: got a first rounder coming up, maybe next year. So
• 7:31
  Speaker 4: to get those guys and then add another first round pick,
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  Speaker 4: to me, that makes them absolute winners tonight. Losers, I mean,
• 7:39
  Speaker 4: there are too many losers. This is a pretty strong
• 7:42
  Speaker 4: first round. I mean, maybe the loser is Liam McNeely
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  Speaker 4: slipping all the way to twenty nine, losing out on
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  Speaker 4: a decent chunk of money because he was projected to
• 7:52
  Speaker 4: go much earlier. He was a green room invite, which
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  Speaker 4: suggests he'd be a top twenty four pick at the least,
• 8:00
  Speaker 4: and so he loses a bit of cash here. But otherwise,
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  Speaker 4: I mean, it's hard to find a clear cut loser.
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  Speaker 4: You guys named the two obvious ones.
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  Speaker 1: And do you hear that that's Jake Fisher's music. Let's
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: go back to the fish Bowl for our final winner
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  Speaker 1: and loser the night. Mister Jake Fisher, who you got.
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  Speaker 6: I'm going to go a winner number one, without a doubt,
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  Speaker 6: the most financial winner possible tonight, Vassili Meacheach. In order
• 8:29
  Speaker 6: for him to go back to Charlotte and that trade
• 8:31
  Speaker 6: Wash has talked about with Mark Williams, the Suns had
• 8:34
  Speaker 6: to exercise his eight point one million dollar team option
• 8:38
  Speaker 6: and make that happen. So Vosa Mechich got an eight
• 8:41
  Speaker 6: million dollar free pay day tonight. He didn't do anything
• 8:44
  Speaker 6: but get traded back to the team where he was
• 8:46
  Speaker 6: at this time last year. So that's a huge win
• 8:49
  Speaker 6: for Vassa Mechich right there. And I like Phoenix what
• 8:52
  Speaker 6: they did as well. I mean to go and get
• 8:54
  Speaker 6: Mark Williams to get come on my watch. I was
• 8:57
  Speaker 6: just texting with someone from the front office who said,
• 8:59
  Speaker 6: this is our version of Dallas's Biggs. You know they
• 9:01
  Speaker 6: have Derek Lively and Daniel gafferd and what have you.
• 9:04
  Speaker 6: I like what Phoenix did overall, especially if you spin
• 9:08
  Speaker 6: all this out as a continuation of the Kevin Durant return.
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  Speaker 5: I think it's a pretty good.
• 9:13
  Speaker 6: Overall, Like last seventy two hours of work for the
• 9:16
  Speaker 6: Phoenix Suns.
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  Speaker 5: A loser was said Liam McNeely.
• 9:21
  Speaker 6: I have a soft spot for him as a Philly
• 9:23
  Speaker 6: native myself, but Rashier Fleming still being on the.
• 9:25
  Speaker 5: Board is a tough fall for him.
• 9:28
  Speaker 6: He was in Brooklyn tonight, to my understanding, and does
• 9:32
  Speaker 6: not leave that Barclay Center arena with a draft hat
• 9:36
  Speaker 6: on his head, so I don't expect he will stay
• 9:39
  Speaker 6: around on the board much longer into the second round,
• 9:43
  Speaker 6: but that is a tough fall for him, a bigger
• 9:46
  Speaker 6: fall than Liam McNeely.
• 9:48
  Speaker 5: Yeah, that's great name.
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: He's probably a name we expect to go early tomorrow
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: where you can watch the four of us again. We
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: will be back for Night two of the NBA Draft.
• 10:00
  Speaker 5: Bleacher Report