NBA draft winners and losers: Duke hits lottery, Nets restock, Blazers baffle

Ace Bailey dropped a couple of slots in the 2025 NBA draft. The Portland Trail Blazers made a surprising pick and took a chance on China’s Yang Hansen.

Duke and the Southeastern Conference produced eight first-round picks, including six lottery picks. France extended its run of producing first-round picks with three players going in the first round. Cedric Coward started his college career in Division III and became a lottery pick.

Is there a Tony Parker or Giannis Antetokounmpo-type player in this year’s draft? It’s way too early to tell. But in the present, there are winners and losers from the first round of the 2025 NBA Draft on Wednesday, June 25.

NBA draft winners

Duke and Blue Devils coach Scheyer

The Blue Devils had three lottery picks – Cooper Flagg No. 1, Kon Knueppel No. 4, Khaman Maluach No. 10 – making it the third time in school history that Duke has had three lottery pick in the same draft. It also happened in 1999 (Elton Brand, Trajan Langdon, Corey Maggette) and 2019 (Zion Willamson, RJ Barrett and Cam Reddish).

Source: USA Today