Key Storylines: Top talent will be available in the 2025 NBA Draft

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We’re counting down 24 key storylines for the 2024-25 NBA season. Our senior analysts will analyze a new topic each day as we help you prepare for opening night on October 22nd.

Here’s the plot No. 9:

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Another big name is set to take the stage at the 2025 NBA Draft, and that could be great news for these teams.

Everyone saw the highlights and Read the stories. You’d have to be under an NBA rock not to know that there’s a lot at stake for Duke rookie Cooper Flagg. And he is not alone. An army of rising talent, including freshmen (the Rutgers tandem of Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey, UNC’s Drake Powell), international options (Nolan Traore of France, Rocco of Australia). Zikarsky), And One who is both – VJ Edgecombe enrolls at Baylor after a Bahamian breakthrough during Olympic qualifying – is hot on the heels of Cooper dressed in New Balance.

The networks After the fall, start climbing up and reposition yourself for a massive loot. Brooklyn holds four picks, notably including her own anus a wise farewell future picks for the up-and-coming Rockets. One pick from the Bucks is just Top 4 protected, and a Knicks pick goes directly to the Nets. The fourth pick for Brooklyn will (according to protocol) belong to either the Thunder, Rockets or Suns, with the Thunder first making a call on their pick against Houston (Top 10 protected) or the Clippers; The Rockets then determine whether the Suns’ pick works to their advantage in either scenario.

The SpursIn the meantime, you have several options, either placing evolving pieces on the board or trading them for top talent or for future assets. Optionality is high here, which is the case if you’ve already landed Victor Wembanyama. San Antonio controls his own pick and a potentially juicy pick from the Hawks, with a top-10 protected pick from the Bulls potentially imminent. The Hornets are unlikely to make a lottery-protected pick, leaving them with 2026 and 2027 Second rounder instead.

Even after rising to the top of the West the thunder Enter a multi-pick draft again. This time there are four on the agenda: a possible trade of our own with the Clippers or Rockets; a light (Top 6) protected 76ers pick, a top-10 protected Jazz pick and a lottery-locked Heat pick. Contract management has become crucial OKC and As you click on the picks you keep, the options become clearer once these rookie additions come into play. When you have more headlines, you can better target your audience, so expect Sam Presti to keep doing the thing – overpaying if necessary to ensure the result.

In the meantime I’ve reached the end of the hopefuls in Brooklyn, the Wizards, Trailblazers, Pistons and Hornets Everyone has a lottery protector who likely has a pick on hand, which – by the numbers – should lead to one (or all four!) of these squads recruiting top talent. Given the solid recent selection on all fronts, the deciding factor for future success could be just around the corner. Or end up somewhere else after the lottery. The renovations continue.

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Ben Couch is a director and editor for NBA.com.

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