Duke All-American Cooper Flagg headlined the group of prospects invited to attend the 2025 NBA draft from the green room at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Teams with first-round picks each year vote on the players they believe will be drafted early, typically the top 20-25 prospects. Last year, 25 prospects were invited to the green room, and only two weren’t selected in the first round (Kyle Filipowski, Johnny Furphy).
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The league is expected to invite at least 10-12 additional players, based on teams’ final rankings and player availability. For instance, likely lottery pick Noa Essengue is still playing in Germany and wasn’t included in the initial batch of invitations, according to Jonathan Givony of ESPN.
Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper (Rutgers), Carter Bryant (Arizona), Egor Demin (BYU), VJ Edgecombe (Baylor), Jeremiah Fears (Oklahoma), Tre Johnson (Texas), Kasparas Jakučionis (Illinois), Kon Knueppel and Khaman Maluach (Duke), Asa Newell (Georgia) and Derik Queen (Maryland) were also invited.
Flagg is the overwhelming favorite to be the No. 1 pick after establishing himself as the national college player of the year with the Blue Devils. Harper appears to be locked in as the consensus second pick, while Bailey and Edgecombe are expected to be the next two picks in some order.
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The 2025 NBA draft will feature a two-night format for the second consecutive year, with the first round scheduled for June 25 and the second round for June 26.
This article originally appeared on Rookie Wire: NBA draft: Cooper Flagg headlines prospects invited to green room