Winners and Losers from Day 1 of the 2025 NBA Draft

If Cooper Flagg is a superstar, the financial path forward is wild.

Rookie Contract
2025-2028: $62.7M

30% Supermax Extension
2029-2033: $359M

35% Supermax Extension
2034-2038: $509M

Total: $930M, and Flagg will be 31-years-old!

— Spotrac (@spotrac) June 25, 2025

We know Flagg and Dallas won big in this draft, but there were plenty of other players and viral NBA news moments from the evening, so let’s go through some winners and losers of the first round.

Remember, Round 2 is Thursday night.

Winner: The Harper Family

Ron Harper was a 5-time NBA champion, and now he has a second son, Dylan Harper, in the NBA after the Spurs used the No. 2 pick on the Rutgers guard. He’ll try to make it three seasons in a row where the Spurs have had the Rookie of the Year.

But the real showstopper was Maria Harper, Dylan’s mother and high school basketball coach, who raised him and his NBA brother, Ron Harper Jr., after divorcing their father. Her appearance had the men of culture on X/Twitter in an uproar as this family’s been blessed with incredible genes all around:

How did NBA Lottery Pick Dylan Harper turn into the player he is today? You can look directly to his mom.

Maria Harper coached Dylan through high school at Don Bosco Prep and watched every step he evolved into one of the best players in the country.

We go back in time to 2023… pic.twitter.com/cQIy32Fsoa

— Jersey Sports Zone (@JSZ_Sports) June 25, 2025

Winners: Duke and Rutgers

With the humble Khaman Maluach going No. 10 to the Suns, Duke became the third school to have three players drafted in the top 10, while Rutgers also had two drafted in the top five. A great night for both schools.

“Living in Africa, I had the whole continent on my back…”

ALL THE FEELS for Khaman Maluach 🥹 https://t.co/Okf6QTxwls pic.twitter.com/EmdTa2fAC5

— NBA (@NBA) June 26, 2025

Winner and Loser: Ace Bailey

Rutgers scorer Ace Bailey reportedly didn’t want to play for the Utah Jazz, but they used the No. 5 pick on him anyway. He’ll be glad to be a top-five pick after not working out for teams, but will he learn to appreciate playing NBA games in Utah?

The Bailey family’s matching red bottom shoes>>>

The #NBADraft presented by State Farm starts at 8pm/et on ABC and ESPN 👀‼️ pic.twitter.com/gGxzcHOotL

— NBA Draft (@NBADraft) June 25, 2025

Loser: Cedric Coward (Winner: Colin Cowherd)

Washington State’s Cedric Coward was the No. 11 pick, and ESPN’s Malika Andrews introduced him as “Colin Cowherd,” the sports media host. Ouch. To make matters worse, he was traded to Memphis, where Ja Morant can test if he’s really a coward or not.

Colin Cowherd was just drafted, according to Malika Andrews. 🏀🎙️ #NBADraft pic.twitter.com/kTWU9GXvQ5

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) June 26, 2025

As for Colin, he naturally enjoyed the attention:

Nothing against Memphis but this would have been epic. pic.twitter.com/Eq3ggkNwfC

— Colin Cowherd (@colincowherd) June 26, 2025

Loser: Brooklyn Nets Fans

Brooklyn hosted the draft again, but when the home team surprisingly used the No. 8 pick on BYU’s Egor Demin, a controversial pick, the crowd barely had a reaction. That’s how you know the NBA draft is still nowhere near as dynamic or beloved as the NFL draft as Jets fans would have rioted over a perceived bad pick.

I waited 15 years for the Nets to have a top 10 pick and they took fucking Egor Demin

— dylan (@MendNets) June 26, 2025

Winner: Collin Murray-Boyles

South Carolina’s Collin Murray-Boyles let out a visible f-bomb after the Toronto Raptors drafted him No. 9 overall, but he’s a winner if his girlfriend and SEC basketball player Chloe Kitts stays with him.

Welcome to Toronto, Collin Murray-Boyles 🤝

Presented by @TorontoStar pic.twitter.com/G4w6DPFucp

— Toronto Raptors (@Raptors) June 26, 2025

Winner: Yang Hansen

Imagine attending the NBA draft as a fan in the crowd and getting drafted with the No. 16 pick. That’s what happened to Yang Hansen, China’s highest-drafted player since 2007. His rights were traded to Portland.

Adam Silver and 7’1″ Yang Hansen, who was taken 16th overall in the NBA draft 🌟 pic.twitter.com/i7yGSg3ngO

— ESPN (@espn) June 26, 2025

Loser: Los Angeles Lakers

LA’s original Anthony Davis trade (2019) is why they didn’t have a first-round pick in 2025, but it was a quiet night with zero transactions for the team that made the NBA’s biggest trade in February.