2025 NBA Draft live updates: Start time, where to watch, draft order
It's the day that all struggling NBA franchises have been dreaming of. The NBA Draft, a now two-day event that gives the worst teams in the league a chance to catch lightning in a bottle and a deep dive into other teams who have no idea what they are doing.
Outside of the top selection, which is expected to be the Dallas Mavericks selecting Duke freshman and national player of the year Cooper Flagg, there is no telling what will happen when NBA Commissioner Adam Silver takes the podium at Barclays Center in New York.
Already before this year's draft, several trades have a chance to change the landscape of the league. Kevin Durant orchestrated his exit from the Phoenix Suns after two seasons and was shipped to the up-and-coming Houston Rockets, and Kristaps Porzingis was dealt to the Atlanta Hawks in a three-team swap as the Boston Celtics continued its post-championship salary dump.
One of those teams in the Porzingis deal is the Brooklyn Nets, who now have five first-round picks (No. 8, No. 19, No. 22, No. 26, No. 27), plus a second rounder at No. 36) and could make some serious noise to move up or use its assets to broker a deal for an established star.
Also, look out for the world champion Oklahoma City Thunder, who have two first-round picks and a total of 11 first-round picks through the 2030 season, keeping their title-chasing window open for years to come.
USA TODAY Sports has everything you need to know about the 2025 NBA Draft:
What time does the NBA Draft start tonight
The NBA Draft starts Wednesday, June 25 at 8 p.m. ET. The draft is being held at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Day 1 of the draft can be viewed on ESPN and ABC.
Where to watch NBA Draft
Watch the NBA Draft with Fubo
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26 minutes ago
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Who is VJ Edgecombe, the Philadelphia 76ers' first pick in the 2025 NBA draft?
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Forbes
28 minutes ago
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NBA Draft 2025: Projected Contracts For Cooper Flagg And Other First-Round Picks
If there was any doubt that Cooper Flagg would be the first player selected in the 2025 NBA Draft on Wednesday night, it was dispelled within minutes of the event kicking off. Shortly after NBA Commissioner Adam Silver announced the 18-year-old star from Newport, Maine, as the Dallas Mavericks' selection at No. 1 overall, Flagg walked across the stage at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, exuding a quiet confidence that suggested he was right where he belonged. After all, Flagg has had scouts hyperventilating over his seemingly limitless talent for years—all through high school and across his lone season at Duke University, where he won the Naismith National Player of the Year Award as a freshman and led the Blue Devils to an ACC championship and a Final Four berth. Now, Flagg is getting his reward for those exploits. As the first pick in the draft, he will likely be guaranteed more than $60 million in salary over the first four years of his NBA career. And if Flagg, who has been compared to past teen phenoms LeBron James and Victor Wembanyama as a franchise-altering No. 1 draft choice, fulfills that promise, his rookie contract will look like a bargain. Based on the NBA's rookie salary scale, Flagg can expect to earn almost $14 million in his first season of professional basketball, a smidge below the $14.5 million average salary of the 354 players in the league already signed for the 2025-26 season, according to contract database Spotrac. The top pick in the draft is slotted for $11.5 million, but teams are allowed to surpass that value by as much as 20%, or dip below it by the same percentage. At least the last two top draft picks have come in above the slot value: Wembanyama, taken by the San Antonio Spurs in 2023, and Zaccharie Risacher, who joined the Atlanta Hawks in 2024, after both played professionally in France. 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(The NFL followed suit by capping rookie compensation in 2011, leaving 2025 top pick Cam Ward to sign a four-year, $48.8 million contract with the Tennessee Titans—less than the six-year, $78 million deal Sam Bradford got from the then-St. Louis Rams 15 years earlier.) For first-year players in the NBA, pay has climbed quite a bit in the decades since Smith's name was called, with the rookie scale rising alongside the salary cap, which is tied to league revenue. In March, the NBA reportedly informed teams that it expected the salary cap to increase 10% to $154.6 million for 2025-26, from $140.6 million this past season. Under that projection, which is typically finalized before free agency opens in July, Flagg could earn nearly $63 million on the court through the first four seasons of his NBA career. The league's collective bargaining agreement guarantees the first two years for first-round picks while teams are granted consecutive options for the third and fourth years. Salaries also incrementally increase throughout the life of the contract. Flagg won't be the only rookie cashing in, either. Every first-round selection in this year's draft is projected to earn a seven-figure salary, although each slot has a diminishing value. The Nos. 2 and 3 picks, if maxed out, could receive $56.1 million and $50 million across the life of their four-year deals. Meanwhile, the 30th selection in the first round is projected to make $14 million over the same duration, with $2.7 million coming in the first season. Yet even with tens of millions coming Flagg's way, this first deal represents the tip of the financial iceberg for the newest Maverick. He has already built an impressive collection of off-court partners, working with New Balance, Fanatics and Gatorade. And as media rights fees skyrocket—last year, the NBA signed a new 11-year, $76 billion broadcast package—the potential to earn on the court seems limitless. 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28 minutes ago
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NBA Draft 2025: San Antonio Spurs select Rutgers star Dylan Harper with No. 2 overall pick
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