A total of 13 draft-eligible players have been invited to the NBA’s green room for the 2025 draft so far, according to Jonathan Givony of ESPN.
Those players are as follows, sorted by their rank on ESPN’s big board:
Cooper Flagg (Duke)- Dylan Harper (Rutgers)
- Ace Bailey (Rutgers)
- V.J. Edgecombe (Baylor)
- Tre Johnson (Texas)
- Khaman Maluach (Duke)
- Jeremiah Fears (Oklahoma)
- Kon Knueppel (Duke)
- Kasparas Jakucionis (Illinois)
- Egor Demin (BYU)
- Carter Bryant (Arizona)
- Derik Queen (Maryland)
- Asa Newell (Georgia)
As Givony observes, 12 of the top 13 players on ESPN’s board have received invitations so far, with the only exception being French forward Noa Essengue, who comes in at No. 9. The 18-year-old is still playing in Germany for Ratiopharm Ulm as the team vies for a spot in the Basketball Bundesliga Finals.
Essengue’s season could be over as soon as later this week, in which case he’d have no problem attending the draft and would likely get a green room invite. However, it’s also possible his season might extend beyond June 25 (day one of the draft) if Ulm makes the BBL Finals and the series requires the maximum five games — in that scenario, Game 5 would be played on June 26.
Another 11 green room invitations are expected to be sent out to prospects prior to the draft, a source tells Givony. The players invited to the green room can usually feel pretty confident about their chances to be first-round picks, since the league only decides who to invite after asking teams to vote on the 25 prospects they expect to come off the board first.
Still, there are occasionally instances in which players in the green room slip further than expected. Last season, Givony notes, Kyle Filipowski and Johnny Furphy received green room invites but weren’t selected until the second round, which was held a day later for the first time.
For cooper flag it will really be the green room when he is selected by Boston. Trade incoming…
Half the green room are just Cooper Flagg’s teammates:
Maluach (Duke)
Knueppel (Duke)
Queen (Montverde)
Newell (Montverde)
likely McNeely (Montverde) as well
I am not a fan of them breaking the draft into 2 days.
Weak draft only queen and ace Bailey will be starters Cooper Flag be in Germany in five years. He’s a bust. He’s a failure. He’s not very smart. He was getting all D’s in college and withdrew.
Hearing Egor Dermin to the Bulls, it’s not a BAD pick. It also gives them another player who is tall in the backcourt next to Giddey. I just don’t see AK drafting him though, I would love to see CMB if he had any offensive game or rhythm to him. I know defensively, he’ll be a handful for opposing players. I just have PTSD with offensively handicap players on this roster being taken in the 1st round last few years with the exception of Buzelis. They need a bit of everything, a young athletic BIG, a perimeter shooter, a defensive stallworth, athleticism, toughness. So many holes to fill and I trust AK to ruin it all this year.
I’m hearing the same for Portland. I think he fits well with his size and abities, so likely won’t be available for CHI.