2025 NBA Draft Big Board #2: December Top 50 update!
An update to the FLOOR and CEILING 2025 NBA Draft Big Board! My top 30 is now a top 50.
It’s December, so let’s do a Big Board update!
I’ve grown my top 30 into a top 50 which is still very fluid this early on in the cycle, but goes a long way towards beginning to organize all of these prospects.
If a player is trending UP, they’ll have this 📈 emoji by their name. The opposite 📉 applies if they’re trending DOWN. This one 🆕 will show up for someone making their first appearance. Since my last board was only a top 30, these markers will only apply for the #1-30 range this time.
If a prospect has moved up or down slightly but doesn’t have an emoji next to them, then I feel like there’s nothing too newsworthy to comment on for now.
2025 NBA Draft Big Board (Dec. 2)
Cooper Flagg | Forward | Duke | Preseason Scouting Report
📈 Dylan Harper | Guard | Rutgers
NEW — WATCH NOW: Is Dylan Harper the No. 1 Pick?
Dylan Harper was no. 2 on my first big board of the 2025 draft cycle, but he’s been excellent. Cooper Flagg is still my number one as of now, but Harper has honestly just been the better player this season until now. He’s making the top pick race closer than I expected, even so early on. Harper is flat-out dominating as Rutgers’ offensive engine with the production and hype (which is also important, in all sincerity) to go along. Now, I want Dylan to shoot the three better, but I’m liking his process for the most part.
📈 Egor Demin | Guard | BYU | Preseason Scouting Report
Russian playmaker Egor Demin moves into my top three because he’s shown me so far that everything I loved about his skillset can translate stateside. The BYU freshman has had a couple of slower games recently against better competition, but I think Demin is controlling the game and getting results.
Look at his 12.6 BPM. Egor can pass and score in the pick-and-roll, defend multiple positions, and he’s shooting the three well (15/34 for the season on 9.2 threes per 100). That’s what I expected, and I maintain that his ANGT sample size from deep was given too much attention.
📈 Khaman Maluach | Big | Duke | Preseason Scouting Report
Khaman Maluach rises into my top five. The Duke freshman looks tailor-made to be an NBA center with his massive frame, excellent coordination, rim protection instincts, potential for switchability, constant communication, and offensive upside while maintaining the production that gives him a safe floor.
Maluach is finishing almost everything at the basket, blocking shots, and showing his touch with one made three and his record from the free throw line so far. This is on tiny usage (14.3%) and not that many minutes, although the latter is at least partially a byproduct of Khaman fouling a bit too much still.
VJ Edgecombe | Guard/Wing | Baylor | Preseason Scouting Report
Kasparas Jakucionis | Guard | Illinois | Preseason Scouting Report
📉 Ace Bailey | Wing | Rutgers | Preseason Scouting Report
Watch on FLOOR and CEILING — Tape Breakdown: Ace Bailey’s Rutgers Debut
I’m starting to picture Ace Bailey almost strictly in a play-finishing role. In all fairness, I don’t think he’s shown me anything particularly unexpected in terms of shot selection, rim pressure, passing, handling, etc. — it’s more so that other prospects have surpassed him, and he hasn’t displayed anything new to address my concerns about his improvement points.
📈 Tre Johnson | Guard | Texas
Read my scouting notes on Tre Johnson and other prospects from the Legends Classic.
I was far too low on Texas freshman Tre Johnson in preseason, pegging him as a single-minded scorer without the necessary athleticism and ancillary skills to be more than a top 30 prospect. So far this season, Tre is proving me wrong. Sure, he’s a bucket and that’s what he’ll seek most of the time. But Johnson is a willing (and I think, in time, capable) ball mover and okay defender with positive positional size. At the very least, he does enough in those areas while being potentially very, very good at scoring.
Asa Newell | Forward | Georgia
📉 Nolan Traoré | Guard | Saint-Quentin | Preseason Scouting Report
The concerns about Nolan Traoré are coming to the forefront with his poor efficiency (34.9% from the field in all competitions and 32.1% in league play) and non-elite athleticism despite the constant paint pressure. He's also not making his threes. What I’m typing is starting to remind me of DJ Wagner last year, so hopefully Traoré can turn his situation around. The French point guard came off the bench in Saint-Quentin's last two games, and averaged around 12 minutes a night.
Boogie Fland | Guard | Arkansas
Liam McNeeley | Wing | UConn
📉 Kon Knueppel | Guard | Duke
Kon Knueppel isn't shooting the three that well so far, but I expect that to eventually revert. What I’m looking at, though, is how he's really struggled at the basket. Kon is shooting 50% (11/22) on his close twos and barely getting to the line, while not offering much as a rebounder or defender in my opinion. Knueppel's passing has probably been what he's done best other than shooting, but I expect more from the Duke freshman. My outlook on him remains fairly similar, though.
Still, I already feel like Liam McNeeley has shown me more with his rebounding, shooting versatility, and overall aggression — not to mention that the UConn freshman has preferable size and pop. That’s with the Huskies having a down season for their standards until now.
Noa Essengue | Forward/Wing | Ulm
Ben Saraf | Guard | Ulm
📈 Adou Thiero | Wing/Forward | Arkansas
Adou Thiero’s breakout season is here. I’ve liked the ex-Kentucky prospect’s tools for a while now, and he’s putting everything together on a consistent basis in his junior year. Thiero plays with grown man strength and size, dislodging defenders, disrupting attackers, and putting a stamp on both ends of the floor. He still needs to shoot the three better, but I see him and I’m reminded of wings like OG Anunoby.
📉 Collin Murray-Boyles | Forward | South Carolina
Collin Murray-Boyles dropping slightly is a bit more about other prospects having surpassed him, but it also has to do with me not seeing that much year-to-year improvement. CMB still isn’t shooting threes for all intents and purposes, and I have the same questions as I did in preseason about how his tweener-type of offense translates up to the NBA.
🆕📈 Jeremiah Fears | Guard | Oklahoma
Jeremiah Fears makes his big board debut in a big way, coming in at no. 18. The Oklahoma freshman remains very young, having reclassified to play in college this season. He’d still be 18 on draft night. Fears is a crafty and active pick-and-roll playmaker who already shows signs of having a pretty dynamic handle with changes of speed and direction. I also love how he’s flashed three-level self-creation.
📉 Drake Powell | Wing/Guard | North Carolina
Drake Powell is yet another example of why I tend to feel uneasy about aspiring one-and-dones going to UNC. Powell is getting minutes, but he's playing a very bitpart role for his team. Having moments of hesitation on offense hasn't helped the five-star freshman, to be fair. The only reason Powell isn't lower is because his 18-point game against Michigan State gave me some pause to see how his situation continues developing.
🆕📈 Labaron Philon | Guard | Alabama
Watch on FLOOR and CEILING — Tape Breakdown: Labaron Philon vs. Illinois
Labaron Philon is another new inclusion into my top 30, although I’ve already raved about him this season. The Alabama freshman is my type of combo guard who can reliably handle the ball and create quick, smart advantages while maintaining gravity as a scorer. That said, I’m looking for Philon to shoot better and more from three. That’s crucial for NBA guards. I'll also be tracking Labaron’s numbers at the rim, since he’s a below-the-rim finisher and they're not that outstanding.
Sergio de Larrea | Guard | Valencia
Alex Karaban | Wing | UConn
Noah Penda | Wing | Le Mans
🆕📈 Will Riley | Wing/Guard | Illinois
Will Riley is a rangy scorer who I’ve been interested in for a while. He was right outside of my preseason top 30 because I wanted to wait and see regarding the role he’d play at Illinois. The Canadian prospect is getting the minutes and filling up the stat sheet by averaging 15/5/2 on 50% from three and only 0.4 turnovers. Riley is known for putting the ball in the hoop, but I also think there’s plenty of upside as a passer. I’m kinda viewing him in the Brandon Ingram mold, so he might continue moving up my board quickly. Before that happens, I want to see more of Riley against top-quality opponents (compared to De Larrea or Penda who are facing pros every week), as he had 18 points vs. Alabama but then 5 points vs. Arkansas.
🆕📈 Derik Queen | Big/Forward | Maryland
I still have questions over how Derik Queen’s athletic package carries over to the NBA, but it’s hard to overlook his creativity and, having seen him before Maryland, his track record of being a winner. Right now, I’m looking at Queen more as a unique Naz Reid type of super-skilled forward who’s an energizer off the bench. I think a lot of improvements would need to take place for Derik to be a full-time center.
Hugo González | Wing | Real Madrid
📉 Dink Pate | Guard/Wing | Mexico City Capitanes
I’m really unsure about what Dink Pate’s day one skill is, let alone his long-term NBA role — and I’m someone who’s been historically optimistic about the G League to NBA developmental pathway for teenagers. However, this season hasn’t provided much clarity, especially on defense. Dink is getting into more of an offensive groove lately, which I’ll be monitoring but I haven’t loved his process on the Mexico City tape I’ve watched.
Donnie Freeman | Forward/Wing | Syracuse
📉 Alex Toohey | Wing | Sydney Kings
I'm worried about Alex Toohey's consistency and production falling off. He had a few single-digit games in late October and throughout November, but bounced back with a 16-point outing vs. Melbourne United this weekend. The Aussie wing's three-pointer has also gone cold. He's at 29.5 3P% through 15 league games, as well as 66.7 FT%.
Derrion Reid | Forward | Alabama
Kam Jones | Guard | Marquette
Jase Richardson | Guard | Michigan State
Michael Ruzic | Forward | Joventut
Bogoljub Markovic | Forward | Mega
Jacob Cofie | Forward/Big | Virginia
Joson Sanon | Guard | Arizona State
📉 Ian Jackson | Guard | North Carolina
Ian Jackson is basically playing the sparkplug role that was expected in preseason. Two games stand out to me, vs. Kansas and Michigan State, in which I thought Jackson was pretty impactful with how he can get hot in a hurry. For the most part, though, the OTE alum has been up-and-down and he's basically not passing the ball at all.
📉 Jalil Bethea | Guard | Miami-FL
The role, minutes, and production aren't on Jalil Bethea’s side with the Miami Hurricanes so far. It doesn’t appear that he will be a one-and-done at this stage, but this comes with the typical caveat of it being so early on in the draft cycle. I still like Bethea long-term, though.
Ryan Kalkbrenner | Big | Creighton
📉 Rocco Zikarsky | Big | Brisbane Bullets
Despite back-to-back 13-point games to end November, the minutes and overall numbers haven't added up for Rocco Zikarsky. He's still so young that I think the 2026 NBA Draft should be his priority, but it's no doubt been an underwhelming second NBL season for Australia’s best center prospect. Overall, there’s a lot of things I want from a big — boxing out, catching low passes, setting hard picks, getting the most of his angles on said screens, etc. — that aren’t instinctual for Zikarsky.
Flory Bidunga | Big | Kansas
Carter Bryant | Forward | Arizona
Rasheer Fleming | Wing/Forward | St. Joe’s
Darrion Williams | Wing/Guard | Texas Tech
Dailyn Swain | Wing | Xavier
Izan Almansa | Big | Perth Wildcats
Maxime Raynaud | Forward | Stanford
Mouhamed Dioubate | Wing/Forward | Alabama
Baba Miller | Wing/Foward | Florida Atlantic
📉 Motiejus Krivas | Big | Arizona
I feel like it's been a weird cycle already for Motiejus Krivas. On paper, it seemed like a big role for him was on the horizon, especially after he was pretty good in FIBA youth play with Lithuania over the summer. Then, Krivas suffered an ankle injury in preseason, and this has seemingly derailed his entire sophomore year at Arizona so far. The 7-foot-2 big is coming off the bench, playing 15.7 minutes per game (a paltry 3.6 minute increase vs. as a freshman), rebounding less, and shooting the ball worse than last season. A few more games of this and he’ll slide off my board completely…
