2025 NBA mock draft: Debating 30 Round 1 picks, need, value - ESPN

Our NBA mock drafts lean heavily on intel to make projections for the players and the 30 teams. This mock draft, with Cooper Flagg as the projected No. 1 pick, isn't like the others.

Instead, ESPN draft analysts Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo explored the first round of the 2025 NBA draft from two differing perspectives: selecting for team need versus drafting for best available.

How would teams approach this year's draft if they were selecting with their biggest needs for the upcoming season at the forefront? How might that approach change if they were looking to extract the most value for their pick in selecting the best player available, regardless of fit?

This mock draft isn't what we project each NBA team will do, but it's a useful way to think about the draft, its eligible players and how front offices might be thinking through it as the two-day event draws closer (June 25-26, 8 p.m. ET on ABC and ESPN).

Givony drafted players for each team by prioritizing need, while Woo selected players matched with teams angling for value. Here's how it worked out:

More NBA draft coverage:
Trade offers for No. 1 | Lottery pick comps
Mock draft: Flagg to the Mavs and more
Draft assets | Top 100 rankings | Pelton's top 30

Givony's pick that fills the biggest need:
Cooper Flagg, SF/PF, Duke, Freshman | TS%: 60.0

With the Mavericks' three best players all in their 30s and possessing serious injury history, being able to add an 18-year-old Energizer Bunny such as Flagg is a godsend. He projects as an 82-game player who brings nonstop intensity to every practice and possession he is involved in, a force in transition and on defense, whose rapid improvement as a ball handler and shooter will continue to be tapped into extensively as the