Brooklyn Nets NBA Draft Notebook: Latest Mock Draft Projections

Who are the Brooklyn Nets predicted to select in the 2025 NBA Draft?

Nov 4, 2024; Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA; UNC Asheville guard Jordan Marsh (2) guards Alabama guard Labaron Philon (0) at Coleman Coliseum. / Gary Cosby Jr / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Brooklyn Nets are currently 10-13, meaning that, as of Dec. 7, Tankathon projected Brooklyn to have the No. 15, No. 16, No. 23, No. 25, No. 41 and No. 44 picks in the 2025 NBA Draft.

Brooklyn had the No. 15, No. 18, No. 23, No. 27, No. 41 and No. 43 picks in Bleacher Report’s most recent mock draft. In B/R’s mock, the Nets selected Noa Essengue, Thomas Sorber, Labaron Philon, Noah Penda, Jamir Watkins and JT Toppin. 

Meanwhile, The Athletic’s latest big board currently has Jase Richardson at No. 15, Essengue at No. 16 or Alex Karaban at No. 18, Cedric Coward at No. 23, Adou Thiero at No. 25 or KJ Lewis at No. 27, Hunter Sallis at No. 41 and RJ Luis Jr. at No. 43 or Derrion Reid at No. 44.

Essengue is a French forward who is largely projected to play the 4-man, but has shown flashes of sliding down to the 3. The Ratiopharm Ulm prospect is one of the youngest prospects in this draft class — he turns 18 on Dec. 18 — and he is appealing with his positional size at 6-foot-10, increased three-point shooting, off-ball fit and ability to draw free throws.

Sorber is a Georgetown freshman who can be seen as an old-school forward or an undersized big. He has some of the best advanced numbers in this draft class until now, despite coming into the season with little mainstream hype. Sorber defends, makes the right reads and scores around the basket. That said, the 6-foot-10 prospect still needs to play better competition. 

Philon has established himself as Alabama’s best prospect. The freshman point guard was a four-star recruit in high school, but he has a lot of things NBA teams look for in ballhandlers. Philon is speedy, capable out of ball screens, pesky on defense and shows tremendous year-to-year improvement. In the NBA, he projects as a guard who’ll fit in both on- and off-ball. 

Penda is another French prospect. He can be seen as a forward, but considering him a wing might be more apt with his ballhandling upside and his improved shooting this season. Penda is currently playing for Le Mans in the French league and averaging 10.7 points, 5.6 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.8 steals and 1.5 blocks in 27.5 minutes per league game, per RealGM.

Watkins is a redshirt senior for Florida State who is one of the best returners in college basketball. He probably could’ve gotten some sort of NBA contract in last year’s draft but preferred to continue building his stock with the Seminoles. However, it’s worth keeping in mind that the 6-foot-7 wing will be 24 years old by the start of the next NBA season. Watkins is older than Ziaire Williams, for instance.

Toppin is in his second year of college basketball after impressing as a freshman at New Mexico. He’s now at Texas Tech, where his production finishing and blocking shots at the basket, as well as making some reads on the short roll, remains. Toppin is a valuable college player, but the concern with him going forward is that he’s too small to be a center in the NBA and not versatile enough to slide down a position. 

Panning to The Athletic’s big board, Richardson is highlighted as a “quick riser” in his most recent board. Sam Vecenie writes: “[Richardson] is effective through sharp decision-making and quick processing of what’s happening around him on the court ... Every time he hits the court, good things happen either with offensive flow or defensive playmaking.”

Karaban is a versatile 3-point shooter who can make decisions off the catch, has an efficient all-around game, holds up on defense, and has strong positional size. The UConn junior competes defensively, as well. Karaban can make decisions off the catch, although he’s not really someone who will handle the ball or create his own shot going to the basket. 

Coward “does a little bit of everything at 6-6 with a 7-foot wingspan,” Vecenie wrote. The Washington State prospect is averaging 17.7 points, seven rebounds, 3.7 assists, 0.8 steals and 1.7 blocks in his third college season. 

Thiero is one of this draft cycle’s breakout prospects so far. The Arkansas junior operates with functional strength and physical dimensions, dislodging defenders, disrupting attackers, and coming up with two-way plays. He still needs to shoot better from three better, though.

Lewis is a sturdy swingman in his sophomore season at Arizona. He can handle the ball some, although mostly in a straight line or in the open court, and has some feel to his game. Lewis cannot create for himself much, but he can fill in the gaps and then add further value with his defensive versatility and instincts.

Sallis is in his fourth college season, having started off at Gonzaga and then breaking out after transferring to Wake Forest as a junior. Sallis is a score-first guard whose efficiency and production have faltered this year. The 21-year-old is not very strong, so he really needs to score the ball at a high rate since he won’t add much as a defender or playmaker. 

Luis is based in New York City, playing for St. John’s in Queens. The third-year guard grades out favorably in terms of advanced numbers, and he’s taken a big leap as a scorer and facilitator this season. Luis is currently averaging 17.6 points, 6.8 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.6 steals in 28.4 minutes. He needs to keep proving to teams he can make threes.

Reid is a five-star freshman forward playing for Alabama. He's also still very young, only turning 19 at the end of next June. The pitch on Reid is that he can make plays at the basket and shoot threes.

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