As it stands today Cooper Flagg is the favorite to be the first overall pick in the draft, but who are some prospects that could challenge him?

Much has been written about excitement regarding the 2025 draft. It does look drastically better at the top of the class than the 2024 iteration. There is plenty of room for excitement for tanking teams looking to replenish their youth.

In his 2025 NBA Mock Draft published on Thursday, Vecenie preached "a bit of caution" over projections that the class will produce "multiple All-Stars." He acknowledged that "real questions" are emerging around Flagg and three other top prospects — Ace Bailey, Dylan Harper and V.J. Edgecombe — as future franchise cornerstones.

At just 17 years old, Cooper Flagg is on the fast track to NBA stardom. The Duke forward is the consensus pick to go No. 1 overall in next June’s draft. Ahead of his freshman season, Flagg revealed when his NBA draft dreams first began to come into focus.

Thank goodness last year’s draft class was so bad. In almost any other season, the Pistons’ streak and its ilk would have produced a slew of overwrought, hand-wringing columns about what the draft lottery has done and how we must fix it.