Redrafting the 2025 NBA Draft: Derik Queen moves into top 10, Liam McNeeley makes big jump after summer league

Between the final pick of the 2025 NBA Draft last month and the final few games of NBA Summer League this week, we've seen a sample size of this year's rookies that, I'll freely admit, is far too small to draw any sweeping conclusions from. But here's the thing: that won't prevent me from reacting -- and perhaps overreacting -- to what we've seen thus far in the last month.

So as Summer League wraps this week in the NBA, I'm running one final first-round mock back for the 2025 with an option for teams, if given the luxury, to re-do their selections. Some -- like the Dallas Mavericks with Cooper Flagg, and the top six teams for that matter -- stood pat. Others, though, used this re-roll to go different directions.

It's a fun exercise to see just how differently the draft might've looked if a few teams navigated off the path they ultimately chose, and even moreso an exercise to show how perception around some players has already changed around players. My biases are liable to bleed in here and be colored by my own player evaluations, to be clear. So some of these picks are shaded by my player evals and by how I viewed the team's decisions at the time of the draft. But this is not a look at what I would do if I were the GM for each team. 

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Instead, just to again reiterate, this is what I think I think each team would and should do if handed a second-chance at their picks. For the purposes of this exercise, each trade made on draft night was implemented so each team in the mock below is given a chance at making new selections.

Mock Draft

Round 1

Round 1 - Pick 1 Cooper Flagg SF Duke • 6'8" / 221 lbs Projected Team Dallas PROSPECT RNK 1st POSITION RNK 1st Dallas should have no second thoughts here on capturing Flagg and securing a superstar at No. 1.

Round 1 - Pick 2 Dylan Harper PG Rutgers • Fr • 6'5" / 213 lbs Projected Team San Antonio PROSPECT RNK 2nd POSITION RNK 1st There was never a doubt San Antonio would select anyone else predraft. That much remains true postdraft.

Round 1 - Pick 3 VJ Edgecombe SG Baylor • 6'4" / 193 lbs Projected Team Philadelphia PROSPECT RNK 5th POSITION RNK 2nd Philly locked in on VJ Edgecombe late in the draft process and he has done nothing so far to dissuade anyone from him not being worthy of this selection. He said during summer league he has "no fear at all." I think he'll fit in just fine with the 76ers.

Round 1 - Pick 4 Kon Knueppel SF Duke • Fr • 6'5" / 219 lbs Projected Team Charlotte PROSPECT RNK 6th POSITION RNK 3rd I was widely lambasted in May when I projected Knueppel at No. 4 to Charlotte shortly after the draft lottery. That turned out to be prescient, and Charlotte should feel good about flying Kon Air.

Round 1 - Pick 5 Ace Bailey SF Rutgers • Fr • 6'8" / 203 lbs Projected Team Utah PROSPECT RNK 4th POSITION RNK 2nd Ace has already shown enough predraft and during summer league to validate his top-five selection. Utah, which had tied for the best odds to get the No. 1 pick before falling to No. 5 on lottery night, might have lucked out here.

Round 1 - Pick 6 Tre Johnson SG Texas • Fr • 6'5" / 190 lbs Projected Team Washington PROSPECT RNK 4th POSITION RNK 2nd Johnson scored 18 points in his summer league debut earlier this week and -- to no surprise -- very much looks the part as a pro that he did as a flamethrowing college player. Fun times ahead in Washington.

Round 1 - Pick 7 Derik Queen C Maryland • Fr • 6'9" / 248 lbs Projected Team New Orleans PROSPECT RNK 9th POSITION RNK 2nd My final mock draft had Queen projected to New Orleans at No. 7. I was right on the first part but off on the second, as they selected Jeremiah Fears No. 7 before making a megadeal to get Queen at No. 13. I'd have taken Queen, who will undergo wrist surgery, here if I valued him as much as they did and been content looking to address the backcourt later in the draft.

Round 1 - Pick 8 Jeremiah Fears PG Oklahoma • Fr • 6'3" / 180 lbs Projected Team Brooklyn PROSPECT RNK 11th POSITION RNK 3rd Brooklyn might have found something in Egor Demin, its original No. 8 pick, but its collection of four first-round picks together -- Demin, Drake Powell, Ben Saraf and Danny Wolf -- was on the whole pretty underwhelming. The swing here on a boom-or-bust prospect like Fears would be a fun one to help reshape its potential future.

Round 1 - Pick 9 Collin Murray-Boyles PF South Carolina • Soph • 6'7" / 239 lbs Projected Team Toronto PROSPECT RNK 12th POSITION RNK 1st Toronto made this pick just before parting ways with long-time decision-maker Masai Ujiri, and his fingerprints were all over this one. But I don't think the Raptors will be upset with CMB. He's a defensive menace who will be a stopper on that end and add physicality and ferocity to this team.

From Houston Rockets Round 1 - Pick 10 Egor Demin PG BYU • 6'8" / 199 lbs Projected Team Phoenix PROSPECT RNK 13th POSITION RNK 4th Demin was scooped up by pick No. 8 on draft night but it's fun to think about him falling here to Phoenix at No. 10. His passing and overall playmaking graded out as the best in this draft class for me, and pairing him next to a pair of scorers in Devin Booker and Jalen Green could've been a nice backcourt to build around.

From Portland Trail Blazers Round 1 - Pick 11 Cedric Coward SG Washington State • Sr • 6'5" / 213 lbs Projected Team Memphis PROSPECT RNK 18th POSITION RNK 3rd Memphis made a draft-night trade to move up and get Coward here at No. 11. I'm not sure I'd have done it -- especially with Derik Queen and Carter Bryant available -- but it's clear the front office targeted him. I won't stand in their way of landing him again in this exercise.

Round 1 - Pick 12 Khaman Maluach C Duke • Fr • 7'1" / 253 lbs Projected Team Chicago PROSPECT RNK 8th POSITION RNK 1st My word: Josh Giddey-Coby White-Ayo Dosunmu-Matas Buzelis-Khaman Maluach would've been fun in the Windy City. Maluach's big 7-6 wingspan and impactful presence on both ends around the rim is exactly what I'd have hoped the Bulls could get. Alas.

From Atlanta Hawks Round 1 - Pick 13 Nique Clifford SF Colorado State • 6'5" / 202 lbs Projected Team New Orleans PROSPECT RNK 15th POSITION RNK 5th Here's a question: If you're New Orleans would you rather have Derik Queen and Clifford AND your 2026 1st you gave up in the Queen deal instead of Fears + Queen? Because that could've been possible. Clifford went 24th overall and could've been had for the Pels at their original slot at 23. I know which direction I'd have gone -- and it's not the one New Orleans took.

From Atlanta Hawks Round 1 - Pick 14 Carter Bryant SF Arizona • Fr • 6'7" / 215 lbs Projected Team San Antonio PROSPECT RNK 10th POSITION RNK 4th Carter Bryant falling to No. 14 in a perfect situation in San Antonio is the most Spurs thing since they stumbled into the No. 2 overall pick in a stroke of lottery night luck. He's looked awesome in Summer League and can be a great complementary piece -- and maybe more -- to grow up with alongside Victor Wembanyama and this team's young core.

From Miami Heat Round 1 - Pick 15 Noa Essengue PF France • 6'9" / 194 lbs Projected Team Oklahoma City PROSPECT RNK 14th POSITION RNK 2nd There's been some good and some not-so-good from Essengue in his limited time with the Bulls. (Johnny Furphy posterizing him is firmly in the latter camp.) He's an interesting long-term project who'd make some sense for an OKC organization that seems to consistently bet big on these archetypes.

From Memphis Grizzlies Round 1 - Pick 16 Yang Hansen C China • 7'1" / 253 lbs Projected Team Portland PROSPECT RNK 43rd POSITION RNK 10th Portland has to feel at least a *little* vindication after its stunning first-round selection of Yang here after the way he's flashed in Summer League. I'm still skeptical of the pick overall, but he is clearly a talented player with skills as big as his 7-foot frame.

From Detroit Pistons Round 1 - Pick 17 Thomas Sorber C Georgetown • Fr • 6'9" / 263 lbs Projected Team Minnesota PROSPECT RNK 22nd POSITION RNK 3rd Sorber went No. 15 overall and wound up going higher than most everyone mocked throughout the draft process to an OKC team that always keeps a low profile. He'd be a nice developmental big for any team and Minnesota in particular would've made sense.

From Washington Wizards Round 1 - Pick 18 Liam McNeeley SF Connecticut • Fr • 6'7" / 215 lbs Projected Team Utah PROSPECT RNK 17th POSITION RNK 6th I'm still scratching my head wondering how McNeeley fell to No. 29 in the draft. It shouldn't have happened. That's not a take based on summer league -- though he has looked great -- but it's a flag-plant I believed for much of the last six months. He was a top-20 player in the class who nearly fell to Round 2.

From Milwaukee Bucks Round 1 - Pick 19 Joan Beringer C France • 6'11" / 230 lbs Projected Team Brooklyn PROSPECT RNK 23rd POSITION RNK 4th Beringer has looked great already and appears ready to pay off his billing as an elite defensive prospect. I don't think Minnesota will be unhappy with having him to groom the next couple years.

From Golden State Warriors Round 1 - Pick 20 Nolan Traore PG France • 6'5" / 175 lbs Projected Team Miami PROSPECT RNK 15th POSITION RNK 5th Brooklyn snagged Traore at No. 19 and jumped in front of the Heat for him. But this alternate universe gives the Heat the guy I thought might be a fit for them. I think he'd have been their guy if he didn't go a pick earlier.

From Utah Jazz Round 1 - Pick 21 Kasparas Jakucionis PG Illinois • Fr • 6'5" / 205 lbs Projected Team Washington PROSPECT RNK 7th POSITION RNK 2nd I would have loved for Washington to have a player of Jakucionis' caliber fall here to No. 21. There was unfortunately a pretty big tier drop among playmakers after Traore and Jakucionis fell.

From Atlanta Hawks Round 1 - Pick 22 Drake Powell SF North Carolina • 6'5" / 199 lbs Projected Team Brooklyn PROSPECT RNK 16th POSITION RNK 5th I had Powell projected to Brooklyn in my final mock before the draft, and so as a humble brag I'll keep him Brooklyn-bound in this space. I like him as a talent and felt he was underrated relative to his perception. There's a lot to like here long term.

From New Orleans Pelicans Round 1 - Pick 23 Asa Newell PF Georgia • Fr • 6'9" / 224 lbs Projected Team Atlanta PROSPECT RNK 22nd POSITION RNK 3rd This was a pick Atlanta acquired on draft night in the deal with New Orleans. They took Newell then and will do so again here. The Hawks front office cleaned up on draft night.

From Oklahoma City Thunder Round 1 - Pick 24 Walter Clayton Jr. PG Florida • Sr • 6'2" / 199 lbs Projected Team Sacramento PROSPECT RNK 29th POSITION RNK 7th Sacramento made a deal with OKC to land Nique Clifford in this spot here -- which so far seems like a huge, huge hit -- but in this mock he's gone. I like the idea of Clayton Jr. as a King to give them shotmaking and guard optionality.

From Denver Nuggets Round 1 - Pick 25 Jase Richardson SG Michigan St. • Fr • 6'1" / 178 lbs Projected Team Orlando PROSPECT RNK 19th POSITION RNK 4th Some picks just feel *right*. Like, oh yeah, Jase to the Magic. His pops played in Orlando from 2010-2012 and he's a wonderful addition to this young Magic team.

From New York Knicks Round 1 - Pick 26 Will Riley SF Illinois • Fr • 6'8" / 186 lbs Projected Team Brooklyn PROSPECT RNK 32nd POSITION RNK 10th I'm not so sure Riley would have lasted much longer if he hadn't been taken No. 21 by the Wizards, but Brooklyn -- with its four first-round picks -- would have been a tremendous spot for him to land and offer him a long runway to learn on the job.

From Houston Rockets Round 1 - Pick 27 Danny Wolf PF Michigan • 6'11" / 252 lbs Projected Team Brooklyn PROSPECT RNK 20th POSITION RNK 3rd Wolf was a good pick by Brooklyn at No. 27. I endorse this. He's a unique talent and someone who can be a legitimate playmaking presence at 7-foot.

Round 1 - Pick 28 Hugo Gonzalez SF Spain • 6'6" / 205 lbs Projected Team Boston PROSPECT RNK 30th POSITION RNK 8th Allow me to again tout my predictive ability here: This one I had right leading into the draft. Gonzalez seemed like a Celtic for a team and roster in flux. I think he's got a bright future in Boston.

From Phoenix Suns Round 1 - Pick 29 Ryan Kalkbrenner C Creighton • Sr • 7'1" / 257 lbs Projected Team Charlotte PROSPECT RNK 27th POSITION RNK 6th Charlotte made Kalkbrenner a Hornet at No. 34 overall, but why not do so earlier here? He was so obviously a great fit for this team, and the smoke surrounding him and the Hornets leading into the draft now in hindsight makes so much sense.

From Oklahoma City Thunder Round 1 - Pick 30 Yanic Konan Niederhauser C Penn State • Jr • 6'11" / 243 lbs Projected Team L.A. Clippers PROSPECT RNK 26th POSITION RNK 5th Los Angeles has made some major moves of late -- including adding Bradley Beal -- but selecting Niederhauser at No. 30 feels like it was still a smart move in the short- and long-term. He's not supplanting Ivica Zubac as a starter anytime soon but he's an NBA player who can break into a rotation and be a useful piece.