Dallas, the Flagg era begins: Duke's winger is the first choice. And the surprise of the draft comes from China

The Cooper Flagg era officially begins. The former Duke star shows up at the NBA in a very elegant Hugo Boss suit to enter through the main door with the label of the predestined. Adam Silver naturally opens the 2025 NBA draft by pronouncing the name of the player destined to change the direction of the Mavericks, a franchise that after the bizarre trade of Luka Doncic in February seemed close to implosion but that received a very welcome, and unexpected, gift from the Lottery that totally changes the prospects of the Texan club.

Flagg, applauded by the crowd at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, also becomes the first player from the state of Maine to secure the first overall pick in an NBA draft. "I'm so happy - Cooper Flagg commented - this is a dream come true for me and I couldn't have asked for a better destination. With future Hall of Famers next to me I will have the opportunity to grow and learn a lot, I'm convinced it will be an extraordinary experience".

With the second pick, San Antonio is aiming, as expected, at Dylan Harper, son of five-time NBA champion Ron and brother of Simone Fontecchio's Pistons teammate Ron Jr., while VJ Edgecombe of Baylor is selected by Philadelphia with the third pick. Flagg's former Duke teammate Kon Knueppel, who in recent weeks had climbed positions in the NBA scouts' notebooks, even climbs to fourth place and ends up in Charlotte.

There was a lot of interest around the name of Ace Bailey, a talented Rutgers guard who, however, managed the period leading up to the draft in a very particular way, also due to his entourage, leaving negative vibes to several NBA teams. In the end, Jazz puppeteer Danny Ainge took a chance on Bailey, aiming for him with the fifth pick. As always, many trades animated the 2025 draft with the Suns who made the most noisy operation and potentially also capable of bringing interesting dividends. Phoenix, in fact, after the sale of Kevin Durant to the Rockets, has made some interesting moves, bringing to Arizona the intriguing center from Charlotte Mark Williams (fresh from the failed trade with the Lakers in February) in exchange for the 29th pick in this draft (which became Liam McNeeley of UConn) and a first pick in 2029. A team that was very fragile under the basket last season has thus redone its makeup, also selecting a very interesting center with the 10th pick, who arrived in Phoenix in the KD operation: the 2.18 cm Sudanese former Duke Khaman Maluach. The trend of recent years does not change with several international players, 12 from 10 different countries, chosen in the first round and this time too France is the master with three transalpine players in the first round: Noa Essengue, Joan Beringer and Nolan Traorè.

The big surprise of the evening comes with the 16th pick. The Blazers, in fact, choose (after acquiring the pick from Memphis) the Chinese center Yang Hansen who according to almost all predictions was given in the second round. New record for the Nets who become the first team in the history of the NBA to have five picks in the first round and Brooklyn decides to surprise everyone with decidedly courageous selections. The New York club, in fact, secures three international point guards: the Russian Egor Demin (with the eighth pick), the French Nolan Traorè (19) and the Israeli from Ulm Ben Saraf (26).