While Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo of ESPN have the Pelicans selecting Duke center Khaman Maluach with the seventh overall pick in their latest mock draft ahead of Wednesday night’s event, there has been some 11th-hour buzz linking New Orleans to Derik Queen , Givony notes.
As Givony explains, new Pelicans executive Troy Weaver has “long-standing connections” to Baltimore- and D.C.-area prospects, and his son was a graduate assistant on Maryland’s coaching staff in 2024/25, so he had an opportunity to scout Queen extensively this past season.
New Pelicans head of basketball operations Joe Dumars recently indicated Weaver will play an important role in the team’s draft decisions, lauding the former Pistons GM for his “elite” ability to identify talent.
Here’s more on the 2025 NBA draft, with the first round just hours away:
- After flying across the Atlantic from Germany this week, French forward Noa Essengue initially traveled to Toronto for a “secret” private workout with the Raptors before heading on to New York for the draft, according to Givony. While it may be just a coincidence, when Essengue was asked on Tuesday which players he models his game after, he mentioned three current or former Raptors: Scottie Barnes , Pascal Siakam , and Kawhi Leonard (Twitter video link via Erik Slater of ClutchPoints).
- The Nets are signaling that they’re unlikely to move down from the No. 8 pick and aren’t opposed to the idea of using all five of their first-round picks tonight, given how many openings they’ll likely have on their roster, per Givony and Woo. Head coach Jordi Fernandez and Brooklyn’s coaching staff are also considered “friendly to the idea” of developing young talent, ESPN’s duo notes. Still, Brian Lewis of The New York Post (Twitter link ) questions whether this leak is meant to improve the Nets’ leverage in trade talks involving some of those first-rounders.
- The Timberwolves have conveyed an openness to moving the No. 17 overall pick for future assets, depending on which prospects are on the board at that point, Givony reports.
- Like ESPN, Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report has updated his mock draft on Wednesday. Interestingly, the two sites have the exact same results through the top 13 picks before starting to deviate at No. 14.