2025 NBA Draft

2025 NBA Draft: How to watch, selection order, history and things to know

Get answers to all of your questions before the 2025 NBA Draft, which will be held on June 25 (8 ET, ABC/ESPN) and June 26.

From NBA.com Staff

Updated on July 21, 2025 4:16 PM

The 2025 NBA Draft class poses for a group photo before the first round at Barclays Center.

• 2025 NBA Draft: Complete coverage
• Prospects | Teams | News & Notes

The 2025 NBA Draft presented by State Farm will mark the 79th year of the event. Below you can find answers to some of the main questions regarding this year’s NBA Draft.

> When is the 2025 NBA Draft?

The 2025 NBA Draft will take place on June 25-26, 2025 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., home of the Brooklyn Nets. The Draft will follow a two-night format.

The first round will be held at Wednesday, June 25 (8 ET, ABC & ESPN)*
The second round will be on Thursday, June 26 (8 ET, ESPN)*

*Fans outside of the US & Canada can stream both rounds on League Pass

> What is the 2025 NBA Draft order?

The complete 2025 Draft order of selection was determined by NBA Draft Lottery. The Dallas Mavericks, with 1.8% odds, won the Draft Lottery and selected first overall.

1. Mavericks draft Cooper Flagg (Duke)

2. Spurs draft Dylan Harper (Rutgers)

3. 76ers draft VJ Edgecombe (Baylor)

4. Hornets draft Kon Knueppel (Duke)

5. Jazz draft Ace Bailey (Rutgers)

6. Wizards draft Tre Johnson (Texas)

7. Pelicans draft Jeremiah Fears (Oklahoma)

8. Nets draft Egor Demin (BYU)

9. Raptors draft Collin Murray-Boyles (South Carolina)

10. Rockets draft Khaman Maluach (Duke) – Traded to Suns

11. Trail Blazers draft Cedric Coward (Washington State) – Traded to Grizzlies

12. Bulls draft Noa Essengue (Ratiopharm Ulm / Germany)

13. Hawks draft Derik Queen (Maryland) – Traded to Pelicans

14. Spurs draft Carter Bryant (Arizona)

• Complete 1-59 Draft Order

The Draft selections for the remainder of the first round (No. 15-30) and the entire second round (No. 30-59), are determined by reverse order of regular season record. Each NBA team gets one selection in the first round and one selection in the second round.

> What is the format for the Draft?

The 2025 NBA Draft will see the continuation of the two-night format that began last year.

The first round will have five minutes between draft picks.
For the second round, the time between draft picks will be four minutes.

> Where can I learn about the top prospects in the Draft?

The NBA.com Prospect Index has profiles on over 75 potential Draft picks.

> What is the NBA Draft Combine?

The NBA Draft Combine is a week-long gathering in Chicago where the top prospects participate in skill drills, scrimmages, get official anthropometric measurements and have the opportunity to meet with NBA team officials.

75 players were invited to the 2025 NBA Draft combine which was held from May 11-18 at Wintrust Arena and the Marriott Marquis in Chicago.

2025 NBA Draft Combine Stats:

> What is the history of the NBA Draft?

The first NBA Draft was in 1947 and it has been held every year since. Visit the NBA.com History section for a complete list of every pick from every draft.

Here’s a list of the last 10 first round picks:

2024 | No. 1 pick — Zaccharie Risacher (Atlanta Hawks)
2023 | No. 1 pick — Victor Wembanyama (San Antonio Spurs)
2022 | No. 1 pick — Paolo Banchero (Orlando Magic)
2021 | No. 1 pick — Cade Cunningham (Detroit Pistons)
2020 | No. 1 pick — Anthony Edwards (Minnesota Timberwolves)
2019 | No. 1 pick — Zion Williamson (New Orleans Pelicans)
2018 | No. 1 pick — Deandre Ayton (Phoenix Suns)
2017 | No. 1 pick — Markelle Fultz (Philadelphia 76ers)
2016 | No. 1 pick — Ben Simmons (Philadelphia 76ers)
2015 | No. 1 pick — Karl-Anthony Towns (Minnesota Timberwolves)

> How do you attend the 2025 NBA Draft?

NBA Official Experience Packages are available to purchase for the first round of the 2025 NBA Draft at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY. The four package tiers (Hall of Fame, Legend, Veteran and MVP) include a variety of experiences that gets you exclusive access you can’t get anywhere else like premium hospitality entry, an exclusive photo op on the NBA Draft Stage, and behind-the-scenes tours.

> When was the Draft Lottery?

The 2025 NBA Draft Lottery presented by State Farm was held on May 12, 2025 in Chicago. The Dallas Mavericks, with 1.8% odds, won the Draft Lottery and will select first overall.

The teams that were eligible for the Draft Lottery were the 14 teams that didn’t make the 2025 NBA Playoffs:

East: Atlanta, Brooklyn, Charlotte, Chicago, Philadelphia, Toronto and Washington
West: Dallas, New Orleans, Phoenix, Portland, Sacramento, San Antonio and Utah

The winning combination of ping-pong balls that earned Dallas the #1 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft: 10, 14, 11, 7.

Watch the full lottery drawing below. https://t.co/StyERfjFoo

— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) May 12, 2025

> What is the format for the Draft Lottery?

The NBA Board of Governors approved changes to the lottery system on Sept. 28, 2017. Under the revamped format (which began with the 2019 Draft), the NBA Draft Lottery will ensure that the team with the worst record will receive no worse than the fifth pick. Under the pre-2019 system, the team with the worst record would pick no lower than fourth.

The new system levels the odds at the top of the NBA Draft Lottery so that the teams with the three worst regular-season records will each have a 14 percent chance of winning the lottery. In the pre-2019 structure, the top seed had a 25 percent of winning the lottery, the second seed had a 19.9 percent and the third seed had a 15.6 percent.

After drawings are conducted for the first four picks of the NBA Draft, the other lottery teams will continue to pick in inverse order of their regular-season record.

For a complete rundown on how the Lottery specifically works, please read our NBA Draft Lottery explainer.