2025 NBA Draft Big Board: Duke's Cooper Flagg leads first prospect rankings, ahead of Baylor's V.J. Edgecombe

However highly you think of Duke freshman Cooper Flagg as a prospect and player – I advise you to just recalibrate in your head that you're probably two or three notches too low. Flagg, the No. 1 player in the 247Sports Class of 2024 recruiting rankings and the No. 1-ranked prospect in our initial 2025 NBA Draft prospect rankings below, has an air about him on the floor that is effortless, and even at times bordering on the appearance of boredom. He not only dominates on both ends of the floor, but does so with a combination of ease and, dare I say, arrogance, the type of output that can suck the life out of opposing teams.

He's in a tier unto himself in the debut of our prospect rankings as a result of what he's produced on the floor and how he has carried himself to this point, as a 17-year-old freshman at Duke, where he enters the 2024-25 season as one of the college basketball talents with the most buzz in years. 

On offense, he can do everything a combo guard can do while standing at 6-foot-9. But it's on defense, especially, where his feel for the game, length and sheer assertion of will really changes the game.

There are no glaring holes in Flagg's game but his shot-blocking, timing and ability to roam the back end of the defense as a true anchor feels a bit like if he Monstarred the talents of both Anthony Davis and Zion Williamson. He takes pride in routinely appearing out of nowhere to throw shot attempts as high into the bleachers as he possibly can. 

You get the picture here: It's Flagg vs. the field for No. 1 in 2025, quite unlike the 2024 class that had no real consensus, and quite like the 2023 class, that had Victor Wembanyama as the clear No. 1.

That's not to say there isn't plenty of appeal elsewhere at the top of this class, though. 

The rest of our top 10 is comprised almost entirely of guards and wings of varying flavors that may – and likely will – rise or fall in the coming weeks and months. Baylor freshman V.J. Edgecombe, the No. 2 prospect on the Big Board: the twitchiest athlete in the class. No. 3 prospect Dylan Harper: smooth playmaker who may lead the charge of upstart Rutgers. Then there's a handful of non-college players – No. 5 prospect Nolan Traore and No. 7 prospect Dink Pate – who bring playmaking, and some acrobatics, to an already-fun guard class. 

Our rankings will expand soon ahead of the season and grow again as the season progresses. But for now, the top 10 prospects are below as follows. You can see my first stab at a mock draft from this summer here.

Top 10 NBA Draft prospects