The Las Vegas Summer League has a way of making everybody forget the actual draft board. Give folks four or five games in a gym with no defense and suddenly the guy picked 14th is the second coming.
That’s the temperature right now in NBA fan circles, where the 2025 draft class — barely a month removed from hearing their names called — is already getting re-sorted by people who’ve watched a handful of exhibition possessions.
The loudest argument gaining traction: that the clear number-one pick in a redo would be “Cam,” with Caleb Wilson sliding into the two-slot. The original draft’s top selection, Cooper Flagg, went to Dallas at No. 1, followed by Dylan Harper to San Antonio and VJ Edgecombe to Philadelphia. But summer league has a way of reshuffling the deck before the cards are even dry.
The same fan discussion flags a notable faller: a prospect referred to as “DP,” whose ball-handling and playmaking were described as “glaring” weaknesses in the Vegas setting — enough to knock him out of the top five entirely. In his place, a player identified as “Wagler” is being pushed into the top four, a jump that would’ve raised eyebrows on draft night.
Mikel Brown Jr., who drew praise for his summer league showing, is being cited as another riser. The point guard’s play apparently warranted mention alongside the draft’s upper crust.
Not every breakout got a glowing review. Yaxel Lendeborg, the UAB forward who was one of the older prospects in the class — older than Paolo Banchero, who’s already logged three NBA seasons — was called underwhelming relative to expectations. The critique: good, but not good enough for a lottery slot