12 Basketball Writers Share Their Most Underrated 2025 Draft Pick

With the recent draft now over, these 12 writers share who will be the "steal" of the draft

There are the big-name rookies in the league, and there are the underrated. In this article, Jack Zucker, Jacob Sutton, Steve Lichtenstein, Jeremias Engelmann, Jarrett L. Spence, Smayan Srikanth, Neil Paine, Rowan Kent, Parker Fleming, John Canzano, Aaron Bollwinkel, and Spencer Christenson, share who they think will be known as the “steal” or the most underrated player of the 2025 NBA Draft.

Jack Zucker - Jack’s Thoughts

The most underrated player in this draft class is an easy pick for me. Kam Jones, out of Marquette, was selected 38th overall by the Indiana Pacers, who traded up with the San Antonio Spurs to select him. Someone who I watched a bit on television primarily during his senior season, Jones would always be the one stealing the show. Averaging 19.2 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, and 1.4 steals per game his senior year, this is a player who can do it all. A projected first-round pick just weeks ago, Jones slid down draft boards, ultimately getting drafted at pick No. 38.

Trust me here — if he gets a big opportunity with this NBA Finals runner-up, Indiana Pacers, he’ll shine. Especially because Tyrese Haliburton is likely out for all of the upcoming season, this was the perfect team to take a chance on him.

At the end of the 2025–2026 season, come back to this article and remember what I’m predicting now: Kam Jones will show you why he should have been a first-round pick.

Steve Lichtenstein - Steve’s Newsletter

I wasn't impressed with the Nets haul from their NBA record-setting five first-round picks on Wednesday. However, if you're looking for a most underrated candidate for the night, keep an eye on No. 22 overall selection Drake Powell. Brooklyn was only able to make that pick because General Manager Sean Marks shrewdly got involved in the Kristaps Porzingis trade and weaponized the team's cap space to add another first rounder. Whereas I have criticized Marks for his other selections of players with poor shooting records and/or athleticism concerns, Powell will come to Brooklyn at 19 with overlooked credentials given his Draft slot. In his sole season at North Carolina, he shot nearly 38% from behind the three-point line and then he bested all comers with a 43-inch vertical leap at the NBA Draft Combine.

Ignore the “red flags” you hear about Powell’s “low usage” and, hence, his limited production at UNC. He is a competitor, especially on the defensive end, where experts concurred that he held his own when matched up against No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg during the Duke games despite giving up a couple of inches. Powell’s physicality guarding the perimeter will make him an instant favorite with Nets Head Coach Jordi Fernandez, which means consistent playing time even as a rookie. Then the team’s development staff will take over and expand his game beyond catch-and-shoot 3s. Remember: He was named to the High School McDonald’s All-American Team because he had a multi-dimensional offensive bag that included efficient mid-range pull-ups—maybe he was simply coached to be a ball-mover/cutter as a college freshman.

So while my takeaway from Brooklyn’s Draft night was that it didn’t generally move the needle in the right direction, the Powell pick has the potential to reap rewards well beyond what is expected from his slot.

Neil Paine - Neil’s Substack

Kasparas Jakučionis was a fascinating pick for the Heat at No. 20, because he carries so much uncertainty -- upside and downside alike. But I like the pick because you don't often get a chance to land a player with that potential so deep into the draft. For instance, 9 of the 12 pre-draft rankings surveyed here by the great Owen Phillips (thef5.substack.com/p/stats-vs-scouts) considered Jakučionis a lottery-grade pick, and he ought to have as good a situation to develop into that level of player in Miami as anywhere.

Of course, there are risks. His most comparable college players (barttorvik.com/playerstat.php?trid=127575&sIndex=99&minht=77&ye) have been all over the map, but there are more busts than solid players (and no stars) at the top of that list. His per-40 minute numbers paint the picture of a classic tweener who doesn't check all the boxes (neilpaine.substack.com/p/what-to-look-for-in-an-nba-draft) for either an elite PG or SG in the NBA. But at age 19, he's still got plenty of room to improve -- and again, he'll get every chance to do with the Heat.

Rowan Kent - No Ceilings

For me, the most underrated selection of the 2025 NBA draft was a late one in VCU's Max Shulga. Shulga was a star at the college level, playing scrappy and energetic defense while also pacing the Rams in three-point shooting this season. He’s a well-rounded guard who can stay on the floor with his defense and spacing, without needing to develop for a few years before he can step on an NBA court. His lack of overall upside may have limited his ceiling, but Shulga was one of the top 60 players in this class for me.

Getting drafted by the Celtics also opens up Shulga to potentially having a bigger role and a great mentor in the league to follow. Boston is in flux for a year after losing Jayson Tatum to injury and blowing up their title-winning core, which should open up minutes for young players at all positions. Shulga will potentially have the opportunity to play early minutes and learn from Derrick White, who profiles as a player with a high ceiling for Shulga to pursue. Thus, Shulga is my most underrated pick of the entire draft.

Parker Fleming - Subtsakalidis

Going with a pick outside the top 20, Jase Richardson was the most underrated selection in the 2025 draft class. Richardson was the most fit-dependent player in the draft class, due to his size and questions about his ability to be a point guard. Having him 11th on my final board, I’ve always been bullish on him, because he’s a remarkably efficient shooter and finisher with underrated playmaking and ball-handling chops. He can defend pretty well, too. He’s always in motion off the ball, which should help him find open looks.

Richardson and the Magic were my favorite possible draft prospect/team pairing this year. He can be their de facto 1 while primarily playing off ball next to big playmakers like Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner, as well as traditional two-guards that are plus playmakers in Desmond Bane and Jalen Suggs. He can space the floor for them too, which has been a sore spot for Orlando for a while. If we look up and see Richardson become the Jared McCain of this draft class, it wouldn’t shock me at all. He’s such a good basketball player.

John Canzano - Bald Faced Truth By John Canzano

Cedric Coward... Memphis Grizzlies, who traded up to get him at No. 11. Portland his going to wish it kept him. We're talking about a kid who started his college career at Division III Willamette University in Oregon, then jumped up to Eastern Washington in the Big Sky, then finished in college at Washington State. His trajectory is undeniable.

The trend is your friend, as they say. Coward is 6-foot-6 but has a wingspan of 7-foot-2. I like his versatility and tenacity. But I'll tell you what I love most about him -- his basketball instincts. He's going to be the steal of the 2025 draft.

Jeremias Engelman - Jerry’s Newsletter

I'm a little torn here between (1) Ben Saraf, who I had in my top-10, but who now finds himself in somewhat of a logjam with 2 other European guards in Brooklyn, Egor Demin and Nolan Traore. He's probably the best of the three when it comes to finishing through contact, and ability to finish at the basket thanks to elite decelaration.

(2) Rasheer Fleming, taken first in the second round, who sported very good stock numbers while also converting on 39% of his threes. I also felt he had some of the best rebounding instincts in the class. Teams probably shied away because he played 3 years in college, but I can definitely see him succeeding in a simple 3&D type role.

(3) Tyrese Proctor, taken in the latter half of the second round. He might not have the highest ceiling. But, to me at least, he seemed like one of the most NBA-ready guards thanks, again, to his ability to hit 3s (40%), while playing solid defense.

Jacob Sutton - JSuttHoops

In the spirit of being fair about the whole situation, I don't want to call anyone in the top 10 a steal, though if I did, I would have Collin Murray-Boyles atop the underrated list. Instead, I'll point to the Heat's repeated capability to draft players that should likely not be available to them; I'm going with Kasparas Jakucionis. Jakucionis fits the modern lead guard mold perfectly. Not only is he 6'5", but he also has a 6'8" wingspan, is incredible at navigating the pick-and-roll, and was one of the better isolation scorers at his position, too. With his above-average size at the 1, he's able to survey the defense properly and dip into his very deep bag of passes to get his teammates open looks, which should translate to the next level. Many will point to his high turnover percentage as problematic, but it's also worth noting that he was a freshman who was bound to make some rookie mistakes, and he's not unprecedented, either.

Case in point, here are some other freshman guards who had a greater-than-20% assist percentage and an assist-to-turnover percentage under 1.5 (meaning that they didn't take care of the ball all that well): 1. James Harden 2. R.J. Barrett 3. Cade Cunningham 4. Dejounte Murray 5. Damian Lillard Now, it's worth noting that there are some bad eggs in that same category (Jalen Hood-Schifino, Jaden Springer, Denzel Valentine, etc.), but the part that's important is dishing out both assists and turnovers is a far cry from a death knell.

Despite being mocked in the top 10 by many scouts, Jakucionis ended up sliding all the way to #20, right into the Heat's hands. Now, instead of being slotted into a team that has no discipline and/or no immediate future (Nets and Wizards, among others), he'll be immediately placed into a situation where he has a secondary shot creator. (Tyler Herro), an All-Star roll man (Bam Adebayo), and a group of guys who can make his life easier on both offense and defense. The turnovers will likely be reined in by Miami's notoriously hard-nosed development pipeline, and that may end up being for the best in the long term.

There will inevitably be questions about his ability to create space at the next level along with his jumper consistency, but with the situation he'll be placed into and original draft slot projection, it's hard not to call him one of the (if not the) most underrated players in the entire draft.

Jarrett L. Spence - The Stop and Pop

Tyrese Proctor was drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers with the 49th overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft. The starting five on the 2025 Duke basketball team was all drafted. I believe he can be the steal of the draft. He served as a model of consistency during his three collegiate seasons. His scoring average went up every season, from 9.4 as a freshman to 10.5 as a sophomore then finishing his junior year averaging a little over 12 points.

Proctor shot 40.5% from 3-point range, finishing his college career at 36.5%. Shooters can make a long career for themselves in the league with the spacing they provide. The Cavs are a heavy drive-and-kick offense with Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell. Proctor can fit right into the offense and carve out a role as a spot-up shooter. He was also known as a good on-ball defender. With Ty Jerome potentially leaving Cleveland in free agency, Proctor can come in and provide some scoring off the bench and can cause havoc on defense with the newly acquired, Lonzo Ball.

Aaron Bollwinkel - Live. Breathe. Ball.

While the number 17 pick is not necessarily “steal "territory, I am higher on Joan Beringer than I think most. We can start with the fact that I am a big fan of basketball players who have a diversified background in terms of youth sports, as I believe the mental and physical development that happens to young players whose minds and bodies have adjusted to various forms of athletic expression almost always pays off positively.

And with Beringer, who played soccer until he was 14—when he literally outgrew the sport (stop me if you’ve heard this before)—there is a fluidity and graceful balance that we just don’t see from players nearly seven feet tall who are this young. Beringer is long, catches everything, and should come in to the league as a plus-level shot-blocker. He has shown a willingness to put a body on people as a screener in a way we don’t often see at his age in the modern NBA. That combination of ready-made skills is exciting enough, but the fact that he gets to hone those abilities and build out his skill tree while playing alongside Rudy Gobert—a player who has cultivated a Hall of Fame résumé doing those exact things at the highest level—is just a perfect pairing.

Particularly when you take into account that for young international players, the culture shock is often the hardest adjustment, and having his fellow countryman there to help ingratiate him to both the league and Minneapolis is just a wonderful foundation from which I think a future impact player will be able to begin building his career.

Smayan Srikanth - Sports Square

The most underrated player in this year’s NBA Draft has to be Jase Richardson. Richardson finished first in true shooting (62.4%) in the Big Ten among all first-year collegiate players and was also one of just two freshmen in the entire country to finish with a Box Plus-Minus of 10 or higher. The other was Cooper Flagg, the first overall pick.

Coming back to true shooting, this Jase guy ranked #8 when looking at the top 10 Big Ten players, way above where he’s supposed to be. He’s the only freshman on the list. As a starter, Richardson averaged 16.1 PPG on 61.8% TS. He was in the 92nd percentile in assist-to-turnover ratio.

With the stats Richardson put up, he’s in some awesome company. We’re talking guards like James Harden, Trae Young, D’Angelo Russell, Marcus Smart, Lonzo Ball, and Reed Sheppard, the only guys who have played at least 15 games and had a Box Plus-Minus of 10 or higher.

Now he’s with the Orlando Magic, and he’s going to do some awesome things with this team.

Spencer Christenson - Draftstack

Maxime Raynaud - 42nd pick

Paris, France

7-feet 0.25 inches / 236.8 lbs

Sacramento Kings

Stanford University

3-year / $5.95 million contract

Wingspan: 7 feet 1.25 inches

Standing Reach: 9 feet 2 inches

No-Step Vertical Jump: 28.0 inches

Maximum Vertical Jump: 31.5 inches

ACC runner-up for player of the year

20 points per game, 10.5 rebounds per game, 1.4 blocks per game, 34.7% from three

NBA Scouting Combine 5-on-5

youtu.be/EZQO7l6AASU

Stanford vs North Carolina (25 points, 13 rebounds, 4 blocks

youtu.be/gComDJsIzw8

Key highlights:

Traded Jonas Valanciunas to the Denver Nuggets

20 point and nine rebound performance during 5-on-5 at the NBA combine.

Legitimate 3-point threat.

Shooting spits — (47/35/77) on 16.1 field-goal attempts, 5.5 3-point attempts and 4.2 free throws per game.

When asked to submit my most underrated 2025 NBA draft pick, I wanted it to be a 2nd round pick. I don’t necessarily want to deem it a value pick because all 2nd round picks could hold that. But the difference in when Raynaud was expected to be drafted and him eventually falling to the Sacramento Kings at pick 42 seems noticeable to mention.

I think a big tell on how the Kings view him is that they end up trading Jonas Valanciunas, opening up a chance at an early role.

His value will be his offensive ability and is ability to stretch the floor from 3-point range. His red flag is his defensive ability and foot speed.

In short conclusion, for the Kings to draft a 7-footer at 42 with floor-stretching and that has produced in the ACC as a scorer and rebounder make for great value, making this an underrated pick.

That’s it! Huge thanks to the 11 other writers that collaborated with me on this one.

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