2025 NBA Draft: Brooklyn Nets Come Away With Big Haul in Most Recent Mock Draft

The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie released an updated mock draft on Thursday, and it features the Brooklyn Nets selecting five versatile pieces who would instantly become important pieces for the franchise.

The Athletic has Brooklyn drafting Egor Demin at No. 7, Noah Penda at No. 18, Khaman Maluach at No. 25, Bogoljub Markovic at No. 27 and Darrion Williams at No. 37. The Nets have their own first- and second-rounders this draft, but the three subsequent first-round picks would arrive via the Milwaukee Bucks, Houston Rockets and New York Knicks, respectively.

Demin is a 6-foot-9 Russian playmaker in his freshman year at BYU. The pitch on him isn’t too far away from someone like Josh Giddey, in that he’s a big facilitator who prefers to play the point but lacks that extra bit of wiggle or pop. However, Demin is further along as a shooter than Giddey was at the same stage of his respective draft cycle when he played in Australia.

Demin arrived stateside from Real Madrid over the summer and really impressed in his first handful of college games, being propelled to top three status in many mock drafts and big boards. Since then, though, things have been less rosy for the first-year Cougars prospect. Demin has struggled against better competition, and that is really the crux of his draft stock right now.

In his first four games against Central Arkansas, UC-Riverside, Queens and Idaho, he averaged 17 points and 7.5 assists on 74.3% true shooting. But over Demin's last four against Providence, Arizona State, Houston and Texas Tech, his true shooting percentage has plummeted to 30% and he's only averaging 6.3 points and 5.5 assists a night.

Les Stocks (Steals + Blocks) sont un bon indicateur pour mesurer l'efficacité défensive globale des joueurs.

Pour comparer les joueurs de #BetclicELITE, on a projeté les stats sur 40 minutes.

🙏@LevAkabas pic.twitter.com/QbmM7RYdhW
— Ball Metrics (@metrics35959) January 8, 2025

Penda, a 20-year-old forward playing in the French league, is already one of his country’s best defenders. He is currently suiting up for Le Mans and is putting together a very impressive season that could even see him enter the lottery.

In 14 league games so far this year, Penda is averaging 10.1 points per game to go along with 5.6 rebounds and 2.8 assists. The French prospect does a bit of everything on offense, and then he does a lot on defense. Penda snatches up 1.6 steals and racks up 1.3 blocks a night.

As a scorer, Penda probably won’t create buckets for himself in the NBA. Still, he’s able to piece together loose ends on the floor, connect broken plays, and he has taken a step forward in terms of his three-pointer. The latter is probably his offensive swing skill for the league.

Maluach’s range likely starts way before the 25th pick, and this draft pick would be considered a steal for the Nets if things played out this way. The Duke freshman has all the makings to be a highly impactful two-way center, but he also remains a little raw. This especially shows up on defense, where Maluach is huge at 7-foot-1 with a 9-foot-8 standing reach but inconsistent with his pick-and-roll coverages.

That can improve, though, and the South Sudan prospect also has enough defensive upside where it’s plausible to picture him both guarding screens while backpedaling to the basket — and then also switching on the perimeter to smother ballhandlers or wings. Maluach’s footspeed and agility is remarkable, and he is also very coachable. Exclusively on defense, there are some shades of Nic Claxton in terms of how the 18-year-old can be used.

On the other end of the floor, Maluach’s season has been more modest. The Blue Devils center is "only" scoring 8.1 points per game, but that has some caveats. His usage is incredibly low at 15.9%, and he is basically being played in a role where most of what he has to do is catch the ball and then dunk it. Maluach also doesn't really pass the ball, but again, he is being utilized strictly as a play finisher and his previous tape from the Basketball Africa League showed that he is a willing ballmover.

Markovic is a 6-foot-11 forward playing in the Adriatic League for Mega, the same club that produced the likes of Nikola Jokic, Goga Bitadze or Nikola Jovic. He's an interesting 4-man who can shoot threes and push the ball in transition at times.

Markovic’s process isn’t always crisp, but it’s intriguing. Still, there isn’t much room to experiment in the NBA, where Markovic might have an iffy role as he tries to make that step-up. He could be relegated to spotting up and attacking in a straight line, but that would mean a significant role adjustment compared to what he is doing at Mega.

Defensively, Markovic has the size and maybe the speed. However, he isn’t particularly productive or tough. The Serbian prospect also doesn’t profile as someone who can fill in at the 5 right now, which limits his versatility.

20 piece and the W for Darrion Williams at Barclays. Syracuse couldn’t keep him away from his spots. I’m sure the Texas Tech prospect made a few NBA decision makers a fan over the last two nights in Brooklyn #nbadraft pic.twitter.com/2JDCvdX53i
— Wilko (@wilkomcv) November 23, 2024

Williams is a junior at Texas Tech who is playing the best basketball of his college career. At the NBA level, the 21-year-old projects as a multipositional defender who can handle the ball, make connective reads and shoot spot-up threes.

Williams might not excel at any one thing, but he is very solid and well-rounded. He also has a strong, stocky frame that will hold up well against pros. In college, Williams dislodges defenders to get to his spots, although he won’t be able to post up as much going forward.

If the Nets selected Williams, they would be getting a player similar to what the Oklahoma City Thunder acquired in Ajay Mitchell last draft. Mitchell has played a part in the Thunder’s rotation this season, and it wouldn’t be shocking to see Williams contribute in his rookie season.

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