Aside from a few big surprises Wednesday — and there were indeed a few surprises (hello, Yang Hansen at No. 16?!) — the first round of the 2025 NBA Draft largely went off as expected. Twenty-seven of the top 30 prospects on the CBS Sports Big Board were selected in Round 1 overall and 29 of the 30 drafted players were ranked inside the top 33. Not every player went as high or as low as our rankings indicated, but the players’ first-round values themselves were pretty spot-on.
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That wasn’t the case for every player, though. A handful of players still yet to be drafted are sitting on the board as screaming sleepers as we head to Round 2 Thursday night in Brooklyn.
Those players are listed below and are among the best available players based on the CBS Sports rankings.
Rasheer Fleming | PF | Saint Joseph’s
Standing at 6-8 with a 7-5 wingspan, Fleming hit a career-high 39% on 3s last season as one of the team’s top scoring options and rated out very well as a defender across a number of situations. He’s physically mature and polished enough to contend for a role on a quality team. He was ranked No. 24 on the final Big Board and will be a first-round talent snatched up in Round 2 for a smart team.
Ryan Kalkbrenner | C | Creighton
How it’s possible for a 7-1 center to fly under the radar is beyond my comprehension. But that appears to be the case with Kalkbrenner. My hunch is that it’s his age (he’s 23 and spent five seasons in college) and that it’s a deep class for bigs that is keeping his profile somewhat low. But to be clear: it shouldn’t be. He was a four-time Big East Defensive Player of the Year winner at Creighton who improved each year as a scorer and became a real shooting threat late in his college tenure.
He checks the boxes of a stretch big who can hold his own defensively, even if it is only in drop coverage. I firmly believe Kalkbrenner could be a potential starter or at worst a key rotation big in the NBA, which would return huge value for where he is expected to be selected somewhere in the 30s.
Alijah Martin | SG | Florida
Martin was the second-leading scorer and fourth-leading 3-point shooter by percentage on a Florida team last season that marched to a national title behind a devastating 3-point attack and an offense predicated on playing to his strengths.
He helped lead two teams to the Final Four in his college career (FAU and Florida) and has the statistical profile of a potential first-round pick packaged into a (likely) second-rounder, having hit 36.4% on 3-pointers for his career and averaging 12.5 points per game in five seasons. He’s also a physical marvel who can fly on defense and soar above the rim. He’s someone I’d love to sneak onto my roster somewhere in the second round and his prove-it mindset makes me think he sticks in the NBA.
Maxime Raynaud | C | Stanford
Duke’s roster earned the praise it received last season — it won 35 games behind top-10 picks Cooper Flagg, Kon Knueppel and Khaman Maluach — but Raynaud was the clear second-best player in the ACC behind only Flagg and is still waiting to hear his name called. Raynaud is a non-traditional 7-footer with the skills of a jumbo guard: capable of attacking closeouts, pulling up from long range and facilitating, too. My prediction is that he’s off the board by pick No. 40.
Because he should be.
Kam Jones | PG | Marquette
Jones — like the rest of the players on this list — is an older prospect who spent multiple years playing in college. But, like the rest of the players on this list, I believe that could be why he winds up becoming a sleeper. He was a career 36.6% 3-point shooter in four seasons at Marquette and one of the most lethal catch-and-shoot weapons in college basketball two seasons ago. He may be best suited for an off-ball role in the NBA, or even as a combo guard who can provide bench offense. But at worst, I think he’s a valuable depth piece for a backcourt who can be additive with his offensive versatility.
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