A pair of former Wildcats played big roles for a team that pushed the NBA Finals to a Game 7 on Sunday, when the 2024-25 season officially ended. Now the future of the league takes center stage with the 2025 NBA Draft, set for Wednesday and Thursday from Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY.
All told, 59 players will be selected over two rounds. Only one ex-UA player is expected to get drafted, as all signs point to Carter Bryant being the school’s lottery pick since Bennedict Mathurin in 2022.
Bryant, who averaged only 6.5 points and 4.1 rebounds mostly off the bench for Arizona as a freshman, has impressed scouts with his athleticism during draft workouts. At 6-foot-6.5 and with a nearly 7-foot wingspan, Bryant projects as a 3 or 4 at the next level depending on how well his outside shooting game develops.
Based on an aggregate of the most notable mock drafts out there, the Portland Trail Blazers are the most likely team to pick Bryant at No. 11. The last Wildcat drafted by Portland was Rondae Hollis-Jefferson at No. 23 in 2015, two years after the Blazers took Grant Jerrett in the second round. Hollis-Jefferson never played for Portland, getting traded on draft night to the Brooklyn Nets.
Former No. 1 overall pick (and ex-Wildcat) Deandre Ayton has spent the past two seasons with the Blazers and is entering the final year of a 4-year, $132.9 million contract signed in 2022.
Other potential destinations for Bryant, based on mock drafts, including the Phoenix Suns at No. 10 and Chicago Bulls at No. 12. Ayton (2018) was the most recent Wildcat drafted by Phoenix while Dalen Terry was a 1st round pick of Chicago in 2022.
Other former UA players who could end up getting picked, but more likely will sign as undrafted free agents after Thursday’s second round, include Adama Bal, Oumar Ballo and Caleb Love. Wildcat coach Tommy Lloyd is certain that Love will play in the NBA, but no draft big board have him higher than the low 70s.
Carter Bryant 2025 NBA mock draft projections
- Bleacher Report: 11th, Portland Trail Blazers
- CBS Sports: 11th, Blazers
- ESPN: 11th, Blazers
- Fox Sports: 12th, Chicago Bulls
- NBADraft.net: 11th, Blazers
- SB Nation: 11th, Blazers
- The Athletic: 11th, Blazers
- Yahoo! Sports: 10th, Phoenix Suns