Future Mock Draft: Selecting the best NBA rosters in 2025

The NBA is ready to start its season … in May 2025 — so far down the line that the league is rebranding and having three writers from The Athletic draft a trio of pseudo-All-Star teams to compete against one another.

Here’s the premise: Our Pistons reporter James Edwards, Mavericks reporter Tim Cato and Wizards reporter Fred Katz have combined to draft three NBA rosters to compete in an unprecedented battle royale that will take place in exactly five years. They’re taking into account age, injuries, potential, ability and whatever else comes into play when projecting half a decade into the future.

The draft will snake 10 rounds of players with a round for coaches tacked onto the end. And keep in mind: The three are drafting the best teams, not necessarily the best players. There are some surefire top-30 players who will go undrafted because they don’t fit into these specific rosters. There are some lower-level names who might be better as role players, even on teams filled with 2025 All-Stars.

The Athletic’s draft guru John Hollinger will grade the picks later this week.

Let’s get started … With the first pick, Katz selects:

No. 1: Luka Dončić (Katz)

2019-20 stats: 28.7 PPG, 9.6 RPG, 8.7 APG, 46-32-75 shooting, 53.1 eFG%

26 years old in 2025

Katz: He’s 21 and he’s already forcing his way onto MVP ballots. Remember, what we see now is the unrefined version of Dončić. He just led what was by far the NBA’s best offense. Just think what he’ll look like once he’s advanced.

Cato: All true. Once he started beating people off the dribble with ease this season, I would say his chances of eventually being the best player in the league rose from possible to near-inevitable. I mean, Dončić drove to the rim almost as much as Russell Westbrook this year! I could never have predicted that in only his second season.

Edwards: If I had the No. 1 pick, it was between Luka (for all the reasons you guys said) and …

Dallas Mavericks forward Luka Doncic is our first overall pick. (Kyle Terada / USA Today)

No. 2: Giannis Antetokounmpo (Edwards)

2019-20 stats: 29.6 PPG, 13.7 RPG, 5.8 APG, 55-31-63 shooting, 58.3 eFG%

30 years old in 2025

Edwards: Michael Jordan was 28 when he won his first title. LeBron James was 27. I’m banking on Giannis being the best version of himself at 30, having completed the transformation of the player we think he’ll develop into. On this team, he’ll be my primary ballhandler (what a surprise!). I want length, multiple ballhandlers and playmakers, which I think will be the new 3-and-D by 2025, in my squad. Who better than Giannis?

Katz: Who better than Giannis? Luka.

Edwards: You’re lucky Giannis doesn’t have a subscription, Fred.

Cato: This was my top two, but I’m actually with James on this one despite the beat I cover: I’m still taking Giannis first overall, even in 2025.

No. 3: Zion Williamson (Cato)

2019-20 stats: 23.6 PPG, 6.8 RPG, 2.2 APG, 59-46-65 shooting, 59.9 eFG%

24 years old in 2025

No. 4: Devin Booker (Cato)

2019-20 stats: 26.1 PPG, 4.2 RPG, 6.6 APG, 49-36-92 shooting, 54.3 eFG%

28 years old in 2025

Cato: Williamson, I think, is a pick that needs no defending, so I’ll focus on Booker. I love him. I’m aware I’m probably higher on him than most. But if he’s 23 today with elite scoring at well above average efficiency (62 percent True Shooting!), and if he has averaged nearly seven assists the past two seasons, and if he’s still shackled by the general meh-ness of the Phoenix Suns, imagine him at 28 on my roster. We’ll put a proper point guard next to him later on, but I would happily take him as my lead scorer.

Edwards: I, like you Tim, am a big Booker fan. I hope that front office puts a capable team around him sooner rather than later. I hate when young stars leave with good reason. Last year or two years ago, I asked Pistons guard Bruce Brown to reveal his toughest covers in the NBA and give a blurb about each one. I wasn’t allowed to rank the covers because of superstitious PR, but Booker was near the top, if not at the top, of the list, if I recall.

Cato: I love it.

No. 5: Jayson Tatum (Edwards)

2019-20 stats: 23.6 PPG, 7.1 RPG, 2.9 APG, 45-40-81 shooting, 52.3 eFG%

27 years old in 2025

Edwards: Even if Tatum doesn’t get a lick better than he was this season — averaged 23.6 points and 7.1 rebounds with a slight-above-average 56.2 true-shooting percentage — I’ll have one of, if not the best, sidekick in the NBA. Hell, he could be the best player in the NBA by 2025. That wouldn’t surprise me. Regardless, pairing him with Giannis gives me the size and length on the perimeter I’m searching for, another ballhandler and, potentially, an elite shot-maker.

Katz: Darn, you took my guy …

No. 6: Ja Morant (Katz)

2019-20 stats: 17.6 PPG, 3.5 RPG, 6.9 APG, 49-37-77 shooting, 52.3 eFG%

25 years old in 2025

No. 7: Bam Adebayo (Katz)

2019-20 stats: 16.2 PPG, 10.5 RPG, 5.1 APG, 57-8-69 shooting, 56.8 eFG%

27 years old in 2025

Katz: Morant could be the best point guard in the league by this point. And even though he and Dončić both are best with the ball, I trust they’ll figure out ways to play without it. After all, playmaking is the new trend in the NBA. We started talking years ago about stretch 4s as a requirement for competent offenses. Now, we have stretch 5s. The incoming evolution is abundant playmakers. Morant is that. And guess what? So is Adebayo, who is already one of the top distributing big men in the league and can defend on the other end. Yes, centers are not exactly trendy these days, but Adebayo is wildly skilled and is potentially four or five years away from his peak.

No. 8: Emoni Bates (Edwards)

HS class of 2022 | Small forward | No. 1 recruit in ESPN25

21 years old in 2025

Edwards: Let’s get weird. I lived in Ypsilanti, Mich., for a good portion of my childhood, so Bates, who is currently 16 and the first-ever high school sophomore to be crowned the National Gatorade Player of the Year, has real estate in my heart. The age, the skill, the length, it feels like Bates would be celebrated like the other elite high school-to-NBA talents before him if the jump were allowed. He’s received a lot of pub, but it hasn’t been as loud as his predecessors. Bates will be 21 in 2025, and because of his slender frame, the Kevin Durant comps have already started pouring in. At 21, Durant averaged 30.1 points per game. If Bates can even give me 75 percent of that scoring production, sign me up. He’d likely come off the bench, but I’ll be able to give you a better idea of his place in the pecking order in five years. Check back then.

Cato: Did you just cop to drafting a bench player with your third overall pick? Interesting, James, interesting.

Edwards: Whoa, whoa, whoa … at a minimum, he’ll be a productive bench player. At most, he’ll be on his way to being the best player in the NBA. Two birds, one stone.

Cato: I’m just saying you seem unconvinced! Surely that won’t be a theme of your draft picks … but now I’m just being mean, heh.

Katz: If only James knew there was no way we were taking a high schooler this early.

No. 9: Cade Cunningham (Cato)

HS class of 2020 | Point guard | No. 2 recruit in ESPN100

23 years old in 2025

No. 10: Jaren Jackson Jr. (Cato)

2019-20 stats: 16.9 PPG, 4.7 RPG, 1.4 APG, 47-40-74 shooting, 56.4 eFG%

25 years old in 2025

Cato: Both Williamson and Booker need complementary players to unlock them at their best: a stretchier big man with more size and a proper point guard who can play defense, respectively. Jackson was far and away my favorite player to fulfill the first role. I think Morant took attention away from how much improvement Jackson made in his sophomore year. And a 23-year-old Cunningham, projected as a Top-2 pick in the 2021 draft, is the league’s next cheat code: a tall, 6-7 true point guard with more defensive potential than Dončić.

Katz: Remember when I said there was no way we’d take a high schooler this early? Can we delete that, please?

Cato: You’re a coward for not drafting one yet, honestly. Embrace the teens!

No. 11: Kristaps Porziņģis (Edwards)

2019-20 stats: 19.2 PPG, 9.5 RPG, 1.7 APG, 42-35-78 shooting, 49.8 eFG%

29 years old in 2025

Edwards: Damn you, Tim. JJJ was the ideal center for the team I wanted to build, and now I’m flustered and made a panic pick. Do I like Porziņģis as a player? I do. Who doesn’t like floor spacing and rim protection? Do I like that he can’t post up and could be missing a limb five years from now? Nope. I don’t. However, I’m banking on him being relatively healthy and, at 29, being an elite floor-spacer and rim-protector. Giannis needs spacing. Porziņģis, ideally, is a great fit.

Cato: I mean, 37-year-old Brook Lopez was still available!

Katz: James, I must know: Why Porziņģis over Anthony Davis? Yes, Davis will be 32 and has the injury history, but Porziņģis has not exactly had a hospital-free first five years in the league.

Cato: We were both so confused this pick wasn’t Davis on our conference call about this, hah.

Edwards: I told you guys I was flustered with Triple J off the board!

Katz: Should’ve taken another high schooler.

No. 12: Jaylen Brown (Katz)

2019-20 stats: 20.4 PPG, 6.4 RPG, 2.2 APG, 49-38-74 shooting, 55.9 eFG%

28 years old in 2025

No. 13: Pascal Siakam (Katz)

2019-20 stats: 23.6 PPG, 7.5 RPG, 3.6 APG, 46-36-80 shooting, 51.7 eFG%

31 years old in 2025

Katz: I need defense on the wing badly, so I’m scooping up the best defenders I can reasonably nab in this spot. We know Brown is perfectly secure as a second fiddle, since we’re seeing him do it right now in Boston, where he’s become an efficient scorer and willing off-ball option. Siakam, meanwhile, will be 31, but I’m assuming his upwards trajectory is not done yet, considering the guy gets significantly better every year. At this rate, he’ll be an 87 percent 3-point shooter by 2025. And yes, I could have taken Anthony Davis here (especially after wondering why James didn’t choose him), but I wasn’t in love with the fit between him and Adebayo since both operate better inside the 3-point line.

Edwards: You’re such a hypocrite.

No. 14: Anthony Davis (Edwards)

2019-20 stats: 26.7 PPG, 9.4 RPG, 3.1 APG, 51-34-85 shooting, 54.4 eFG%

32 years old in 2025

Edwards: Who is going to score on a Davis-Porziņģis-Greek Freak-Tatum lineup? I’ll wait … Davis will only be 32 in 2025, so I’m assuming he’ll still be one of the best bigs in the NBA. I’m worried about Davis and Porziņģis both being on my team from a health perspective, but I’ll get some insurance at some point.

Cato: Fred, I think we guilted him into this.

Katz: My mother’s parenting style taught me well.

Edwards: You guys did, but it works?

Cato: I think you could run into some 3s that are tough covers for both Davis and Antetokounmpo, but the help defense and shot-blocking is mesmerizing, certainly.

Katz: I’m mostly just curious about the spacing. Then again, that’s so much arm … I’m sure you guys have seen the famous Bucks photo of Giannis, Thon Maker and John Henson with their arms stretched out to seemingly take up the whole court. I’m having visions of a potentially more successful reboot with Giannis, Porziņģis and Davis.

No. 15: Paul George (Cato)

2019-20 stats: 21.0 PPG, 5.7 RPG, 3.9 APG, 43-40-88 shooting, 53.0 eFG%

35 years old in 2025

No. 16: Ben Simmons (Cato)

2019-20 stats: 16.7 PPG, 7.8 RPG, 8.2 APG, 59-33-63 shooting, 58.7 eFG%

28 years old in 2025

Cato: I am slightly wary about George’s shoulders and how far he will descend from his defensive peak, but I believe his game will age well even at age 35. (His May birthday makes him a young 35.) I need an elite 3-and-D wing to plug into my lineup and George, I think, will have evolved into that. And after three straight picks focused on fit, I can’t pass on Simmons’ talent. He will have evolved into his true role as a playmaking screen setter who’s nightmarish defensively, I hope. And that gives me versatility.

Edwards: I wanted George, but thought I could get him in a later round. Good pick. Question: How many 3s will Simmons have attempted in his career by 2025? I’m going to say 60.

Katz: Are we really delineating months?

Cato: I mistakenly had him listed as 34 on my big board and … I don’t know, somehow 34 sounds way better than 35. Sorry for daring to add some more factual evidence to this exercise!

No. 17: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Edwards)

2019-20 stats: 19.3 PPG, 6.1 RPG, 3.3 APG, 47-35-80 shooting, 51.4 eFG%

26 years old in 2025

Edwards: SGA gives me more length, more ballhandling and another solid 3-point shooter. Right now, in my mind, he’ll start over Bates. I have no idea where Bates will be in his development five years from now. I’m fairly confident SGA will be one of the better guards in the NBA by the time my team smashes Tim’s and Fred’s.

Katz: Somebody’s gotta show some stones and draft 40-year-old LeBron.

No. 18: Trae Young (Katz)

2019-20 stats: 29.6 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 9.3 APG, 44-36-86 shooting, 51.9 eFG%

26 years old in 2025

No. 19: Klay Thompson (Katz)

2018-19 stats (injured in 2019-20): 21.5 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 2.4 APG, 47-40-82 shooting, 55.3 eFG%

35 years old in 2025

Katz: I’m not the biggest Trae Young supporter in real life because of how a roster needs to perfectly piece around him to tailor to his weaknesses, but I’ll happily use him to run my bench unit and go off against opposing reserves. Yes, I’ll need to do some extra catering to make sure I can still get stops while he’s on the floor, but I’m also loading up with creators. My Thompson pick came down to him and Bradley Beal, who is four years his junior but doesn’t quite slide into the role I envision here as well as his counterpart. If I were looking for more pick-and-rolls and shot creation, I’d snag Beal. But I have that. I want someone who can run off screens, drain as many 3s as possible and defend wings. Beal could fill that role well, but I think Thompson’s skill set fits it better.

Cato: Thompson will still be much more than a 3-point specialist at age 35, I agree.

No. 20: Donovan Mitchell (Edwards)

2019-20 stats: 24.2 PPG, 4.4 RPG, 4.2 APG, 45-36-86 shooting, 51.7 eFG%

28 years old in 2025

Edwards: This is the first pick that I’ve made that I don’t love, but I’m fine with it. I don’t think Mitchell can be the best player on a title-contending team. I do, though, think he’d be an elite sixth man on this squad. We’re building actual teams, right? Mitchell will be just fine as my overqualified bench scorer.

Cato: I was fairly certain Mitchell would go undrafted, actually.

Edwards: *middle finger emoji*

Cato: There’s a good chance he’s still a top-30 player! I just think we all drafted better lead guards and Mitchell might not fit into a secondary or tertiary role as well as others. Which is actually exactly why I’m taking …

No. 21: Buddy Hield (Cato)

2019-20 stats: 19.8 PPG, 4.8 RPG, 3.1 APG, 43-40-86 shooting, 54.4 eFG%

32 years old in 2025

No. 22: Matisse Thybulle (Cato)

2019-20 stats: 4.7 PPG, 1.5 RPG, 1.2 APG, 41-35-61 shooting, 51.7 eFG%

28 years old in 2025

Cato: Hield fills my need for a pure shooter who can sprint around off the ball the entire game. By 2025, how many 3s will someone like him be averaging per game — 23? And, sure, Thybulle might turn out to be the draft’s most controversial pick, but are you really going to think that when he’s a top-10 defender shooting better than 40 percent on 3s in five years? I don’t need another player with unlimited upside and that’s a reasonable leap to think Thybulle could make.

Katz: This very well could be because I watch way too much Wizards basketball (a good test for this, by the way, is if Anthony Davis autocorrects in your phone to Anthony Dāvis), but I would never have guessed that 35-year-old Klay Thompson, 32-year-old Buddy Hield, 28-year-old Donovan Mitchell and Matisse Thybulle of any age would all go before 31-year-old Bradley Beal.

Cato: Hmm, that’s a fair point. I would call him a victim of the team vs. talent issue, where Beal is clearly better but Hield has a better chance to fit the Ray Allen or rich man’s Kyle Korver role than him. But you might debate that.

Edwards: Why do I get clowned for taking Mitchell, but Hield is fine!?

No. 23: Tyler Herro (Edwards)

2019-20 stats: 12.9 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 1.9 APG, 41-39-84 shooting, 50.7 eFG%

25 years old in 2025

Edwards: I’ve got a lot of players who need the ball in their hands to be most effective, so I wanted to get someone who could be a little more low maintenance. Herro can run around off screens and hit spot-up jumpers at an excellent clip. On this team, he could be effective on almost any lineup that I throw out there.

Katz: Take 40-year-old LeBron, you cowards!

Cato: Says the guy with the next two picks!

No. 24: Michael Porter Jr. (Katz)

2019-20 stats: 7.5 PPG, 4.1 RPG, 0.7 APG, 50-42-77 shooting, 57.0 eFG%

26 years old in 2025

No. 25: Kawhi Leonard (Katz)

2019-20 stats: 26.9 PPG, 7.3 RPG, 5.0 APG, 47-37-89 shooting, 52.1 eFG%

33 years old in 2025

Katz: I’m comfortable enough at this point to take some risks, so I’m going big. Porter Jr. could be a multiple-time, do-everything All-Star by 2025. Or injuries could drive him into irrelevance. Leonard is already a two-time NBA Finals MVP, a historic defender and surefire Hall of Famer. But how much load management will he need in five years? Will the knee injuries keep him from staying elite into his 30s? Just like with Thompson, I’m banking on modern medicine — actually, scratch that. I’m banking on future medicine.

Edwards: MPJ at No. 24 could be the steal of the draft, or someone whose contract you end up stretching when the 2025 season is over.

No. 26: Deandre Ayton (Edwards)

2019-20 stats: 19.0 PPG, 12.0 RPG, 1.9 APG, 55-0-77 shooting, 54.8 eFG%

26 years old in 2025

Edwards: Not much to say here. I don’t love this pick. I needed a backup big man. Ayton will only be 26 in 2025. Rolling the dice with the pool dwindling and me not doing as much prep on current 17-year-olds as I should have.

Cato: Is there any pick you made you do love!?

Edwards: My starting lineup will get out to such big leads that my bench could be Dylan, Dylan, Dylan, Dylan and Dylan … and we’d still win.

Cato: I appreciate this reference and also how my team will trounce your bench. :)

No. 27: Jonathan Isaac (Cato)

2019-20 stats: 12.0 PPG, 6.9 RPG, 1.4 APG, 46-33-77 shooting, 50.9 eFG%

27 years old in 2025

No. 28: Damian Lillard (Cato)

2019-20 stats: 28.9 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 7.8 APG, 46-39-89 shooting, 55.4 eFG%

34 years old in 2025

Cato: Looking at my roster, I’m missing two more things: another big and a true, tempo-setting point guard. I considered someone truly big, like Jarrett Allen or James Wiseman, but the whole league’s going small anyway. Isaac is still 6-11, even if his shoulders aren’t as broad as those two, and he sometimes played small forward in Orlando. And then, to solve my other issue, is there any question that 34-year-old Lillard won’t still be mean-muggin’ defenders after draining 35-foot stepbacks? That’s what I thought. (My only real concern is whether Lillard and George on the same team would cause chemistry issues.)

Katz: Jonathan Isaac? I think you made a typo and meant to write “40-year-old LeBron.”

Cato: You know, Fred, it’s almost like you could draft him.

Edwards: Fred clearly wants to cover the Lakers.

No. 29: Kevin Durant (Edwards)

2018-19 stats (injured in 2019-20): 26.0 PPG, 6.4 RPG, 5.9 APG, 52-35-89 shooting, 57.1 eFG%

36 years old in 2025

Edwards: I’m trying to picture what Durant will look like as a player at 36, and, in my mind, I see a ridiculously-accurate spot-up shooter. I probably should have picked someone with upside here, but I want to beat you guys, and I think KD could still be effective, as long as I play him with Davis and/or Porziņģis for defensive help.

Cato: One of the most challenging projections in this exercise, I think, given his injury. But he absolutely needed to be drafted.

Katz: Glad he came off the board. He is without a doubt the most interesting player to evaluate. If he recovers well from the injury, he could still be fantastic at 35, because he’s Kevin freakin’ Durant. If he doesn’t, who knows? He could’ve gone anywhere from 10th to undrafted, and I would have understood the pick.

No. 30: Mitchell Robinson (Katz)

2019-20 stats: 9.7 PPG, 7.0 RPG, 0.6 APG, 74-0-57 shooting, 74.2 eFG%

27 years old in 2025

Katz: No, I’m not taking 40-year-old LeBron. I needed a center too badly — and though 40-year-old LeBron might be a 5 for all we know, he’s not the kind my team needs. Yes, Nikola Jokić and Karl-Anthony Towns are both on the boards and still will be in their primes, but I need someone to protect the rim for 14-to-18 minutes a night while Adebayo is off the floor. Robinson has a chance to be a transcendent shot blocker and alterer. And they might have the technology by then to stretch his arms out to eight feet each. I’m taking him.

Coach: 40-year-old LeBron (Katz)

Katz: Did you really think I wasn’t going to find a way to get one of the brightest minds in basketball history onto my team? Sure, the greatest of the great can struggle to relate to the NBA’s middle-class players. If I can do this, why can’t he? But I’ve got an entire team worth of stars. The middle of my roster has Finals MVPs. Who better to lead them than the best of them all?

Edwards: Of course you did this. Of course. Fred, are you prepared to sit in meetings and be told why signing Tyronn Lue Jr., Channing Frye III and James Jones II are worth you going into the luxury tax for?

Katz: Yes, I am. And I am ready for the passive-aggressive Instagram videos to follow when I say that’s not going to happen.

Coach: Quin Snyder (Edwards)

Edwards: I like my coach a little crazy. I don’t know Snyder, but he seems eccentric. I’ve asked players over the years what team runs the best stuff, and Snyder’s name has come up a lot. I think he’s a creative mind, and I’d bank on him making this quirky, alien-like team run like a machine.

Coach: Erik Spoelstra (Cato)

Cato: Spoelstra has his weird-ass Miami rosters overperforming every single year. He also oversaw those smothering defensive teams in the Heatles days. I would have picked him first. Thanks for letting him slide.

Final Rosters And Analysis (under chart)

Katz: I’m excited about my offensive firepower. I’m loaded with multifaceted creators and passers who can still contribute when they don’t have the ball. I have two concerns: defense and injuries. Thompson, Porter Jr. and Leonard require regular checkups. Meanwhile, a bunch of the guys here who are the best defenders today will be in their 30s come 2025. I’m hoping they still have the athleticism to sustain top-level stinginess. If they do, I think I can dominate on both sides of the ball. If they don’t, running stuff through Luka and Ja will be enough to get me a bundle of high-scoring wins.

Edwards: It’s quite simple: we’re going to play exactly how the Bucks do now, except this team is more skilled, has more high-level playmakers and extreme length on the defensive end that’ll only surrender 75 points a game.

Offensively, give the ball to Giannis, clear out and dare someone to stop him one-on-one. When help inevitably comes, there is enough shooting to make teams cry. Porziņģis is a floor-spacer and Davis was shooting 44 percent on corner 3s this year, and I assume that will only improve by 2025. Tatum shoots the 3-ball at a 39.9-percent clip for his career. SGA is already competent from distance and I’m sure he will improve. Also, assuming Giannis continues on his current progression as a 3-point shooter, I can alternate pick-and-rolls with SGA and Tatum, allowing Giannis to sit in a corner and take a breather.

Obviously, my team’s length is the initial standout, but I like that I have multiple ballhandlers on the perimeter who can create for themselves and others. Tatum, though, needs to improve as a passer for this to work to its full potential. The only thing that worries me about my team is the health of the frontcourt.

I’d give my team a B on the offensive, but an A-plus defensively.

Cato: I love the synergy my guards and forwards have with each other, each unlocking the other player’s best. Jackson and George — at this point of his career — are lower usage players who will still shine without constantly needing the ball. The Booker-Williamson pick-and-roll has seismic repercussions. Cunningham will find our shooters anywhere on the floor. Need more playmaking? You have traditional (Lillard) and non-traditional (Simmons) options on the bench. More defense? Isaac and Thybulle will gently tuck your scoring attempts into bed and turn off the lights. Hield should be one of the league’s best off-ball shooters, or even the best.

I appreciate your efforts, Fred and James. May the better of your two teams win second place.

(Top photo: Jonathan Bachman / Getty Images)