Ahead of the 2025 NBA Draft, many have predicted that Duke’s Cooper Flagg, after a historic Freshman season, will be the clear number one overall pick. However, the Blue Devil is not the only potential NBA-bound shooting guard in this year’s draft.
The last shooting guard to go first overall in the NBA Draft was Minnesota Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards in 2020. Edwards is now one of the best players in the NBA five years on.
Top 5 Shooting Guards Entering the 2025 NBA Draft
VJ Edgecome
Outside of Flagg, Baylor’s VJ Edgecome is the highest ranked out-and-out shooting guard in the 2025 NBA Draft according to rankings from CBS. Edgecome is a highly athletic guard option, with his explosive leaps meaning he has the potential to be one of the best shot blockers in the whole of the NBA.
Outside of his physical talents, the Baylor shooting guard leaves a lot to be desired when it comes to shooting. In his freshman season, he had a 34.0% 3-point success rate and averaged over 15 points a game.
According to many Mock Drafts, including the most recent from The Athletic, Edgecome is projected to go early in the first round, potentially in the top four picks, depending on the outcome of his contest with Texas’s Tre Johnson.
Tre Johnson
Some believe that Texas’s Johnson could go before Edgecome in the 2025 NBA Draft.
Johnson has been a scoring machine for Texas over the last year, averaging 18.3 points per game in comparison to Edgecome’s 15, while also having a significantly higher 3-point success rate, with a 38% success rate, meaning that if teams are looking for an out and out scoring guard, Johnson would be the option over Edgecome.
Jase Richardson
Outside of the clear top two best shooting guards, while Richardson lacks the same athleticism that both Johnson and Edgecombe have, he makes up for it based on pure shooting ability, with the Michigan State Guard making up for it with some explosive scoring numbers. Last season, Richardson averaged just over 12 points per game in his Freshman year.
However, where the Michigan State guard thrived was when it came to his 3-point success rate; Richardson had a 41.2% success rate, significantly higher than both Johnson and Edgecome. The guard also shot 49.3% from the field.
Dink Pate
Outside of Edgecome, Johnson, and Richardson, there is a clear falloff when it comes to shooting guards in this year’s draft. The next best option is Dink Pate, who spent last season in the G-League and is currently ranked as the 48th best prospect in this year’s Draft according to Tankathon.
Pate was the youngest player in basketball history to go pro when he joined the G League Ignite in 2023. The shooting guard will already be a seasoned professional going into the 2025 NBA Draft. At 6’8″, the Guard is primarily a defensive talent. Pate is also an offensive weapon, particularly as a playmaker, making him a complete all-around talent.
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While there may be a fall off from the other top three guards in this year’s draft, there is potential for Pate to become one of the underrated gems of 2025, with two years of experience as a pro and talent on both sides of the ball.
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