Syracuse, N.Y. —Incoming Duke freshman Cooper Flagg may seemingly be locked in already as the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, but the hype is about to get real for an incoming Syracuse University men’s basketball freshman whose name keeps showing up in early projections for the next draft.
Donovan Freeman will arrive in Syracuse next week for summer workouts as the program’s highest-ranked prospect since Carmelo Anthony. He played in a pair of prestigious high school All-American games, one sponsored by McDonald’s and the other by Jordan Brand.
Freeman is ranked by ESPN as the top power forward prospect in the Class of 2024 and the No. 6 prospect overall.
Freeman just played for the Bahamas in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying tournament, who fell one game short of earning a trip to the 2024 Paris Olympics with an 86-78 loss to Spain in Valencia on Sunday.
I fell into a way-too-early 2025 NBA Mock Draft wormhole recently and while Flagg grabs all the headlines, Freeman is mentioned over and over again as a first-round pick in 2025. In many cases, he has been anointed with lottery-pick potential.
Here’s an early read on where some of the reputable mock drafts place Freeman with a mere 11 months to go until the 2025 NBA Draft.
The Athletic
Sam Vecenie places Freeman as the 12th overall pick in the 2025 Draft.
“Freeman took a solid skill leap during his senior year at IMG Academy and looks like a forward with the size and talent NBA teams look for from 4s,” Vecenie says. “His skill set is varied, with the ability to drive in a straight line and finish at the rim as well as score from beyond the 3-point line. He has real bounce as a leaper. His handle certainly must improve, as a lot of his shots tend to be contested attempts where he’s forced to stop in the midrange areas. Still, his jumper looks extremely projectable. Defensively, he’s mobile, can slide with several different player types and rotate across the play to contest. He’s been one of the big risers within the scouting community over the last 12 months.”
SB Nation
Freeman is slotted as the 13th pick, according to Rickey O’Donnell’s first 2025 mock draft.
Yahoo Sports
Freeman lands at No. 14 on Krysten Peek’s first mock draft for 2025.
“Freeman was the biggest surprise in the best way possible during the postseason All-Star games, leaving a lasting impression on NBA scouts who got a chance to see him at IMG Academy,” Peek writes. “The 6-9 forward showed more promise as an outside jump shooter in the pick-and-pop and his shot-blocking off the weak-side block was impressive.”
Bleacher Report
Jonathan Wasserman slots in Freeman as the 15th pick.
“Left off our 2025 projections back in October, Donnie Freeman had a big year at IMG improving his offensive skill level,” Wasserman writes. “For a 6′9″, rangy forward, he’s developed into a versatile scorer, capable of getting baskets in different ways—hitting threes and pull-ups, attacking closeouts and using touch around the post.
He’s still on the raw side, but Freeman clearly has an appealing skill set for a power forward, and more progress with his three-ball next season should lead to surefire NBA interest at Syracuse.”
ESPN
Freeman is listed as the 16th overall pick in Jonathan Givony’s first 2025 mock draft.
USA Today
Freeman lands as the 17th overall pick according to Bryan Kalbrosky.
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