Breaking down the 1st NBA experiences for the top 14 picks from the 2025 NBA

Summer unofficially is over, at least for NBA fans, with the NBA 2K26 Summer League in Las Vegas and its two cousins in Utah and California wrapping up this month. No one is in a hurry to get to and beyond Labor Day Weekend, but after what we saw in the raw, sometimes frantic warm-up contests of July, a little eagerness for training camps makes a lot of sense.

In sheer statistical terms, the players who forevermore became lottery picks late last month didn’t dominate. For example, No. 1 draftee Cooper Flagg of the Dallas Mavericks ranked 14th in scoring among the Summer League aspirants. While New Orleans’ Derik Queen was second in rebounds, Philadelphia’s VJ Edgecombe topped the lottery guys at 38th overall in assists. Among shooters who averaged more than one 3-point attempt, Washington’s Tre Johnson was the best of the bunch at 46th.

But glimpses of their potential for what’s to come in a few months or even a few years generated plenty of interest. Here is a rundown of how draft picks 1-14 did in their first toe-dips of NBA basketball.