24 players get the opportunity to sit in the green room at the NBA Draft. That means they will sit backstage with their friends, families, and loved ones as they wait to hopefully hear their names called during the two rounds of the draft.
So far, 19 of those invitations have been sent out to players in the draft class, and three of those 19 players are former Duke Blue Devils.
Unsurprisingly, Cooper Flagg, who is expected to be the No. 1 overall pick, received an invitation, but so did two of his collegiate teammates: Kon Knueppel and Khaman Maluach, who have both garnered more attention as the draft process has progressed.
Five more invitations still remain at large, and as of now, no news of players accepting their invitations has broken, according to Jonathan Givony, an NBA Draft analyst for ESPN.
Players invited to the 2025 NBA Draft green room
- Cooper Flagg, Duke
- Dylan Harper, Rutgers
- Ace Bailey, Rutgers
- VJ Edgecombe, Baylor
- Tre Johnson, Texas
- Khaman Maluach, Duke
- Jeremiah Fears, Oklahoma
- Kon Knueppel, Duke
- Kasparas Jakucionis, Illinois
- Egor Demin, Brigham Young
- Carter Bryant, Arizona
- Derik Queen, Maryland
- Asa Newell, Georgia
- Noa Essengue, France
- Collin Murray-Boyles, South Carolina
- Thomas Sorber, Georgetown
- Liam McNeeley, UConn
- Nolan Traore, France
- Will Riley, Illinois
So far, two international players have been invited to the green room, including Nolan Traore and Noa Essengue, who are both from France. The other 17 players have all played at least one season of collegiate basketball.
The first round of the 2025 NBA Draft is scheduled to tip off (get it?) at 8 p.m. ET on Wednesday, June 25. The second round will start at the same time on Thursday, June 26. If a player is not selected during the two rounds of the NBA Draft, they enter free agency and have the possibility of signing with franchises as free agents.