Will Riley has plenty of good options when it comes to the 2025 NBA Draft.
The former Illini forward is going to start his NBA journey on Wednesday night, and most expect him to go in the mid-to-late first round.
Most of the mock drafts have Riley going anywhere from No. 19 to No. 23. So, the teams in this range are in the danger zone of picking the talented Illinois product. While there are some good options for Riley, there are also some land mines I want him to avoid.
Here are three terrible franchises Will Riley needs to avoid in the 2025 NBA Draft
- Washington Wizards (#18)
Getting drafted into the NBA is impressive, but I want Riley to avoid the Washington Wizards at all costs.
The Wizards are a very unserious NBA franchise. The last time they had a 50-win season was back in 1978-79 when they were the Washington Bullets. That was the year Magic Johnson and Larry Bird faced off in the national championship. There is really no hope for Washington either. 33 combined wins in the last two seasons is embarrassing.
Washington did just dump a big contract in Jordan Poole off on the New Orleans Pelicans, which we will get to later. The Wizards have a bunch of either role players or young guys who also haven’t had direction and are just floundering in the NBA.
I don’t want Riley to be a part of that floundering. I want him in a stable franchise that has some semblance of direction and leadership. Washington is definitely in the mix for the biggest dumpster fire in the NBA.
- Brooklyn Nets (#19, #22, #26, #27)
The most dangerous of the bad teams to potentially pick Riley are the Brooklyn Nets. They don’t just have one pick in the danger zone. They have four picks to play around with.
There is always a chance Riley drops a little bit, and if that happens, the Nets have picks No. 19, No. 22, No. 26, and No. 27 in the first round.
Brooklyn isn’t as big of a dumpster fire as the Wizards, but they have zero direction. They have had many failed experiments in the past, and now the Nets are left with a pretty awful roster.
The roster for Brooklyn did improve slightly. A trade that went down on Tuesday has Terance Mann coming to town along with the previously mentioned No. 22 pick.
Again, there isn’t a locker room guy on the Nets. I can’t point to a player and say that they can help Riley in his career development. If he goes to Brooklyn, he is going to have to learn the NBA route mostly by himself. I don’t want that for the kid. Please avoid Brooklyn at all costs.
- New Orleans Pelicans (#23)
The last team I want Riley to avoid is the New Orleans Pelicans. This is a franchise that one of the most recent mock drafts had him going, and I am praying that doesn’t happen.
New Orleans hasn’t had a 50-win season since 2007-08 when Chris Paul was in town. They continue to swing and miss on draft picks, and the franchise has shown a massive failure in building a solid foundation.
Known names like Zion Williamson are on the roster, but he is hardly ever available. The only solid veteran leadership, CJ McCollum, is being traded to the Wizards. Jordan Poole is coming back in return, and he isn’t exactly a beacon of leadership.
I think if Riley gets drafted by the Pelicans, there is a solid chance he gets lost in the shuffle. New Orleans doesn’t develop players, and my fear is that Riley would be added to the list. Let’s just hope the Pelicans don’t take him at No. 23.