The 2025 NBA Draft is less than 10 days away. While the teams at the top of the lottery may already have their minds made up — Cooper Flagg to Utah at one being the most obvious, while most expect Dylan Harper to be selected second by the Spurs — plenty of the backend prospects are still participating in pre-draft workouts.
On Monday, the Sacramento Kings hosted six new prospects with varying sizes, skill sets, and ages. With plenty of workouts already in the books for general manager Scott Perry, there’s always more to see.
Sacramento’s current lone pick in 2025 is in the second round, pick 42. Rafael Barlowe told Sactown Sports that he heard the Kings are one of the teams aggressively looking to move up and other reports point towards plenty current Kings’ players being shopped.
It leaves a wide variety of options for Perry with draft night likely to kick off the action — even though it’s already started with Orlando Magic trading four unprotected first-rounder for Desmond Bane.
Once again, keep in mind that pre-draft research and conversations are valuable beyond draft night. When players reach free agency years down the line, or trade conversations come about, they remember their first interactions with the organization.
Here are the five 2025 NBA Draft prospects Sacramento hosted on Friday:
Mark Sears (Alabama) — Guard — 5’10″, 183 lbs — 23 years old
2024-25 season: (37 games played): 18.6 points, 5.1 assists, 2.9 rebounds — 40.3 FG% — 34.5 3P% — 84.4 FT%
Javon Small (West Virginia) — Guard — 6’1″, 190 lbs — 22 years old
2024-25: (32 games played): 18.6 points, 5.6 assists, 4.1 rebounds — 41.8 FG% — 35.3 3P% — 88 FT%
Kobe Johnson (UCLA) — Forward — 6’4″, 193 lbs — 22 years old
2024-25: (34 games played): 7.9 points, 5.9 rebounds, 2.9 assists — 46.4 FG% — 36.2 3P% — 70.4 FT%
Oumar Ballo (Indiana) — Center — 6’11”, 274 lbs — 22 years old
2024-25: (31 games played): 13.0 points, 9.1 rebounds, 2.1 assists — 62.3 FG% — 0 3P% — 57.1 FT%
Dink Pate (Mexico City — GLEAGUE) — Forward — 6’6″, 201 — 19 years old
2024-25: (34 games played): 10.1 points, 5.1 rebounds, 2.1 assists — 40.8 FG% — 26.1 3P% — 58.1 FT%
Bogoljub Markovic (Mega Bemax) — Center — 6’11″, 213 lbs — 19 years old
2024-25: (30 games played) 13.7 points, 6.8 rebounds, 2.7 assists — 53.8 FG% — 37.0 3P% — 76.0 FT%
Plenty of older prospects still are part of the cycle as covid years created plenty of fifth-year seniors. Four of the players at Friday’s workout were at least 22 years old, but two teenagers competed as well.
With that youth comes potential upside, which probably has a lot to do with them being the two prospects often most highly regarded by draft experts.
Dink Pate is the final player to exist from the short-lived G-League IGNITE program, spending last season playing for the Capitanes in Mexico City. At 6’6 with a nearly 6’10 wingspan, the physical tools and athleticism can attract teams, but he’s still an extremely raw talent.
Boboljub Markovic may not only have one of the coolest names in the upcoming draft, but his combination of size and shooting bodes well. Playing in the Serbian league last season, he flashed a Richaun Holmes-esque push shot.
But it also stretched beyond that with him converting from distance at a promising rate. The Ringer‘s Kevin O’Connor compared the international prospect to former King Nemanja Bjelicia.
More Sacramento Kings coverage on Sactown Sports:
It was a quick front-office transition for the Sacramento Kings this offseason. Just hours after their 2024-25 season ended with a play-in loss to the Dallas Mavericks, general manager Monte McNair was fired.
Players will still be in the building taking care of their final post-game duties when then-interim (since named permanent) head coach Doug Christie called the players into a meeting.
Obviously, the organization knew its desired direction given the hasty hiring of Scott Perry, who is making his return to California’s capital after a brief first stint.
Well, it didn’t take long for McNair to find a new home either. According to ESPN‘s Shams Charania, the former executive of the year “is joining the Los Angeles Clippers in an advisor role.”
Read More:
Former Kings GM Monte McNair joins Clippers as an advisor
Upcoming offseason schedule for the Sacramento Kings:
Wednesday, June 25th – 2025 NBA Draft
Monday, June 30th – NBA free agent negotiations can begin
Sunday, July 6th – NBA free agents can officially sign with teams
July 10th-20th – Las Vegas NBA Summer League
August TBD – Release of 2025-26 regular season schedule
September TBD – Start of NBA training camps for the 2025-26 season
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