NBA Draft: ESPN, SI project Joliet’s Jeremiah Fears going top 5 in next month’s NBA Draft

Following the pick lottery held Monday, ESPN’s Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo have released their revised projections for how they predict the 2025 NBA Draft held June 25 and 26 in New York City will play out.

And Joliet native Jeremiah Fears continues to skyrocket up draft projections board.

Almost universally hailed as a top-10 pick, ESPN’s ranking released Monday night predict Fears – who played only one year of college basketball as a freshman at Oklahoma – going as the No. 5 overall pick to the Utah Jazz.

Sports Illustrated’s revised projection also has moved Fears up to the No. 5 pick, going to the Jazz. The Athletic’s mock draft has Fears going as the No. 8 overall pick to the Brooklyn Nets.

Dallas won the No. 1 overall pick in Monday’s draft lottery, and is widely expected to take Duke superstar Cooper Flagg.

A 6-4 point guard, Fears led the Sooners to an NCAA berth for the first time since 2021, averaging 17.1 points and 4.1 assists over his 34 games in an Oklahoma uniform. He declared for the NBA Draft back in early April and due to his strong production and high ceiling as a potential star at the professional level has consistently risen up projected draft boards ever since.

Before transferring to Arizona Compass Prep Academy for his junior year and reclassifying to move to college a year early, Jeremiah Fears starred alongside his brother, current Michigan State player Jeremy Fears, at Joliet West. Like his older brother, Jeremiah starred for the Tigers, earning a first-team spot on the 2022-23 Herald-News Boys Basketball All-Area Team.

In his ESPN draft projection, Givony wrote of Jeremiah Fears going at No. 5:

“Fears’ youth, thin frame and inconsistent finishing and decision-making will likely require patience from the team that drafts him, even if there is [no] doubt around the significant star power he possesses, which will earn him looks much higher than this spot.”

In The Athletic’s draft projection, Sam Vecenie wrote about Fears:

“The reality for Fears is that teams and evaluators either really love him or they don’t. He’s a very polarizing player for evaluators around the league, because you either believe in the upside of him as a primary ballhandler and think he can be a true top-tier option, or you don’t and you think he profiles more as a backup. There are genuinely scouts and executives I’ve talked to who think he’s a top-five upside bet in this draft because of his handle and creativity. Others see him more as a backup long-term and as a bet to take in the late teens or even the 20s.”

SI’s Kevin Sweeney wrote:

“Utah missing out on the higher-upside talent swings at the top of the draft is a setback, but the Jazz could swing big anyway at No. 5 with Fears, the 18-year-old who had a stellar freshman season at Oklahoma. The Jazz have already drafted a pair of young guards in Keyonte George and Isaiah Collier in recent drafts, but Fears possesses a different level of shot-creation ability both for himself and others. ”

2025 NBA Draft order:

1) Dallas

2) San Antonio

3) Philadelphia

4) Charlotte

5) Utah

6) Washington

7) New Orleans

8) Brooklyn

9) Toronto

10) Houston

11) Portland

12) Bulls

13) Atlanta

14) San Antonio

15) Oklahoma City

16) Orlando

17) Minnesota

18) Washington

19) Brooklyn

20) Miami

21) Utah

22) Atlanta

23) Indiana

24) Oklahoma City

25) Orlando

26) Brooklyn

27) Brooklyn

28) Boston

29) Phoenix

30) LA Clippers