NBA teams needing a point guard will have several players from which to choose in next month’s NBA Draft. Among the best available is Joliet native Jeremiah Fears.
The 6-foot-4 Fears was an All-Freshman Team selection in the SEC this past season. He led the Oklahoma Sooners in scoring (17.1 points per game) and assists (4.1). Both of those figures were the seventh best in the SEC, which was by far the best conference in college basketball last season.
Player | Odds | Percent Chance |
New Orleans Pelicans | -150 | 60.0% |
Utah Jazz | +250 | 28.6% |
Brooklyn Nets | +1450 | 6.5% |
The Field | +1950 | 4.9% |
With Fears declaring for the draft after one college season, IllinoisBet.com has developed the odds above for which team might select the guard. As a reminder, these odds are for infotainment purposes only. You will not find them at an licensed Illinois sports betting operator, such as BetMGM.
The 2025 NBA Draft is set for June 25-26 in Brooklyn, New York. The Chicago Bulls will choose 12th overall in the first round. The Bulls finished 39-43 in the regular season and qualified for the play-in phase to determine the final two teams in the Eastern Conference playoffs. But Chicago lost to the Miami Heat, 109-90, ending the team’s season.
This analysis and the odds on which team will select Jeremiah Fears is exclusive to IllinoisBet.com, where the best Illinois sportsbook promos can be found.
The Pelicans had the NBA’s sixth-worst offense this past season as the injury-ravaged team averaged just 109.8 points per game, last in the Western Conference. That included starting point guard Dejounte Murray, who played in just 31 games in 2024-25 before his season ended with a torn right Achilles’ in late January.
However, the draft isn’t the only way New Orleans could acquire a new point guard, as there have been rumors former top pick Zion Williamson could be dealt this offseason. The Pelicans pick seventh in the first round of the draft – an event that will draw NBA betting interest as operators offer props on draft selections.
Two picks ahead of them are the Jazz, who also had one of the league’s most anemic offenses this past season. They averaged in the NBA’s bottom 10 for field goal shooting (45.4%), 3-point shooting (35%) and scoring average (111.9 ppg).
Should neither Utah nor New Orleans pick Fears, the Brooklyn Nets would be in a spot to take him with the eighth pick. The Nets and the Charlotte Hornets tied for a league-low 105.1 scoring average this past season, so Brooklyn could use a new floor general.
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USA Today photo by Bob Donnan
Jeremiah Fears is a potential 2025 NBA Draft Pick coming from the Oklahoma Sooners. Fears was born in Illinois.
It's still early, but teams that might be looking for a player with Fears’ skillset in the projected lottery range of the 2025 NBA Draft include the New Orleans Pelicans, Brooklyn Nets and Utah Jazz.
The 2025 NBA Draft is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. on June 25-26, 2025, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
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Steve is an accomplished, award-winning reporter with more than 20 years of experience covering gaming, sports, politics and business. He has written for the Associated Press, Reuters, The Louisville Courier Journal, The Center Square and numerous other publications. Based in Louisville, Ky., Steve has covered the expansion of sports betting in the U.S. and other gaming matters.
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