Utah Jazz select Jamir Watkins in 2025 NBA Draft, trade to Washington Wizards

The Utah Jazz have selected Jamir Watkins with the No. 43 pick of the 2025 NBA Draft and traded him to the Washington Wizards. The point guard played his college basketball for the Florida State Seminoles.

Coming out of high school at Trenton Catholic School in New Jersey, Watkins was an unranked recruit. He’d spend the first three seasons of his college career with VCU before deciding to transfer to Florida State for the next two seasons. While with VCU, he took a redshirt in 2022 to recover from a knee injury.

Over the course of his college career, Jamir Watkins would earn numerous honors. That included being made a Second-Team All-ACC selection for the 2024-25 season.

In that 2024-25 season, Watkins played in 32 games for Florida State, all of which he started. Over the course of the year, he’d average 30.9 minutes per game. He’d also average 18.4 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 2.4 assists per game, all of which were better than his career averages. He did that while shooting 42.7 percent from the floor, 32.1 percent from three-point range, and 74.7 percent from the free throw line. On the defensive end, he’d average 1.2 steals and 0.5 blocks per game.

It would be a difficult season for Florida State basketball as a whole. The Seminoles went just 17-15 overall and 8-12 in ACC play, missing out on the NCAA Tournament. It would also be the final year for head coach Leonard Hamilton leading the program.

What NBA Draft experts are saying about Jamir Watkins

Ahead of the NBA Draft, experts from RotoWire shared some thoughts on Jamir Watkins. There, they praised him for his improved shooting and high-IQ play.

“Watkins is a well-rounded prospect,” they wrote. “While his scoring efficiency needs development, he took a lot of difficult shots at Florida State and has shown improvement as a 3-point shooter and finisher, using more patience and footwork as a senior than he did in years past. He’s comfortable making plays with the ball, usually in the pick-and-roll, or off the ball, playing within the flow of the offense. Drawing free throws was a big part of his game, using his size to overpower smaller players and compete with bigs. Defensively, he’s a disruptive on-ball player and has off-ball IQ. During his first season at Florida State, he averaged 1.9 steals and 0.8 blocks.”

Only time will tell how Jamir Watkins handles the transition to the NBA. For now, though, he at least knows what team he’ll be playing for.