Utah Jazz select John Tonje in 2025 NBA Draft

The Utah Jazz have selected Wisconsin guard John Tonje with the No. 53 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft. Tonje transferred to Wisconsin last offseason after spending the 2023-24 season at Missouri and the previous four years at Colorado State.

In his lone campaign at Wisconsin, Tonje started in all 37 of his appearances. The 6-foot-5 standout averaged 19.6 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game while shooting 46.5% from the field and 38.8% from beyond the arc.

Tonje had six 30-point outings this past season. He finished his collegiate career with a 37-point showing in Wisconsin’s season-ending loss against BYU in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. For his efforts, Tonje was named an All-Big Ten First-Team selection.

Tonje only played in eight games at Missouri during the 2023-24 season. His season was cut short due to a foot injury and he was granted a medical redshirt. In four years at Colorado State, Tonje made 122 combined appearances.

John Tonje played high school basketball at Omaha Central (NE), where he was an unranked prospect in the 2019 recruiting cycle, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He led his team to be the state runner-up in his senior year.

What NBA Draft experts are saying about John Tonje

While John Tonje is already 24 years old, experts still believe he could carve out a role at the next level. Ahead of the draft, RotoWire.com provided an in-depth analysis of Tonje’s game and, further, his NBA potential.

“Tonje was an efficient, three-level scorer at Wisconsin, using his size, athleticism and advanced skill to get wherever he wanted on the court,” the analysis read. “In the NBA, Tonje must focus his skill set and develop an elite trait, which is likely his 3-point shooting.

“Tonje’s game in college was similar to Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell (6-foot-3, 215 pounds). However, when projecting Tonje at the NBA level, Chicago’s Talen Horton-Tucker, who’s had flashes of strong production in his career, is a more apt comparison. Tonje’s clearest path to consistent NBA minutes would be embracing a 3-and-D role like Cleveland’s Max Strus (6-foot-5, 215 pounds).”