Duke’s Cooper Flagg is NBA Draft Lottery’s Grand Prize

In leading the Duke Blue Devils to a Final Four appearance, forward Cooper Flagg etched his name into collegiate history books.

It wouldn’t be just the fiery NCAA Tournament performances, though. First came his slow rise through preps ranks as a two-way force, improving year after year on both sides of the ball. 

Then, a dominant showing in his first-ever game for the Blue Devils: 18 points, seven rebounds, five assists and three steals in a 30-plus-point win over his home state of Maine. That production would follow him throughout the course of his lone college season, as he poured on 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 1.4 steals and blocks apiece while shooting a blistering 48% overall and 39% from three.

With the stats and shine, accolades would follow, including the National Player of the Year Award, as well as the Wooden Award. Flagg’s box-plus-minus of 16.3 — an advanced stat that estimates a player’s overall contribution when on-court — is rivaled only by freshmen Zion Williamson, who posted a ludicrous 20.1

All this and more has made Flagg the grand prize of the 2025 NBA Draft lottery: the future No. 1 pick. All that remains is which team it will be, which will be found out at 6 p.m. CT tonight.

The Utah Jazz, Washington Wizards and Charlotte Hornets all own the shared 14% chance at Flagg. But based off last year’s draft lottery — where Atlanta jumped to No. 1 despite just a 3% chance — anything can happen.

The draft lottery kicks off at 6 p.m. CT. Barring a near-unprecedented shift in the rankings, Flagg will learn his landing spot in mere hours.