The 2025 NBA draft isn’t for another six weeks, but everyone in the basketball world knows that Duke superstar Cooper Flagg will come off the board with the first overall pick. The former Blue Devil will find out where he’s going on Monday night during the draft lottery, a ceremony that finalizes the order for the first 14 selections, but not every potential destination is created equal.
The NBA’s lottery system creates an element of chance for top-ranked prospects that other professional leagues don’t provide. Four different teams lost at least 61 of their 82 games last season, but there’s only a 54.5% chance Flagg ends up in one of those organizations. And thanks to a few trades and injuries, a couple of perennial playoff teams have an outside chance to end up atop the board.
For the Cameron Crazies rooting for Cooper Flagg’s success in the NBA, here are the five best possible landing spots for the Wooden Award winner.
With an 18-64 record this season and a 15-67 record the year before, the Wizards might not jump off the page as an ideal destination, but Flagg might be the missing piece for Washington. Alex Sarr, the 20-year-old 7-footer that Washington took with the second overall pick last summer, averaged 13.0 points, 6.5 rebounds, 2.4 assists, and 1.5 blocks as a rookie, and former Pittsburgh star Bub Carrington averaged 9.8 points, 4.4 assists, and 4.2 rebounds in his debut campaign as well. Flagg won’t heal all ills with Washington’s roster by himself, but for a team that hasn’t won 20 games in two full seasons now, there’s more talent here than the records suggest.
Another team near the bottom of the NBA standings over the past several seasons, Charlotte has failed to win more than 27 games in each of the last three seasons, but no team could make a larger leap with the addition of Flagg. Superstar guard LaMelo Ball averaged 25.2 points and 7.4 assists, second-year forward Brandon Miller put up 21.0 points and 4.9 rebounds, and former Duke center Mark Williams tallied 15.3 points, 10.2 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks. The real issue is that the aforementioned trio combined to play 118 out of a possible 246 games, but if injury luck stays on the Hornets’ side, they could take the league by storm in 2025-26.
The Rockets aren’t a lottery team on their own merit, winning 52 games to earn the second seed in the Western Conference, but Houston owns the rights to the Phoenix Suns‘ first-round pick to give itself a 3.8% chance. to end up atop the board. Former second overall pick Jalen Green has struggled with efficiency at times, averaging 21.0 points on 17.5 shots in his fourth season, but he and 6-foot-11 center Alperen Sengun (19.1 points, 10.3 rebounds, 4.9 assists, 1.1 steals, and 0.8 blocks) form a difficult duo to beat even without Flagg. The former Duke star would also fit wonderfully alongside rising third-year forward Amen Thompson, who put up 14.1 points, 8.2 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 1.4 steals, and 1.3 blocks.
No team in the NBA underachieved more than the Philadelphia 76ers in 2024-25 for a variety of reasons. The annual Eastern Conference contenders won just 24 games as aging stars Joel Embiid and Paul George missed 104 combined games. But the backcourt in Philadelphia is primed for an explosion with Tyrese Maxey (26.3 points, 6.1 assists), Quentin Grimes (21.9 points, 38.5% 3PT), and former Blue Devil Jared McCain (15.3 points, 38.3% 3PT) all under the age of 26. There’s reason for pessimism about Embiid’s future prospects with a lengthy injury history, but the former MVP averaged 33.1 points over 66 games just two seasons ago. If the 31-year-old can get back to playing shape with Flagg and this array of shooters in tow, look out.
For the sake of 29 other franchises, this shouldn’t happen. It wouldn’t be fair. The Spurs won the lottery two years ago to select French phenom Victor Wembanyama, a 7-foot-3-inch unicorn who made 35.2% of his 3-point efforts last season. The 21-year-old averaged 24.3 points, 11.0 rebounds, 3.8 blocks, 3.7 assists, and 1.1 steals. Imagine a team where Flagg isn’t the most unique physical talent on the roster. And that doesn’t even mention 27-year-old guard De’Aaron Fox, who averages 21.5 points and 6.1 assists across his eight-year career, or 11-time All-NBA guard Chris Paul.