As the No. 1 pick on everybody’s draft board, this has long been expected, and on Monday morning he made it official:
Cooper Flagg is entering the 2025 NBA Draft. He made the announcement in an Instagram post.
Flagg entered the college season as the top prospect on most draft boards and only solidified that standing with a season where he averaged 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.4 steals, and 1.4 blocks per game, all while playing high-level defense. He won the Naismith National Player of the Year award and the Wooden Award, plus was voted the National Player of the Year by the Associated Press, National Association of Basketball Coaches and U.S. Basketball Writers Association. He became the first freshman in NCAA history to lead his team in points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks, leading Duke to the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament.
Heading into the season, NBA scouts questioned how good he would be at creating his own shot — he has answered that emphatically.
Flagg admitted he thought about returning to Duke during the season, even telling The Athletic,” S***, I want to come back next year.” However, for a future No. 1 pick, the injury risk and the money left on the table — it could cost him as much as $75 million over the course of his NBA career — made choosing the NBA draft the only option.
There are a lot of teams heading into next month’s NBA Draft Lottery now hoping for the ping pong balls to bounce their way so they can land a franchise cornerstone player in Flagg.
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