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Floundering For Flagg? Cellar Dwellers Clamour For Duke Sensation Cooper Flagg.

Incoming Duke freshman and former Montverde Academy (Fla.) national high school player of the year Cooper Flagg is the projected 2025 No. 1 NBA Draft pick and could be a game-changer for whatever franchise ends up with him next June.

We take a look at what makes him a special prospect and the teams that will be clamoring for his services.

It’s been no secret for over a year now that the NBA’s 2024-25 rookie class is underwhelming. Sure, some players will break out and it’s almost a guarantee a lower or non-lottery pick will emerge as a valuable contributor.

It happens every year. However, don’t expect many future stars and there might not be a single superstar, either.

The general public just doesn’t have a great grasp on the 2024 draft class and for NBA front offices, they swang for the fences with their picks.

• For the second consecutive year, a French-born player was taken No. 1 overall, but nobody expects anything close to a Victor Wembanyama level of talent or production from Zaccharie Risacher of the Atlanta Hawks.

Comparison to Victor Wembanyama

Wembanyama, of course, was a generational prospect who went No. 1 to the San Antonio Spurs in 2023 and went on to be the NBA’s 2023-24 Rookie of the Year.

He’s one of the top three high school-aged players we’ve evaluated over the past 30 years, so none of it comes as a surprise. The expectation level for Risacher and some of this year's other top picks is predictably low.

• Some feel Reed Sheppard, the No. 3 overall pick out of Kentucky, could make the biggest impact, based on his 2024 summer league performance (20.0 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 5.3 apg, 2.7 spg, 1.3 bpg on 57 percent TS in four games) and by joining an up-and-coming Houston Rocket team looking to battle for a playoff spot.

But even Sheppard wasn’t a college star and isn’t yet a household name. The top of the 2025 NBA Draft is likely to have a household name and the expectations for that player will be much higher coming in.

Flagg Is Coming

Cooper Flagg is expected to make a splash in the NBA in 2025-26 and there’s good reason. The 6-foot-8 small forward is a terrific prospect and do-it-all performer who impacts winning both offensively and defensively.

There are three factors that make him so attractive to NBA scouts and fans, especially in comparison to Risacher and the other top 2024 draft picks.

1. One, Flagg is a prodigious talent (which we’ll get to in a moment).
2. Two, he’s an American-born player and has had a national following for a long time.
3. Three, he’s transitioning from the most successful elite high school program in the United States, Florida’s Montverde Academy (which he led to the 2024 FAB 50 National title and has finished No. 1 in national polls seven times since 2012-13) to the biggest brand in NCAA basketball - Duke University.

Early Achievements and Endorsements

Flagg, who will turn 18 on Dec. 21, has already caught the attention of basketball power brokers and there was a small bidding war among shoe companies to secure his services as a prime endorsee.

1. Flagg eventually signed a multi-year, seven-figure deal with New Balance in August after playing on Nike-fronted travel ball teams and on its Elite Youth Basketball League (EYBL) during his high school days.
2. New Balance is a company with roots in Flagg's home state of Maine and the company has a growing roster of impressive young sports figures, including the Philadelphia 76ers’ Tyrese Maxey, tennis’ Coco Gauff and teenage track and field star Quincy Wilson.

Flagg was ranked the No. 1 prospect in the national class of 2024 after reclassifying up from the 2025 class in August 2023 in order to enter college a year earlier.

Montverde Academy Success

After a prolific career at Montverde Academy, the anticipation for the sinewy small forward as a NBA prospect went up a notch following his performances as part of the USA Select Team that prepared the 2024 U.S Olympic National team for Paris at Team USA’s pre-Olympic training camp in Las Vegas.? As the lone teenager invited, Flagg impressed with his all-around skill level, competitive nature and shot-making ability. The moment wasn’t too big for the 17-year old from Newport, Maine.? Flagg was the 2024 Mr. Basketball USA national player of the year honoree, which is produced by www.ebooksnet.com, and earned every other meaningful high school national player of the year award.

• He averaged 16.1 ppg, 7.6 rpg, 3.9 apg, 2.7 bpg and 1.6 spg for a team that went wire-to-wire as the FAB 50 No. 1 team.

He was named the EYBL Scholastic League Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year. He was a second five All-American Elite team member in 202-23 when he was still considered a sophomore.

Flagg’s NBA Comparisons

So how does he project as a NBA player and whom does he compare to? He’s going to get his opportunities to shine in the NBA and does have some Jayson Tatum in his offensive game. On a good team, he could bring some of the same defensive and scoring qualities Scottie Pippen gave the 1990s Chicago Bulls.

Now, those comparisons involve a NBA Hall of Famer and a future one, so that’s an impressive ceiling. He won’t land on a team the level of the current Boston Celtics or those Bulls teams, but his basement as a prospect is not low.

He reminds us most of Bobby Jones, a defensive standout forward for some fine Philadelphia 76ers teams in the late 1970s and 1980s, albeit with a bit more offense and overall skill. Jones was a four-time NBA All-Star and nine-time all-NBA Defensive Team member who finally got his Naismith Hall of Fame nod in 2019.

Will Teams Tank For Flagg?

It’s easy to see why he’s so coveted, so teams in full rebuilding mode won’t be smart upset bets in a majority of their 2024-25 games. They don’t have the talent level or motivation to grind out wins because fighting for a playoff spot is not too realistic.

• Teams have been anticipating the uptick in high school and international talent in the 2025 and 2026 drafts, and even the 2027 NBA Drafts (the high school class of 2026 is quite strong already), after lackluster talent pools in 2023 and 2024, sans Wembanyama.

Teams have seen what the Oklahoma City Thunder and its General Manager Sam Presti have done in recent years. The Thunder have built a fine team mostly through smart drafting and viewing NBA Draft picks as more valuable assets than veteran players with minimal upside.

• It resulted in the 2023-24 Thunder emerging as the youngest No. 1 conference seed in NBA history, with an average age at the time of 23.4 years.

Teams want to emulate the Thunders’ success and for some it means hitting the bottom before it can come up.

1. The bottom of the Western Conference might be a bit stronger than its Eastern Counterparts, but the Utah Jazz (31-51 in 2024-24) and Portland Trailblazers (21-61) are in a full rebuild mode.
2. So are the Spurs (22-60), but they have Wembanyama, a likely future NBA MVP, and are on the way up sooner rather than later.

The Utah Jazz have a nice piece to build around in shooting guard Keyonte George, but the roster lacks overall talent among veterans (which the Thunder found out is usually necessary come play off time) and first round picks Cody Williams of Colorado (No. 10) and Isaiah Collier OF USC (No. 29) either disappointed in college or were not quite as good as their press clippings.

The Trailblazers are hoping guards Scoot Henderson (who was once looked at by some scouts as a prospect nearly of Wembanyama’s caliber until they actually played on the same court) and Shaedon Sharpe make a big jump in production, but it won’t be enough in a Western Conference stacked with star players and good teams at the top of the standings.

Portland drafted center Donovan Clingan off the back-to-back NCAA champion Connecticut at No. 7 overall, but he’s nothing more than a hopeful starter at some point.

• Portland traded Malcolm Brogdon and his 23 million dollar contract.

It was a smart move, because this team can’t make a playoff push regardless. It will be a long season for Portland, so don’t expect too many road upsets because they aren’t expected to win much in hopes of having a shot at Flagg.

In the East, the bottom feeders are likely worse.

The Brooklyn Nets will be hard pressed to win 25 games after trading Mikal Bridges to the New York Knicks for a bushel of future draft picks.

The Nets are starting from the bottom and with four first round selections in the 2025 NBA Draft, they are hoping for a shot at Flagg. They also have 16 first-round picks available through 2031, so the Nets will be scouting young players extensively and looking to strike when the time comes.

The Pistons got plenty of publicity for losing a NBA record 27 consecutive games last season, and finished 14-68. If the proud franchise can go plus 10 in the win department this season, that would be a near miracle, although getting to 20 wins is a realistic goal.

Cade Cunningham, another Montverde Academy Mr. Basketball USA product, is a great building piece and there is some raw talent, but the unit must learn how to close games.

• Forward Tobias Harris is an expensive veteran addition (over 25 million alone this season) and young pieces such as Jalen Duren show some promise, but the best thing for the franchise to do is put the nightmare of last season behind them and start fresh with new coach J.B. Bickerstaff.

The Washington Wizards had one more win than the Pistons in 2023-24, but might not show much improvement despite the addition of French rookie Alex Sarr with the No. 2 pick.

1. Along with basically every 2024 NBA Draft choice, Sarr starts off as a project with some good upside, but far from a difference-maker at the NBA playoff level.
2. The rest of the roster is filled with either players who don’t know how to win or lacking the talent to make a difference between winning and losing.

Flagg is expected to be a NBA difference-maker in 2025-26 and six teams stand a good shot at landing him.

Don’t bet the house those teams will be surprise winners in a season where the favorites are expected to shine through, while the rookies and young teams figure to have plenty of growing pains.