Duke’s Cooper Flagg, top NBA prospect, declares for draft
The Duke Blue Devils star and odds-on favourite to go No. 1 overall on June 25, declared for the 2025 NBA draft via social media on Monday morning.
Get ready, basketball fans. Cooper Flagg is officially heading to the NBA.
The Duke Blue Devils star and odds-on favourite to go No. 1 overall on June 25, declared for the 2025 NBA draft via social media on Monday morning.
“It was an incredible year, probably the best year of my life,” Flagg said in his video announcement on Instagram. “I have so much gratitude. I feel so blessed for all the opportunities that I was given. Duke has always been a dream for me, but I’m excited to announce that I’ll be entering my name into the 2025 NBA Draft. Today’s just the beginning, but I have the brotherhood with me for life.”
With the news, the 18-year-old confirmed that he’d be leaving Duke as a one-and-done player. Flagg led the Blue Devils to a Final Four appearance as a freshman, averaging 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.4 blocks on 48.1/ 38.5/ 84.0 shooting splits.
During March Madness, Flagg posted averages of 21 points, 7.6 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 2.0 blocks through five contests. And despite his Blue Devils getting knocked out by Ohio State just one game shy of a national title appearance, Flagg was still named to the NCAA All-Tournament team.
En route to being just the fourth freshman ever to win the John R. Wooden Award —annually presented to the most outstanding men’s and women’s collegiate basketball players — Flagg had a career-best 42 points against Notre Dame in January. He was also named AP’s men’s college basketball player of the year.
The 2025 NBA draft lottery will take place on May 12 to determine the order of the top 14 picks, and subsequently, which team ends up in position to select Flagg at No. 1 overall.
The Utah Jazz, Washington Wizards and Charlotte Hornets are all tied with the best odds, each holding a 14 per cent shot of landing the first-overall selection. Meanwhile, the Toronto Raptors have the seventh-best odds of jumping up to the first overall pick ahead of the lottery, giving them a 7.5 per cent chance of doing so. They also have 31.9 per cent odds of ending up in the top four.
