The NBA Draft Lottery is set for next week in Chicago.
NBA teams are vying to get the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft and the rights to select Duke phenom Cooper Flagg.
The draft lottery is set for 7 p.m. ET Monday, and it airs on ESPN.
The NBA Draft is scheduled for June 25-26 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
WRAL senior digital producer Mark Bergin and WRAL News Plus executive producer Louis Fernandez ranked the best NBA team fits for Flagg, who is the most heralded draft prospect in years.
Best fit: San Antonio Spurs
The San Antonio Spurs have a 6% chance of getting the first overall pick with their first-round pick and a 0.7% chance of getting the top selection with Atlanta’s pick via trade.
Basketball fans have salivated at the possibility of pairing Flagg with French phenom Victor Wembanyama, All-NBA guard De’Aaron Fox, Rookie of the Year Stephon Castle and guard Devin Vassell.
Flagg and Wembanyama would form a “twin towers” similar to that of Tim Duncan and Robinson. However, Flagg (18 years old) and Wembanayama (21 years old) are much closer in age than Duncan and Robinson (10 years apart).
Wembanyama should be OK to return to NBA action in the 2025-26 regular season after missing the last two months of the season with blood clots in his shoulder. He was seen two weeks ago playing soccer in Costa Rica.
Offensively, both Flagg and Wembanyama would create matchup problems for opponents. However, their length defensively would give them nightmares.
Perhaps the only downside is the Spurs are now without Gregg Popovich as their head coach. Popovich has taken a role in the team’s front office due to health problems.
Second-best fit: Dallas Mavericks
Maybe Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison will get the last laugh. The Mavericks have a 1.8% chance of getting the top pick.
Harrison was ridiculed for trading away Luka Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers for little in return, so there’s the argument that the Mavericks fans deserve Flagg.
If the Mavericks somehow landed the top pick, Flagg could pair with Anthony Davis, Kyrie Irving and Klay Thompson.
However, Irving is working his way back from a torn ACL and will likely miss a good chunk of the 2025-26 season.
The Mavericks’ frontcourt also features Dereck Lively II, who also went to Duke.
Third-best fit: Philadelphia 76ers
Which iteration of “The Process” that Philadelphia is in is anyone’s guess, but the 76ers have way too much talent for a lottery team.
Flagg would immediately enter a rotation with Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, Paul George, Quentin Grimes and fellow former Duke player Jared McCain.
The hope is for head coach Nick Nurse to get the group back on track with the money the 76ers are paying Embiid, George and Maxey, approximately $144.85 million combined for the 2025-26 season.
However, if the 76ers’ pick falls to the No. 7 pick or lower, it would go to the Oklahoma City Thunder as part of the Al Horford trade in 2020.
The 76ers have a 64.6% chance of the pick landing in the top six.
Fourth-best fit: Houston Rockets
The Houston Rockets have a 3.8% chance of getting the top selection due to a trade from the Phoenix Suns.
Houston (52-30) is coming off a successful season, earning the No. 2 seed in the West. While losing in the first round to the seventh-seeded Golden State Warriors might feel like a disappointment, the Warriors have future Hall of Famers in Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Jimmy Butler.
Flagg could pair with a young Rockets roster featuring center Alperen Sengun, guard Jalen Green and guard Amen Thompson, considered one of the best athletes in the NBA.
Plus, head coach Ime Udoka is considered one of the best in the NBA.
Perhaps the addition of Flagg would help the Rockets advance further into the playoffs and make them a true contender in the Western Conference.
Fifth-best fit: Toronto Raptors
The Raptors have some decent talent in Immanuel Quickley, fellow former Duke player RJ Barrett, Brandon Ingram and Scottie Barnes.
However, the Raptors haven’t been relevant as a contender in the Eastern Conference since Kawhi Leonard’s lone season with the franchise.
Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan had some decent playoff runs years ago, but the Raptors haven’t had a young, dynamic talent like Flagg since Vince Carter.
The Raptors have a 7.5% chance of getting the top pick.
Sixth-best fit: Chicago Bulls
The Chicago Bulls have made three consecutive play-in tournament appearances and lost each of them. They’re the epitome of a mediocre NBA team.
Getting the top pick would awaken a dormant franchise in the city of Chicago, which is the NBA’s third-largest media market behind New York and Los Angeles. The Bulls consistently lead the NBA in home attendance. The Bulls fans who pack the United Center are ready for the return of a winning tradition.
Simply put: The NBA is better when the Bulls, the New York Knicks, Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics are relevant.
Flagg in Chicago would provide the Bulls a spark not seen since Derrick Rose’s meteoric rise and subsequent fall due to injuries. Before Rose, the Bulls were last relevant in the 1990s during the Michael Jordan era.
The Bulls’ odds of getting the No. 1 pick and the ability to pick Flagg are 1.7%, which is the same percentage they had when they landed the No. 1 pick in the 2008 NBA Draft when they selected Rose.
The addition of Flagg would provide the Bulls with a young core of Matas Buzelis, along with guards Josh Giddey and Coby White.
Seventh-best fit: Utah Jazz
After trading Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell, the Jazz need a restart. Flagg would immediately be the Jazz’s face of the franchise.
Luring stars to Utah has not historically been easy, but Flagg could pair with a decent frontcourt of Lauri Markkanen and Walker Kessler.
However, some people think the Jazz will trade Markkanen if they pick Flagg.
Utah has missed the playoffs in three consecutive seasons.
The Jazz have a lottery pick, the No. 21 pick and two second-round picks in this year’s draft, so they’ll get an influx of young talent.
Utah, Washington and Charlotte each have the best odds – 14% – of landing the No. 1 selection.
Eighth-best fit: Washington Wizards
The marketing campaign would write itself if the Wizards get the top pick: “Salute the Flagg.”
Flagg’s selection would provide a jolt for a franchise that’s been down on its luck since the John Wall-Bradley Beal era. The furthest the Wall-Beal teams got in the playoffs was the conference semifinals.
Flagg could pair with guard Jordan Poole and big man Alex Sarr, the No. 2 in the 2024 NBA Draft.
Ninth-best fit: New Orleans Pelicans
The Pelicans have a 12.5% chance of getting the top pick. If they land the No. 1 pick, they have a dilemma: What would Flagg’s arrival mean for the future of Zion Williamson in New Orleans?
Williamson, also a former Duke freshman phenom, has struggled to stay healthy. He’s essentially a coin flip on whether he plays: He’s played in 214 games out of 410 regular-season games in his career (52.2%).
Williamson played in 70 games during the 2023-24 season, which is the most in his career.
The Duke connection Flagg and Williamson share is a fun possibility. However, if playoff success didn’t happen for Williamson or Davis in New Orleans, why would it for Flagg?
10th-best fit: Charlotte Hornets
The Hornets have some talent in All-Star guard LaMelo Ball, Brandon Miller and fellow former Duke player Mark Williams.
However, the Hornets have been awful for the past decade. Charlotte has missed the playoffs in nine straight seasons, posting one winning record in that span in the 2021-22 season.
The Hornets haven’t won 30 games in three seasons.
Flagg would get to stay in the state of North Carolina if he played in Charlotte under head coach Charles Lee.
11th-best fit: Portland Trail Blazers
The Trail Blazers have a 3.7% chance of getting the No. 1 pick.
Third-year guard Scoot Henderson is starting to develop. There is some talent in last year’s first-round selection Donovan Clingan, guard Afernee Simons, forward Deni Avdija and center Deandre Ayton.
The Blazers are in the lottery for the fourth consecutive year under newly extended head coach Chauncey Billups.
12th-best fit: Brooklyn Nets
For the first time since 2010, the Nets have a draft pick in the lottery. The Nets will have four first-rounders, including ones from Houston, Milwaukee and New York.
While the Knicks will always own the New York market, Flagg’s arrival could make the Nets an appealing franchise yet again for free agents or players seeking a trade.
The Nets are expected to have lots of salary cap space. ESPN reports the Nets are the only NBA team to have at least $40 million in cap space.
The Nets have a 9% chance of getting the first overall pick.
13th-best fit: Sacramento Kings
The Kings have a 0.8% chance of getting the top pick. It’s a long shot.
If the pick falls outside the top 12, it will go to the Atlanta Hawks.
The “Sacramento Bulls” have decent scorers in Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan. Plus, Domantas Sabonis is a good passer out of the high post.
It’s unlikely the Kings get the top pick given their odds. Plus, NBA fans would not get to watch Flagg as much, considering he would be playing for a smaller-market team on the West Coast.
