Identifying the best or worst Cooper Flagg landing spot in the 2025 NBA Draft lottery is mostly a matter of taste. The Duke freshmen phenom would be a great fit anywhere as a player capable of blending in on more competitive teams or taking on a starring role right away on a basement-dweller.
We named the Washington Wizards as the best destination for Flagg in the 2025 NBA Draft lottery. In D.C., Flagg would immediately revive a long-time doormat in a major market, add some badly-needed star power to the Eastern Conference, and get to grow into his role as a primary option on a young team embarking on a patient rebuild.
Not every team comes with a sales pitch that sounds so enticing. Here’s our list of the worst landing spots for Flagg in the lottery, determined by how it would impact the overall health of the league, teams that can’t be trusted with his development, and of course good old fashioned personal bias.
5. Toronto Raptors
Lottery position: No. 7 | Chances at No. 1 pick: 7.5%
Flagg would be a natural fit for the Raptors’ dream of building an entire team of players who are 6’8 or 6’9. Toronto has a lot of good pieces already in place, and should push towards the bottom of the East playoff picture next year after acquiring Brandon Ingram at the trade deadline. The worry for the Raptors is that they’re moving out of their rebuild prematurely before landing a true franchise player, with a roster that feels like it has a higher floor but lower ceiling. Flagg would obviously change that, but I’d prefer to see him on a team with fewer competing agendas. Flagg isn’t a natural fit next Scottie Barnes on offense, though that pairing could be fantastic defensively. Ingram, Immanuel Quickley, and RJ Barrett are all going to want to get their shots up, which could put Flagg into a lower usage role. Lead executive Masai Ujiri did a masterful job constructing the Raptors’ 2019 NBA championship squad, but he’s had a lot of misses since then. If the Raptors don’t luck out in the lottery, either of Flagg’s projected top-10 teammates at Duke in Kon Knueppel or Khaman Maluach would be a great fit here.
4. Utah Jazz
Lottery position: No. 1 | Chances at No. 1 pick: 14%
While other rebuilding teams made moves towards contention over the last year and a half, the Jazz opted to get worse. Utah went from 37 wins to 31 wins to 17 this season to bottom out in their post-Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert rebuild, all with an eye on maximizing their odds for Flagg. Lead executive Danny Ainge would love nothing more than to pair Flagg with one of the big three prospects from the 2026 class. I can talk myself into Utah being a good landing spot with Ainge’s history of smart decisions plus a good young head coach in Will Hardy, who just got a contract extension. At the same time, Jazz basketball was an absolute eyesore this year, and I’m just not sure they should be rewarded for it with Flagg. Utah winning the lottery would also put Flagg in the West, which already has enough stars and might gain another if Giannis Antetokounmpo gets traded inside the conference this summer. Flagg would get to be the man in Utah from day one, but I’m skeptical that Utah’s existing young core is good enough yet to competently surround him. I’m cool with the Jazz landing AJ Dybantsa next year to continue to transformation into a full-blown Utahn, but Flagg feels more suited for the East.
3. Philadelphia 76ers
Lottery position: No. 5 | Chances at No. 1 pick: 10.5%
The 76ers traded their 2025 first-round pick way back in 2020 to get off of Al Horford’s contract. That trade worked out pretty well for Philly in the short-term as it allowed them to get Danny Green and additiona; cap flexibility, which turned into a No. 1 seed in the East playoffs the next season. It didn’t work out so well long-term, with the Thunder flipping Horford to the Boston Celtics, incidentally making Philly’s biggest rival so much better. The Sixers’ pick is top-6 protected, which means two teams above them in the lottery order need to jump up to make them lose their pick. The Sixers tanked incredibly hard to improve their chances of keeping the pick, ending the season on a 4-29 stretch. It’s almost difficult to remember that this was supposed to be a year of championship contention for Philly around Joel Embiid and the newly-signed Paul George. Instead, the George signing was a complete disaster, and Embiid missed the entire year with injuries. The Sixers are just a cursed franchise at this point, and now they’re weighed down by two massive contracts for unreliable players. If Flagg goes to Philadelphia, there’s a strong likelihood that he’ll forget how to a jump or suffer a career-ending injury tying his shoes. Philadelphia sports fans have enough to root for with the Eagles. This is the one Eastern Conference destination I don’t love.
2. New Orleans Pelicans
Lottery position: No. 4 | Chances at No. 1 pick: 12.5%
The Pelicans feel like they have a dark cloud hanging over the franchise. New Orleans was set up for major success after winning the lottery in 2019 for the rights to Zion Williamson. Basically everything has gone wrong since then: a promising roster was decimated by injuries year after year, with Williamson proving to be one of the league’s most unreliable stars. Last summer’s Dejounte Murray trade was also a major miss, and it helped cost lead executive David Griffin his job. With Joe Dumars taking over the franchise, the big question is if the Pelicans will keep or trade Williamson. New Orleans already botched two generational No. 1 overall picks in Anthony Davis and Williamson. They don’t deserve a third. Flagg would immediately have the chips stacked against him on the Pelicans with a tough road in the Western Conference in a city that will always love football more than hoops. It would be fun to watch Flagg and Herb Jones clamp down on opponents in the halfcourt defensively, and Trey Murphy III feels like a perfect match spacing for Flagg as one of the league’s best shooters. It just seems like the best spots for Flagg are in the Eastern Conference on an organization that doesn’t have a history of fumbling elite prospects.
1. San Antonio Spurs
Lottery position: No. 8 + No. 14 | Chances at No. 1 pick: 6% + 0.7%
The Spurs offer the best possible basketball fit for Flagg, let’s be clear about that. A front pairing of Flagg and Wembanyama would be sensational and would set the Spurs up for another dynasty. Wemby is the best building block in the NBA, and Flagg has a strong case as the best prospect in the world not yet in the NBA. Add in De’Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle, and Devin Vassell, and championships (with an S) would be in their future. So why are the Spurs the worst landing spot for Flagg? They would be too damn good. Flagg and Wembanyama needs to be competing against each other as arguably the two most promising young players in the league next year, not playing as teammates. A Spurs lottery win would only widen the gap between the West and the inferior East, and it would give San Antonio an embarrassment of riches when also factoring in their surplus of future first-round picks. The Spurs should have enough assets to build a contender around Wembanyama already if they make the right moves. Putting Flagg next to him for the next 10 years would just be overkill (by the way, 10 years from now, Flagg will only be 28 and Wembanyama will only be 31). A Spurs lottery win would be a disaster for the rest of the league. San Antonio with Wemby and Flagg would be absurdly good, but it would be more fun to see them competing for titles on different teams.
