After a historic freshman season at Duke, Cooper Flagg is as good as a guarantee gets for being selected first overall. The 2025 Naismith Player of the Year will most likely find himself a Dallas Maverick on June 25, but given recent Mavericks transactions, it’s impossible to rule out a trade that would send the pick and Flagg elsewhere.
With Flagg’s superstar potential, the 18-year-old phenom can alter the course of any organization that lands him. Flagg has been revered by many as the best American-born prospect in years, with some even dating back to LeBron James in 2003 to find a better prospect than him. In the case of Flagg, it’s hard to go wrong in terms of finding the right fit to acquire his talents.
Players often receive the label of “Jack of all trades, master of none.” In the case of Flagg, a more appropriate title would be “Jack of all trades, master of most.” Flagg led Duke in all five major statistical categories in his freshman campaign while leading them to a Final Four appearance.
His complete offensive package, combined with a day-one pro-ready defensive skillset, cements him as the best player in the draft. This has led to comparisons being made of Flagg to the likes of Kawhi Leonard and Jayson Tatum. Flagg himself has previously compared his offensive game to Tatum, and his defensive game to Magic forward Jonathan Isaac.
That being said, which three realistic landing spots would be the best matches for Flagg?
The obvious choice, and the most realistic landing spot for Flagg is the Mavericks. After trading away perennial All-NBA member Luka Doncic for Anthony Davis, Mavericks GM Nico Harrison has put a clear emphasis on defense – Flagg’s strong-suit. Pairing Flagg’s lockdown defense next to Anthony Davis, Derrick Lively, Daniel Gafford, Naji Marshall and P.J. Washington has the potential to become the best defensive front-court unit in the association.
The combination of the aforementioned Doncic trade, and All-Star Kyrie Irving suffering a torn ACL that will sideline him for the majority of the 2025-2026 season leaves a gaping hole in creation upside within the Dallas offense. It’ll be a task for the entire team to recreate their production in the aggregate, but a large chunk of that could fall in Flagg’s hands early on, given his experience running the show at Duke.
The No. 1 overall pick landing in a win-now scenario is extremely rare, but it may be the perfect situation for Flagg. He’ll get to grow his offensive game alongside championship-winning players and offensive mastermind Jason Kidd, while supplementing the Mavericks’ win-now aspirations with his pro-ready defense.
After the Mavericks, the realistic chances of any other team landing Flagg fall off a cliff. However, after Harrison and the Mavericks pulled off one of the most unexpected blockbuster trades in history in February, it’s impossible to rule out a draft-day trade. Should another team make the move to acquire Flagg, the Washington Wizards could find their new franchise cornerstone.
The Wizards have stockpiled talent over recent draft – Bub Carrington, Alex Sarr and Bilal Coulibaly – who’ve become quality rotational players. Each played strong complimentary roles this season and showed promise for future improvements, but none quite look like a 1A option contending teams need.
In comes Flagg.
Flagg’s aforementioned elite defense could make for a monstrous trio with Coulibaly and Sarr, giving the Wizards a foundation and identity to build off of. His experience being the first option at Duke could allow him to immediately take over as the offensive focal point in Washington.
The Spurs seemingly have a backcourt set for the future, recently pairing All-Star De’Aaron Fox with 2025 Rookie of the Year Winner Stephon Castle. If they were to trade the No. 2 overall pick instead of selecting the projected Dylan Harper, it could be in an attempt to move up one spot to first.
Should the Spurs land the first pick – and Flagg – they’d have the largely considered league’s best young duo in him and Victor Wembanyama. Flagg and Wembanyama would pair as a terryfing defensive duo for opposing stars, with Flagg taking the ball handler’s and Wembanyama protecting the rim.
Flagg would have little pressure to perform offensively, but an opportunity for high usage should he earn it. Fox and Wembanyama will each get their 20-plus points, but a big gap is left for scoring on the wing. Flagg could take over at times when the stars are on the bench, and perfectly play alongside them when together.
