Nets, Wizards and Pistons Among Teams with Best Chance to Land Cooper Flagg

Three teams have separated themselves from the pack in the race for the 2025 NBA Draft’s top talent.

Mar 29, 2024; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Detroit Pistons guard Cade Cunningham (2) looks on during the third quarter against the Washington Wizards at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Reggie Hildred-USA TODAY Sports / Reggie Hildred-USA TODAY Sports

We’re just under a year until the 2025 NBA Draft, which is already garnering a strong reputation due to its top talent in forward Cooper Flagg.

At around 6-foot-9, Flagg has long been talked about as a No. 1 pick, possessing a strong two-way game that would help any NBA team immediately. 

Most generally, the Brooklyn Nets, Washington Wizards and Detroit Pistons are the teams most thought of to land the highest percent chance at Flagg.

The Nets are the easiest assumption at the moment. After shipping off franchise star Mikal Bridges in favor of a haul of draft picks, the roster has been left as one of the worst in the league, by design. There’s of course a few strong contributors — Nic Claxton, Cam Thomas, Cam Johnson and more — but few capable of leading to teams to wins in a tough Eastern Conference.

The Wizards are in a similar boat, perhaps holding even less current talent, stored away in the likes of Bilal Coulibaly, Alex Sarr, Bub Carrington and more. There’s no question Washington will content for top picks in the next few drafts, with Flagg likely being their top priority, should they land the top pick.

Roster-wise, the Pistons stand above the other two, but haven’t put together a sparkling resume in the last few years worthy of the benefit of the doubt. They already had their young prospects, including star Cade Cunningham, Jalen Duren, Jaden Ivey, Ausar Thompson and the newly-added Ron Holland. But the team has yet to make headway in the wins column.

Detroit made moves around the fringes in adding veteran players like Tobias Harris and Tim Hardaway Jr., and should be able to make up some ground in the East. But it remains to be seen.

At best, teams will have a 14% chance at landing the No. 1 pick. And as the 2024 NBA Draft lottery taught us, nothing is set in stone. Atlanta jumped nine spots in total to land No. 1 and Zaccharie Risacher. And Houston jumped seven spots in the very same draft to No. 3, displacing the league-worst Pistons all the way to five.

Still, Flagg will be several team’s best chance at putting together a strong rebuild.

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