Jazz Land Franchise Cornerstone in New Draft Prediction

The Utah Jazz can secure a true difference-maker in this year's draft.

Mar 8, 2025; Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA; Duke Blue Devils forward Cooper Flagg (2) reacts in the second half at Dean E. Smith Center. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images / Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

The Utah Jazz have done their due diligence all season to put themselves in the best position for the best odds at the number-one pick in this summer's draft.

With just under 15 games to go in the 2024-25 campaign, Utah has found their way to the worst record in the league, effectively putting them with the number-one-best odds come May's lottery.

If this were the class of last year's incoming group of prospects, the appeal of securing the number one pick may not be as highly touted as some in recent history. However, this season has had a clear-cut candidate to land in that top spot in Duke's Cooper Flagg, and with the current pace the Jazz have been on, the stars could be aligning for them to get their hands on him.

In The Athletic's latest 2025 mock draft from Sam Vecenie, it's exactly how the top of the draft falls –– Utah secures the number-one spot on the board, making the no-brainer selection of Flagg to be a potential franchise cornerstone for years to come.

"Flagg emerged during ACC play as a dominant two-way force beyond even the lofty expectations that were laid at his feet entering this season," Vecenie wrote in his evaluation of Flagg. "Coming into the year, the jumper was a question. It no longer is after he shot 37 percent from 3 and 83 percent from the line as an 18-year-old. He can get to pull-ups from all three levels and finishes at the rim with serious bounce and polish. Defensively, he’s a tremendous playmaker and flies around all over the place in help. More than anything, what stands out is his elite level of competitiveness. There is not a second in which he’s on the court that he’s not playing hard or totally locked into what he’s doing."

It's hard to dislike the prospects of Flagg joining the young group the Jazz have spent the past couple of offseasons building up. The Blue Devil presents a clear number-one option upside with strong, translatable versatility on both ends of the floor.

At 6-foot-9 with a 7-foot-1 wingspan, he fits the bill of Utah's already-immense length and would be a major boost to get this rebuild on the upward swing. He's proven that to be the case throughout his sole year at Duke and looks primed to continue that trend heading into this year's NCAA Tournament, as long as his health is in check.

Of course, it will take some luck to be on the Jazz's side to get the opportunity to select Flagg to guide the next steps of Utah's long-spanning rebuild process. At this point, they'll have a 14% chance of getting atop the board, if all holds to form.

If fortune is in their favor, a number-one pick in Salt Lake City would mean big things for the future of this franchise. Time will tell if the idea can come to fruition.

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