Brooklyn Nets NBA Draft Notebook: Cooper Flagg’s Rise Continues

The Duke freshman is playing his best basketball as the new year starts.

Jan 7, 2025; Durham, North Carolina, USA; Duke Blue Devils forward Cooper Flagg (2) carries the ball up the floor during the second half against the Pitt Panthers at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rob Kinnan-Imagn Images / Rob Kinnan-Imagn Images

It’s 2025 now, and that means that the 2025 NBA Draft is only 169 days away. Every Brooklyn Nets fan should be counting down until that date — and with good reason. 

The franchise is undergoing a rebuild, and although the possibility remains that said process is expedited by acquiring a superstar, the Nets are also poised to have a high pick in a very talented draft. As of Jan. 8, Tankathon has the Nets (13-23) drafting at No. 7. 

Brooklyn would also come away with the No. 19 pick (via the Milwaukee Bucks), the No. 25 pick (via the New York Knicks) and the No. 27 pick (via the Houston Rockets) in the first round. The Nets also own their second-rounder in 2025.

The dream for the Nets — and likely for any NBA team — is Cooper Flagg. The Duke freshman turned 18 on Dec. 21, and he is currently putting together his best stretch of games for the Blue Devils. Over his last five games, the Maine native is averaging 20.8 points, 7.4 rebounds and four assists on 50% from three. Flagg punctuated his recent showings with a huge highlight poster dunk against Pitt on Tuesday. 

🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯💀🙆‍♂️🙆‍♂️🙆‍♂️🙆‍♂️🙆‍♂️🙆‍♂️🙆‍♂️🙆‍♂️🙆‍♂️🙆‍♂️🙆‍♂️🙆‍♂️🙆‍♂️🙆‍♂️🙆‍♂️🙆‍♂️🙆‍♂️🙆‍♂️🙆‍♂️🙆‍♂️🙆‍♂️🙆‍♂️🙆‍♂️🙆‍♂️ @Cooper_Flagg pic.twitter.com/K0cqvzuWtY

— Duke Men’s Basketball (@DukeMBB) January 8, 2025

If Flagg has competition to go No. 1 come June 26, it’s Dylan Harper. The first-year Rutgers prospect has been similarly impressive. 

Harper leads the Big Ten in points and points per game, which is overwhelmingly impressive for a freshman. He ended his 2024 by dropping a 16/11/12 triple-double against Columbia. Harper followed that up with a zero-point outing against Wisconsin on Jan. 6, although he was playing through a bad flu that reportedly caused a swift nine-pound weight loss.

Other performances worth noting include Ace Bailey scoring 39 points against Indiana on Jan. 2, as well as Kasparas Jakucionis' 18 points against Washington on Jan. 5. On the flipside, Egor Demin's struggles against top competition continued. The Russian playmaker went 1-for-6 from the field and had only three points against Houston on Jan. 4.

Watch List

Here are two options per day of games to watch for this upcoming week of the NBA Draft cycle:

Wed, Jan. 8  at 9 PM ET — South Carolina vs. Alabama: Collin Murray-Boyles (South Carolina); Labaron Philon, Derrion Reid, Mark Sears, Grant Nelson, Jarin Stevenson, Mouhamed Dioubate, Aden Holloway (Alabama)

Wed, Jan. 8  at 11 PM ET — Illinois vs. Penn State: Kasparas Jakucionis, Tomislav Ivisic, Will Riley (Illinois); Nick Kern Jr., Yannick Konan Niederhauser (Penn State)

Thurs., Jan. 9  at 8 PM ET — Rutgers vs. Purdue: Dylan Harper, Ace Bailey (Rutgers)

Thurs., Jan. 9  at 8 PM ET — Ohio State vs. Oregon: Devin Royal, Juni Mobley, Bruce Thornton (Ohio State); Kwame Evans Jr. (Oregon)

Fri., Jan. 10  at 2 PM ET — Le Mans vs. BCM Gravelines-Dunkerque: Noah Penda (Le Mans); Roman Domon (Gravelines-Dunkerque)

Fri., Jan. 10  at 10 PM ET — Maryland vs. UCLA: Derik Queen (Maryland); Eric Dailey Jr. (UCLA)

Sat., Jan. 11  at 4 PM ET — Georgetown vs. UConn: Thomas Sorber (Georgetown); Alex Karaban, Solo Ball (UConn)

Sat., Jan. 11  at 8 PM ET — Georgia vs. Oklahoma: Asa Newell (Georgia); Jeremiah Fears (Oklahoma)

Sun., Jan. 12  at 6 AM ET — Mega vs. Krka: Bogoljub Markovic (Mega)

Sun., Jan. 12  at 4 PM ET — Michigan vs. Washington: Danny Wolf, Nimari Burnett (Michigan)

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