Flagg is fresh off a consensus National Player of the Year campaign where he averaged 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 4.2 assists over 37 games, leading the Blue Devils to the Final Four. Drafting Flagg would position him alongside veterans Kyrie Irving and Anthony Davis on a roster that reached the NBA Finals in 2024.

Cooper Flagg is starting to settle into his new reality. He’s been considered the presumptive No. 1 pick in next month’s NBA draft for some time and now knows that pick is held by the Dallas Mavericks.

Well, the NBA Draft Lottery gods have a sense of humor. So much for the idea of Cooper Flagg going to a 20-win team. Instead, a statistically improbable Dallas Mavericks-San Antonio Spurs-Philadelphia 76ers-Charlotte Hornets top four upended all our previous assumptions about what might happen in the lead-up to the NBA Draft.

Flagg led Duke to a Final Four appearance in 2024-25, on his way to garnering All-American and national player of the year honors from several organizations. The 6'9'' power forward averaged 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game, showcasing his mature, well-rounded game that is expected to translate seamlessly to the NBA.

It's a good question, and it also involves projecting when Kyrie Irving comes back from his ACL tear. So let's assume Flagg is a Maverick and Irving returns a few months into the 2025-26 season. Let's run through the projected lineup:

There are two rounds in the draft. The first round features 30 picks and the second round has 29. There are typically 30 picks per round, but the New York Knicks were docked their 2025 second-rounder after the league found they had tampered with Jalen Brunson leading up to 2022 free agency.

Washington entered Monday's lottery draw tied for the best odds to win the Cooper Flagg sweepstakes at 14.0%. The team also had around a 52.1% shot at landing a top-four pick.

On this episode of Good Word with Goodwill, Vince and Blake Griffin react to the Dallas Mavericks winning the NBA Draft Lottery and what Cooper Flagg could expect as the potential No.1 pick. Later, Vince and Dwyane Wade take a look at Anthony Edward’s early success and why his slaying of legends such as LeBron James and Kevin Durant is so important.