The 2025 NBA Draft is set to take place on Wednesday, June 25, at Wintrust Arena and the Marriott Marquis in Chicago.
The worst-kept secret in the NBA is that the Dallas Mavericks will draft Duke phenom Cooper Flagg with the No. 1 overall pick.
The Mavericks all but confirmed their plans to draft Flagg by accidently leaking their selection of the Duke star on their website before taking it down. The social media post was up on Friday and shared by Kevin Gray Jr. and Front Office Sports.
Flagg will join a Dallas team with a solid core already in place and ready to compete right away. He will team up with fellow No. 1 overall picks Anthony Davis and Kyrie Irving, forming an intriguing trio once Irving returns from ACL surgery.
“It would be a blessing for me to get drafted [by any] team in the NBA,” Flagg said at the Final Four. “That’s a dream of mine, to play in the NBA. I would feel completely blessed and honored to play for any team.”
Flagg is a versatile scorer and defender who has the ability to be an impact player on both ends of the floor. Last season at Duke, he averaged 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.4 steals, and 1.4 blocks per game.
“[He’s] positionless,” ESPN’s Seth Greenberg said on “Get Up.” “He is a perfect fit for the NBA. You think Grant Hill, you think Scottie Pippen, you think Jayson Tatum, he fits in the NBA game perfectly.
“He could be a point forward. He can initiate your offense. You can move him all over the floor. Positionless is what I think of Cooper Flagg.”
Flagg will potentially be entering an ideal situation in Dallas where he won’t have to shoulder the entire offensive or defensive load—allowing him to properly develop into the superstar he is expected to become.
Flagg officially arrived in Dallas last Tuesday—not yet as an official member of the Mavericks but the former Duke superstar was in Dallas to meet with several team officials for a 48-hour private visit.
Flagg did not schedule visits or workouts with any other teams, and the consensus No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft appears to be all-in on becoming a member of the Mavericks.
The 6-9 forward has been considered the front-runner to be the top pick in the draft since August 2023, when he decided to graduate high school a year early and enroll at Duke as a 17-year-old.
“Going forward, I think he’s going to be just fine because of his ability to get to spots and raise over you, which you need to do in different moments of fourth quarters and playoffs and all that,” Duke head coach Jon Scheyer said.
“He’s shiftier than you realize, his ability to beat you off the bounce and obviously as an athlete, he’d go finish above the rim. And then the fact that you have to respect his shooting, he shot 45 [percent] from three [in ACC play] as a 17-year-old, 18-year old at that point, freshman.
“So, really, to score from three, at the rim, and then the ability to create his own shot with his shiftiness, handle, and just natural instincts. I think he’s going to be one of the best scorers in the NBA in time.”
Flagg’s pre-draft visit with Dallas served as an opportunity for him to learn more about the Mavericks and how they envision building around him in the future. The Cooper Flagg era in Dallas is set to begin very soon.
