Cooper Flagg and two other Duke star enter transfer portal… See More…
Duke has landed 34 five-star recruits since the star system was implemented. Every year, there is little doubt that they will get the best players, and even after Krzyzewski retired in 2022, the Empire keeps rolling. Their incoming freshmen class has the highest ranking of any class, ever.
Headlinging the class is Cooper Flagg, from Montverde Academy. He is Duke’s third top-ranked recruit to commit
Barrett went third overall to the New York Knicks in 2019, and while he hasn’t lived up to the hype, it was widely assumed that Zion Williamson (another Duke recruit, go figure!) would go first overall and have the best career from his draft class. Marvin Bagley III also went second overall in 2018 to the Sacramento Kings and has bounced around the league since, never living up to the hype.
However, in a class that featured Deandre Ayton, Trae Young, Luka Dončić, Jaren Jackson Jr., Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and other solid NBA players, it’s safe to say that Bagley III has largely been forgotten.
Unlike Barrett and Bagley III, not only is Flagg easily the best college prospect in his class, but he is also the consensus first-overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft.
The same way teams tanked for Anthony Davis, Williamson, and Victor Wembanyama, expect teams to lose on purpose next season for Flagg.
He is already a competitive player and would likely go first overall in 2024 if he could get drafted a season early. Flagg is an elite defender and playmaker but can create for himself off the dribble and get shots off.
As his draft cycle starts this summer, expect analysts to compare him to Nikola Jokić, Kobe Bryant, and Kevin Garnett all rolled into one, and notice the lack of hyperbole in their voice when they do it.
It’s worth highlighting that those stats are not totally reliable. He was a member of Team USA’s under-17 team, and the stats above were against players who had driver’s ed after school.
Flagg has cemented himself as the best recruit in the country by a mile, and will almost certainly go first overall in 2025.
Other Duke alums like Williamson and Kyrie Irving struggled to stay healthy in college but still went on to be selected at the top of the draft, so expect Flagg to have a safety net in school.
Flagg has already affected the NBA. The 2024 NBA Trade Deadline was relatively quiet for two reasons: first, teams that wanted to add talent couldn’t find buyers for their 2024 picks because the class this year is seen as weaker.
Second, and more importantly, teams were reluctant to give up future picks because the 2025 class, headlined by Flagg, is projected to be very deep.
