{"id":831664,"date":"2025-03-05T10:11:54","date_gmt":"2025-03-05T16:11:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/05\/cooper-flagg-advised-to-ditch-400-million-in-case-2-specific-nba-teams-win-lottery-pick\/"},"modified":"2025-03-05T10:11:54","modified_gmt":"2025-03-05T16:11:54","slug":"cooper-flagg-advised-to-ditch-400-million-in-case-2-specific-nba-teams-win-lottery-pick","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/05\/cooper-flagg-advised-to-ditch-400-million-in-case-2-specific-nba-teams-win-lottery-pick\/","title":{"rendered":"Cooper Flagg Advised to Ditch $400 Million in Case 2 Specific NBA Teams Win Lottery Pick"},"content":{"rendered":"

Basketball <\/p>\n

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The Duke standout has been a dominant force in college basketball this season, leading the Blue Devils in nearly every statistical category. But with the NBA Draft approaching, Cooper Flagg has a decision to make: to declare fully and leave college behind or keep his college options open for a stay-or-go decision. Then again, it could be made based on the results of the NBA\u2019s draft lottery.<\/span><\/p>\n

From the very start of Cooper Flagg\u2019s freshman season at Duke, he has been nothing short of spectacular. He is not only leading his team in points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks but also helping to carry the Blue Devils into the NCAA tournament. Even the Cameron Indoor Stadium crowd has begun\u2002to chant, \u201cOne more year!\u201d<\/em> hoping that Flagg would return for his second season. Flagg himself got in on the\u2002action, mouthing \u201cRun it back,\u201d<\/em> adding to speculation about his future at Duke or in the NBA.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, it\u2019s not just about his love for college basketball. According to a report from Andy Staples at On3<\/strong>, if Flagg doesn\u2019t like where he lands in the draft, he has the option to pull out and return to Duke. \u201cPlayers have until June 15 to withdraw from the draft. The lottery is on May 12\u2026Team Flagg can send out all sorts of smoke signals. If the Wizards or Hornets win the lottery, they\u2019d better trade the pick or the Maine Event is headed back to Durham,\u201d<\/em> wrote Staples.<\/span><\/p>\n

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NEW: Should Cooper Flagg threaten to run it back at Duke to avoid becoming a Wizard or Hornet? ????<\/p>\n

\u201cPlayers have until June 15 to withdraw from the draft. The lottery is on May 12\u2026<\/p>\n

Team Flagg can send out all sorts of smoke signals. If the Wizards or Hornets win the lottery,\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/zqOkiMvRL7<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 On3 (@On3sports) March 4, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

Now, here\u2019s where things get interesting. If Flagg decides to skip the draft for another year, it could end up costing him\u2014big time. By staying in college, Flagg would delay signing a rookie max contract, which could be worth up to $398.5 million over five years. That\u2019s nearly $80 million a season if we\u2019re talking about the 2024-2025 salary cap and a 10% increase.<\/span><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, staying at Duke<\/a> might feel tempting in some ways, it\u2019s difficult to overlook the\u2002potential financial implications. And\u2002yet Flagg isn\u2019t exactly starving. His meteoric success has\u2002made him the second-highest-paid college athlete in the nation for Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) contracts. With deals from major brands, including New\u2002Balance, Gatorade and Fanatics, he\u2019s racking up millions, even before he plays in the NBA.<\/span><\/p>\n

Basketball Cooper Flagg\u2019s jaw-dropping freshman year draws major comparisons<\/strong><\/h2>\n

It isn\u2019t an exaggeration to say that Flagg\u2019s\u2002first year on campus has been a revelation. The young guard is averaging 19.6 PTS, 7.5 REB, 4.2 AST, 1.6 STL and 1.2\u2002BLK per game \u2014 not numbers you usually see from a first-year player. He\u2019s actually on course to become the first freshman since Ben Simmons\u2002to lead his team in all five of the major categories.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\"basketball\"<\/p>

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via Imago<\/p>\n

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Looking at the complete picture, comparisons to Zion Williamson\u2002were always unavoidable under the circumstances. After all, Flagg has been honored as ACC Rookie\u2002of the Week 11 times and has garnered both the Rookie and Player of the Week awards on five different occasions. That\u2019s right, just like Zion in 2018-19.<\/span><\/p>\n

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In retrospect, Zion\u2019s historic 2018-19 season\u2002was among the most dominant freshman seasons in college basketball history. And Flagg\u2019s season has\u2002been the subject of many comparisons to that. As such, both were regarded as top prospects for the NBA draft. But now there seems to be one big difference. Guess what? A lot of analysts are of the opinion that Flagg might even be better.<\/a> Sam Vecenie, an NCAA basketball analyst, agrees: <\/span>\u201cCooper Flagg\u2019s floor is so much higher than what Zion\u2019s is. Yeah, I guess Zion\u2019s ceiling is a little bit higher, but I don\u2019t know how much higher. It\u2019s not like crazy, crazy, ridiculously higher\u2026 If you made me bet right now, I will have a higher grade on Cooper than I did on Zion.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Flagg\u2019s eye-popping stats and steady performances already have him\u2002atop the KenPom Player of the Year standings. At\u20022.910, his rating is the best in stats history, surpassing 2014-15 Frank Kaminsky\u2019s 2.794. If he continues to produce this way, Flagg might not just be another NBA prospect\u2014he might be one of the\u2002next superstars in the league.<\/span><\/p>\n

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A question arises. What will be Cooper Flagg\u2019s decision? Will he risk millions and play the waiting game and\u2002use the NBA\u2019s draft lottery as a\u00a0 leverage to control where he plays? Or will he pursue the big bucks and make the\u2002leap to the pros? Whichever case it is, Flagg\u2019s call will be a game-changer. He has a long future ahead of him and fans are waiting to see what happens next.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Read More<\/a> Thomas Badon<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Basketball The Duke standout has been a dominant force in college basketball this season, leading the Blue Devils in nearly every statistical category. But with the NBA Draft approaching, Cooper Flagg has a decision to make: to declare fully and leave college behind or keep his college options open for a stay-or-go decision. Then again, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":831665,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[124942,3681,3958,126379],"tags":[16302],"class_list":{"0":"post-831664","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba","8":"category-basketball","9":"category-cooper","10":"category-flagg","11":"tag-nba"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/831664","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=831664"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/831664\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/831665"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=831664"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=831664"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=831664"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}