There’s a new team in contention for the Cooper Flagg sweepstakes
Duke basketball freshman phenom Cooper Flagg has long been expected to be the #1 selection in the 2025 NBA Draft despite not even turning 18 years old until late December. Flagg has helped his case to be the top pick, leading the 11th-ranked Blue Devils in points per game (15.9), rebounds per game (8.3), assists per game (4.1), and blocks per game (1.3).
Flagg is also 2nd in the National Player of the Year race according to KenPom’s algorithm, only behind Auburn’s Johni Broome.
With such a highly touted prospect in Flagg, there were several NBA teams that went into season not expecting to be very good and were in hopes to land the first overall pick.
But, there’s a new team in the mix who entered the season regarded as one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference and an NBA Championship contender: the Philadelphia 76ers.
Philadelphia signed Paul George to a four-year $212 million contract this offseason while also extending its core pieces Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid. The team also brought in really nice pieces around these stars like Eric Gordon and Caleb Martin, at least on paper.
The beginning of the 2024 NBA season couldn’t have started out any worse than it has for Philadelphia. Injuries to George and Embiid keeping them off the floor and lackluster play from their supporting cast has brought the 76ers to a 4-14 record through the beginning of the season.
This is the fourth-worst record in the NBA only behind the Utah Jazz (4-15), New Orleans Pelicans (4-16), and Washington Wizards (2-16).
Philadelphia had no plans to be in this position, but the team sits currently at the top of the lottery. If the season ended today, the Sixers would have the second-best odds to land the top pick in the draft.
Philadelphia actually traded their 2025 first round pick to the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2020, but the pick is top 6 protected (meaning Philadelphia keeps the pick if it lands at picks 1 through 6).
The idea of Flagg joining the Sixers would’ve never made it into anyone’s heads during the preseason with Philadelphia aiming for a title contention this season, but as the season moves forward, it seems more likely that they could be at the top of the lottery.
Although it seems like a good scenario for Flagg to jump right into a potential contender and be surrounded around All-Stars upon getting drafted as opposed to a young squad in a rebuild, it still seems unlikely the Sixers will finish the season this low in the standings.
BetMGM still gives Philadelphia -210 odds to make the playoffs as the team plays in the Eastern Conference which is significantly weaker than the Western Conference. For reference, the Sixers are in second to last place in the East with those odds to make the playoffs. The Utah Jazz are in second to last place in the West and have +2000 odds to make the postseason.
It can be expected that Philly figures it out and climbs up the standings as the season rolls along with all of the talent the team has, but Flagg now has another potential landing destination that wasn’t there before the NBA season got started.
