The list of former Duke Basketball players to be selected No. 1 overall in the NBA Draft is longer (5) than any other college program and is about to get one bigger when the Dallas Mavericks select Cooper Flagg with the first pick of the 2025 draft later this month. It's been a foregone conclusion that the Mavs would take Flagg after their surprising jump in the lottery from 11th, having only a 1.8% chance of winning, all the way up to No. 1.
It is often the case when guys come off the board with the No. 1 pick that they're joining a team that was unsuccessful the previous season and many times has been a losing organization for some time. But that's not the case with Dallas, who traded Luka Doncic this past season to the Lakers in exchange for Anthony Davis and then suffered numerous injuries to fall out of playoff contention. Flagg will be joining a team boasting All-Pro players Kyrie Irving, Klay Thompson, and Davis, in addition to promising young big man Dereck Lively, a third member of The Brotherhood to suit up for the Mavs.
"We definitely are connected. He's a Duke Blue Devil," Irving said before the draft."I know he can deal with the pressure, and I'm looking forward to seeing a great season."
Dallas' leadership has already made it publicly known that they're not trading the pick and will be taking Flagg with the first pick, and the College Basketball National Player of the Year will be taking a meeting with his future team later this month.
"Cooper Flagg plans to have a private visit with the Mavericks in Dallas on June 17," ESPN Basketball Reporter Shams Charania reported this weekend. "One week after his first official Mavs visit, Flagg is set to be Dallas' No. 1 pick in the NBA draft on June 25."