This 18yo phenom is the ‘safest No.1 pick in ages’. One NBA team is about to be gift-wrapped him
He is the 18-year-old who one NBA scout compared to Kawhi Leonard as his ceiling outcome, while another offered up Jayson Tatum as an in-his-prime comp to ESPN.
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But even if he doesn’t reach those heights, one NBA executive used two-time NBA champion and Sixth Man of the Year winner, Lamar Odom, as a floor comparison for the teenager.
Yahoo Sports’ Kevin O’Connor, meanwhile, called him the “safest No.1 pick in ages” due to his two-way excellence.
Cooper Flagg is a name almost everyone in the basketball world already knows and if you don’t, you will soon.
The Duke standout is all but locked in as the first overall pick in next month’s NBA draft, having already been singled out as the likely No.1 pick at this time last year.
And while expectations were high of Flagg in his freshman season, he exceeded them to prove the hype is well and truly real as the 18-year-old went on to claim the Wooden Award as college basketball’s best player.
Now, the question is which NBA team will be lucky enough to draft him next month?
Well, the NBA’s draft lottery will answer that question on Tuesday morning at 9am AEST.
Here, foxsports.com.au answers all the key questions you may have ahead of the lottery.
HOW DOES THE DRAFT LOTTERY WORK?
The NBA will place 14 ping-pong balls, numbered 1 to 14, into a machine. Four of these are drawn out to find a winning combination.
Teams are awarded combinations based on their lottery odds - for example, the teams with a 14.0 per cent chance of Pick 1 have 140 combinations which can be drawn, whereas the team with the lowest chance (Atlanta) has just five.
In total there are 1001 possible combinations with one not given out (so the combos can be divided equally between the teams).
The process of drawing four balls is repeated four times, to award the No.1, No.2, No.3 and No.4 picks, with the rest of the picks being given out in reverse order of team records.
The draft order will be revealed on ESPN’s broadcast which begins at 9am AEST on Tuesday May 13.
WHO HAS THE BEST CHANCE OF LANDING THE NO.1 PICK?
Well, the three teams who finished the regular season with the worst records — Utah, Washington and Charlotte — headline the list of hopefuls.
From there, the percentage chance of having the first overall pick drops incrementally based on each team’s records, while a few franchises are a chance of losing their pick to another team as part of previous trades should it fall out of a certain range.
1. Utah Jazz: 14%
2. Washington Wizards: 14%
3. Charlotte Hornets: 14%
4. New Orleans Pelicans: 12.5%
5. * Philadelphia 76ers: 10.5%
6. Brooklyn Nets: 9%
7. Toronto Raptors: 7.5%
8. San Antonio Spurs: 6%
9. ** Phoenix Suns: 3.8%
10. Portland Trail Blazers: 3.7%
11. Dallas Mavericks: 1.8%
12. Chicago Bulls: 1.7%
13. *** Sacramento Kings: 0.8%
14. **** Atlanta Hawks: 0.7%
* Philadelphia’s first-round pick is top-6 protected. If it falls between 7-14, it will go to Oklahoma City.
** Phoenix’s first-round pick will go to Houston.
*** Sacramento’s first-round pick is top-12 protected. If it falls out of that range, it goes to Atlanta.
**** Atlanta’s first-round pick will go to San Antonio.
WINNING LOTTERY TEAMS SINCE 2010
(Year, team with first overall pick, player taken, winning odds)
2024: Atlanta Hawks — Zacharie Risacher (3.00 per cent)
2023: San Antonio — Victor Wembanyama (14.00)
2022: Orlando Magic — Paolo Banchero (14.00)
2021: Detroit Pistons — Cade Cunningham (14.00)
2020: Minnesota Timberwolves — Anthony Edwards (14.00)
2019: New Orleans Pelicans — Zion Williamson (6.00)
2018: Phoenix Suns — Deandre Ayton (25.00)
2017: Boston Celtics — Markelle Fultz (25.00)
2016: Philadelphia Sixers — Ben Simmons (25.00)
2015: Minnesota Timberwolves — Karl-Anthony Towns (25.00)
2014: Cleveland Cavaliers — Andrew Wiggins (1.70)
2013: Cleveland Cavaliers — Anthony Bennett (15.60)
2012: New Orleans Hornets —Anthony Davis (13.70)
2011: Cleveland Cavaliers — Kyrie Irving (2.80)
2010: Washington Wizards — John Wall (10.30)
DRAFT ORDER: Remainder of the first round
15. Miami (to Oklahoma City via the LA Clippers)
16. Orlando
17. Detroit (to Minnesota via New York, Oklahoma City, and Houston)
18. Memphis (to Washington)
19. Milwaukee (to Brooklyn via New York, Detroit, Portland, and New Orleans)
20. Golden State (to Miami)
21. Minnesota (to Utah)
22. Los Angeles Lakers (to Atlanta via New Orleans)
23. Indiana
24. LA Clippers (to Oklahoma City)
25. Denver (to Orlando)
26. New York (to Brooklyn)
27. Houston (to Brooklyn)
28. Boston
29. Cleveland (to Phoenix via Utah)
30. Oklahoma City (to the LA Clippers)