Cooper Flagg’s Potential NBA Landing Places

A Sharp Take from Ricky O’Donnell — With Our Own Twist

Our friend Ricky O’Donnell over at SBNation just dropped an insightful piece outlining six potential landing spots for Cooper Flagg in this June’s NBA Draft.

Of course, the usual disclaimer applies: no one really knows how things will shake out until after the Draft Lottery on Monday — and even then, it’s all mostly educated guesswork.

Ricky’s top six destinations for Flagg are:

1. Washington

2. Brooklyn

3. Chicago

4. Charlotte

5. Portland

6. Dallas

We largely agree with the thought process, but we think the most important factor for Flagg is landing with a stable, well-run organization. That rules out Washington and (regrettably) Charlotte in our eyes. Instead, we’d slot in San Antonio — a franchise with decades of consistency and success.

Here’s our revised top five:

1. San Antonio – The Spurs are lottery pros (see: Robinson, Duncan, Wembanyama). A young core of Flagg, Wembanyama, De’Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle, and Jeremy Sochan would be electric — and a great fit for fellow prospect Kon Knueppel, too.

2. Chicago – A mix of youth and potential. Pairing Flagg with Matas Buzelis, Josh Giddey, and Coby White — not to mention fellow Duke alum Tre Jones — would make for a dynamic, entertaining squad.

3. Portland – The Blazers have intriguing talent: Donovan Clingan, Scoot Henderson, Deni Avdija, Shaedon Sharpe, and Matisse Thybulle. Flagg would add even more versatility to that core.

4. Dallas – Though an older team overall, the Mavs have a strong defensive frontcourt with Anthony Davis, Dereck Lively, and the potential addition of Flagg. Kyrie Irving (also Duke) is recovering from an Achilles injury, but there’s a nice veteran mix with Klay Thompson, Caleb Martin, and others.

5. Brooklyn – A bit of a rebuild in progress. D’Angelo Russell is unreliable at this point, and beyond Cameron Johnson, Nic Claxton, and Duke product Dariq Whitehead, there’s not much. That said, Brooklyn has a pile of draft picks and could build slowly around Flagg.

Each of these teams offers something appealing, but if Flagg had his pick, we wouldn’t be surprised if he dreams of wearing Celtics green one day. It would likely require a future free-agent move and a pay cut, but Boston feels like a natural fit.