We are officially one week away from the 2025 NBA Draft Lottery, which means every tanking team is crossing fingers, arms, legs and toes in hopes of securing the right to select Duke Blue Devils forward Cooper Flagg with the No. 1 overall pick. There isn't a single team or fanbase more desperate for a dopamine hit than the Philadelphia 76ers.
This past season was a hellish experience for Sixers fans, even more so than normal. All expectations were stripped away early in favor of brooding despair as Philly's title hopes vanished and their future flickered before fans' eyes.
Flagg would raise spirits quite a bit, and the Sixers are pulling out all the stops with their representative for next Monday's event in Chicago. Their 2024 first-round pick and former Duke star Jared McCain will be at the Sixers' podium when the results are officially revealed.
guess who will be representing us at the draft lottery this year…👀 pic.twitter.com/hK3AeTK7Y3
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) May 4, 2025
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76ers establish strong Cooper Flagg connection with Jared McCain as NBA Draft Lottery rep
Unfortunately, McCain cannot alter the trajectory of ping pong balls (or the temperature of an envelope) with his mind powers. This is deeply upsetting news for us wounded Sixers fans, but it's a fact.
That said, it does feel something like fate (or blind desperation... not sure which). McCain was a sensation for Philadelphia in an otherwise flimsy draft class. He was on the fast track to Rookie of the Year honors until a fluke meniscus injury ended his season after 23 games. That was pretty much the arc of this past Sixers season in miniature.
Daryl Morey has a great eye for talent. A lot of talent happens to go through the Duke program. McCain and Flagg never played together, but establishing the Duke pipeline in Philadelphia would add a fun little side note to a monumental moment in franchise history. It feels a bit selfish for the team with Joel Embiid, Paul George and Tyrese Maxey to claim deservedness in the Flagg sweepstakes, but Philly fans have been through a lot and it's awfully bleak right now. Flagg would restore some of the light to basketball's gloomiest support group.
Embiid's long-term outlook has never been murkier after yet another knee surgery. Both George and Maxey are still recovering from various ailments this summer. McCain has not resumed basketball activities as he nurses his own knee injury. The Sixers need a strong path forward — a clear lifeline to the future. Flagg provides that and then some, reinvigorating what could be a day-one contender in 2025.
If asked to create the ideal Sixers prospect in a lab, you'd come up with something loosely resembling Flagg. They need a power forward with size and physicality who plays all-out on every possession, spaces the floor, makes strong decisions, and operates decisively in (and out of) the flow of the offense. Flagg checks every box for Philadelphia. He can help them rebound. He can help a limited Embiid protect the rim. He can ease the offensive burden on the Sixers' aging stars. It's a beautiful marriage on paper.
If McCain's presence is a cosmic sign, we could be welcoming the NBA's next 18-year-old prodigy to the City of Brotherly Love before long.