5 pretenders who should start tanking for Cooper Flagg right now

The 2024 NBA Draft was never quite able to capture the imagination of your standard basketball fan. Zaccharie Risacher as the No. 1 pick was never going to sell out stadiums or elicit much excitement on NBA Twitter. The 2025 draft, however, figures to generate plenty of buzz over the next year.

It starts with projected No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg, who is committed to Duke alongside an impressive slate of five-star recruits. The 17-year-old is one of the youngest players in the class and he's also one of its most polished, offering a diverse skill set that is eminently scalable and oftentimes explosive.

Flagg has a nice head start on his peers. He spent the last week training with the USA Men's Basketball Select Team ahead of the Paris Olympics, going up against the likes of LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Joel Embiid in live scrimmages. Flagg's exploits, while not televised, were well documented by those in attendance. Sharing the court with an impressive collection of upstart NBA players and competing against the league's very best, Flagg was a shining star.

Here's what we're dealing with, folks. Duke is about to have one heck of a season.

The 2024 tankathon at the bottom of the standings was kind of depressing. There wasn't much of a prize at the end. That is not the case in 2025. Every half-bad team will be angling for the No. 1 pick and praying to the lottery gods.

We know a few teams who are already well on their way to 'Sag for Flagg' territory — Washington, Brooklyn, Portland, Chicago. That said, here are a few pretenders who should probably accept reality and aim for Flagg instead of trying in vain to compete.

5. Detroit Pistons

With all due respect to the Detroit Pistons, it's not time yet. Cade Cunningham re-upped on a max contract worth $224 million this week, which keeps the former No. 1 pick tethered to Motor City through the 2029 season. At some point before that contract ends, ideally, the Pistons start to win games.

This is not the season, though. Jaden Ivey and Ausar Thompson still have a lot to figure out. Ron Holland was my No. 1 prospect in the 2024 draft — he's a dude — but the fit is wonky in Detroit and he will require a patient hand. Jalen Duren rocks; Isaiah Stewart competes. But, is that a workable frontcourt offensively?

There's a lot we still don't know about how this Pistons team coalesces around Cunningham, whose health is always a looming concern. JB Bickerstaff is a great regular season coach and he should raise the Pistons' floor, but he's not a wizard. Tobias Harris is never as good as you want him to be, and Tim Hardaway Jr. was registering DNP-CDs in the playoffs for a reason. And it's not because the Mavs are deep on the wing.

Detroit has a few nice pieces. This has been a positive offseason on the whole. Even with new management, though, fans ought to temper expectations. This is the very front end of a potentially fruitful rebuild, not the turning point. Plus, it gets a lot easier to build a winner around Cade with Cooper Flagg in the mix.

4. Charlotte Hornets

The Charlotte Hornets are expected to progress under new head coach Charles Lee. He comes from championship pedigree in Boston and inherits a roster with genuine star-power between LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller. The latter is due for a sophomore leap, while LaMelo is a healthy season away from correcting a few silly narratives around his game.

And yet, despite a mostly productive offseason, the Hornets are still a piece or two away. Cooper Flagg would qualify as a "piece," of course. But Charlotte won't land a big fish in a trade and the Hornets aren't a destination in free agency. The draft is the best way to continue stockpiling star power, and the 2025 class harbors several future All-Stars near the top. Flagg chief among them.

Tidjane Salaun, Charlotte's sixth overall pick last month, will require patience at the next level. He's not ready to impact winning, while many of the Hornets' late-season breakouts — Tre Mann, for example — don't feel particularly sustainable. The P.J. Washington trade was a major indicator of Charlotte's intentions last season. New management can always change the trajectory of a team, but presumably Jeff Peterson wants to put his own stamp on the roster. What better way than landing a franchise cornerstone in Flagg?

Flagg would provide the ideal connective tissue for the Hornets' roster on both ends of the floor. This is obviously the dream outcome for every tanking team next season, but simply put, the Hornets should not be too eager to crack the playoffs. It's not time.

3. Utah Jazz

The Utah Jazz continue to hover in basketball no-man's land, too good to properly tank but not good enough to contend. Danny Ainge has a mountain of trade ammo at his disposal, but the Jazz aren't exactly a hotbed for splashy free agents or trade requests. As such, Utah has arrived at an organizational crossroads this summer: extend Lauri Markkanen, or trade him and start anew.

It's probably wise for the Jazz to cash out and start from scratch. Markkanen is a tremendous player, but he projects best as the No. 3 option on a title contender, not the foundational piece of a team vainly grasping for postseason relevance. Will Hardy is an elite coach and Utah has been quite good out of the gate in each of the last two seasons. Ainge has very purposefully pulled the plug at consecutive trade deadlines to better position Utah for a high draft pick.

That has left Utah picking ninth and 10th in the last two drafts, though. Why not bottom out properly, letting Keyonte George, Isaiah Collier, and Cody Williams try their hands at running the show while putting yourself in prime position for Cooper Flagg? The new lottery format has changed the dynamics of tanking a bit — Atlanta is definitive proof that the 10th-best odds are enough to jump up to No. 1 — but every percentage point matters when an all-time prospect is on the line. Utah should be ready to tank tank.

Even if Markkanen ends up sticking around, the Jazz should take the slow-burn approach again this season. Danny Ainge can aim for a quick ramp-up in the 2025-26 season, but Utah should be aiming for Flagg until then.

2. Toronto Raptors

The Toronto Raptors handed out a couple massive contracts to Scottie Barnes and Immanuel Quickley this summer. It's the price of doing business, but it does leave Toronto in an awkward spot as a non-contender with an unwieldy payroll. It's hard for expensive teams to build out their rosters under the new CBA and Toronto won't have the cap space to target major free agents in the years to come.

The best way to circumvent mediocrity is to bottom out and land a generational prospect. Cooper Flagg would put Toronto on the map, and he's not going to cost much until his fifth NBA season — all the way in 2030. The Raptors essentially add their 1A star on a dirt-cheap contract, which in turn makes Barnes and Quickley look far better on their pricey deals.

It's a dream outcome. Toronto might have too much talent to bottom out completely, but the Raptors were comfortably outside the postseason picture last season and did very little to improve this summer. Quickley is due for a leap, perhaps Barnes gets better, but this is a decidedly mediocre roster in search of a guiding force. Barnes is a spectacular player, but he's not the go-to on a championship contender. Quickley is at his best when he's torching seams in a rotating defense. He's not meant to lead the charge, so to speak.

Flagg is the perfect Raptors prospect, long and athletic with a high basketball IQ and a scalable skill set. He also puts Toronto back in the contenders circle sooner than later, assuming his talent translates as we all expect it to. A well-managed tank job in 2024-25 could save the Raptors from purgatory.

1. San Antonio Spurs

We all expect Victor Wembanyama to smash records and explode brains during his second NBA season. He alone could be enough to put the San Antonio Spurs in the Play-In mix, maybe even the playoffs.

But, the Spurs are very deliberately taking a patient approach. Chris Paul and Harrison Barnes are the big offseason additions. Both ought to help Wemby in the locker room and on the court, but San Antonio still doesn't have a viable second star. Devin Vassell isn't built to be the primary perimeter scorer on a contender. Jeremy Sochan is cool, but last season was a struggle in terms of fit. Stephon Castle should help quickly, but he's not the day-one starting point guard more optimistic fans expect.

San Antonio hasn't meaningfully addressed the lack of perimeter defense around Wemby. CP3 ostensibly solves the point guard issue, but he's a 39-year-old defensive liability best suited to backup duties, not an All-Star creator who stresses a defense. If the Spurs can manage one more proper tank before Wemby takes off into the stratosphere, well, it could pay dividends.

Just imagine Wemby and Flagg in the same lineup. It's borderline unfair, and the Spurs should probably stop getting all the great frontcourt prospects. It's not fair to the rest of the league. But... we all want to see it. It's undeniable.