Duke basketball is currently gearing up for what they hope will be a long NCAA tournament run with the good news that Cooper Flagg will be back in the lineup beginning Friday. Flagg recently missed most of Duke’s run to the ACC Championship with an injury but it appears that the setback is not as bad as initially feared.
Flagg has yet to indicate what his intentions are after this season concludes, whether that be staying at Duke or going to the NBA Draft, where he is widely expected to go number one overall. Recently, NBA insider Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated broke down the likelihood of Flagg actually staying at Duke.
“Hell no. I haven’t talked to people in Flagg’s orbit about this, but no one in the NBA believes Flagg won’t be in the draft this June. It’s not unusual for a top prospect to be lukewarm about the team in position to draft him… but enough to stay on campus for another year? No shot.” reported Mannix.
Mannix also reported how financial considerations play into the decision.
“The reason players leave early is to start the clock on future contracts. The first NBA contract is nice, the second is better. The third? That’s the one that leads to generational wealth,” reported Mannix, also noting that any injury that Flagg could suffer with another year at Duke could potentially damage his draft stock.
A dubious proposition
It would be borderline unprecedented for a draft prospect of Cooper Flagg’s caliber to stay longer than one year at college, even if he has yet to formerly announce his intentions so far.
For what it’s worth, Flagg has seemed to thoroughly enjoy his time at Duke, quickly turning himself into one of the frontrunners for the Wooden Award this year and following through on all of the hype he had built coming out of high school.
However, the more likely scenario remains that he will elect to take his talents to the next level, regardless of which NBA franchise ends up with the first pick in the draft.
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