Which NBA team will nab the No. 1 overall pick, and thus the right to presumably select Duke University freshman phenom Cooper Flagg?
More importantly, which team should get to draft the 6-foot-9 power forward?
During a recent appearance on their Fox Sports 1 show “First Thing’s First,” hosts Nick Wright, Chris Broussard and Kevin Wildes debated which team they’d prefer to see draft Flagg.
Two franchises in particular, both of whom have recently enjoyed deep playoff runs (but no title in at least a decade), stood out to Wright: the Philadelphia 76ers and the Miami Heat.
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Both clubs just faced off against each other on Saturday. The Heat trounced the tanking 76ers, 118-95. In so doing, Miami officially eliminated Philadelphia from postseason contention, knocking it to a 23-51 record on the year. The 33-41 Heat, meanwhile, are still just the No. 10 seed in the Eastern Conference, and will face an uphill battle to actually qualify for the playoffs proper.
Neither team has great odds of capturing the No. 1seed — and thus the rights to Flagg — just yet.
“I think Philly’s perfect because the idea behind [signing] Paul George was correct,” Wright said. “My point is, [team president Daryl Morey]’s idea of [Tyrese] Maxey, a very good wing, [Joel] Embiid, that is a team that makes a ton of sense, and Cooper Flagg could just slide into that spot.”
Morey essentially swapped out Tobias Harris for nine-time All-Star George in free agency, only to discover that the 34-year-old, oft-hurt George doesn’t look like his prime self anymore. All-Stars Maxey and Embiid also dealt with major injuries in 2024-25, dooming the 76ers to a lost season.
Last year, as they have so often during the Embiid era, the 76ers struggled with health in the postseason and were kicked to the curb sooner than expected.
Flagg would replace or play next to George, taking some of the pressure off Philadelphia’s $211.6 million new addition in the second season of that exorbitant contract.
But Wright would ultimately prefer to see Flagg land elsewhere.
“So I’d like to see him in Miami, ’cause I feel like Miami got screwed by Jimmy Butler and I think that would be a little vindication,” Wright said. “Obviously, the problem is — and I apologize to the fans of these teams — the teams that are the most likely to get him are the worst teams, and none of us want him to go there.”
Butler, a six-time All-Star, forced his way out of town during a contentious season that included three suspensions. The Heat ultimately dealt him away to the Golden State Warriors, where he instantly transformed that club into a fringe contender in the West.
During the franchise’s first four seasons with Butler, Bam Adebayo, and Tyler Herro in tow, the Heat appeared in three Eastern Conference Finals and two NBA Finals. Things soured when Butler’s representatives and Miami brass could not agree on a contract extension last summer.
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Flagg would give a proud Heat team a new franchise cornerstone in the wake of Butler’s unhappy departure. Miami has proven that it can maximize its talent, although the burnout rate for superstars has been surprisingly high. Butler, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Shaquille O’Neal all acrimoniously left town.
Wright noted that he was open to most other lottery clubs landing Flagg.
“[With the Utah Jazz], the culture’s not bad, and Utah would love Cooper Flagg,” Wright added. “I want to be on the record: Utah is not a sexy team, but I think they’re well coached. [CEO of basketball operations Danny] Ainge knows what he’s doing. They also have a bunch of picks. They could build something there. I do not want to see him with one of the two unserious teams.”
Both Wright’s cohosts, unprompted, volunteered the names of these two teams: the Washington Wizards and the Charlotte Hornets.
Flagg is considered a major scoring talent, a modern big man whose game has echoes of Kevin Durant and Kevin Garnett.
Durant and Garnett, of course, are two of the best 30 or so players in history. It’s unfair to expect any incoming player to reach that level of greatness, but at least Flagg has that ceiling.
Across 35 games for the Blue Devils this season, the consensus All-American is averaging 19.0 points on .487/.372/.832 shooting splits, 7.5 rebounds and 4.3 assists.
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