Duke’s standout freshman took a scary spill in Thursday’s ACC Tournament game.
The entire basketball world held its breath on Thursday when Duke freshman Cooper Flagg crumpled to the floor after a rebound in the Blue Devils’ ACC Tournament win over Georgia Tech.
The talented 18-year-old needed assistance walking off the court and was later seen in a wheelchair before returning to the sideline.
Initial X-rays were negative, per Duke head coach Jon Scheyer. Flagg has a sprained ankle, so it’s not as catastrophic as it felt in the moment. Still, it’s only natural to express concern over Flagg’s availability for the rest of the ACC Tournament and March Madness. Duke’s title odds took a sharp dive in the aftermath of Flagg’s hard fall.
For the worst NBA teams, Flagg has been a motivator all season. A lot of tanking front offices have built their entire strategy around jockeying for the best possible chance to select Flagg No. 1 overall next June. If he’s seriously hurt and held out of games this March, it could adversely impact his stock — if only slightly.
We shouldn’t be knocking Flagg out of the No. 1 spot on draft boards right now, but lower-leg injuries are always a red flag. It’s a new element of concern for a prospect with precious few issues otherwise.
Projected NBA Draft Lottery after Duke’s Cooper Flagg sprains ankle in ACC Tournament
Order
Name
Team
Position
School
1
Cooper Flagg
Washington Wizards
F
Duke
2
Dylan Harper
Utah Jazz
G
Rutgers
3
VJ Edgecombe
Charlotte Hornets
G
Baylor
4
Ace Bailey
New Orleans Pelicans
F
Rutgers
5
Collin Murray-Boyles
Philadelphia 76ers
F
South Carolina
6
Jeremiah Fears
Brooklyn Nets
G
Oklahoma
7
Khaman Maluach
Toronto Raptors
C
Duke
8
Tre Johnson
Chicago Bulls
G
Texas
9
Noa Essengue
Portland Trail Blazers
F
Ulm (France)
10
Kasparas Jakucionis
San Antonio Spurs
G
Illinois
11
Jase Richardson
Miami Heat
G
Michigan State
12
Kon Knueppel
Houston Rockets (via PHX)
F
Duke
13
Ben Saraf
Dallas Mavericks
G
Ulm (Israel)
14
Derik Queen
Atlanta Hawks (via SAC)
C
Maryland
To put it bluntly, it would take an act of divine intervention to keep Cooper Flagg out of the No. 1 slot. Unless Dallas wins the lottery and Nico Harrison drafts another center or something. Only a profoundly mismanaged front office would take an alternate route.
It’s impossible to peg down the top player from a rookie class with 100 percent certainty, but Flagg offers the clearest path to stardom and the lowest apparent risk. He arrived in Durham as a 17-year-old and almost immediately emerged as the best player in college basketball, elevating his playmaking profile to complement three-level scoring and a voracious appetite for stops on defense.
At 6-foot-9, Flagg is a physical, hard-edged competitor who can impact the game through sheer force of will, even when shots are falling. He can still stand to tighten his handle and clean up some of his decision-making under pressure, but he’s already quite sharp. Flagg is also one of the youngest players on the board. Washington, or whichever team is awarded No. 1 in the lottery, will be glad to bring Flagg onboard.
The next man up is a more complicated equation. Rutgers point guard Dylan Harper has emerged as the consensus No. 2 on most boards, but Baylor’s VJ Edgecombe has been extremely impressive over the last month. Of note, Edgecombe will have a chance to show out in the NCAA Tournament, whereas Harper’s Rutgers team is effectively done for the season.
Harper’s freshman co-star, Ace Bailey, also has an outside shot at claiming the No. 2 crown. His game is peppered with far more holes than his high-lottery counterparts, but man, when you’re 6-foot-10, that athletic, and capable of sinking the shots Bailey hits on a nightly basis, it’s easy to look past immediate shortcomings and grasp of the bigger picture. The NBA is starved for rangy, floor-spacing wings with credible defense. Bailey is that.
This is a loaded crop of talent, but Flagg still reigns supreme as the best available prospect — whether he dominates the upcoming NCAA Tournament or spends the rest of his Duke tenure in street clothes.
