Sometimes, losing has its positives, especially when it comes to professional sports.
Every season, across the four major American sports, teams with the worst regular-season records end up with the best odds to earn a high pick in the subsequent draft.
Enter Cooper Flagg.
Whichever NBA squads sputter the worst from now until the spring will increase their chances of drafting the Duke star with one of the top picks in the 2025 NBA Draft.
Let’s check out the odds at DraftKings Sportsbook for which team will land Flagg, as of Jan. 13.
Which Team Will Draft Cooper Flagg?
Wizards: +500 (bet $10 to win $60 total)
Jazz: +550 (bet $10 to win $65 total)
Pelicans: +600 (bet $10 to win $70 total)
Hornets: +650 (bet $10 to win $75 total)
Raptors: +650 (bet $10 to win $75 total)
Blazers: +700 (bet $10 to win $80 total)
Nets: +700 (bet $10 to win $80 total)
The Wizards and Jazz are atop the oddsboard, and it makes sense why.
Washington started the season 2-2, and now sits at 6-31 as of Jan. 13. It has the worst defense in the league in terms of points allowed, and it is losing by an average of just over 14 points per game.
As for Utah, it is 10-28, giving it just four more wins than the Wizards.
But, as mentioned, there is a silver lining.
Flagg has long been considered a shoo-in to be the No. 1 pick in the 2025 draft. Through 16 games at Duke, Flagg is averaging 19.1 points, 8.3 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.3 blocks.
He’s shooting 47.9% from the field and only 34.5% from beyond the arc.
In terms of the draft lottery, the three worst teams in the league each have a 14% chance to land the No. 1 pick. The fourth-worst team has a 12.5% chance and the fifth-worst team has a 10.5% chance.
Sadly for Washington and others, recent history has not been kind to the league’s worst team in terms of picking No. 1.
Last year, Atlanta selected No. 1 despite making the play-in tournament and having just a 3% chance to land the pick.
The team with the worst record in the NBA, the Pistons, picked fifth.
In 2023, the Spurs had the second-worst record and picked first. Detroit had the worst record and picked fifth.
The last time the team with the worst record in the NBA won the draft lottery was in 2018, when the Phoenix Suns finished 21-61 and then selected Deandre Ayton with the top pick.
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