Oddsmakers label Duke as favorite to retain Cooper Flagg in 2025-26, have better odds than any NBA team

Duke’s Cooper Flagg is still and will continue to be projected as the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft. That said, there continues to be a chance that he very well could return for a sophomore season in Durham.

Bovada has listed odds of where Flagg will play his first game of next season in 2025-2026. The Blue Devils have the best odds on the board before any of the eight teams from there in the NBA:

Duke (+290)
Hornets (+550)
Wizards (+550)
Jazz (+550)
Pelicans (+650)
Nets (+800)
76ers (+1000)
Raptors (+1100)
Bulls (+1400)

This has become a storyline following Flagg coming out of the regular season and into the postseason of his freshman year in college. One would think it wouldn’t even be a discussion considering what it’d mean to be the top pick in a draft but, with the changes at the college level, the projected options to have the selection, and how he has enjoyed his time at Duke, it could be under consideration for Flagg.

This is the latest part of the conversation since Flagg waved for one more year chants during his final game last week at Cameron Indoor. Since then, it was debated by those at ESPN including Jay Bilas, as well as previously by Dick Vitale, and also considered by Mike Krzyzewski.

Coming into the tournaments, Flagg is averaging 19.4 points (49.4% FG, 37.7% 3PT), 7.6 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.5 steals, and 1.3 blocks. That has helped the Blue Devils to a 28-3 record as the regular-season champions in the ACC and as one of the projected No. 1 seeds come this weekend for the NCAA Tournament. It also has him in the lead or very much in contention for conference and national honors like ACC and National Freshman of the Year, ACC Player of the Year, All-America, and National Player of the Year.

That has only further placed hype on Flagg as a prospect for the next level in the NBA. It’s been on par with that of the most attention in recent drafts for past selections like Victor Wembanyama and Zion Williamson.

However, Flagg could make these teams in the draft lottery wait another year if he returned to Duke. He very well could too if circumstances, namely name, image, and likeness, was where it needed to be to remain a star in college basketball rather than one in the association.

Whether you believe it or not, this will be worth taking note of between now through March and ahead of, at longest, the withdrawal deadline at the end of May. That’s the latest we’ll know if Flagg will be back in the NCAA or in the NBA – with these odds being the latest to suggest it could actually be the former rather than the latter.