NBA Draft Lottery: Utah, Washington, and Charlotte lead the Cooper Flagg sweepstakes

Duke’s Cooper Flagg will be the first player picked in the 2025 NBA Draft next month. College basketball’s National Player of the Year has the “generational” tag as a prospect, so the team with the No. 1 pick won’t have to do much scouting or thinking before its selection.

What team will that be, though? We’ll find out tonight during the NBA Draft Lottery, which airs at 7 p.m. on ESPN before the two NBA Playoff games. Heading into the lottery, three teams share a 14 percent chance of landing Flagg: the Utah Jazz, Washington Wizards, and Charlotte Hornets. Find the odds for each of the 14 lottery teams below.

Odds to Capture the Flagg:

• Utah Jazz (17-65): 14%
• Washington Wizards (18-64): 14%
• Charlotte Hornets (19-63): 14%
• New Orleans Pelicans (21-61): 12.5%
• Philadelphia 76ers (24-58): 10.5%
• Brooklyn Nets (26-56): 9%
• Toronto Raptors (30-52): 7.5%
• San Antonio Spurs (34-48): 6%
• Houston Rockets (pick via Phoenix Suns): 3.8%
• Portland Trail Blazers (36-46): 3.7%
• Dallas Mavericks (39-43): 1.8%
• Chicago Bulls (39-43): 1.7%
• Sacramento Kings (40-42): 0.8%
• San Antonio Spurs (pick via Atlanta Hawks): 0.7%

Remember, the lottery changed its format last season, so only the top four picks are decided by random draw. Picks 5-14 are assigned in reverse order by the regular season record among non-playoff teams.

Kentucky in the NBA Draft Lottery

When John Calipari left Lexington for Chicken Land, he took the fan interest in the NBA Draft with him. Kentucky is not expected to have any first-round picks this summer and certainly won’t have any players drafted in the lottery, one year removed from two lottery picks in Reed Sheppard (3rd) and Rob Dillingham (8th).

Sheppard and Dillingham even attended the 2024 lottery, where the latter went viral for his flashy outfit.

If this is Rob Dillingham’s draft lottery fit I can’t wait to see what he wears draft night ✨ pic.twitter.com/h63yme7SrH

— Krysten Peek (@krystenpeek) May 12, 2024

PJ Washington, Tyler Herro, and Keldon Johnson attended the 2019 lottery, when New Orleans won the Zion Williamson sweepstakes.

Former Wildcats have also attended the lottery as their NBA team’s player representative. For instance, Jamal Murray represented Denver and De’Aaron Fox represented Sacramento at the 2018 lottery.

Devin Booker and Karl-Anthony Towns were sent to the 2016 lottery as good luck charms after their rookie seasons in Phoenix and Minnesota. Their presence helped Phoenix and Minnesota earn back-to-back picks at fourth and fifth that summer, when both organizations passed on Murray for Dragan Bender and Kris Dunn.