With the first overall pick in the 2025 National Basketball Association Draft, the Dallas Mavericks selected forward Cooper Flagg of Newport, Maine first overall. The fact that the Mavericks even had the first overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft was a remarkable story. Dallas went to the 2024 NBA Finals. made a peculiar midseason blockbuster trade with the Los Angeles Lakers involving star player Luka Doncic, lost to the Memphis Grizzlies in the play-in tournament, and then overcame minimal odds (only 1.8% chance) in winning the 2025 NBA Draft Lottery.
Flagg only played one season of college basketball. That was as a freshman last year while with the Duke Blue Devils. Flagg was the Associated Press Player of the Year. He averaged 19.2 points per game, 7.5 rebounds per game, 4.2 assists per game, 1.4 steals per game, and 1.4 blocks per game. Flagg had a field goal percentage of .481, three point percentage of .385, and a free throw percentage of .840.
In the history of the NBA Draft, Flagg is the sixth player selected first overall from Duke University. He follows small forward and shooting guard Art Heyman of New York City, New York (New York Knicks in 1963), power forward Elton Brand of Cortlandt Manor, New York (Chicago Bulls in 1999), shooting guard Kyrie Irving of Melbourne, Australia (Cleveland Cavaliers in 2011), power forward Zion Williamson of Salisbury, North Carolina (New Orleans Pelicans in 2019), and power forward Paolo Banchero of Seattle, Washington (Orlando Magic in 2022).
This was the second time in Mavericks history they had the first overall pick in the NBA Draft. In 1981, they selected small forward Mark Aguirre of Chicago, Illinois first overall out of DePaul.
There was also history made in the first round of the 2025 NBA Draft. For the first time ever, one team had five picks. The Brooklyn Nets selected point guard Egor Demin of Moscow, Russia eighth overall out of Brigham Young University, point guard Nolan Traore of Creteil, France 19th overall out of Saint-Quentin in France, shooting guard Drake Powell of Durham, North Carolina out of the University of North Carolina, shooting guard Ben Saraf of Gan Yoshia, Israel out of Ratiopharm Ulm, Germany, and power forward Danny Wolf of Israel out of the University of Michigan.
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