Former All-NBA Center Wants Jazz to Draft Cooper Flagg

The Utah Jazz will have a majorly important draft lottery sitting ahead of them this offseason.

For every team mixed within the pool of 14 with a chance to land the top pick in this year's draft, the focus will be dead-set on Cooper Flagg being the potential guy for that first spot. For almost the past year, the Duke product has been consistently separating himself from the crowd of incoming rookie prospects as the clear number-one guy, and everyone will be eager to get their hands on him.

But while the field of potential suitors is vast with many different options on the table, former All-NBA center sees a complementary fit between Flagg and one specific squad ahead of this year's draft: the Utah Jazz.

During his appearance on Run It Back on FanDuel TV alongside other former NBA players like Chandler Parsons and Lou Williams, Cousins made his bold claim that if he were in Flagg's shoes, he'd either be coming back for another season at Duke, or going to the league to play for Utah.

"If I'm Cooper Flagg, I'm going back to Duke or going to the Jazz," Cousins said. "Pelicans, you'll get lost in the sauce with the Saints. Wizards, they don't care. Hornets, we just finished a whole 30-minute segment on them. Utah, you'll be a hero, you'll fit right in. I'm seeing the Jazz."

"If I'm Cooper Flagg, I'm going back to Duke or to the Jazz. Pelicans, you'll get lost in the sauce with the Saints. Wizards, they don't care. Hornets, we just finished a 30 minute segment on them. In Utah, you'll be a hero."@BoogieCousins on Flagg's potential landing spots 😂 pic.twitter.com/alaDt9lGLt
— Run It Back (@RunItBackFDTV) February 27, 2025

It's an outcome that would be nothing short of a delight for Jazz fans, as Flagg has been crowned as the unanimous top prospect in this year's class, and would be an immediate spark to Utah's long-spanning rebuild –– maybe even giving him the "hero" title Cousins dubbed him with.

Flagg has impressed in his one season with the Blue Devils. In 30 games, he's averaged 19.6 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 4.2 assists with 49.7% shooting from the field and 38.2% from three. And still, with a March Madness tournament sitting ahead of him, there's more to come from an already strong freshman season.

Cooper Flagg checked out with 28 PTS to "One More Year" chants from Duke fans 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/4z7kBvvkYb
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) March 4, 2025

At 6-foot-9 with dangerous two-way versatility at both the college and pro level, whoever ends up fortunate enough to grab him will likely have a cornerstone to bank on for the foreseeable future.

Will that team be the Jazz? Only time will tell. However, with their current bottom-three finish in the league standings, they're positioned perfectly to be tied for the best odds for the number one pick at 14.0%, which currently places alongside the Charlotte Hornets and Washington Wizards.

For Boogie, the Jazz may provide the best situation of those three, and maybe even the rest of the field within arm's reach to acquire him. However, the final verdict on the Blue Devil's future will come down to the outcome of some numbers on a few ping-pong balls.

The 2025 NBA Draft Lottery will held on May 12th in Chicago, where Flagg's NBA fate will ultimately be revealed.

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