Did Blazers Blow Chance to Land Cooper Flagg With Recent Win Streak?

The Trail Blazers may have cost themselves at landing a generational player.

Feb 8, 2025; Clemson, South Carolina, USA; Duke Blue Devils forward Cooper Flagg (2) listens to Duke Blue Devils Head Coach Jon Scheyer during the second half at Littlejohn Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Ken Ruinard/USA Today Network via magn Images | Ken Ruinard-Imagn Images

The Portland Trail Blazers were one of the few teams not to make a move at the trade deadline. Only four teams didn't make a single trade, and they were one of them.

Instead of parting ways with assets and getting draft capital in return, the Trail Blazers are keeping everyone on their roster and trying to make a push at the playoffs.

There's no denying that the Blazers have been playing some great basketball in recent weeks. At one point, they won ten of eleven games. That saw them surge just just 2.5 games back from the ten spot in the Western Conference standings.

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The Trail Blazers have now lost two straight games since having that winning streak. They still are 13th in the Western Conference standings and are now 4.5 games behind the Warriors for that tenth spot.

Did the Blazers just cost themselves a chance to land Cooper Flagg because they didn't trade assets at the deadline? Had they traded Jerami Grant, Robert Williams III, and Anfernee Simons, they would have become a lot worse.

Becoming worse could have given them a chance to lose more games and increase their odds of landing the number-one pick. Instead, they are now in limbo.

Right now, the Trail Blazers have the eighth-worst record in the league. They need to be in the top four in order to have a 14.5% chance to land Flagg.

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Flagg is easily the top prospect in the NBA Draft this season. While he's not quite as good as Victor Wemabnyama, teams are trying to tank for him in the same vain.

Portland may have shot themselves in the foot on this one. They now have to get extremely lucky in order to land him in the lottery because they aren't gong to be good enough to make the playoffs.

It's clear that the Blazers still have no plan for the future. They have a bunch of young guys on the roster who all play the same position, so they don't know what to do.

So far this season for Duke, Flagg is averaging 19.5 points, 7.7 rebounds, and four assists per game.

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