Cooper Flagg's NBA Dilemma: Stay at Duke or Go Pro?

Cooper Flagg finds himself at a pivotal crossroads in his basketball career, facing the big decision to either return to Duke for another season or jump straight to the NBA. As we dissect the pros and cons of each choice, we explore the potential impacts on both Cooper's personal growth and his financial future.

• Contrasting the pros and cons of staying at Duke versus going pro 
• Analyzing the allure of college camaraderie against injury risks 
• Historical precedents of returning to college affecting draft stock 
• Future dynamics of Duke’s team if Flagg and Boozer team up 
• Financial ramifications of staying in college versus signing a rookie contract 
• Evaluating Flagg's readiness for the NBA and public perception 

Tune in more for the inside scoop on Cooper Flagg and how his choices resonate throughout the basketball community!

Chapters

• 0:02 Cooper Flagg's Decision to Return
• 7:25 Cooper Flagg's Future

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:02

What's up everybody. It's your favorite show's favorite show. Get a Bucket. I'm your host, trey, and as usual, I hope you're all having a wonderful, wonderful day. Now this is a basketball or it's a sports show, but y'all know I love my hoops and y'all know I got to talk about the Blue Devils at some point in time and my boys.

Speaker 1: 0:23

Cooper Flagg the projected number one pick in the 2025 NBA draft that's right, this upcoming draft he's apparently making some noise, not on the court but off the court, saying that he wants to come back to Duke after this season. The number one pick, the projected number one pick, may want to forego the NBA to come back to Duke. Ok, I understand that he he wants to come back to Duke. I get you. Like I want a million dollars and to be married to Halle Berry all the time. I am not married to Halle Berry and I'm not a millionaire. So, again, we want a lot of things. People in hell want ice water all the time. Sure, they not drinking no ice water. So I would be quite shocked if it happened. Like for me personally, seeing Cooper Flagg and Cameron Boozer on the same team. Ooh, like that's crazy. But again, I believe he's NBA bound and, ladies and gentlemen, the boy is rounding up, averaging 20 points, eight rebounds, four assists, 1.6 steals, 1.2 blocks, on 49% from the field, 37% from the three, and so he just turned 18, late December. That's a lot to consider Because, again, he wants to return to Duke and he is young, so I do get that right. Like I remember Jarrett Sullinger in 2011, he was projected to be the number two pick right, went to Ohio State, did his thing, averaged 18 points, 10 rebounds, one assist, one steal, 0.5 blocks. He did return back to Ohio State for his sophomore year. Again, he was projected number two. Number two is only one pickoff from number one, ladies and gentlemen, so there is a little bit of a precedent for maybe Cooper Flagg returning back to my Blue Devils.

Speaker 1: 2:30

Now, here's the thing, doug, I gave you, I gave you those things, the pros to Cooper Flagg returning. Ok, there's a couple right, because, keep in mind, like I said, he reclassified, so he's young. That means you don't have to go up against professional. It's a fun atmosphere, and that I understand why he says he wants to come back to Duke. It's a funner atmosphere, it's a more fun atmosphere than it would be, let's say, on the Wizards. Right, then it would be, let's say, on the Wizards, right Then that's point one.

Speaker 1: 3:07

Point two you get to compete against your actual class. Again, he reclassified. So imagine you actually getting to compete against AJ and Cameron and Nate and all these boys. They're your class bro, they're your age group, so that I think could actually go pretty well too. So that I think can actually go pretty well too. So I think if I'm Cooper Flagg, I'm thinking you know what, maybe I could play against my own people. And then let's think about this too. He said he wanted to come back to Duke, right? So what happens if he wants to spend the block back with Duke University? Whether you win or lose a title, I think that's okay. So again, the pros there are a couple for Now, a couple cons are well, easily if you get injured, that kind of messes you up a little bit.

Speaker 1: 3:51

You can get injured at any point in time, but you would rather get injured in the NBA than you would in college. Just me personally Because you get your bag, you get your paper. How about if you're and this is another point how about if your stock drops? Like you have other players coming in who could actually outclass you on the floor. Yeah, you're the sophomore, but these guys are new. You know people, you. You know how we are. You know how fans are someone new and is exciting, oh wow. Yeah, we got all eyes on this person now, so that could happen.

Speaker 1: 4:26

Keep in mind jared soldier. I brought him up right the number two pick projected when he came out of the, and when he came out and went to the nba, he was the number 21 pick in the nba's draft that next season. I'm not saying coop dropped that much, but I'm saying your stock could drop, and when your stock dropped, you which goes to my next point you lose money. Now, keep in mind, coop also has an nil deal right now, but versus the nba contract, that's that. That's a little bit different. Now he's making about 4.2 m's on his mi on his nil deal. If he's number one pick, he would get 11.5 m's, and if your stock drops, well, you probably get about six to seven M's, maybe seven and a half. Them M's start adding up over them years, though.

Speaker 1: 5:12

So, again, as the number one pick, you can get the most money right now, and if you do stay in college, that's cool, but just understand that you will be losing a lot. And also now people will be wondering this is another point is he ready? That's still looming over your head, I believe, whenever you're in college. You always will have that, I don't care how you perform. You will always have that looming over your head until you actually go to the NBA. Kyrie, zion, jt, ad, kd, it did not matter. You will always have that over your head until you actually go to the NBA and prove yourself. We've seen you play against Bradley Beal, it doesn't matter. So those four points from Collins make me think he is going to go to the NBA. That's just what the history has shown us.

Speaker 1: 5:57

So again, as a Duke fan, I would love for him to come back. A Duke fan, I would love for him to come back. We would get to see him and Cameron Boozer, carlos Boozer's son, on the same team and these boys will be fighting for the projected number one pick for the next year. And if we could get both of them on the same squad, I would love a Final Four matchup with my boys AJ DeBonsa and BYU UConn. Because of their recency right, they won back-to-back championships and then some Cinderella team. I think that would be a wonderful final four. Nba ratings-wise, fan ratings-wise, entertainment ratings-wise. I think that would be lovely to watch.

Speaker 1: 6:41

But more importantly, think about the NBA draft. Because now the number one pick you could potentially choose from three players. Four, maybe you got Cooper Flagg, aj DeBonta, cameron Boozer, darren Peterson, who I, like six five point guard, could be a solid combo guard in the NBA. Like there's some players here that you could really look at and say dang, maybe I might want to take that Like the number two pick. Whoever it is, for the 2026 draft, if Cooper decides to save probably is going to be happy, because whoever they pick, they're going to be happy with regardless. Like it does not matter, it will not matter, maybe even the number three pick as well.

Speaker 1: 7:25

So again, cooper Flagg, I don't expect him to return. I really don't. I'm saying that as a Blue Devil fan. I would I biasly would love for this man to return, but I don't see it happening. But if it does, though, y'all going to see a happy Trey. I promise you that much right now. But I'm curious if y'all think Cooper Flagg will return to Duke or if he will go to the NBA. I'm definitely curious what y'all think, because y'all heard my take, but that's about it. That's about all the time we have, ladies and gentlemen, so definitely be tuning in to Cooper Flagg and Duke University. This year we're doing some good things. Shout out to the girls Duke team as well. They're doing pretty well. They're dagging themselves. You got to spread the love when we can. And then, while we're also on the subject of basketball and sports and whatnot, now analysts, please like, subscribe, comment, tell anyone who's anyone about my show. My name is Trey. I'm the host of Get a Bucket. Hope you all are having a good one. Take care.