Here are the top talents behind Duke’s Cooper Flagg.
(David Becker | AP) Rutgers guards Dylan Harper, left, and Ace Bailey sit court side before the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against Alabama Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024, in Las Vegas.
Cooper Flagg was Dream A, if not Plan A.
Now the Utah Jazz will have to look elsewhere in the 2025 NBA Draft.
So, who might the Jazz target with the No. 5 overall pick? Let‘s take a look at some of the draft‘s other top prospects.
Ace Bailey, Rutgers, F
He takes maybe the hardest shots in basketball — there’s no one in the NBA with this ridiculous of a shot diet, and overseas coaches might literally scream Bailey’s head off if he shot these shots in those leagues. That he makes as many of them as he does (46% of his 200 long twos this season) is an immense credit to how talented he is.
And then … you’d just want him to get some easier makes at some point to keep the offense flowing. He’s not great at getting all the way to the rim to finish, despite his size. He wasn’t great from beyond the arc last season, and the assist-to-turnover numbers are bad. He measured out at 6-7.5 in socks at the NBA Combine’s first day, shorter, even given the shoe bump, than the 6-10 he was listed at on Rutgers’ roster. Still, the shotmaking is a great place to start to develop the other skills, if he wants to put in the work.
Baylor guard VJ Edgecombe brings the ball down court against Mississippi State during the second half in the first round of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Friday, March 21, 2025, in Raleigh, N.C. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)
VJ Edgecombe, Baylor, G
Both the numbers and eye-test guys tend to love VJ Edgecombe because he’s A) athletic and B) uses that athleticism to great effect. No guard playing major minutes in college basketball got more dunks or steals last year, and draft models tend to love that combination.
Height is a question here. Edgecombe was measured at a solid 6-4, which, in the modern NBA, probably leans towards more of a point guard height than shooting guard height. The problem is that neither his handle nor passing is ready to play point guard. So he’ll make sense in certain backcourts but not others. The Jazz’s, as currently constructed, probably isn’t one of those backcourts, but who knows what will happen by the time the team is good enough to contend.
Tre Johnson, Texas, G
A classic microwave scorer from the perimeter, you know Tre Johnson is going to be able to shoot. He made 40% of his shots from deep on high volume and tough looks, with a lot of catch-and-shoot and pull-up looks scattered in there. He also joins Ace Bailey in the “200 mid-range jumpers club,” which NBA teams are going to look at with some caution.
The question is: Can he develop beyond that archetype? He’ll need to figure a lot out defensively in the NBA to stick in starting lineups for great teams. Or can his shooting be so elite that it simply doesn’t matter what else he does? That‘s a very, very high bar.
Duke’s Kon Knueppel (7) reacts after scoring during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against Florida State in Durham, N.C., Saturday, Mar. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben McKeown)
Kon Kneuppel, Duke, F
A 40% 3-point shooter, Knueppel will at least be able to add that to whichever team drafts him. He’s pretty good ball-in-hand, though, frequently taking advantage of the perimeter defensive pressure to get inside a little, then make a quick pass to Cooper Flagg or Khaman Maluach at Duke.
Impressive athlete he is not, though, which will limit how much you can realistically give him the ball, how much of a difference maker he’ll be in transition, and most importantly, how well he defends. He held up better on that end in college than he’s given credit for, but he’s not going to be guarding the opponent‘s best player much to begin possessions.