One NBA veteran’s advice to Cooper Flagg amounted to saying there’s no magic in the Wizards.
Quentin Richardson, who played 13 seasons in the NBA, said Flagg should consider staying at Duke rather than becoming the next one-and-done college star to enter the draft.
Flagg is the favorite to be the No. 1 pick.
Should Cooper Flagg run it back at Duke rather than going to the NBA after his freshman season?
— College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) March 8, 2025
Former NBA player @QRich shared that if he were Flagg, he "would stay" at Duke ???? pic.twitter.com/swkobmjrzw
“If I’m Cooper Flagg, I’m not sure I want to go to the Washington Wizards,” Richardson said Saturday during an appearance on ESPN’s “College GameDay.” “That’s waiting on him, and that’s purgatory.”
The Wizards (12-49) are about to miss the NBA playoffs for the fourth straight season and sixth time in seven years.
They last won a playoff series during the 2016-17 season.
“I would stay,” Richardson, considering the NIL money available to college athletes today. “With the landscape what it is now and the money he can make, knowing that I’m looking at going to Washington? Obviously, I would have to consult with my family and my team and check all of those things out, but I’m not sure that would be the worst thing for him.”
Of course, even if the Wizards finish with the worst record in the NBA, they are not a lock for the No. 1 pick.
The draft lottery affords the three-worst teams an equal 14 percent chance at securing the No.1 pick.
Right now, the Wizards, Jazz and Hornets would be the co-favorites to secure the right to choose between Flagg, Rutgers teammates Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper and anyone else at the top of the class.
Flagg is averaging 19.5 points per game for No. 2 Duke (27-3).
Zaccharie Risacher, who was the No. overall pick in the 2024 draft, signed a four-year, $57 million contract.
Austin Walton, the CEO and founder of Next Sports Agency, recently estimated to Yahoo Sports that Flagg could earn $6 million to $8 million in NIL deals at Duke.
Richardson spent two years in college at DePaul.
He recalled taking out an insurance policy against injury for about $10 million after his freshman year — and that’s different from receiving actual money like today’s stars can.