There's been growing conversation as the season has gone on whether Duke basketball freshman superstar Cooper Flagg, who is almost definitely going to be selected with the first pick in the 2025 NBA Draft this summer, will actually go to the NBA after this season or return to Duke.
Flagg was receiving "one more year" chants from fans in the crowd at the end of Duke's last home game, a 93-60 win over Wake Forest, and was jokingly saying "run it back" on the bench. Flagg responded to the chants after the game saying he's just "living in the present right now."
Some have said that Flagg should consider returning to Duke next season depending on which NBA franchise lands the top pick in this summer' draft or potentially use it as leverage to avoid getting drafted to teams like the Washington Wizards or Charlotte Hornets.
Recently, On3 analyst Andy Staples said that since the draft lottery is set before a player has to declare for the draft, Flagg and his camp should wait to declare and use his indecision as leverage to avoid playing for Washington or Charlotte.
Now, former NBA superstar Demarcus Cousins has come out and said that Flagg should go back to Duke if the New Orleans Pelicans land the top pick, the NBA team where Cousins spent most of his prime career in the league.
"Cooper Flagg, go back to Duke, or the (Utah) Jazz brother," Cousins said on the "Run It Back" show produced by FanDuel TV. "Pelicans, you'll get lost in the sauce with the (New Orleans) 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 brother."
Cousins was seemingly saying here that the Pelicans always took a sort of "back seat" role to the New Orleans Saints of the NFL and that it might be too much of a small market for Flagg.
"From my experience, we were always the stepkid to the Saints," Cousins said about his time with the Pelicans via HoopsHype.
Although conversations continue to grow on Flagg's potential return to Durham for another season, it still feels almost impossible that a return to college basketball could actually come into fruition with Flagg, regardless of which franchise lands the top pick. The freshman phenom would miss out on tons of money and would have possibly greater competition to be the top pick in 2026 with star freshmen AJ Dybantsa and Darryn Peterson coming onto the scene next season.
As the season comes to a close and Duke moves towards national title aspirations, these conversations will continue to grow, but a decision for Flagg likely won't be made for a long time.