Cooper Flagg will play in Duke's first round NCAA tournament game on Friday against Mount St. Mary's despite suffering an ankle injury in the ACC tournament. As talking heads debate whether he should play or maybe even return to college for another season, one NBA team has a chance to make their stance on the Duke freshman abundantly clear.
With a loss or Miami Heat victory on Friday, the Washington Wizards will join the Utah Jazz and New Orleans Pelicans as one of the first teams eliminated from the NBA postseason picture.
A few hours after Flagg makes his March Madness debut, the Wizards can be officially eliminated by the Orlando Magic. Washington comes into Friday with the worst record in the NBA at 15–53. And that's after they just finished a stretch where they actually won six out of 10 games.
The NBA sent out a very sad reminder of the Wizards situation on Friday morning.
NBA postseason scenario for Friday, March 21. pic.twitter.com/eiPLFa87mM
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) March 21, 2025
Amazingly, the Wizards are going to finish with a better record this year than they did last year when they went 15–67. With 14 games remaining in the regular season they're not only competing against the Pelicans, Jazz and Hornets for the worst record in the league, but with themselves for one of the worst seasons in Washington's franchise history.
More NBA on Sports Illustrated
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Wizards Can Make Bold Cooper Flagg Statement by Being Eliminated From Playoffs Friday.
