Portland is looking to enter the Cooper Flagg sweepstakes in earnest.
With the NBA having unveiled its full 2024-25 regular season schedule Thursday afternoon, it's now clear that several key matchups could abet the Trail Blazers' tanking prospects. The 17-year-old Flagg, a 6-foot-9 Duke commit out of Florida's Montverde Academy, turned heads in playing for the USA Select Team, while practicing against a loaded Team USA squad in Las Vegas this summer. He is seen as a potential generational prospect, and the probable No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft.
But to get bad enough for maximal lottery odds, Portland will need to drop some winnable games against its fellow NBA dregs. This year's Trail Blazers currently have 13 back-to-back contests in this year's schedule. They had 14 last season. Six games will be road-and-rod matchups, four will be home-and-home, and three will be home-and-road.
Portland's first game will be against the wholly revamped Golden State Warriors on October 23, whom the club will host at the Moda Center. The Trail Blazers will remain home for the next two games, both matchups against the New Orleans Pelicans on October 25 and 27.1. Detroit Pistons - Monday, January 6 at Little Caesars Arena, 4 p.m.
The Pistons are poised to once again be pretty bad, though they will no longer be the league's most miserable franchise. Detroit has hired what looks like a coaching upgrade in ex-Cleveland Cavaliers head coach J.B. Bickerstaff, and has brought on veterans like Tobias Harris. The team will be competent, but still seems likely to finish outside of the top 10 and head straight to the lottery. It's essential that the Trail Blazers sew up the loss here.
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