Cooper Flagg

[dannyboy35]

The Athletic ranked Duke forward Cooper Flagg as the second-best NBA prospect of the past decade, trailing only 7-foot-4 French superstar Victor Wembanyama.

The criteria for the list was based on how draft expert Sam Vecenie graded the players when they entered the draft. How the players ended up faring in the NBA was not part of the criteria. Rutgers guard Dylan Harper was the only college player besides Flagg to make the list.

Flagg beat out several NBA stars including Ja Morant, Luka Doncic, and Jayson Tatum.

Vecenie lauded Flagg for his competitiveness and versatile skill-set, calling the Maine native a ?highly-skilled mismatch nightmare.

He plays hard all the time and is relentless in his aggression on both ends, Vecenie wrote. He gives energy to his teammates and is all sorts of tough and fearless. He?s the easiest person to buy into becoming a winning basketball player because he amplifies those around him.

Outside of Wembanyama, Flagg has the best combination of a ridiculously high floor and also a ridiculously high ceiling if everything goes right in his development. He has a chance to become the next apex wing in the NBA.

#1 picks

C Flagg
Risacher
Wemby
Banchero
Cade
Ant
Zion
Ayton
Fultz
Ben Simmons
Towns
Wiggins
A Bennett
AD = 2012

Okay, so post-AD. Not including him.

Cooper Flagg has a strong case. Zion stands out to me as someone who has an argument against Cooper Flagg.

Ben Simmons has a bit of a case too although I would give Flagg the edge due to jump-shooting. Interesting though. I think B Simmons would be #4 prospect of the last 13 years behind Wemby, Flagg, Zion. In terms of what they were entering the NBA.

   I can?t think of a good offensive comparison with Flagg . It?s hard to tell with all the crowding and fouling in the college game that he will not experience in the nba . With shoulders everywhere he should find it easier on offense. His d seems like a poor man?s Duncan where he does great side to side on fours and adds on some shot blocking / rim protection on a much lower bevel than Tim.

[Goldstar88]

 

Tim MacMahon: Jason Kidd has said multiple times that he?ll utilize Cooper Flagg as a point guard early and plans to push him by putting him in situations that might be uncomfortable.  via Twitter espn_macmahon

[tazzmaniac]

Tim MacMahon: Jason Kidd has said multiple times that he?ll utilize Cooper Flagg as a point guard early and plans to push him by putting him in situations that might be uncomfortable.  via Twitter espn_macmahon

Trying to get him to develop his offensive creation skills to maximize his potential.  Good time to do it with Kyrie out. 

[Goldstar88]

Cooper Flagg packed a lot of history into the Dallas Mavericks' back-to-back games against the NBA's two Los Angeles squads.

On Friday night, Flagg dished out 11 assists, the most ever by an 18-year-old, in a loss to the Lakers.

Twenty-four hours later, Flagg became the youngest player to score 35 points in a game, a feat that was much more satisfying because it occurred as he led an injury-depleted Dallas team to a 114-110 win over the Clippers at the Intuit Dome.

"He's only 18 years old, but he seems like he's been in this league before," Mavs coach Jason Kidd said. "He did it all tonight. He had the ball. You can call it point guard or whatever, but he ran the offense for us. He drove the ball. The ball touched the paint. He got to the rim, got to the free throw line, stepped up and made free throws for us late. Just his composure on both ends [was impressive]. He competes at a very high level. You saw that tonight, but you saw that last night, too."

LeBron James is the only other 18-year-old to score 35 points in an NBA game, having done so twice as a rookie for the Cleveland Cavaliers in December 2023. James' first 35-point game occurred when he was 18 years, 348 days old, five days older than Flagg on Saturday night.-ESPN