Cooper Flagg - Duke

[Cammo101]

Everyone is just dying to zag away from Cooper.

He just had 22 pts, 11 boards, 4 assists, 3 steals, 2 blocks in a win against the #2 team in the country.

He has shown up big in every important game for Duke all year.

People will try to pick at Flagg all year, but he is just a great basketball player. His feel for the game, BBIQ, defense, and ability to punish smaller defenders and blow by bigger ones is special. Not sure anyone has made this comp yet, but I get Scottie Pippin vibes from him.

If he doesn't go #1, it will be because Harper balled out, not because of anything Flagg does.

[CptCrunch]

Just sleep until the draft.

This kid is #1. His play in olympics select team already showed this.

College kids are playing against future accountants and hobos. Flagg looked like the best player among a solid cohort of NBA starters. Hint; don't go looking up the college stats of all of these college legends.

> Jalen Duren (Detroit Pistons), Cooper Flagg (Duke University), Langston Galloway (Free Agent), Nigel Hayes-Davis (Fenerbahçe, Turkey), Trayce Jackson-Davis (Golden State Warriors), Jaime Jaquez Jr. (Miami Heat), Brandon Miller (Charlotte Hornets), Trey Murphy (New Orleans Pelicans), Keegan Murray (Sacramento Kings), Brandin Podziemski (Golden State Warriors), Micah Potter (Utah Jazz/Salt Lake City Stars), Payton Pritchard (Boston Celtics), Jabari Smith Jr. (Houston Rockets), Jalen Suggs (Orlando Magic) and Amen Thompson

[BigGargamel]

He just had 22 pts, 11 boards, 4 assists, 3 steals, 2 blocks in a win against the #2 team in the country.

I think this is a good indication of the stats he can put up during his prime (though more like 3 stocks per game).

He's definitely not perfect, but I really don't see a solid argument for the Rutgers guys over him other than people just getting Flagg fatigue. He just does so much to help your team win.

[FarBeyondDriven]

he needs to shoot from three the way he shoots FTs. He's rising way too much unnecessarily. Adding that much movement to your shot decreases consistency. It makes sense to shoot that way when you're pulling up in the mid-range or around the rim but from three, with his release point, it doesn't. He's pretty much shooting like Ray Allen and it's odd to see someone his size do that. If he shot a more set shot like Lebron, Bird, and Jokic I think he'd have more success as he has the coordination and touch it's just his mechanics that are often all over the place. If he gets his deep shot sorted he's going to be a yearly MVP candidate.

[Rafael122]

Everyone is just dying to zag away from Cooper.

He just had 22 pts, 11 boards, 4 assists, 3 steals, 2 blocks in a win against the #2 team in the country.

He has shown up big in every important game for Duke all year.

People will try to pick at Flagg all year, but he is just a great basketball player. His feel for the game, BBIQ, defense, and ability to punish smaller defenders and blow by bigger ones is special. Not sure anyone has made this comp yet, but I get Scottie Pippin vibes from him.

If he doesn't go #1, it will be because Harper balled out, not because of anything Flagg does.

He still has a lot of room to grow but I think the most impressive thing out of all of this is that he's 17 years old lol.

[tontoz]

Shooting 35% on 2 pt attempts that aren't at the rim

[EmpireFalls]

Yeah the jumper just isn’t there at all. Which for a white prospect is actually hilarious.

Oddly his free throe form looks smooth so I’m not out on it long term. But he’s made 1 of his last 14 3 point attempts… and it appears to be getting worse before it gets better.

[bigboi]

Ben Simmons in the nba was a jack of all trades with DPOY ability. Ben Simmons literally was multiple time DPOY contender so arguably best defender in the league while running point guard. Do you see Flagg being better than prime Simmons?

Also Simmons was a better scorer in college as well

[SeattleJazzFan]

somebody above said people will pick at flagg all year. it's true and he makes it really easy. and you don't really pick at him, instead he kinda throws it right in your face. flagg is starting to remind me some of scoot in the sense that people are saying "look how good he is for somebody so young!" and in the sense that it was decided 2+ years before his draft that he would be a top 2 pick and people just ignore how they actually play on the court.

don't get me wrong - i'm not saying flagg sucks. hell, scoot doesn't suck, he's an nba player. but is he a top 2 pick? similar to scoot, i'm not going to give it to him just because we decided 2 years ago he was the guy. he has to show me he's worthy based on how he actually plays basketball.

people have thrown out the AK comparison - no, he's not close in terms of a defensive playmaker and that was supposed to be his thing.

i'm not dismissing him as the #1 overall pick, but dude has to be better. 50% TS and barely 3 stocks per game - good grief. that is embarrassing.

[KembaWalker]

it is very Scoot-esque on how all criticism is deflected to age. like, his age has nothing to do with his busted jumper and the process that will have to take place to correct it. as always, the outcome will either be great and everythings fine, or we'll get 5 years of "he's still the same age as X incoming rookie give him time" can kicking until nobody cares anymore. same story as always

[sikma42]

it is very Scoot-esque on how all criticism is deflected to age. like, his age has nothing to do with his busted jumper and the process that will have to take place to correct it. as always, the outcome will either be great and everythings fine, or we'll get 5 years of "he's still the same age as X incoming rookie give him time" can kicking until nobody cares anymore. same story as always

the thing with Flagg, I'm not really seeing the defense either. He looks like a talented defender but I'm not seeing AK47 or AD or KG level defense or potential.

It's like we are pretending we haven't seen super talented 17-year-old prospects before. We've seen T-Mac in the NBA at 18.

And the comparisons to Tatum are off to me because Tatum was showing advanced mid-range game in high school, he just ended up able to extend his range and he blossomed athletically.

[clyde21]

The new NBA **** sucks man...even when you get a sick prospect like Flagg, one of the most well rounded and accomplished prospects at 17 we've seen, and the convos are devolving into just being about his 3pt shot.

this is a critique of the NBA and basketball in 2024 more than anything else

[bigboi]

The new NBA **** sucks man...even when you get a sick prospect like Flagg, one of the most well rounded and accomplished prospects at 17 we've seen, and the convos are devolving into just being about his 3pt shot.

this is a critique of the NBA and basketball in 2024 more than anything else

But that’s the thing, he’s neither of these and that’s why people are pulling back on their opinions of him. We have seen dominant in college basketball, age was never a mention. This guy simply isn’t that good which is why his age keeps coming up. He’s about to turn 18 literally in a couple weeks too. Zion was only 6 months older than Flagg, would 6 months in age magically have made Flagg a more dominant player? No, that’s not how this works lmao. Once again, how does Flagg project to be if at all better than prime Ben Simmons?

[tontoz]

Zion averaged 22.6 with a TS of 70% at Duke. He was a force of nature.

If Flagg came into the season 5th on the mocks nobody would be talking about him as the number 1 pick.

[clyde21]

Zion was a GOAT level prospect for a reason, people forget just because he turned into a lazy fat ass in the NBA

and yes, people are factoring in that Flagg was a *great* HS player 10 games into his freshmen season at Duke, that will factor in until it doesn't anymore. first 10 games at Duke Banchero averaged 17/2/2, Flagg is at 16-9-4 with better defensive production across the board.

if you thought he was gonna come in and have a Zion-like season, that's your problem, not Flagg's.

[tontoz]

Zion was a GOAT level prospect for a reason, people forget just because he turned into a lazy fat ass in the NBA

and yes, people are factoring in that Flagg was a *great* HS player 10 games into his freshmen season at Duke, that will factor in until it doesn't anymore. first 10 games at Duke Banchero averaged 17/2/2, Flagg is at 16-9-4 with better defensive production across the board.

if you thought he was gonna come in and have a Zion-like season, that's your problem, not Flagg's.

i didn't expect him to be Zion. I did expect him to be able to shoot better than 35% outside of 3 feet.

Banchero shot 33.8% from 3 for the season at Duke. Flagg is at 22%.

[Braggins]

The new NBA **** sucks man...even when you get a sick prospect like Flagg, one of the most well rounded and accomplished prospects at 17 we've seen, and the convos are devolving into just being about his 3pt shot.

this is a critique of the NBA and basketball in 2024 more than anything else

Eh, the criticism hes getting is nonsensical even in the context of the current 3pt happy NBA. Hes averaging 23/13/5/2/2 per 75 possessions with basically a +30 net (bbref) and +12 bpm as a 17 year old. Pretty much the only recent college player you can compare him to to try to make him look underwhelming is Zion, who was a bit older and also had some red flags with regards to his prospect profile that don't exist for Flagg.

[SeattleJazzFan]

The new NBA **** sucks man...even when you get a sick prospect like Flagg, one of the most well rounded and accomplished prospects at 17 we've seen, and the convos are devolving into just being about his 3pt shot.

this is a critique of the NBA and basketball in 2024 more than anything else

He's shooting 35% from two on anything not at the rim. not being able to shoot has always been a problem for wings in the nba.

[tontoz]

Here is the current top 10 in college BPM. Somehow i doubt that BPM is really moving the needle on draft stock.

1. Kameron Jones Marquette 16.7
2. Johni Broome Auburn 16.5
3. Emanuel Sharp Houston 15.5
4. Eric Dixon Villanova 15.2
5. Derik Queen Maryland 14.6
6. Eric Dailey UCLA 13.9
7. Oscar Cluff South Dakota State 13.6
8. Simas Lukosius Cincinnati 13.0
9. Chad Baker-Mazara Auburn 12.9
10. Cameron Matthews Mississippi State 12.8

[bigboi]

The new NBA **** sucks man...even when you get a sick prospect like Flagg, one of the most well rounded and accomplished prospects at 17 we've seen, and the convos are devolving into just being about his 3pt shot.

this is a critique of the NBA and basketball in 2024 more than anything else

Eh, the criticism hes getting is nonsensical even in the context of the current 3pt happy NBA. Hes averaging 23/13/5/2/2 per 75 possessions with basically a +30 net (bbref) and +12 bpm as a 17 year old. Pretty much the only recent college player you can compare him to to try to make him look underwhelming is Zion, who was a bit older and also had some red flags with regards to his prospect profile that don't exist for Flagg.

Buddy. Flagg isn’t better than Simmons while in college either. I even threw out Josh Jackson as another player who has virtually the same exact stats as Flagg while at Kansas. His only selling point is “he’s 17”. He’s about to turn 18 in like a week so that’ll be out the window. Once again, will Flagg ever reach prime Ben Simmons level, who was a DPOY candidate while being a jack of all trades that Flagg is hyped as now. If he won’t then he shouldn’t be a number one pick