Cooper Flagg - Duke

[MasterIchiro]

Zion was the number 1 pick all year, undisputed.

I still preferred Ja Morant and would've taken Ja #1.

Zion's main issues have been injuries, weight & unavailability. You can't project those onto Flagg.

It seems like you're effectively using Flagg's success against him.

I'm saying consensus #1 does not mean much if you see another player you really love. You should take that player if you see him. I loved Ja. And even if Zion remained healthy and Ja never developed a gun fetish they'd both help their teams as feature players, but help them in different ways. I can see the way Flagg is going to help the team that selects him and see him becoming a star.

[tontoz]

GMs have another consideration. Job security. No GM is going to get fired for taking Flagg at 1. Passing on him would be a risky move even though it is easy for us to talk about on here.

[Bernman]

I'm saying consensus #1 does not mean much if you see another player you really love. You should take that player if you see him. I loved Ja. And even if Zion remained healthy and Ja never developed a gun fetish they'd both help their teams as feature players, but help them in different ways. I can see the way Flagg is going to help the team that selects him and see him becoming a star.

You might have been able to rationalize it until recently, but after the shooting surge & passing brilliance from Flagg, the questions are disappearing, so at this point I think it'd be stubbornness. I had lingering doubts, but not any longer.

There's consensus #1, then there's virtual unanimous ones because they're freaks w/ minimal questions. Those guys only get felled by injuries, which could happen to anyone. If you don't pull the trigger you're very likely gonna regret it.

I just saw the Wisconsin Badgers render both Ace Bailey & Dylan Harper useless in a game. That's not happening to Flagg, w/ his all-around impact. And he's a re-classified high school senior. There'd be more of an excuse.

[clyde21]

Zion was the number 1 pick all year, undisputed.

I still preferred Ja Morant and would've taken Ja #1.

and you'd still be wrong, even if it worked out for you because Zion loved burgers and porn too much

[CptCrunch]

Fun fact; when Cooper plays in the NBA in October 2025...

He will be the 2nd youngest NBA player ever drafted post 2005 era were minimum draft age was raised to 19.

Some dude named Ulrich Chomche was drafted by the Raptors in 2024 with birthday on December 30th. Cooper will have a December 21st birthday which is 10 days from the date cutoff.

[MasterIchiro]

GMs have another consideration. Job security. No GM is going to get fired for taking Flagg at 1. Passing on him would be a risky move even though it is easy for us to talk about on here.

If you don't have autonomy at your job you don't want to work for that boss.

I expect Flagg to go number 1 no matter which team wins the lottery and would celebrate if it's my Hornets.

So I expect them to make the pick for the sole reason Flagg will be great, not because they fear losing their jobs if they like someone better for their team. There are teams of scouts who debate.

The Hornets were said to be 50/50 on Scoot/Miller with much "spirited debate".

[tontoz]

GMs have another consideration. Job security. No GM is going to get fired for taking Flagg at 1. Passing on him would be a risky move even though it is easy for us to talk about on here.

If you don't have autonomy at your job you don't want to work for that boss.

.

Yes you do if you are getting paid millions. Jobs like that aren't easy to come by.

[BigGargamel]

Historically bad offensive season, yall.

[The Master]

Fun fact; when Cooper plays in the NBA in October 2025...

He will be the 2nd youngest NBA player ever drafted post 2005 era were minimum draft age was raised to 19.

Some dude named Ulrich Chomche was drafted by the Raptors in 2024 with birthday on December 30th. Cooper will have a December 21st birthday which is 10 days from the date cutoff.

Yeah, him being almost a year younger than Wemby/Doncic and a week older than LeBron going to the NBA straight from high school, in addition to his composure and impact already, is probably the most impressive thing about him as a player. Just imagine him being in his draft year next season, lol.

[Hoopz Afrik]

He's giving me young Grant Hill vibes ngl. Kid is a beast.

I was thinking the same thing watching today's game. Feels like a new-age Grant Hill.

[tontoz]

Historically bad offensive season, yall.

Yeah that isn't aging well and didn't make much sense at the time. Even when his jumper was way off he was still scoring inside a lot and passing well.

[Jstock12]

Read on Twitter

[pad300]

Read on Twitter

It's an interesting observation, yeah all 5 of those guys were top picks. But 2 of them busted (Zion, Beasley) (and Holmgren might as well if he keeps getting hurt).

And we're looking for statistical correlations, of that group of 5, only the big men (C's) have succeeded. The wings have busted. Flagg is a wing...









Just for the record, I think the above observation is small sample size bull, and I would pick Cooper Flagg first overall in 2025. But it does illustrate that you should consider what the data actually says carefully...

[XTC]

Read on Twitter

It's an interesting observation, yeah all 5 of those guys were top picks. But 2 of them busted (Zion, Beasley) (and Holmgren might as well if he keeps getting hurt).

And we're looking for statistical correlations, of that group of 5, only the big men (C's) have succeeded. The wings have busted. Flagg is a wing...









Just for the record, I think the above observation is small sample size bull, and I would pick Cooper Flagg first overall in 2025. But it does illustrate that you should consider what the data actually says carefully...

Zion averaged 27/7/4 with a TS of 65%, a PER of 27.1, and a BPM of 5.8... he failed because he didn't want to take nutrition seriously, not because his game didn't translate, he was well on his way to being a superstar.

Chet is just to frail for an NBA schedule, but he's a complete unicorn when healthy. Flagg doesn't posses those problems.

Beasley is the only one on that list who can be seriously considered a bust. If you're getting a healthy Zion or Chet that's an easy pick for #1 overall.

[vincecarter4pres]

Even implying Flagg might bust is such crazy talk, even in earnest.

Is it possible he isn’t the best player of this draft, four or five years down the line? Sooner? In ten year hindsight? Yeah sure of course.

Could he bust, due to injuries, or suddenly being scared and uncomposed? I mean anything is possible.

But even if he’s the 2nd or 5th best player out of this draft, chances are he’s still a high impact starter and couple time All Star when his career is said and done. He has an obvious can’t miss skill set and attributes, natural feel for the game and is dripping with potential.

[CptCrunch]

Read on Twitter

It's an interesting observation, yeah all 5 of those guys were top picks. But 2 of them busted (Zion, Beasley) (and Holmgren might as well if he keeps getting hurt).

And we're looking for statistical correlations, of that group of 5, only the big men (C's) have succeeded. The wings have busted. Flagg is a wing...









Just for the record, I think the above observation is small sample size bull, and I would pick Cooper Flagg first overall in 2025. But it does illustrate that you should consider what the data actually says carefully...

Zion averaged 27/7/4 with a TS of 65%, a PER of 27.1, and a BPM of 5.8... he failed because he didn't want to take nutrition seriously, not because his game didn't translate, he was well on his way to being a superstar.

Chet is just to frail for an NBA schedule, but he's a complete unicorn when healthy. Flagg doesn't posses those problems.

Beasley is the only one on that list who can be seriously considered a bust. If you're getting a healthy Zion or Chet that's an easy pick for #1 overall.

Beasley failed not because he lacked talent also, because he liked smoking weed and no dedication to the game. The original post shows a lack of reflective thinking skills.

[clyde21]

It's an interesting observation, yeah all 5 of those guys were top picks. But 2 of them busted (Zion, Beasley) (and Holmgren might as well if he keeps getting hurt).

And we're looking for statistical correlations, of that group of 5, only the big men (C's) have succeeded. The wings have busted. Flagg is a wing...

Just for the record, I think the above observation is small sample size bull, and I would pick Cooper Flagg first overall in 2025. But it does illustrate that you should consider what the data actually says carefully...

this is all just retroactive, hindsight coal posting. sorry but I hate this crap. it can easily be argued that Zion had *the* single most impressive college season of all time, and was one of the freakiest athletes we've ever seen. dude was a **** phenom who made ex-presidents come out to his games to watch him. the dude was a monster prospect and one of the best we've ever seen. that's just a fact. him being too much of a lazy burger enjoyer in the NBA has nothing to do with his draft prospects. you rewind the clock on that draft and you're still taking Zion #1 10 times of 10 after the season he had.

I'm sure something similar can be said about Beasley even though I didn't follow the NBA draft closely during his time. dude just ended up being too much of a stoner in the NBA, if you had that in your scouting report good for you. but this is not how any of this stuff works. all of these guys were effectively *great* prospects, even generational (in Zion's and AD's cases) regardless of their professional outcomes.

re: Flagg, I don't think he's "generational". that word gets thrown out too much especially since we just had a generational prospect in Wemby two drafts ago. but he's right there in the next tier and as good of a prospect as we've probably since sans generational ones like Wemby and Zion and AD.

[The-Power]

I just saw the Wisconsin Badgers render both Ace Bailey & Dylan Harper useless in a game. That's not happening to Flagg, w/ his all-around impact.

To be fair, this isn't really fair to Harper who's clearly still recovering from his illness. I have Flagg as the #1 and I understand the argument concerning his all-around impact (though Flagg is not elite enough defensively to be a positive contributor in virtually every single game – that's extremely rarified air) but the two recent games from Harper are not a great reference point.

[Jcool0]

It's an interesting observation, yeah all 5 of those guys were top picks. But 2 of them busted (Zion, Beasley) (and Holmgren might as well if he keeps getting hurt).

And we're looking for statistical correlations, of that group of 5, only the big men (C's) have succeeded. The wings have busted. Flagg is a wing...









Just for the record, I think the above observation is small sample size bull, and I would pick Cooper Flagg first overall in 2025. But it does illustrate that you should consider what the data actually says carefully...

Zion averaged 27/7/4 with a TS of 65%, a PER of 27.1, and a BPM of 5.8... he failed because he didn't want to take nutrition seriously, not because his game didn't translate, he was well on his way to being a superstar.

Chet is just to frail for an NBA schedule, but he's a complete unicorn when healthy. Flagg doesn't posses those problems.

Beasley is the only one on that list who can be seriously considered a bust. If you're getting a healthy Zion or Chet that's an easy pick for #1 overall.

Beasley failed not because he lacked talent also, because he liked smoking weed and no dedication to the game. The original post shows a lack of reflective thinking skills.

He was not quick enough to be a SF and not big enough to be a PF. You can get away with that in college but not the NBA. But it wasn't just off court stuff.

[EvanZ]

Tatum showed the base for that skill back in high school. Flagg hasn't shown the base to build up to that level of skill. Not saying he needs to..but his game is based primarily on his freakish athleticism. At this point he isn't very skilled as a shooter or ball handler.

I watched several of Flagg's game and he wasn't concerned with scoring as he liked to get everyone involved and impact the game on both ends. Had he wanted to he could have matched Tatum's productions and shown off similar skills. Sometimes I think Flagg is a little too unselfish which is why I can't fault people for thinking he's going to be more of an elite #2 like JJJ, AD, KG type than #1. I think with a more wide open NBA he'll be a matchup nightmare and you'll see more aggression so there's potential he can be a #1 like Banchero but with great defense.

7/20. You can miss me with that unselfish bs. This thread is filled with opinion divorced from reality. Flagg is HORRIBLE as a scorer. Not mediocre, not below average, he’s legit having an all time bad scoring season for a hyped big man and may very well shoot under 40% on the season. He isn’t Tatum and will never be Tatum. Tatum is on a whole different stratosphere offensively compared to Flagg.

Flagg can’t dribble, can’t shoot, has a weak first step, athleticism isn’t as good as some people think here. Big men in college typically have much better efficiency stats than wings. There’s literally no excuse for Flagg except accepting reality. Flagg is a role player and that’s how he will succeed. A high motor player. Nothing about him screams top 2 option on a team because of his drafted team forces him into a scoring role then he will fail just like here

Life comes at you fast.