Flagg preseason debut: looking as good as advertised at 18 years old

[dirkdiggler4177]

I think Flagg will end up as a top-15 player all-time, but we’re probably going to see Jokic crack the top 10, Wemby reach the top 7, and Luka finish somewhere in the top 5 by the end of their careers. So even though Flagg looks like a future all-time great, there are likely going to be several current players who’ll rank ahead of him historically.

If Tre Johnson scores 30+ points today I have him as the future top 1 all time. That's all true prophets like you, me and bonitathefrog need, to just give the truth to the people. What great insight and depth we use to come to our conclusions, all of RealGM should praise us as the all seeing beings that we are.
Hallelujah.

I don't think you quite get it. When LeBron came out of high school, he was considered a potential GOAT. When they saw him play in the NBA, it sort of confirmed that he had that potential. It was not because he was dropping 20 and 6 and 6 in a game, but everything about him as a basketball player and personality, like the physical attributes, passing vision, IQ, etc., they had seen in High School. So when Ace Bailey drops like 25 in a pre-season game, we don't go potential GOAT! No, we knew from his scouting report that he takes bad shots and has a bad attitude and is seen a a low IQ player. So for us to change our minds, we need to see a lot more. Cooper, on the other hand, has had the potential superstar tag on him since high school. Like, when you read the scouting reports, the first thing they say, not bad handles, but lack creativity. Like that is the worst thing they can say about him So till now, we have not seen any evidence that Flagg can't become a superstar. The only argument against is that we have not seen him for one season.

[firedavidkahn]

Excited for Flagg. He somehow landed in a perfect situation.

Drafted to a team that already has 2 superstars (quasi) even though 1 is injured. He isn't going to be asked to carry the franchise. He wont have any expectations and AD/Kyrie will (rightfully) get the blame if the team fails. His team is good enough to compete for a play off spot this year. Play off experience early and often in a career will pay off BIG TIME in the long run (just like Ant in Minny and why trading for Gobert was a homerun of a move)

[levon]

I don't think you know how much speed and endurance rookie LeBron had for the amount of brute strength he carried. It's like a car coming at you over and over.

It has always been what separated him from every other player in history. Flagg can't match that.

I don't think that anybody here is arguing that Flagg will have a better career than LeBron. Only that he may well have a better rookie season. Which is quite possible, since LeBron's true shooting % as a rookie was a crappy 49%.

The two eras and circumstances couldn't be any more different. That was also the only year LeBron played out of position at SG when he still couldn't shoot very well, doing 2003 SG stuff. The following season he went from -2 league avg TS% to +4 while playing the most total minutes of anyone in the league. Weird to say but LeBron's rookie year was kind of a circumstantial fluke in his career. Would be interested to hear resident Cavsologist who followed it closely.

[The Master]

I don't think that anybody here is arguing that Flagg will have a better career than LeBron. Only that he may well have a better rookie season. Which is quite possible, since LeBron's true shooting % as a rookie was a crappy 49%.

LeBron was 13th in scoring, and average TS% was 51.6% back then - his production in 2004 was equivalent to ~24-7 on 55 TS% in 2025. That's crazy for an 18yo rookie straight from high school.

I can imagine Flagg being more 'impactful' in a lesser role, hard to imagine him outproducing LeBron on boxscore level.

[MMyhre]

I think Flagg will end up as a top-15 player all-time, but we’re probably going to see Jokic crack the top 10, Wemby reach the top 7, and Luka finish somewhere in the top 5 by the end of their careers. So even though Flagg looks like a future all-time great, there are likely going to be several current players who’ll rank ahead of him historically.

If Tre Johnson scores 30+ points today I have him as the future top 1 all time. That's all true prophets like you, me and bonitathefrog need, to just give the truth to the people. What great insight and depth we use to come to our conclusions, all of RealGM should praise us as the all seeing beings that we are.
Hallelujah.

I don't think you quite get it. When LeBron came out of high school, he was considered a potential GOAT. When they saw him play in the NBA, it sort of confirmed that he had that potential. It was not because he was dropping 20 and 6 and 6 in a game, but everything about him as a basketball player and personality, like the physical attributes, passing vision, IQ, etc., they had seen in High School. So when Ace Bailey drops like 25 in a pre-season game, we don't go potential GOAT! No, we knew from his scouting report that he takes bad shots and has a bad attitude and is seen a a low IQ player. So for us to change our minds, we need to see a lot more. Cooper, on the other hand, has had the potential superstar tag on him since high school. Like, when you read the scouting reports, the first thing they say, not bad handles, but lack creativity. Like that is the worst thing they can say about him So till now, we have not seen any evidence that Flagg can't become a superstar. The only argument against is that we have not seen him for one season.

No one can safely say someone will be top 15 all time or a GOAT candidate before they have played a season, and in this case not even one NBA game.

And if you want to claim that, at least give some deeper insight as to why. As far as I can tell, it's just outlandish statements with no deep thought behind it, which is worthless claims. It's just media hype, media and the average guy doesn't truly know the game of basketball, they follow the hype and the storylines.

LeBron was not a guaranteed GOAT candidate out of high school, no one is. That's just disrespectful to say due to all the hard work and many long roads you have to go through to even be mentioned in that conversation.

As for Flagg, you seem overexcited, but you don't give many good reasons as to why he will be a superstar.
Then your opinion holds less weight, it's just noise.

Your statement on it just being creativity they say he lacks is false. They say "creativity off the dribble", meaning his handles are too predictable, and they also mention the handle being too loose, so ball handling/avoiding turnovers off the dribble is one weakness. A very important skill. He also did two terrible behind the back passes yesterday, so passing skill and passing creativity could be weaknesses as well. They also mention that he is a bit thin, and that he gambles too much on defense, questions about his isolation scoring and possible tweener scenarios.

Flagg as of now is not an elite playmaker, ball handler, shooter or athlete. That's four strong arguments against his top 15 All Time or Superstar future, let's see if he can work on that.

You talk as if becoming a superstar is a sure thing for Flagg, but it doesn't work like that.
He will have bad games this season, be prepared for that and all the noise that will come when that happens.

[dirkdiggler4177]

If Tre Johnson scores 30+ points today I have him as the future top 1 all time. That's all true prophets like you, me and bonitathefrog need, to just give the truth to the people. What great insight and depth we use to come to our conclusions, all of RealGM should praise us as the all seeing beings that we are.
Hallelujah.

I don't think you quite get it. When LeBron came out of high school, he was considered a potential GOAT. When they saw him play in the NBA, it sort of confirmed that he had that potential. It was not because he was dropping 20 and 6 and 6 in a game, but everything about him as a basketball player and personality, like the physical attributes, passing vision, IQ, etc., they had seen in High School. So when Ace Bailey drops like 25 in a pre-season game, we don't go potential GOAT! No, we knew from his scouting report that he takes bad shots and has a bad attitude and is seen a a low IQ player. So for us to change our minds, we need to see a lot more. Cooper, on the other hand, has had the potential superstar tag on him since high school. Like, when you read the scouting reports, the first thing they say, not bad handles, but lack creativity. Like that is the worst thing they can say about him So till now, we have not seen any evidence that Flagg can't become a superstar. The only argument against is that we have not seen him for one season.

No one can safely say someone will be top 15 all time or a GOAT candidate before they have played a season, and in this case not even one NBA game.

And if you want to claim that, at least give some deeper insight as to why. As far as I can tell, it's just outlandish statements with no deep thought behind it, which is worthless claims. It's just media hype, media and the average guy doesn't truly know the game of basketball, they follow the hype and the storylines.

LeBron was not a guaranteed GOAT candidate out of high school, no one is. That's just disrespectful to say due to all the hard work and many long roads you have to go through to even be mentioned in that conversation.

As for Flagg, you seem overexcited, but you don't give many good reasons as to why he will be a superstar.
Then your opinion holds less weight, it's just noise.

Your statement on it just being creativity they say he lacks is false. They say "creativity off the dribble", meaning his handles are too predictable, and they also mention the handle being too loose, so ball handling/avoiding turnovers off the dribble is one weakness. A very important skill. He also did two terrible behind the back passes yesterday, so passing skill and passing creativity could be weaknesses as well. They also mention that he is a bit thin, and that he gambles too much on defense, questions about his isolation scoring and possible tweener scenarios.

Flagg as of now is not an elite playmaker, ball handler, shooter or athlete. That's four strong arguments against his top 15 All Time or Superstar future, let's see if he can work on that.

You talk as if becoming a superstar is a sure thing for Flagg, but it doesn't work like that.
He will have bad games this season, be prepared for that and all the noise that will come when that happens.

And nobody can be safe to say he can't become top 15 of all time, but obviously, that is very likely. I just find the odds argument very boring.

My argument is this: from all the reports about him, they say he will become a superstar. I have not seen anyone here say, he can't do this, he can't do that, till now. The only argument I have heard is that we have not seen him play in the NBA for a full season, which is pretty obvious.

Like you are saying, he had some turnovers, and he is not exactly Kyrie Irving , but when you look at where he is right now and with his attitude towards getting better, there is a big chance he will be at one point a top 5 player in the NBA of active players.


I will quote you in some years, haha

[MMyhre]

I don't think you quite get it. When LeBron came out of high school, he was considered a potential GOAT. When they saw him play in the NBA, it sort of confirmed that he had that potential. It was not because he was dropping 20 and 6 and 6 in a game, but everything about him as a basketball player and personality, like the physical attributes, passing vision, IQ, etc., they had seen in High School. So when Ace Bailey drops like 25 in a pre-season game, we don't go potential GOAT! No, we knew from his scouting report that he takes bad shots and has a bad attitude and is seen a a low IQ player. So for us to change our minds, we need to see a lot more. Cooper, on the other hand, has had the potential superstar tag on him since high school. Like, when you read the scouting reports, the first thing they say, not bad handles, but lack creativity. Like that is the worst thing they can say about him So till now, we have not seen any evidence that Flagg can't become a superstar. The only argument against is that we have not seen him for one season.

No one can safely say someone will be top 15 all time or a GOAT candidate before they have played a season, and in this case not even one NBA game.

And if you want to claim that, at least give some deeper insight as to why. As far as I can tell, it's just outlandish statements with no deep thought behind it, which is worthless claims. It's just media hype, media and the average guy doesn't truly know the game of basketball, they follow the hype and the storylines.

LeBron was not a guaranteed GOAT candidate out of high school, no one is. That's just disrespectful to say due to all the hard work and many long roads you have to go through to even be mentioned in that conversation.

As for Flagg, you seem overexcited, but you don't give many good reasons as to why he will be a superstar.
Then your opinion holds less weight, it's just noise.

Your statement on it just being creativity they say he lacks is false. They say "creativity off the dribble", meaning his handles are too predictable, and they also mention the handle being too loose, so ball handling/avoiding turnovers off the dribble is one weakness. A very important skill. He also did two terrible behind the back passes yesterday, so passing skill and passing creativity could be weaknesses as well. They also mention that he is a bit thin, and that he gambles too much on defense, questions about his isolation scoring and possible tweener scenarios.

Flagg as of now is not an elite playmaker, ball handler, shooter or athlete. That's four strong arguments against his top 15 All Time or Superstar future, let's see if he can work on that.

You talk as if becoming a superstar is a sure thing for Flagg, but it doesn't work like that.
He will have bad games this season, be prepared for that and all the noise that will come when that happens.

And nobody can be safe to say he can't become top 15 of all time, but obviously, that is very likely. I just find the odds argument very boring.

My argument is this: from all the reports about him, they say he will become a superstar. I have not seen anyone here say, he can't do this, he can't do that, till now. The only argument I have heard is that we have not seen him play in the NBA for a full season, which is pretty obvious.

Like you are saying, he had some turnovers, and he is not exactly Kyrie Irving , but when you look at where he is right now and with his attitude towards getting better, there is a big chance he will be at one point a top 5 player in the NBA of active players.


I will quote you in some years, haha

I said he wasn't elite at 4 important NBA skills and some smaller stuff. So there is still a lot of room to grow for him.

I think he has improved a lot this year, so he is probably a hard worker, I can't know for sure though.

I'd say there is a medium chance for him to be top 5 player at some point, right now. Ask me in a few months and I will know more when I have seen more of him.

[Blazing_royale]

He's not generational talent. He's multiple all-star talent right now.

[dirkules_41]

I don't think that anybody here is arguing that Flagg will have a better career than LeBron. Only that he may well have a better rookie season. Which is quite possible, since LeBron's true shooting % as a rookie was a crappy 49%.

LeBron was 13th in scoring, and average TS% was 51.6% back then - his production in 2004 was equivalent to ~24-7 on 55 TS% in 2025. That's crazy for an 18yo rookie straight from high school.

I can imagine Flagg being more 'impactful' in a lesser role, hard to imagine him outproducing LeBron on boxscore level.

Definitely not, simply down to role, usage and minutes - Rookie LeBron was amazing but he was also immediately asked to carry the team and franchise.

[UglyBugBall]

If Tre Johnson scores 30+ points today I have him as the future top 1 all time. That's all true prophets like you, me and bonitathefrog need, to just give the truth to the people. What great insight and depth we use to come to our conclusions, all of RealGM should praise us as the all seeing beings that we are.
Hallelujah.

I don't think you quite get it. When LeBron came out of high school, he was considered a potential GOAT. When they saw him play in the NBA, it sort of confirmed that he had that potential. It was not because he was dropping 20 and 6 and 6 in a game, but everything about him as a basketball player and personality, like the physical attributes, passing vision, IQ, etc., they had seen in High School. So when Ace Bailey drops like 25 in a pre-season game, we don't go potential GOAT! No, we knew from his scouting report that he takes bad shots and has a bad attitude and is seen a a low IQ player. So for us to change our minds, we need to see a lot more. Cooper, on the other hand, has had the potential superstar tag on him since high school. Like, when you read the scouting reports, the first thing they say, not bad handles, but lack creativity. Like that is the worst thing they can say about him So till now, we have not seen any evidence that Flagg can't become a superstar. The only argument against is that we have not seen him for one season.

No one can safely say someone will be top 15 all time or a GOAT candidate before they have played a season, and in this case not even one NBA game.

And if you want to claim that, at least give some deeper insight as to why. As far as I can tell, it's just outlandish statements with no deep thought behind it, which is worthless claims. It's just media hype, media and the average guy doesn't truly know the game of basketball, they follow the hype and the storylines.

LeBron was not a guaranteed GOAT candidate out of high school, no one is. That's just disrespectful to say due to all the hard work and many long roads you have to go through to even be mentioned in that conversation.

As for Flagg, you seem overexcited, but you don't give many good reasons as to why he will be a superstar.
Then your opinion holds less weight, it's just noise.

Your statement on it just being creativity they say he lacks is false. They say "creativity off the dribble", meaning his handles are too predictable, and they also mention the handle being too loose, so ball handling/avoiding turnovers off the dribble is one weakness. A very important skill. He also did two terrible behind the back passes yesterday, so passing skill and passing creativity could be weaknesses as well. They also mention that he is a bit thin, and that he gambles too much on defense, questions about his isolation scoring and possible tweener scenarios.

Flagg as of now is not an elite playmaker, ball handler, shooter or athlete. That's four strong arguments against his top 15 All Time or Superstar future, let's see if he can work on that.

You talk as if becoming a superstar is a sure thing for Flagg, but it doesn't work like that.
He will have bad games this season, be prepared for that and all the noise that will come when that happens.

He's already a superstar, have you watched his first few games? He's clearly impacting winning, and that's without Kyrie. He's playing elite defense, and been better offensively than we expected.

[MMyhre]

I don't think you quite get it. When LeBron came out of high school, he was considered a potential GOAT. When they saw him play in the NBA, it sort of confirmed that he had that potential. It was not because he was dropping 20 and 6 and 6 in a game, but everything about him as a basketball player and personality, like the physical attributes, passing vision, IQ, etc., they had seen in High School. So when Ace Bailey drops like 25 in a pre-season game, we don't go potential GOAT! No, we knew from his scouting report that he takes bad shots and has a bad attitude and is seen a a low IQ player. So for us to change our minds, we need to see a lot more. Cooper, on the other hand, has had the potential superstar tag on him since high school. Like, when you read the scouting reports, the first thing they say, not bad handles, but lack creativity. Like that is the worst thing they can say about him So till now, we have not seen any evidence that Flagg can't become a superstar. The only argument against is that we have not seen him for one season.

No one can safely say someone will be top 15 all time or a GOAT candidate before they have played a season, and in this case not even one NBA game.

And if you want to claim that, at least give some deeper insight as to why. As far as I can tell, it's just outlandish statements with no deep thought behind it, which is worthless claims. It's just media hype, media and the average guy doesn't truly know the game of basketball, they follow the hype and the storylines.

LeBron was not a guaranteed GOAT candidate out of high school, no one is. That's just disrespectful to say due to all the hard work and many long roads you have to go through to even be mentioned in that conversation.

As for Flagg, you seem overexcited, but you don't give many good reasons as to why he will be a superstar.
Then your opinion holds less weight, it's just noise.

Your statement on it just being creativity they say he lacks is false. They say "creativity off the dribble", meaning his handles are too predictable, and they also mention the handle being too loose, so ball handling/avoiding turnovers off the dribble is one weakness. A very important skill. He also did two terrible behind the back passes yesterday, so passing skill and passing creativity could be weaknesses as well. They also mention that he is a bit thin, and that he gambles too much on defense, questions about his isolation scoring and possible tweener scenarios.

Flagg as of now is not an elite playmaker, ball handler, shooter or athlete. That's four strong arguments against his top 15 All Time or Superstar future, let's see if he can work on that.

You talk as if becoming a superstar is a sure thing for Flagg, but it doesn't work like that.
He will have bad games this season, be prepared for that and all the noise that will come when that happens.

He's already a superstar, have you watched his first few games? He's clearly impacting winning, and that's without Kyrie. He's playing elite defense, and been better offensively than we expected.

A lot of guys have looked good to very good in this preseason, does not mean that they will be superstars, but he has shown a positive signal. The NBA is not a league you come into and dominate at 18 years old, there will be setbacks and challenges on the way, that's how you grow and get better. You don't start off as a superstar, he will have many "welcome to the league" moments, because the league is just full of talent.

[ShootersShoot]

Excited for Flagg. He somehow landed in a perfect situation.

Drafted to a team that already has 2 superstars (quasi) even though 1 is injured. He isn't going to be asked to carry the franchise. He wont have any expectations and AD/Kyrie will (rightfully) get the blame if the team fails. His team is good enough to compete for a play off spot this year. Play off experience early and often in a career will pay off BIG TIME in the long run (just like Ant in Minny and why trading for Gobert was a homerun of a move)

As a #1 pick, couldnt ask for a better situation. He has a monster frontcourt to help him defensively, win now vets who he can learn from, but also a starting spot from day one. When kyrie comes back they will be a handful to deal with due to a combination of size, shooting, and depth.

[canada_dry]

I don't think you quite get it. When LeBron came out of high school, he was considered a potential GOAT. When they saw him play in the NBA, it sort of confirmed that he had that potential. It was not because he was dropping 20 and 6 and 6 in a game, but everything about him as a basketball player and personality, like the physical attributes, passing vision, IQ, etc., they had seen in High School. So when Ace Bailey drops like 25 in a pre-season game, we don't go potential GOAT! No, we knew from his scouting report that he takes bad shots and has a bad attitude and is seen a a low IQ player. So for us to change our minds, we need to see a lot more. Cooper, on the other hand, has had the potential superstar tag on him since high school. Like, when you read the scouting reports, the first thing they say, not bad handles, but lack creativity. Like that is the worst thing they can say about him So till now, we have not seen any evidence that Flagg can't become a superstar. The only argument against is that we have not seen him for one season.

No one can safely say someone will be top 15 all time or a GOAT candidate before they have played a season, and in this case not even one NBA game.

And if you want to claim that, at least give some deeper insight as to why. As far as I can tell, it's just outlandish statements with no deep thought behind it, which is worthless claims. It's just media hype, media and the average guy doesn't truly know the game of basketball, they follow the hype and the storylines.

LeBron was not a guaranteed GOAT candidate out of high school, no one is. That's just disrespectful to say due to all the hard work and many long roads you have to go through to even be mentioned in that conversation.

As for Flagg, you seem overexcited, but you don't give many good reasons as to why he will be a superstar.
Then your opinion holds less weight, it's just noise.

Your statement on it just being creativity they say he lacks is false. They say "creativity off the dribble", meaning his handles are too predictable, and they also mention the handle being too loose, so ball handling/avoiding turnovers off the dribble is one weakness. A very important skill. He also did two terrible behind the back passes yesterday, so passing skill and passing creativity could be weaknesses as well. They also mention that he is a bit thin, and that he gambles too much on defense, questions about his isolation scoring and possible tweener scenarios.

Flagg as of now is not an elite playmaker, ball handler, shooter or athlete. That's four strong arguments against his top 15 All Time or Superstar future, let's see if he can work on that.

You talk as if becoming a superstar is a sure thing for Flagg, but it doesn't work like that.
He will have bad games this season, be prepared for that and all the noise that will come when that happens.

He's already a superstar, have you watched his first few games? He's clearly impacting winning, and that's without Kyrie. He's playing elite defense, and been better offensively than we expected.

Already a superstar is crazy

Sent from my SM-G960W using RealGM Forums mobile app

[Duke4life831]

I don't think you quite get it. When LeBron came out of high school, he was considered a potential GOAT. When they saw him play in the NBA, it sort of confirmed that he had that potential. It was not because he was dropping 20 and 6 and 6 in a game, but everything about him as a basketball player and personality, like the physical attributes, passing vision, IQ, etc., they had seen in High School. So when Ace Bailey drops like 25 in a pre-season game, we don't go potential GOAT! No, we knew from his scouting report that he takes bad shots and has a bad attitude and is seen a a low IQ player. So for us to change our minds, we need to see a lot more. Cooper, on the other hand, has had the potential superstar tag on him since high school. Like, when you read the scouting reports, the first thing they say, not bad handles, but lack creativity. Like that is the worst thing they can say about him So till now, we have not seen any evidence that Flagg can't become a superstar. The only argument against is that we have not seen him for one season.

No one can safely say someone will be top 15 all time or a GOAT candidate before they have played a season, and in this case not even one NBA game.

And if you want to claim that, at least give some deeper insight as to why. As far as I can tell, it's just outlandish statements with no deep thought behind it, which is worthless claims. It's just media hype, media and the average guy doesn't truly know the game of basketball, they follow the hype and the storylines.

LeBron was not a guaranteed GOAT candidate out of high school, no one is. That's just disrespectful to say due to all the hard work and many long roads you have to go through to even be mentioned in that conversation.

As for Flagg, you seem overexcited, but you don't give many good reasons as to why he will be a superstar.
Then your opinion holds less weight, it's just noise.

Your statement on it just being creativity they say he lacks is false. They say "creativity off the dribble", meaning his handles are too predictable, and they also mention the handle being too loose, so ball handling/avoiding turnovers off the dribble is one weakness. A very important skill. He also did two terrible behind the back passes yesterday, so passing skill and passing creativity could be weaknesses as well. They also mention that he is a bit thin, and that he gambles too much on defense, questions about his isolation scoring and possible tweener scenarios.

Flagg as of now is not an elite playmaker, ball handler, shooter or athlete. That's four strong arguments against his top 15 All Time or Superstar future, let's see if he can work on that.

You talk as if becoming a superstar is a sure thing for Flagg, but it doesn't work like that.
He will have bad games this season, be prepared for that and all the noise that will come when that happens.

He's already a superstar, have you watched his first few games? He's clearly impacting winning, and that's without Kyrie. He's playing elite defense, and been better offensively than we expected.

I’m as big of a Flagg guy you’ll see. But I don’t see how you can say he’s already a superstar. He hasn’t impacted winning at all yet (no one has) because it’s just preseason.

So he’s 18 and hasn’t played a single minute of actual NBA ball, okay to admit he hasn’t proven to be a superstar yet.

[dirkdiggler4177]

Cooper's worst game so far, going 3/11, so he is definitely not a future HOF. Hopefully, he will be able to get a second contract, but he clearly has a ton of work to do.

With that said, the Mavs started him today at point guard with Russell not playing. He did well overall. Also, a lot of minor plays you don't see on the highlight reel, on how he hustles back on defense and sees the plays evolving

Watch on YouTube

[babyjax13]

Cooper's worst game so far, going 3/11, so he is definitely not a future HOF. Hopefully, he will be able to get a second contract, but he clearly has a ton of work to do.

With that said, the Mavs started him today at point guard with Russell not playing. He did well overall. Also, a lot of minor plays you don't see on the highlight reel, on how he hustles back on defense and sees the plays evolving

Watch on YouTube

You could tell he and Ace did not have their legs under them - rookie growing pains. He is going to be fantastic, though.

[michaelm]

I think Flagg will end up as a top-15 player all-time, but we’re probably going to see Jokic crack the top 10, Wemby reach the top 7, and Luka finish somewhere in the top 5 by the end of their careers. So even though Flagg looks like a future all-time great, there are likely going to be several current players who’ll rank ahead of him historically.

If Tre Johnson scores 30+ points today I have him as the future top 1 all time. That's all true prophets like you, me and bonitathefrog need, to just give the truth to the people. What great insight and depth we use to come to our conclusions, all of RealGM should praise us as the all seeing beings that we are.
Hallelujah.

I don't think you quite get it. When LeBron came out of high school, he was considered a potential GOAT. When they saw him play in the NBA, it sort of confirmed that he had that potential. It was not because he was dropping 20 and 6 and 6 in a game, but everything about him as a basketball player and personality, like the physical attributes, passing vision, IQ, etc., they had seen in High School. So when Ace Bailey drops like 25 in a pre-season game, we don't go potential GOAT! No, we knew from his scouting report that he takes bad shots and has a bad attitude and is seen a a low IQ player. So for us to change our minds, we need to see a lot more. Cooper, on the other hand, has had the potential superstar tag on him since high school. Like, when you read the scouting reports, the first thing they say, not bad handles, but lack creativity. Like that is the worst thing they can say about him So till now, we have not seen any evidence that Flagg can't become a superstar. The only argument against is that we have not seen him for one season.

Sure, Flagg could quite conceivably have a better rookie year than LeBron particularly since he is not tasked with carrying his team.

His problem in regard to matching the all time greats such as LeBron over a career is his physical attributes. He appears to be a merely “good”athlete while LeBron. MJ and most of the other all time greats also had extreme athletic gifts including physical durability beyond the norm as well as playing ability. Hard to match those guys who had all time basketball skills as well as physical attributes. MJ and LeBron had enough left to be FMVPs at age 35. Flagg doesn’t appear to be the type of fluid athlete who will be sufficiently physically undiminished at age 35 to be on the level of players who had a gift for playing the sport of basketball as well. On the other hand I rate Tim Duncan very highly, and he adapted to physical decline/knee problems sufficiently well to win titles at an advanced age.

[MrGoat]

I'd be shocked if he doesn't turn out to be a really, really good player, there's definitely some of that "it" there. It's hard to get a full read on him this early though. I'm not sure he has the natural aggression to be a true offensive top dog yet, although it's early enough that may come. He could be a Scottie Pippen who is good at everything and an amazing intangibles guy but just not quite a number one championship option on offense

[lambchop]

I don't think you quite get it. When LeBron came out of high school, he was considered a potential GOAT. When they saw him play in the NBA, it sort of confirmed that he had that potential. It was not because he was dropping 20 and 6 and 6 in a game, but everything about him as a basketball player and personality, like the physical attributes, passing vision, IQ, etc., they had seen in High School. So when Ace Bailey drops like 25 in a pre-season game, we don't go potential GOAT! No, we knew from his scouting report that he takes bad shots and has a bad attitude and is seen a a low IQ player. So for us to change our minds, we need to see a lot more. Cooper, on the other hand, has had the potential superstar tag on him since high school. Like, when you read the scouting reports, the first thing they say, not bad handles, but lack creativity. Like that is the worst thing they can say about him So till now, we have not seen any evidence that Flagg can't become a superstar. The only argument against is that we have not seen him for one season.

No one can safely say someone will be top 15 all time or a GOAT candidate before they have played a season, and in this case not even one NBA game.

And if you want to claim that, at least give some deeper insight as to why. As far as I can tell, it's just outlandish statements with no deep thought behind it, which is worthless claims. It's just media hype, media and the average guy doesn't truly know the game of basketball, they follow the hype and the storylines.

LeBron was not a guaranteed GOAT candidate out of high school, no one is. That's just disrespectful to say due to all the hard work and many long roads you have to go through to even be mentioned in that conversation.

As for Flagg, you seem overexcited, but you don't give many good reasons as to why he will be a superstar.
Then your opinion holds less weight, it's just noise.

Your statement on it just being creativity they say he lacks is false. They say "creativity off the dribble", meaning his handles are too predictable, and they also mention the handle being too loose, so ball handling/avoiding turnovers off the dribble is one weakness. A very important skill. He also did two terrible behind the back passes yesterday, so passing skill and passing creativity could be weaknesses as well. They also mention that he is a bit thin, and that he gambles too much on defense, questions about his isolation scoring and possible tweener scenarios.

Flagg as of now is not an elite playmaker, ball handler, shooter or athlete. That's four strong arguments against his top 15 All Time or Superstar future, let's see if he can work on that.

You talk as if becoming a superstar is a sure thing for Flagg, but it doesn't work like that.
He will have bad games this season, be prepared for that and all the noise that will come when that happens.

And nobody can be safe to say he can't become top 15 of all time, but obviously, that is very likely. I just find the odds argument very boring.

My argument is this: from all the reports about him, they say he will become a superstar. I have not seen anyone here say, he can't do this, he can't do that, till now. The only argument I have heard is that we have not seen him play in the NBA for a full season, which is pretty obvious.

Like you are saying, he had some turnovers, and he is not exactly Kyrie Irving , but when you look at where he is right now and with his attitude towards getting better, there is a big chance he will be at one point a top 5 player in the NBA of active players.


I will quote you in some years, haha

He was actually never considered a superstar talent until recently. When he was in high school and destroyed opponents at the U17 world cup as a 14 or 15 year old the main thing they caughtsl the experts' attention was his freakish defensive versatility and awareness.

He has gradually added more stuff to his game. But, yes, it's simply misguided to assume he is guaranteed to be top 15 all time by default. That kind of player commands double and triple teams in playoff series so that he won't score 40 points on high efficiency. Those guys can easily score 20+ points in a quarter, score 5 threes or dunks in a row etc.

It's an absolute niche category to be in. Can he make it? Sure, but it shows a lack of analysis when people assume he's already a lock to make it.

[Big_Aristotle]

Number 1 picks that go on bad teams get the ball in their hands all the time and can develop rapidly. As fans, you get a pretty good showcase on what they are and a reliable sample size to determine what they can become.

With Flagg, that remains to be seen. Kyrie and Davis will get a lot of touches and the team will want to win. Flagg will get his touches, but still will have a much more limited role compared to what he would get on a tanking team. For his growth, it may be better to play with all-star caliber team mates and in a winning culture. But it will take a bit more time to really see what he will develop into imo.