Cooper Flagg

[12footrim]

Nowhere near as hyped. I’d argue Zion was more hyped than Flagg.

As he should have been coming off one of the greatest seasons in college basketball history. The guy had a 41 PER, 20.1 BPM, 133 O rating etc at Duke as a freshman. That's even before you get to the fact he was such and athletic freak with the kind of vertical he had a 300lbs. He's like a unicorn you build on 2k and it will probably be a long time if there is ever another player like him.

You want a high school stats comparison. Zion averaged 34.6ppg, 11.4rpg, 3.5apg, 3.4spg, 2.3bpg in 23.4 MINUTES per game He shot 85% from the floor. I don't care who you are playing that's insane, and yet the recruiting scouts had him rated like 6th out of high school. Nothing Flagg is doing really is. You'd expect more I think infact for the level of hype he's getting.

[Frank Dux]

I don’t really see the KG comparison. I remember KG being more physically imposing. Like a better version of AD. KG was very lanky.

I almost wanna say he reminds me of a less bouncy Blake Griffin.

[___Rand___]

Except Bam is standing a good a half a foot further out to the basket than Flagg is, which would mean they are the same height or Flagg is taller.

Sent from my SM-S928U using RealGM mobile app

Basically impossible to guess height from photos where the subjects are standing at different depth points. Might as well say the ref is 7'8" and AD is 9 feet tall compared to Flagg.

Agreed, but I was just giving a counterpoint to the post I quoted who was pretty confident he could team heights based on that picture.

Sent from my SM-S928U using RealGM mobile app

If you have seen or watch videos of that training session or from watching games on TV and can't tell the relative height of players playing next to each other, then bro, I can't help you. Nor doctors.

[JustBuzzin]

Think of AK47 with a more consistent jumpshot and offensive mentality. That's Cooper Flagg.

[Saints14]

Nowhere near as hyped. I’d argue Zion was more hyped than Flagg.

As he should have been coming off one of the greatest seasons in college basketball history. The guy had a 41 PER, 20.1 BPM, 133 O rating etc at Duke as a freshman. That's even before you get to the fact he was such and athletic freak with the kind of vertical he had a 300lbs. He's like a unicorn you build on 2k and it will probably be a long time if there is ever another player like him.

You want a high school stats comparison. Zion averaged 34.6ppg, 11.4rpg, 3.5apg, 3.4spg, 2.3bpg in 23.4 MINUTES per game He shot 85% from the floor. I don't care who you are playing that's insane, and yet the recruiting scouts had him rated like 6th out of high school. Nothing Flagg is doing really is. You'd expect more I think infact for the level of hype he's getting.

Yeah there is some serious revisionist history around Zion as a prospect. He was nearly as hyped as Victor, rightfully so for the reasons you laid out. Actually my personal recollection is that I liked Zion more as a prospect than Wemby. Highly unlikely Flagg is that level of prospect unless he truly dominates at Duke (doesn’t mean he’s not great, but Zion was that good coming out of Duke)

[VFX]

Nowhere near as hyped. I’d argue Zion was more hyped than Flagg.

As he should have been coming off one of the greatest seasons in college basketball history. The guy had a 41 PER, 20.1 BPM, 133 O rating etc at Duke as a freshman. That's even before you get to the fact he was such and athletic freak with the kind of vertical he had a 300lbs. He's like a unicorn you build on 2k and it will probably be a long time if there is ever another player like him.

You want a high school stats comparison. Zion averaged 34.6ppg, 11.4rpg, 3.5apg, 3.4spg, 2.3bpg in 23.4 MINUTES per game He shot 85% from the floor. I don't care who you are playing that's insane, and yet the recruiting scouts had him rated like 6th out of high school. Nothing Flagg is doing really is. You'd expect more I think infact for the level of hype he's getting.

Yeah there is some serious revisionist history around Zion as a prospect. He was nearly as hyped as Victor, rightfully so for the reasons you laid out. Actually my personal recollection is that I liked Zion more as a prospect than Wemby. Highly unlikely Flagg is that level of prospect unless he truly dominates at Duke (doesn’t mean he’s not great, but Zion was that good coming out of Duke)

Yeah I’m a Duke fan and Zion was great there. Extremely dominant. There was never a guess that he wasn’t the consensus #1 pick.

Admittedly I haven’t done any homework on Flagg, but it just seems weird to also be a consensus #1 pick going to Duke and be compared to Mike Dunleavy. I don’t think that comparison makes sense for a consensus #1 pick, but maybe I’m wrong.

[12footrim]

Nowhere near as hyped. I’d argue Zion was more hyped than Flagg.

As he should have been coming off one of the greatest seasons in college basketball history. The guy had a 41 PER, 20.1 BPM, 133 O rating etc at Duke as a freshman. That's even before you get to the fact he was such and athletic freak with the kind of vertical he had a 300lbs. He's like a unicorn you build on 2k and it will probably be a long time if there is ever another player like him.

You want a high school stats comparison. Zion averaged 34.6ppg, 11.4rpg, 3.5apg, 3.4spg, 2.3bpg in 23.4 MINUTES per game He shot 85% from the floor. I don't care who you are playing that's insane, and yet the recruiting scouts had him rated like 6th out of high school. Nothing Flagg is doing really is. You'd expect more I think infact for the level of hype he's getting.

Yeah there is some serious revisionist history around Zion as a prospect. He was nearly as hyped as Victor, rightfully so for the reasons you laid out. Actually my personal recollection is that I liked Zion more as a prospect than Wemby. Highly unlikely Flagg is that level of prospect unless he truly dominates at Duke (doesn’t mean he’s not great, but Zion was that good coming out of Duke)

I think most people could see the injury risk associated with Zion and his body type coming. I've been next to the guy and he looks like an Offensive lineman. It's insane to think he could do the kind of dunks he does if you didn't actually see it it wouldn't seem real. Ironically think they also exist with Wembanyama personally. 7-5 guys ankles and feet aren't meant to move the way he does and there is a long list of guys that height breaking down. Maybe he will buck the trend if he stays thinner than most of them I guess is the cavet.

I think people also sell Zion's NBA career short as well. Certainly, it's been disappointing from an injury perspective, but my god he averaged 27, 7, and 4 with a 27 PER. That' rare air he did get to while playing 61 games. He played 70 last year so maybe we will see it again. I don't think there is much of a chance Flagg ever averaged 27ppg, unless the overall baseline NBA inflation just keeps going crazy as it was last year and the league average O rating is like 120 or something. I just don't think Flagg is anywhere close to that level of scorer.

[flranger]

Looks like Jimmy Chitwood

[GreatWhiteStiff]

Just heard Brian Windhorst say on his podcast some of his NBA scout friends he trust weren't 100% sold Flagg would even be the #1 pick next year.

They also had Zion Williamson ranked 5th as coming out of highschool, so potentially he could've dropped out the nba lottery with a poor NCAA season, then people saw him play and those doubts vanished. I'm interested if Cooper similarly vanishes doubts that he's a top player when he plays in the NCAA. Though even in Williamson's case it took a bit before surpassing Barrett in the rankings IIRC.

[bucknut]

Anthony Davis and kirilenko defensively

Offensively he plays more post and power forwardish then kirilenko but still has guard skills. Josh smith with a wide base and a touch slower.

[Texas Chuck]

Admittedly I haven’t done any homework on Flagg, but it just seems weird to also be a consensus #1 pick going to Duke and be compared to Mike Dunleavy. I don’t think that comparison makes sense for a consensus #1 pick, but maybe I’m wrong.

I'm assuming you mean Jr. He was a top 3 pick himself. So from that regard doesn't seem unreasonable.

but mainly its an easy comparison. Similar height, both white, both Dukies. People like easy.

[OriAr]

Cooper Flagg is way more hyped than Zion was at this point... Zion wasn't even the #1 prospect of his class coming into college. (That was RJ Barrett.)
Of course, Zion absolutely dominated in Duke so his hype has exploded, but Cooper Flagg doing this against the most loaded US Olympic team since at least 2012 (And honestly a legit argument for the most loaded US team since 1992) will fuel the hype train for him as well.
We'll see what Flagg does in Duke in the fall, right now I have him as the best American prospect since AD,

[Saints14]

As he should have been coming off one of the greatest seasons in college basketball history. The guy had a 41 PER, 20.1 BPM, 133 O rating etc at Duke as a freshman. That's even before you get to the fact he was such and athletic freak with the kind of vertical he had a 300lbs. He's like a unicorn you build on 2k and it will probably be a long time if there is ever another player like him.

You want a high school stats comparison. Zion averaged 34.6ppg, 11.4rpg, 3.5apg, 3.4spg, 2.3bpg in 23.4 MINUTES per game He shot 85% from the floor. I don't care who you are playing that's insane, and yet the recruiting scouts had him rated like 6th out of high school. Nothing Flagg is doing really is. You'd expect more I think infact for the level of hype he's getting.

Yeah there is some serious revisionist history around Zion as a prospect. He was nearly as hyped as Victor, rightfully so for the reasons you laid out. Actually my personal recollection is that I liked Zion more as a prospect than Wemby. Highly unlikely Flagg is that level of prospect unless he truly dominates at Duke (doesn’t mean he’s not great, but Zion was that good coming out of Duke)

I think most people could see the injury risk associated with Zion and his body type coming. I've been next to the guy and he looks like an Offensive lineman. It's insane to think he could do the kind of dunks he does if you didn't actually see it it wouldn't seem real. Ironically think they also exist with Wembanyama personally. 7-5 guys ankles and feet aren't meant to move the way he does and there is a long list of guys that height breaking down. Maybe he will buck the trend if he stays thinner than most of them I guess is the cavet.

I think people also sell Zion's NBA career short as well. Certainly, it's been disappointing from an injury perspective, but my god he averaged 27, 7, and 4 with a 27 PER. That' rare air he did get to while playing 61 games. He played 70 last year so maybe we will see it again. I don't think there is much of a chance Flagg ever averaged 27ppg, unless the overall baseline NBA inflation just keeps going crazy as it was last year and the league average O rating is like 120 or something. I just don't think Flagg is anywhere close to that level of scorer.

Agree on both points, Zion did have some injury concerns, though I think those existed with Wemby the prospect to roughly the same degree due to his height. I think the biggest disappointment with Zion’s pro career has been his defense, he was a defensive monster at Duke and with his absurd block/steal rates I thought that would carry over. Basically I thought he’d be Giannis in a different body

[VFX]

Admittedly I haven’t done any homework on Flagg, but it just seems weird to also be a consensus #1 pick going to Duke and be compared to Mike Dunleavy. I don’t think that comparison makes sense for a consensus #1 pick, but maybe I’m wrong.

I'm assuming you mean Jr. He was a top 3 pick himself. So from that regard doesn't seem unreasonable.

but mainly its an easy comparison. Similar height, both white, both Dukies. People like easy.

Yeah, Jr.

Just kind of weird to say a guy that was never an allstar once and had a mediocre career as a journeyman would be a consensus #1 pick.

I guess I could buy a more offense driven Kirilenko if we are sticking to only comparing him to white guys.

[Aventador]

Shawn Marion?

[12footrim]

Yeah there is some serious revisionist history around Zion as a prospect. He was nearly as hyped as Victor, rightfully so for the reasons you laid out. Actually my personal recollection is that I liked Zion more as a prospect than Wemby. Highly unlikely Flagg is that level of prospect unless he truly dominates at Duke (doesn’t mean he’s not great, but Zion was that good coming out of Duke)

I think most people could see the injury risk associated with Zion and his body type coming. I've been next to the guy and he looks like an Offensive lineman. It's insane to think he could do the kind of dunks he does if you didn't actually see it it wouldn't seem real. Ironically think they also exist with Wembanyama personally. 7-5 guys ankles and feet aren't meant to move the way he does and there is a long list of guys that height breaking down. Maybe he will buck the trend if he stays thinner than most of them I guess is the cavet.

I think people also sell Zion's NBA career short as well. Certainly, it's been disappointing from an injury perspective, but my god he averaged 27, 7, and 4 with a 27 PER. That' rare air he did get to while playing 61 games. He played 70 last year so maybe we will see it again. I don't think there is much of a chance Flagg ever averaged 27ppg, unless the overall baseline NBA inflation just keeps going crazy as it was last year and the league average O rating is like 120 or something. I just don't think Flagg is anywhere close to that level of scorer.

Agree on both points, Zion did have some injury concerns, though I think those existed with Wemby the prospect to roughly the same degree due to his height. I think the biggest disappointment with Zion’s pro career has been his defense, he was a defensive monster at Duke and with his absurd block/steal rates I thought that would carry over. Basically I thought he’d be Giannis in a different body

That's a good point on the block and steals rate. You would think those would have carried over a lot more as well. Either way you still have to draft guys like Zion and Wembanyma and just hope they stay on the court. Especially Zion who you would hope would put down the cheetos at some point and get his body A+. That's basically what Barkley did at some point in his career. He might still have more potential than almost anyone if he would get down to 260. Even if they both completely broke down tommorow they were just two high upside and the kind of picks you knew it was their draft.

[bucknut]

Shawn Marion?

Marion have a post game ? Flagg has deliberate post ability. Kirilenko and Marion didn't really. More small forwards. Thats why I keep coming back to josh smith on offense. He's a more of a traditional 4 playstyle to me first with some guard skills. Wide base josh smith on o with a mechanical gate like kirilenko.

[amcoolio]

He's Chris Webber with a 3 ball people

[Willie Colon]

I think most people could see the injury risk associated with Zion and his body type coming. I've been next to the guy and he looks like an Offensive lineman. It's insane to think he could do the kind of dunks he does if you didn't actually see it it wouldn't seem real. Ironically think they also exist with Wembanyama personally. 7-5 guys ankles and feet aren't meant to move the way he does and there is a long list of guys that height breaking down. Maybe he will buck the trend if he stays thinner than most of them I guess is the cavet.

I think people also sell Zion's NBA career short as well. Certainly, it's been disappointing from an injury perspective, but my god he averaged 27, 7, and 4 with a 27 PER. That' rare air he did get to while playing 61 games. He played 70 last year so maybe we will see it again. I don't think there is much of a chance Flagg ever averaged 27ppg, unless the overall baseline NBA inflation just keeps going crazy as it was last year and the league average O rating is like 120 or something. I just don't think Flagg is anywhere close to that level of scorer.

Agree on both points, Zion did have some injury concerns, though I think those existed with Wemby the prospect to roughly the same degree due to his height. I think the biggest disappointment with Zion’s pro career has been his defense, he was a defensive monster at Duke and with his absurd block/steal rates I thought that would carry over. Basically I thought he’d be Giannis in a different body

That's a good point on the block and steals rate. You would think those would have carried over a lot more as well. Either way you still have to draft guys like Zion and Wembanyma and just hope they stay on the court. Especially Zion who you would hope would put down the cheetos at some point and get his body A+. That's basically what Barkley did at some point in his career. He might still have more potential than almost anyone if he would get down to 260. Even if they both completely broke down tommorow they were just two high upside and the kind of picks you knew it was their draft.

Personally, I don't think Zion cares enough to be as good as he should be. He definitely has the talent to be the best in the world, but lacks the drive now that he's made it this far. He'll continue to do just enough to maintain a glamorous lifestyle, but I don't believe pursuing his full potential is something he's truly interested in.

[BigGargamel]

Just heard Brian Windhorst say on his podcast some of his NBA scout friends he trust weren't 100% sold Flagg would even be the #1 pick next year.

I don't think it's a knock on Flagg. Traore, Bailey, Harper are also very good prospects and could wind up #1 with strong years. I think it would be an upset if Flagg wasn't the number one pick next year but it's a long time between now an the draft.

See my other post. My point is if you are being billed like the best draft prospect since LeBron which I've seen some hype him up to the level of being, it's still an indictment of that. You can't hype him up like that and then say he might not be number one because VJ Edcomb (who they mentioned by name) or Harper are "so good" based on anything we know today. The fact it's even in the conversation with actual NBA scouts should tell you people need to chill on the hype machine if his high school stats didn't.

I don't think anybody actually knowledgeable about the NBA Draft is hyping up Flagg that much though. Wemby and LeBron are in classes of their own as far as NBA prospects. This is the social media age though, so hyperbole runs rampant. And especially coming off a terrible draft, people are going to over-compensate.

I would say his hype is comparable to someone like Anthony Davis or Zion Williamson before they started college. There were serious AD vs. Drummond debates early on, and Zion wasn't immediately considered the top recruit of his class.

I live about 10 minutes from Montverde and caught a couple games. You gotta do more than just look at his stats. He was on a legit super team that could have quite a few future NBA players, so he didn't need to absolutely dominate. Even then, he stood out. He's a very unique prospect and it's hard to find a comparison. I'll be very surprised if he's not the first pick, but it's not a slam dunk. Wire to wire mock draft first overall picks seem to only happen about half the time I would guess.