Cooper Flagg - Duke

[sikma42]

He’d go #1 in 20 of the last 25 drafts

there is no way he would go over KD or Lebron. Don't think he goes over AD either.

[EmpireFalls]

He’d go #1 in 20 of the last 25 drafts

there is no way he would go over KD or Lebron. Don't think he goes over AD either.

First of all KD didn’t go #1 in his own draft

Second of all, that’s only 3 players. I went thru the past 25 drafts starting with the god awful Kenyon Martin/Kwame Brown ones. Flagg goes #1 in all except the LeBron draft, the AD draft (debatable), the Zion, and the Wemby one.

[Braggins]

I am already seeing contrarian opinions on Flagg developing

It’s not contrarian. It’s more like reality. They even have NBA gms saying that they don’t see Flagg as a number 1

you disappeared for a while in this thread, why?

He was waiting sooo long for something vaguely negative to happen with Flagg so he could post some more of this garbage lol.

[ReggiesKnicks]

He’d go #1 in 20 of the last 25 drafts

there is no way he would go over KD or Lebron. Don't think he goes over AD either.

First of all KD didn’t go #1 in his own draft

Second of all, that’s only 3 players. I went thru the past 25 drafts starting with the god awful Kenyon Martin/Kwame Brown ones. Flagg goes #1 in all except the LeBron draft, the AD draft (debatable), the Zion, and the Wemby one.

I doubt he goes over Oden. I think he probably goes ahead of the Point Guards (Wall, Rose, Irving, Fultz, Simmons) and he definitely goes over the second-tier star wings (Cade, Paolo, ANT, Wiggins)

[EmpireFalls]

The debatable one is Yao, I actually think the sheer size and novelty might actually see Yao selected higher. Part of that is in 2002 it was Shaq’s league and big post guys were valued in gold. To be fair, I wouldn’t really argue with that, Yao had some of the highest potential in the history of the sport. One of the most unlucky players ever.

[sikma42]

He’d go #1 in 20 of the last 25 drafts

there is no way he would go over KD or Lebron. Don't think he goes over AD either.

First of all KD didn’t go #1 in his own draft

Second of all, that’s only 3 players. I went thru the past 25 drafts starting with the god awful Kenyon Martin/Kwame Brown ones. Flagg goes #1 in all except the LeBron draft, the AD draft (debatable), the Zion, and the Wemby one.

Again. I said he wouldn't go over KD because you can't put them against each other and determine that Cooper is the better prospect. There just isn't any logic there. Oden was picked #1 bc of the facination with big men and he was hurt was talked about like the next great big man. I was also vehemently against that at the time and posted extensively about it.

But if you put KD on the floor with Cooper, there is a noticiable gap. KD was also a better prospect than Zion.

[165bows]

He’d go #1 in 20 of the last 25 drafts

there is no way he would go over KD or Lebron. Don't think he goes over AD either.

First of all KD didn’t go #1 in his own draft

Second of all, that’s only 3 players. I went thru the past 25 drafts starting with the god awful Kenyon Martin/Kwame Brown ones. Flagg goes #1 in all except the LeBron draft, the AD draft (debatable), the Zion, and the Wemby one.

Top quarter-ish or better of all #1 overall picks is just such an elite place to be it sorts of speaks for itself.

Especially since he seems like a higher floor guy than some of the tiny group of guys in that category that carried some more obvious risks with them at the time.

[JMAC3]

He’d go #1 in 20 of the last 25 drafts

there is no way he would go over KD or Lebron. Don't think he goes over AD either.

First of all KD didn’t go #1 in his own draft

Second of all, that’s only 3 players. I went thru the past 25 drafts starting with the god awful Kenyon Martin/Kwame Brown ones. Flagg goes #1 in all except the LeBron draft, the AD draft (debatable), the Zion, and the Wemby one.

Flagg would go over Zion because he is the all around better player and much easier to build around. Zion you have to deal with the lack of outside shooting and being small for his position. Flagg doesn't have either of those issues plus he is the better defender.

I actually think Flagg goes over AD too. AD was a lot of potential on offense, but he was only scoring 14 ppg despite being dominant on defense.

[Braggins]

I think he is the fourth best NBA prospect Ive ever seen after Lebron, Wemby, and Luka.

[namlede]

It’s crazy how sports is. One of the best prospects in decades and a total gamer and winner is a part of one of the greatest chokes in final four history. Knowing his makeup he will be even stronger after this.

But seriously I never felt more strongly than Cooper being apart of a lot of Championship teams.

Just shows experience matters so much in sports.

[JMAC3]

It’s crazy how sports is. One of the best prospects in decades and a total gamer and winner is a part of one of the greatest chokes in final four history. Knowing his makeup he will be even stronger after this.

But seriously I never felt more strongly than Cooper being apart of a lot of Championship teams.

Just shows experience matters so much in sports.

Houston was an awesome team too, it is not like he lost to Iona in the first round of the tourney. You would have been much better betting the field over Duke to win the title, so not really surprised they didn't win it all.

[clyde21]

I think he is the fourth best NBA prospect Ive ever seen after Lebron, Wemby, and Luka.

not better than Zion as a prospect but yes, up there

[JMAC3]

What is the worst landing spot for Flagg?

[ReggiesKnicks]

What is the worst landing spot for Flagg?

I don't think there is a bad landing spot per se, but here would be my qualms.

Utah - Nothing resembling a lead ball-handler forces Flagg into a larger on-ball role. The Lauri-Flagg-Walker is an excellent front-court.

Washington - one year with Poole Party and then it's time to seriously make a move or two to upgrade. Tons of picks/assets/cap flexibility.

Charlotte - Will Ball forever be injury plagued? The thought of Miller/Flagg moving forward is intriguing but the rest of the roster has question marks and is mediocre (aside from a Healthy and locked-in Ball, which is scarce).

New Orleans - Bye Zion. Murphy/Herb is a nice fitting core at the wing with Flagg and they have a ton of intriguing assets in 2026 and 2027 to make a move ASAP, or kick them down the road for more value in a Giannis trade.

I like 76ers, Brooklyn is a blank canvas, Spurs have Wemby.

I think Toronto is the worst, but it's not terrible. They already have a poo-poo platter of inefficient wings.

[One_and_Done]

People seem to have selective memory RE: who was hyped in the last 25 years. To start with, the hype around Lebron and Wemby was in another world compared to what Flagg is getting. Zion and AD were also more hyped, as was Oden. Yao hype was similar. If Oden/Zion didn't exist, then KD/Ja would have gone over Flagg too, those guys were very hyped prospects (and scouts today would likely take both over Flagg). If Embiid wasn't hurt, he'd have gone over Flagg easily based on the hype he had.

Now leaving aside hype, let's focus on how good people are. I doubt most good scouts today, with the knowledge they had at the time, are taking Flagg over any of Dwight, D.Rose, Towns, etc.

The odds are also against Flagg ever being an Ant or even Cade level player. We'll see, but calling him a generational prospect is a bit of a stretch.

[King Ken]

I think he is the fourth best NBA prospect Ive ever seen after Lebron, Wemby, and Luka.

I think we all knew Zion was going to be a top 5 NBA player if he could avoid weight issues and injuries which he hasn't for even one season.

Flagg is on that same path. I think he's underrated.

I do think Oden, AD, and Embiid was also tier 1 prospects. I know it's idiotic now but I thought Bagley was a tier 1 guy at that time.

[NO-KG-AI]

I don’t think Ja goes over Cooper, but watching Cooper and Durant both play, there’s no way people would have taken him over Durant. Most of the people that thought Durant should go #1 still thought Oden was a HOF type big man.

Durant’s hype was huge, his play was stellar, and he just looks and plays way more like some sort of anomaly. I don’t think anyone is projecting the kind of upside KD had onto Cooper, and it’s not like Durant was some project that wasn’t producing yet. He basically wrote the book for the one and done era and a freshman being the best player in the country.

[One_and_Done]

I don’t think Ja goes over Cooper, but watching Cooper and Durant both play, there’s no way people would have taken him over Durant. Most of the people that thought Durant should go #1 still thought Oden was a HOF type big man.

Durant’s hype was huge, his play was stellar, and he just looks and plays way more like some sort of anomaly. I don’t think anyone is projecting the kind of upside KD had onto Cooper, and it’s not like Durant was some project that wasn’t producing yet. He basically wrote the book for the one and done era and a freshman being the best player in the country.

Some people were debating Morant over Zion. It was a minority view, bit Ja had an insane amount of hype himself.

[G R E Y]

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[Indomitable]

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Holy Pay cut
There will eventually be legislation against or a away to cap it.