How Cooper Flagg physically compares to similar big wings/forwards

[FrodoBaggins]

Cooper has very similar measurements to LBJ, Josh Smith, Aaron Gordon, Jayson Tatum, Jalen Johnson, and Paul George.

Flagg: 6'7.75" barefoot, 221 pounds, 7'0" wingspan, 8'10.5" standing reach (18.5 draft age)
LBJ: 6'7.25" barefoot, 245 pounds, 7'0.25" wingspan, 8'10.25" standing reach (18.5 draft age)
Smith: 6'7" barefoot, 221 pounds, 7'0" wingspan, 8'10.5" standing reach (18.53 draft age)
Tatum: 6'8.25" in shoes, 204 pounds, 6'11" wingspan, 8'10.5" standing reach (19.29 draft age)
PG: 6'7.75" barefoot, 214.4 pounds, 6'11.25" wingspan, 8'11" standing reach (20.12 draft age)
Jalen Johnson: 6'7.75" barefoot, 209.6 pounds, 7'0.25" wingspan, 8'10" standing reach (19.5 draft age)
Aaron Gordon: 6'7.5" barefoot, 220.1 pounds, 6'11.75" wingspan, 8'9" standing reach (18.75 draft age)

I'd say Smith is the closest physical comparison, also considering athleticism. Smith has more twitch (39.5" max vert vs. 35.5") but less agility/change of pace/change of direction/lateral movement (11.43 pro lane vs. 10.83). J Smoove was 225 as a rookie, and 240+ in his prime. I'd expect Coop to follow a similar weight progression.

With official measurements now, I'd grade Cooper an A- for size and A- for athleticism. His precocious weight, sturdiness/frame, and strength bump him up from a B+, in my opinion. An offseason with the Dallas strength and conditioning team will get him up to 225-230, and he'll be physically ready to compete from day one. For comparison, Tatum was 210 as a rookie.

[FrodoBaggins]

Cooper's weight, sturdiness/frame, and strength are the most underrated aspects of his physical package. He's akin to an OG Anunoby in that department, who weighed in at 232 with a 19.92 draft age - nearly 1½ years older than Flagg. I'd expect a similar weight at the same age, which would be at the start of Cooper's 2nd season.

[CIN-C-STAR]

For whatever reason AG has been the comp stuck in my head.
Glad to see I’m not too far off lol
I think Cooper maybe has a little more upside but AG is an awesome player too so don’t want to sound like I’m discrediting him at all.

[BruttoNostra]

Cooper has very similar measurements to LBJ, Josh Smith, Aaron Gordon, Jayson Tatum, Jalen Johnson, and Paul George.

Flagg: 6'7.75" barefoot, 221 pounds, 7'0" wingspan, 8'10.5" standing reach (18.5 draft age)
LBJ: 6'7.25" barefoot, 245 pounds, 7'0.25" wingspan, 8'10.25" standing reach (18.5 draft age)
Smith: 6'7" barefoot, 221 pounds, 7'0" wingspan, 8'10.5" standing reach (18.53 draft age)
Tatum: 6'8.25" in shoes, 204 pounds, 6'11" wingspan, 8'10.5" standing reach (19.29 draft age)
PG: 6'7.75" barefoot, 214.4 pounds, 6'11.25" wingspan, 8'11" standing reach (20.12 draft age)
Jalen Johnson: 6'7.75" barefoot, 209.6 pounds, 7'0.25" wingspan, 8'10" standing reach (19.5 draft age)
Aaron Gordon: 6'7.5" barefoot, 220.1 pounds, 6'11.75" wingspan, 8'9" standing reach (18.75 draft age)

I'd say Smith is the closest physical comparison, also considering athleticism. Smith has more twitch (39.5" max vert vs. 35.5") but less agility/change of pace/change of direction/lateral movement (11.43 pro lane vs. 10.83). J Smoove was 225 as a rookie, and 240+ in his prime. I'd expect Coop to follow a similar weight progression.

With official measurements now, I'd grade Cooper an A- for size and A- for athleticism. His precocious weight, sturdiness/frame, and strength bump him up from a B+, in my opinion. An offseason with the Dallas strength and conditioning team will get him up to 225-230, and he'll be physically ready to compete from day one. For comparison, Tatum was 210 as a rookie.

Great post.
Feels like these players (except maybe for PG, I didn't really catch what he did this season) spend 75%+ of their time at 4, so people predicting Flagg to be a 3 because "he can't bang inside" (saw a comment like that in another thread) probably stopped watching NBA some 10 years ago.

[Deathray]

Josh Smith's body worked well as a post up player, he had a strong base as mentioned above. I don't see that for Flagg, which is not a big deal considering how post ups have gone out of style but even with similar measurements I think their physical strengths are much different.

[giberish]

Cooper has very similar measurements to LBJ, Josh Smith, Aaron Gordon, Jayson Tatum, Jalen Johnson, and Paul George.

Flagg: 6'7.75" barefoot, 221 pounds, 7'0" wingspan, 8'10.5" standing reach (18.5 draft age)
LBJ: 6'7.25" barefoot, 245 pounds, 7'0.25" wingspan, 8'10.25" standing reach (18.5 draft age)
Smith: 6'7" barefoot, 221 pounds, 7'0" wingspan, 8'10.5" standing reach (18.53 draft age)
Tatum: 6'8.25" in shoes, 204 pounds, 6'11" wingspan, 8'10.5" standing reach (19.29 draft age)
PG: 6'7.75" barefoot, 214.4 pounds, 6'11.25" wingspan, 8'11" standing reach (20.12 draft age)
Jalen Johnson: 6'7.75" barefoot, 209.6 pounds, 7'0.25" wingspan, 8'10" standing reach (19.5 draft age)
Aaron Gordon: 6'7.5" barefoot, 220.1 pounds, 6'11.75" wingspan, 8'9" standing reach (18.75 draft age)

I'd say Smith is the closest physical comparison, also considering athleticism. Smith has more twitch (39.5" max vert vs. 35.5") but less agility/change of pace/change of direction/lateral movement (11.43 pro lane vs. 10.83). J Smoove was 225 as a rookie, and 240+ in his prime. I'd expect Coop to follow a similar weight progression.

With official measurements now, I'd grade Cooper an A- for size and A- for athleticism. His precocious weight, sturdiness/frame, and strength bump him up from a B+, in my opinion. An offseason with the Dallas strength and conditioning team will get him up to 225-230, and he'll be physically ready to compete from day one. For comparison, Tatum was 210 as a rookie.

Great post.
Feels like these players (except maybe for PG, I didn't really catch what he did this season) spend 75%+ of their time at 4, so people predicting Flagg to be a 3 because "he can't bang inside" (saw a comment like that in another thread) probably stopped watching NBA some 10 years ago.

A lot of those guys started at SF before transitioning to PF. I could see Flagg playing more SF than PF as a rookie. Though I expect that by the time he's 25 he's mostly at PF.

[MrGoat]

Flagg is so young you can't even be sure he hasn't stopped growing. And very tall people tend to have later growth spurts

[BruttoNostra]

Cooper has very similar measurements to LBJ, Josh Smith, Aaron Gordon, Jayson Tatum, Jalen Johnson, and Paul George.

Flagg: 6'7.75" barefoot, 221 pounds, 7'0" wingspan, 8'10.5" standing reach (18.5 draft age)
LBJ: 6'7.25" barefoot, 245 pounds, 7'0.25" wingspan, 8'10.25" standing reach (18.5 draft age)
Smith: 6'7" barefoot, 221 pounds, 7'0" wingspan, 8'10.5" standing reach (18.53 draft age)
Tatum: 6'8.25" in shoes, 204 pounds, 6'11" wingspan, 8'10.5" standing reach (19.29 draft age)
PG: 6'7.75" barefoot, 214.4 pounds, 6'11.25" wingspan, 8'11" standing reach (20.12 draft age)
Jalen Johnson: 6'7.75" barefoot, 209.6 pounds, 7'0.25" wingspan, 8'10" standing reach (19.5 draft age)
Aaron Gordon: 6'7.5" barefoot, 220.1 pounds, 6'11.75" wingspan, 8'9" standing reach (18.75 draft age)

I'd say Smith is the closest physical comparison, also considering athleticism. Smith has more twitch (39.5" max vert vs. 35.5") but less agility/change of pace/change of direction/lateral movement (11.43 pro lane vs. 10.83). J Smoove was 225 as a rookie, and 240+ in his prime. I'd expect Coop to follow a similar weight progression.

With official measurements now, I'd grade Cooper an A- for size and A- for athleticism. His precocious weight, sturdiness/frame, and strength bump him up from a B+, in my opinion. An offseason with the Dallas strength and conditioning team will get him up to 225-230, and he'll be physically ready to compete from day one. For comparison, Tatum was 210 as a rookie.

Great post.
Feels like these players (except maybe for PG, I didn't really catch what he did this season) spend 75%+ of their time at 4, so people predicting Flagg to be a 3 because "he can't bang inside" (saw a comment like that in another thread) probably stopped watching NBA some 10 years ago.

A lot of those guys started at SF before transitioning to PF. I could see Flagg playing more SF than PF as a rookie. Though I expect that by the time he's 25 he's mostly at PF.

Valid point, agree.
Yet, at least for LBJ and PG in was in a way different era, borderline for AG as well - in terms how much bully ball there was at 4 back than relatively to today.

[Yoshun]

That 25 pounds LeBron had makes a big difference. He was such a a freak athlete.

[FrodoBaggins]

Josh Smith's body worked well as a post up player, he had a strong base as mentioned above. I don't see that for Flagg, which is not a big deal considering how post ups have gone out of style but even with similar measurements I think their physical strengths are much different.

Cooper has a very strong base, and he was quite efficacious as a post-up player. I think he was at like 1.3 ppp at Duke. I'd rate him higher than Smith in both qualities.

J Smoove scored most of his points from opportunistic finishes in transition and rolls, cuts, lobs, and putbacks in the half-court. At least his effective ones that added positive FG Add and TS Add value. He forced a lot of inefficient, low-quality shots from the perimeter and the pivot. I wouldn't call him a good back-to-the-basket player. He could occasionally make an effective dribble-drive facing up in the post, from the triple-threat, or off the bounce, but he was by no means good at these plays.

He just didn't have Cooper's ball handling, shooting ability, or touch in the paint to be effective in the post and attacking the basketball with the ball in his hands.

Here's what Coach K said about Flagg on The Herd with Colin Cowherd the other day:

Cooper is just unique, you know, like he's so strong. His legs are so strong and athletic, he's gifted. - Mike "Coach K" Krzyzewski

Watch on YouTube

Heck, Coop was dislodging Jrue Holiday and holding his own grappling with LeBron during the Team USA scrimmage a year ago.

[UcanUwill]

What should we expect from Flagg defensively, is he still project as shotblocker? He was such insane shot blocker and junior FIBA and highschool level, but I believe in NCAA he wasn't that, and he truly solidified himself as a wing, and not a big. Is that observation correct?

Looking at these guys, none of them were shotblockers in the NBA, I mean, Josh Smith was I guess, other guys could block shots, but were not really consistent shot blockers in the NBA.

I still remember Flagg in FIBA U17, when he was 15 year old and played center, his defense and rim protection in that tournament was insane, like best ever ecluding maybe just Victor and maybe few other. Oumar Ballo was dominant FIBA juniors center, but I don't know what happened to him in NCAA, but hes been there for years and I haven't heard of him at all.

[LakersLegacy]

Cooper has very similar measurements to LBJ, Josh Smith, Aaron Gordon, Jayson Tatum, Jalen Johnson, and Paul George.

Flagg: 6'7.75" barefoot, 221 pounds, 7'0" wingspan, 8'10.5" standing reach (18.5 draft age)
LBJ: 6'7.25" barefoot, 245 pounds, 7'0.25" wingspan, 8'10.25" standing reach (18.5 draft age)
Smith: 6'7" barefoot, 221 pounds, 7'0" wingspan, 8'10.5" standing reach (18.53 draft age)
Tatum: 6'8.25" in shoes, 204 pounds, 6'11" wingspan, 8'10.5" standing reach (19.29 draft age)
PG: 6'7.75" barefoot, 214.4 pounds, 6'11.25" wingspan, 8'11" standing reach (20.12 draft age)
Jalen Johnson: 6'7.75" barefoot, 209.6 pounds, 7'0.25" wingspan, 8'10" standing reach (19.5 draft age)
Aaron Gordon: 6'7.5" barefoot, 220.1 pounds, 6'11.75" wingspan, 8'9" standing reach (18.75 draft age)

I'd say Smith is the closest physical comparison, also considering athleticism. Smith has more twitch (39.5" max vert vs. 35.5") but less agility/change of pace/change of direction/lateral movement (11.43 pro lane vs. 10.83). J Smoove was 225 as a rookie, and 240+ in his prime. I'd expect Coop to follow a similar weight progression.

With official measurements now, I'd grade Cooper an A- for size and A- for athleticism. His precocious weight, sturdiness/frame, and strength bump him up from a B+, in my opinion. An offseason with the Dallas strength and conditioning team will get him up to 225-230, and he'll be physically ready to compete from day one. For comparison, Tatum was 210 as a rookie.

Great post.
Feels like these players (except maybe for PG, I didn't really catch what he did this season) spend 75%+ of their time at 4, so people predicting Flagg to be a 3 because "he can't bang inside" (saw a comment like that in another thread) probably stopped watching NBA some 10 years ago.

Tatum shorter than LeBron

[Ice Man]

Worth noting that that Flagg scored VERY WELL on the lane agility drill. He was a full second faster than Bam and Gordon Hayward, for example. (Unfortunately, we can't compare him to the other guys on the OP's list because projected high picks almost always skip the athletic tests at the combine. For some reason, Flagg chose to do them.)

Meaning Flagg is plenty agile enough to defend as a #3, and he's already big enough to do so as a modern #4. (By mid-season, he'll be 225+ pounds, as he's still at the age where he's rapidly gaining muscle.)

But honestly, there aren't any doubts about his defense. He's gonna be a beast and thus a positive NBA player coming right of out the gate. Whether he just becomes a very good player, a great player, or even better than that will depend upon how his offense develops.

[FrodoBaggins]

What should we expect from Flagg defensively, is he still project as shotblocker? He was such insane shot blocker and junior FIBA and highschool level, but I believe in NCAA he wasn't that, and he truly solidified himself as a wing, and not a big. Is that observation correct?

Looking at these guys, none of them were shotblockers in the NBA, I mean, Josh Smith was I guess, other guys could block shots, but were not really consistent shot blockers in the NBA.

I still remember Flagg in FIBA U17, when he was 15 year old and played center, his defense and rim protection in that tournament was insane, like best ever ecluding maybe just Victor and maybe few other. Oumar Ballo was dominant FIBA juniors center, but I don't know what happened to him in NCAA, but hes been there for years and I haven't heard of him at all.

The lack of blocks had more to do with Duke's scheme and the role he played. The step up in size, athleticism, and competition may have had some influence, but he definitely had the capacity to average more blocks per game. He was extremely disciplined, holding his position off-ball and sliding over early to provide help defense and deter plays before they materialized.

I don't think it matters, though. He was one of the most impactful and valuable defenders in D1 NCAA basketball, according to several one-number metrics. Like, top 3 at worst, and 1st in some. Blocks are obviously overrated and only a moderate correlate for paint protection ability. Good examples of elite paint protectors who don't block that many shots include Draymond, Giannis, and Jalen Williams. Check DFG% <6 feet.

Jalen Williams is not a bad defensive comparison. Maybe with more strength and sturdiness, like Draymond.

[jpengland]

Flagg is most certainly a 4, although could be a 3 with a similar athletic switchy 4 alongside him.

That’s why it’s an appalling fit in Dallas. He’s going to be playing 3 next to AD and a traditional 5 man as AD refuses to play 5 and Dallas won’t trade AD.

[UcanUwill]

What should we expect from Flagg defensively, is he still project as shotblocker? He was such insane shot blocker and junior FIBA and highschool level, but I believe in NCAA he wasn't that, and he truly solidified himself as a wing, and not a big. Is that observation correct?

Looking at these guys, none of them were shotblockers in the NBA, I mean, Josh Smith was I guess, other guys could block shots, but were not really consistent shot blockers in the NBA.

I still remember Flagg in FIBA U17, when he was 15 year old and played center, his defense and rim protection in that tournament was insane, like best ever ecluding maybe just Victor and maybe few other. Oumar Ballo was dominant FIBA juniors center, but I don't know what happened to him in NCAA, but hes been there for years and I haven't heard of him at all.

The lack of blocks had more to do with Duke's scheme and the role he played. The step up in size, athleticism, and competition may have had some influence, but he definitely had the capacity to average more blocks per game. He was extremely disciplined, holding his position off-ball and sliding over early to provide help defense and deter plays before they materialized.

I don't think it matters, though. He was one of the most impactful and valuable defenders in D1 NCAA basketball, according to several one-number metrics. Like, top 3 at worst, and 1st in some. Blocks are obviously overrated and only a moderate correlate for paint protection ability. Good examples of elite paint protectors who don't block that many shots include Draymond, Giannis, and Jalen Williams. Check DFG% <6 feet.

Jalen Williams is not a bad defensive comparison. Maybe with more strength and sturdiness, like Draymond.

I understand that you can be good rim protector without great shotblocking numbers, but without deeper analysis, it is still usually a good indication of your rim protecting skills, if you block shots. I just got really bruned on ZIon, that guy was blocking all sorts of shots before NBA, and in the NBA that part of his game disappeared completely, you just do not fear ZIon on defense at all.
And I get ZIon has his own problems that Flagg does not have, and Flagg always projected as far better defender, I am just saying, I fell in love with Cooper when he was basically 15 year old KG, I fear that part of his game wont really exist at NBA level.

[7seventynine9]

While I doubt being a year younger would have too much impact on things like height, standing reach and wingspan, it definitely could have an impact on weight, especially muscle mass.

Being from Maine where there's a lot of discussion on Cooper Flagg, the physical comp I hear the most is Josh Smith, who also happens to be the defensive comp I hear the most.

[Godymas]

his body is legitimately freakish and perplexing, like he clearly hit puberty early. He's not as muscular as an 18 year old LeBron, but it's crazy how close his physical stature is to LeBron James. It makes you wonder what 2-3 years of NBA level conditioning will do.

[Alatan]

6'7" barefoot, around 210 pounds, 7'0" wingspan, 8'10" standing reach is like the average NBA starting forward. Those measurements are not elite by NBA standards. From the guys above only LBJ has a significant measured advantage of 20-30 lbs of muscle compared to the rest. But measurement are not the only thing that determines an athletes ability as im sure most here know.

Im kind of surprised those are his measurements as he plays more like a PF than a SF. That doesnt bode well for him but he will still be an all star in the NBA. But maybe not as dominant as some hope.

[KrAzY3]

For the record LBJ actually measured at 6'8.5 barefoot (official NBA barefoot measurement) but this was later in his career so may be he grew a bit since the draft.