Summer League 2025

[azcatz11]

I try not to jump to conclusions early in summer league and preseason, but some things are apparent fast.

Like last year for Missi. Idk if he’s ever going to even be a high level starter, but it was so apparent his first time on the court he knows where to run to and where to stand on a given play, and as a big that already makes him better than all the bust bigs lol

Queen looked good. He was way more athletic than I thought he would translate. He also clearly lost some weight and is in good shape.

The problem is playing him and Fears at the same time...two horrible defenders.

I would move on from Fears. His ceiling is a worse version of Dame and you will never win with a guy like him chucking shots and being abused on defense. The kid cannot and will not defend.

I thought Fears looked better on defense yesterday tbh. If he becomes a poor man’s Dame, it’ll be a huge luxury to figure out if we wanna keep him or move on.

Queen is weird, because he looks lost when caught in between pick and rolls, but he’s real sticky as a wing defender once he’s switched all the way onto a guy. I think doing that is either something you have or yoi don’t, and it seems like he shouldn’t at his size, but he might thrive in a switch heavy defense.

Queen had a sequence late in the 4th when he took it to the rim and almost slammed it and got the missed rebound. It was very impressive. Hes probably my favorite rookie

[EvanZ]

Queen looked out of shape to me.

[Duke4life831]

lol, if Coop peaks at 16ppg that will be a resounding disappointment. he should be a 25ppg guy, especially in today's **** NBA.

He will average more than Kirilenko because he's in era where the scoring is up, the rules are favoring high scoring etc. But he's the similar player to Kirilenko. I am not trying to diss Flagg, Kirilenko was an excellent player.

I agree there are similarities, but I think Flagg is the far more advanced offensive player at the same age. Now with that said, I don’t think we will see Flagg with the same kind of stock numbers as AK47 had.

I get the ACC was down last year. But Flagg led the ACC in scoring and was 5th in assists. He flirted with a 50/40/90 conference season while averaging 21ppg (53/44/86 shooting split).

Even if we say skill wise on offense they’re similar (again I personally think Flagg is far more advanced), Flagg’s mentality on offense is drastically different than AK47’s. He’s far more aggressive.

[EvanZ]

I think at a minimum Coop is like Keith Van Horn with a 3pt shot. And way better passing. And All-Defense potential.

[EvanZ]

Kon looks like a +/- god lol

[clyde21]

lol, if Coop peaks at 16ppg that will be a resounding disappointment. he should be a 25ppg guy, especially in today's **** NBA.

He will average more than Kirilenko because he's in era where the scoring is up, the rules are favoring high scoring etc. But he's the similar player to Kirilenko. I am not trying to diss Flagg, Kirilenko was an excellent player.

No offense but you're not the first to comp Flagg to AK47, it was one of the standard comps for him early on, but at the end of the day AK47 averaged 12ppg/3apg for his career - Coop should *double* those numbers career wise otherwise it's a disappointment.

[amcoolio]

So McNeeley looks really good on both ends of the floor, he is going to thrive with NBA spacing. Probably should have went higher. Seems like a great teammate too

Edit: 22 pts, 12 reb, 6 assist. Led fast breaks off defensive rebounds and even paint scoring was impressive. He honestly looked like a skinny Gordon Hayward, it was uncanny.

Kon sucked, but he rushed everything and was playing spastic so hopefully first game jitters. He does look small on the court, which was my fear. McNeeley, while skinny looks so much bigger and plays bigger.

[Mickey8]

lol, if Coop peaks at 16ppg that will be a resounding disappointment. he should be a 25ppg guy, especially in today's **** NBA.

He will average more than Kirilenko because he's in era where the scoring is up, the rules are favoring high scoring etc. But he's the similar player to Kirilenko. I am not trying to diss Flagg, Kirilenko was an excellent player.

I agree there are similarities, but I think Flagg is the far more advanced offensive player at the same age. Now with that said, I don’t think we will see Flagg with the same kind of stock numbers as AK47 had.

I get the ACC was down last year. But Flagg led the ACC in scoring and was 5th in assists. He flirted with a 50/40/90 conference season while averaging 21ppg (53/44/86 shooting split).

Even if we say skill wise on offense they’re similar (again I personally think Flagg is far more advanced), Flagg’s mentality on offense is drastically different than AK47’s. He’s far more aggressive.

Kirilenko was never given the role to do more on the offense in NBA, he was always third or forth option in Utah and he wasn't bad at the offense at all. I would say in some departments on the offense he was more advanced than Flagg.

[bucknut]

Flagg is going to be Kirilenko of this generation. I don't think that team can build entire system around him, but he will be great piece that you can plug into the successful system. He will do little bit of everything . I don't think he's the natural born scorer to be the the man on his team.

This.....his athleticism limits him. Never seen someone as mechanical and rigid as him be a superstar.

And yet there was no conversation of him not being number one. I can see cooper being behind a few other guys in this class ceiling wise

[EvanZ]

Flagg is going to be Kirilenko of this generation. I don't think that team can build entire system around him, but he will be great piece that you can plug into the successful system. He will do little bit of everything . I don't think he's the natural born scorer to be the the man on his team.

This.....his athleticism limits him. Never seen someone as mechanical and rigid as him be a superstar.

And yet there was no conversation of him not being number one. I can see cooper being behind a few other guys in this class ceiling wise

Quoting this so you can’t walk it back later.

[bucknut]

Flagg is going to be Kirilenko of this generation. I don't think that team can build entire system around him, but he will be great piece that you can plug into the successful system. He will do little bit of everything . I don't think he's the natural born scorer to be the the man on his team.

This.....his athleticism limits him. Never seen someone as mechanical and rigid as him be a superstar.

And yet there was no conversation of him not being number one. I can see cooper being behind a few other guys in this class ceiling wise

Quoting this so you can’t walk it back later.

Difference between star and superstar....i think he is an all star. He destroyed Carter Bryant in the tourney. But superstar? You have to have flash.

Imo fears and hansen have more superstar potential

[The-Power]

SL overreactions, especially after a single game, are always a fun read.

[tontoz]

Watch on YouTube

[clyde21]

Watch on YouTube

Tre's a bucket

[EvanZ]

Flagg is going to be Kirilenko of this generation. I don't think that team can build entire system around him, but he will be great piece that you can plug into the successful system. He will do little bit of everything . I don't think he's the natural born scorer to be the the man on his team.

This.....his athleticism limits him. Never seen someone as mechanical and rigid as him be a superstar.

And yet there was no conversation of him not being number one. I can see cooper being behind a few other guys in this class ceiling wise

Not even 12 hours later Coop puts up 31 LMAO

[bucknut]

Flagg is going to be Kirilenko of this generation. I don't think that team can build entire system around him, but he will be great piece that you can plug into the successful system. He will do little bit of everything . I don't think he's the natural born scorer to be the the man on his team.

This.....his athleticism limits him. Never seen someone as mechanical and rigid as him be a superstar.

And yet there was no conversation of him not being number one. I can see cooper being behind a few other guys in this class ceiling wise

Not even 12 hours later Coop puts up 31 LMAO

Talk about overreaction much...

I've had yang and fears 2 and 3 before summer league. But the more I think about it

My big board right now after coops 31 is
1 yang
2 fears
3 coop would be in the conversation here. I need to see more of beringer. If we are basing this on best summer league game beringer.

Aaron gordon kirilenko Shawn Marion as similar biometrics albeit coop has more offense it will be limited by similar reasons that limit these guys......I'm not seeing superstar at all with coop. They all lack a touch a fluidity

I think coop has the worst defensive explosiveness of the bunch. He didn't even seem to bother harper on the one v one

[EvanZ]

This.....his athleticism limits him. Never seen someone as mechanical and rigid as him be a superstar.

And yet there was no conversation of him not being number one. I can see cooper being behind a few other guys in this class ceiling wise

Not even 12 hours later Coop puts up 31 LMAO

Talk about overreaction much...

I've had yang and fears 2 and 3 before summer league. But the more I think about it

My big board right now after coops 31 is
1 yang
2 fears
3 coop would be in the conversation here. I need to see more of beringer. If we are basing this on best summer league game beringer.

Aaron gordon kirilenko Shawn Marion as similar biometrics albeit coop has more offense it will be limited by similar reasons that limit these guys......I'm not seeing superstar at all with coop. They all lack a touch a fluidity

I think coop has the worst defensive explosiveness of the bunch. He didn't even seem to bother harper on the one v one

Bro you’re on one. These takes are going to age like vinegar.

[HadAnEffectHere]

Flagg is a good shot creator and has nowhere near Kirilenko's size, it's a completely racially based comp. Flagg is a super charged Jimmy Butler.

[FrodoBaggins]

Cooper might become the king of the 100+ dunk & 200+ made threes in a season club. There's only one member all-time: Lauri Markkanen in 2022-23. Tatum and Durant have been close before. LeBron didn't shoot enough threes when he was younger; he was on pace to do it in 2021-22, but only played 56 games. He played 50% of his minutes at C per Basketball Reference, so that may have been a factor.

[FrodoBaggins]

Flagg is a good shot creator and has nowhere near Kirilenko's size, it's a completely racially based comp. Flagg is a super charged Jimmy Butler.

I agree. Kirilenko is a legit 6'9" barefoot with a 7-foot-4 wingspan and estimated standing reach somewhere in the 9'0" to 9'3" range most likely. Quite frankly, those comparisons should've died when Flagg started lighting up defenses after his early-season shooting slump at Duke. Andrei could never run the pick-and-roll and shoot like that - ever.

Bigger, better-shooting Jimmy Butler. 1.75" taller with 4.5" more wingspan & 5.5" more standing reach. Shooting potential like Kawhi Leonard, Jayson Tatum, and Paul George. 85%+ FT, 37-40%+ 3PT, 42-47% mid-range; good shot context diversity (on-ball/off-ball; pull-up, spot-up, movement/off-screen).