Cooper Flagg Rookie Season Expectations

[tsherkin]

16, 6, 3 with 3 stocks. He’s not the top dog on the food chain. Hes playing with some shot happy teammates.

I feel as if he's likely to get more than 6 rebounds, but otherwise, it's not a bad stat line to expect. Dallas doesn't really need to hit him up as a primary volume scorer, he isn't going to be in a full point-forward role, so he should be able to gradually assume responsibility as he learns and gets comfortable.

He did only average 5 rpg in the summer league in about 31 mpg, but he also shot like stank. I think with a proper team and a little more time, he'll be fine in that regard.

[Bucks4005]

16, 6, 3 with 3 stocks. He’s not the top dog on the food chain. Hes playing with some shot happy teammates.

I feel as if he's likely to get more than 6 rebounds, but otherwise, it's not a bad stat line to expect. Dallas doesn't really need to hit him up as a primary volume scorer, he isn't going to be in a full point-forward role, so he should be able to gradually assume responsibility as he learns and gets comfortable.

He did only average 5 rpg in the summer league in about 31 mpg, but he also shot like stank. I think with a proper team and a little more time, he'll be fine in that regard.

The problem with rebounds is most of his minutes will be at SF with Davis at PF, who also likely won’t get many C minutes with Gafford/Likely. I feel it’s gonna be hard to get rebounding numbers with two bigs sharing the floor with him, if anything, they’ll have these guys rebound and Flagg focus more on running the floor in transition.

[Pointgod]

16, 6, 3 with 3 stocks. He’s not the top dog on the food chain. Hes playing with some shot happy teammates.

I feel as if he's likely to get more than 6 rebounds, but otherwise, it's not a bad stat line to expect. Dallas doesn't really need to hit him up as a primary volume scorer, he isn't going to be in a full point-forward role, so he should be able to gradually assume responsibility as he learns and gets comfortable.

He did only average 5 rpg in the summer league in about 31 mpg, but he also shot like stank. I think with a proper team and a little more time, he'll be fine in that regard.

I assume his rebounds will be lower because he’ll be on the perimeter more and will be sharing a front court Gafford, Davis and Lively who averaged around 25 rebounds between the 3 of them. I think there’s going to be diminishing returns in the front court

[Johnny Firpo]

Two Questions:

1. What stats do think Flagg needs to put up to justify the hype?

Not the best question, it's not about the stats. He could average 12/6/3/2/2 and be amazing, or average 16/8/4/2/2 and kind of disappointing. It's about the advanced stats and impact.

2. What stats do you think Flagg will actually put up

14/6/3/2/1 on 56% TS or something like that.

[tsherkin]

I assume his rebounds will be lower because he’ll be on the perimeter more and will be sharing a front court Gafford, Davis and Lively who averaged around 25 rebounds between the 3 of them. I think there’s going to be diminishing returns in the front court

The problem with rebounds is most of his minutes will be at SF with Davis at PF, who also likely won’t get many C minutes with Gafford/Likely. I feel it’s gonna be hard to get rebounding numbers with two bigs sharing the floor with him, if anything, they’ll have these guys rebound and Flagg focus more on running the floor in transition.

Yeah, that makes sense, certainly. Still, I think he's more likely to be a 7+ rpg player, personally, even still. The various centers are going to play only so much and Davis will see some minutes at the 5, I'm sure. He was at a nearly 60/40 split with PF in the lead after the trade anyway. So I can envision Flagg still getting some minutes at the 4, where he'll grab some more rebounds.

But we'll see. There will certainly be some degree of diminishing returns, that's very true.

[LakerLegend]

Given the hype...I think rookie Durant, Melo, Zion, and LeBron are fair comparisons for stat expectations.

[dballislife]

out of more recent comparable, i expect his rookie year to be scottie barnes like with better shooting

[Black Jack]

Good but people shouldnt expect Luka level performance hes not that great

[HMFFL]

Given the hype...I think rookie Durant, Melo, Zion, and LeBron are fair comparisons for stat expectations.

Kevin Durant transitioned very smoothly into the league. Al Horford can probably accept that KD is the one that stopped him from winning ROY.

I think the rest did live up to the expectation except for Zion.
Lebron improving his touch so quickly impressed me from year one to year two.

[cupcakesnake]

I think I expect less from rookies than most people do?

I'm not sure if Cooper's scoring game will shine off the bat. The Mavs are sorely lacking in ballhandlers and overstocked with paint crowding bigs. Dallas is likely to have a clunky offense, and that will impact everyone's efficiency.

I'm expecting 15/7/2 with some defensive playmaking.

[meekrab]

If he's a slightly below average NBA starter that justifies the hype.

[tsherkin]

Kevin Durant transitioned very smoothly into the league.

In his second season, yes.

In his first season, he shot poorly apart from the foul line (and couldn't buy a 3 to save his life), struggled trying to play what was not his native position, struggled with the physicality of the league and such.

But by his second season, and with the shift to the 3, he looked very good. And then he started killing it from year 3 and on.

[cupcakesnake]

16, 6, 3 with 3 stocks. He’s not the top dog on the food chain. Hes playing with some shot happy teammates.

I feel as if he's likely to get more than 6 rebounds, but otherwise, it's not a bad stat line to expect. Dallas doesn't really need to hit him up as a primary volume scorer, he isn't going to be in a full point-forward role, so he should be able to gradually assume responsibility as he learns and gets comfortable.

He did only average 5 rpg in the summer league in about 31 mpg, but he also shot like stank. I think with a proper team and a little more time, he'll be fine in that regard.

The problem with rebounds is most of his minutes will be at SF with Davis at PF, who also likely won’t get many C minutes with Gafford/Likely. I feel it’s gonna be hard to get rebounding numbers with two bigs sharing the floor with him, if anything, they’ll have these guys rebound and Flagg focus more on running the floor in transition.

Yeah like... what is the Mavs frontcourt rotation going to be?
- Anthony Davis is a 35mpg player.
- Lively and Gafford played 23 and 21mpg last year.
- PJ Washington played 32mpg, mostly as a power forward.
- Naji Marshall was a 3/4 last year.
- They have other guys who will try (and fail) to fight for frontcourt rotation minutes: Omax, and the immortal Dwight Powell.

Flagg, Naji, and PJ can play some 3. Naji will probably get some minutes at the 2, Caleb Martin might have to exclusively be a 2 on this roster. Not sure what position Klay plays anymore, but it's worth noting that he was defensively stashed on non-threatening frontcourt players whenever possible.

[JXL]

He'll have to carry a load for AD since he's not capable of staying healthy for a full season, plus with Kyrie not coming back on the court until 2026, he'll have to average 22/8/3 with near 2 blocks a game on decent shooting.

I don't think he's that capable of that this season. So I'll give it a reasonable 17/7/3 on 1.3 blocks a game on subpar shooting.

[bledredwine]

Justify the hype 24 pts 7 rebounds 5 assists

The stats he puts up 16 pts 5 rebounds 4 assists

This is my guess as well.

[flintsky21]

If Kidd really slots him at PG I can see higher scoring average but less efficiency than playing at his natural 3 position.

[Rust_Cohle]

I think the bigs of the NBA will take some getting used to for him. He's not going to be able to bully as much as he did in college. But he's got a great feel for the game. I see him having a 15/4/3 average

[316Hornets]

Hard to really say knowing that Mavericks are dealing with guys with history of injuries. He could end up being the first option a lot of nights and average 25+ a game or he could be the glue guy behind the vets and average 15. Really going to come down to how healthy that team is. Flagg has the iq to play to what is best for team and would have to have some crazy development between now and start of season to be considered a 1st scoring option if they are at full health.

[picko]

I think he'll average 17-7-4 and a combined 3 steals/blocks. That's not going to be enough to live up to the hype, but I think that's fine given his age.

[MavsDirk41]

I feel as if he's likely to get more than 6 rebounds, but otherwise, it's not a bad stat line to expect. Dallas doesn't really need to hit him up as a primary volume scorer, he isn't going to be in a full point-forward role, so he should be able to gradually assume responsibility as he learns and gets comfortable.

He did only average 5 rpg in the summer league in about 31 mpg, but he also shot like stank. I think with a proper team and a little more time, he'll be fine in that regard.

The problem with rebounds is most of his minutes will be at SF with Davis at PF, who also likely won’t get many C minutes with Gafford/Likely. I feel it’s gonna be hard to get rebounding numbers with two bigs sharing the floor with him, if anything, they’ll have these guys rebound and Flagg focus more on running the floor in transition.

Yeah like... what is the Mavs frontcourt rotation going to be?
- Anthony Davis is a 35mpg player.
- Lively and Gafford played 23 and 21mpg last year.
- PJ Washington played 32mpg, mostly as a power forward.
- Naji Marshall was a 3/4 last year.
- They have other guys who will try (and fail) to fight for frontcourt rotation minutes: Omax, and the immortal Dwight Powell.

Flagg, Naji, and PJ can play some 3. Naji will probably get some minutes at the 2, Caleb Martin might have to exclusively be a 2 on this roster. Not sure what position Klay plays anymore, but it's worth noting that he was defensively stashed on non-threatening frontcourt players whenever possible.

The Mavs have been trying to move Omax and Caleb Martin wont see the court unless there are injuries.

Gafford Lively Powell
Davis Washington
Flagg Naji
Thompson Hardy Martin
Russell Exum

Irving hopes to be back sometime in January but thats no guarantee. He isnt going to rush it and the Mavs wont let him. They will trade either Gafford, Lively, or Washington at some point. I would prefer them trade Davis and have a frontcourt of Flagg and Washington with Gafford in the middle. That would be some stout defense right there as Flagg and Washington could switch defensively with Gafford patrolling the paint. Hopefully Klay has a bounce back year and Russell can put his ego aside and fit with the team and his role as a distributor.