Sam Vecenie
Appearances
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
He was pretty high in your, so yeah, I have them like on my board currently like five or six right now. Like if he shoots it, he is a serious difference maker. He is a fantastic defensive player.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
rotates around like crazy his anticipation is unbelievable on that end of the court his hands are incredible uh he knows how to use his length he's like six foot six six foot seven with a seven foot two wingspan uh he is he like plays a lot of center for south carolina but i think he's mobile enough to slide down onto like the three and the four pretty easily he can deal with switch situations on defense like all of these things like he is a really really high level defender
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
the question and he can really pass. Like if you put them in short roll situations as a ball screen player, he's excellent there. Uh, if you put them on the block and like have them, you know, pass out of that situation, he's really good there. He's just a really, really impactful player. It's just that the jump shot is not there yet. And if the jump shot comes, uh,
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
I mean, he's like a for sure NBA starter if the jump shot comes. Like there's like no ifs, ands, or buts. But if the jump shot is not there, it becomes like a little bit more fungible. And he really probably has to find like the right situation in order to reach that like, you know, being a starter kind of level.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
okay, what is the ceiling? If this does come to fruition, like if he shoots it, like, I don't think there's quite like all-star upside, but like could be a guy that like, if he's shooting it by the end of his rookie deal, like might be like a 25 to no 25% max guy, like 20% max guy. Like he's a real impact player, like across the board, except for the shooting. So part of it is that for sure.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
Part of it is, okay, what do I think the likelihood is of him shooting? He's willing to shoot. I don't think the shot is particularly broken right now in any respect. I think that like the shot prep could probably improve a little bit. I think that like the offhand, you know, probably needs like a little bit of adjustment, but
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
But, like, there's a world, like, it's not impossible that he's going to shoot. Like, you know, I'm trying to think of an example here. Like, Yohan Baranje, the guy that we brought up earlier, he's taken, like, three jump shots this year. When he loads into a mid-range jumper, it takes him, you know, probably two full seconds to load into the mid-range jumper. Yeah.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
And I might be exaggerating there, but, like, only slightly. So it's very unlikely that he's ever going to shoot. Right. But with Murray Boyles, it's like, okay, like I can, I can see a world where this works. Like I can see a world where we look up in three years and he's actually maybe not a high volume three point shooter, but you know, 35% on four, three point attempts per game.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
Like it's not, not out of the question. And if that happens, he's way easier to fit on the court and is like a real impact player.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
So look, I think they need a center, right? I agree. I agree. And part of this is like that... we don't know what direction the sons are going to go. We assume they're probably going to continue to try and compete because they don't have many of their own picks.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
And Matt Ishbia seems like he wants to continue to try and do this, but it also seems like they're probably moving Kevin Durant this summer, you know, based off of all reporting out there. Right. So, you know, how, how far do they contend with,
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
moving kevin durant right like what do they move him for how do you go about retooling the roster that's the first question assuming it looks similar to what it is right now like ryan kalkbrenner makes a lot of sense to me for them uh a big dude who can play in drop coverage who can play minutes basically immediately who is really sharp and has potential to shoot from three a little bit
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
But more than anything, he's just excellent with angles. He's super long. He's been one of the best defense players in college basketball for four years now. Outstanding, outstanding player. I mean, like around 30, like if Nick Clifford fell there, he'd be valuable. Janai Broom is another center that could work there. Yeah. You know, I really like Jojo Tugler.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
Have you seen Jojo Tugler play yet?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
So Jojo Tugler is, I don't know, six foot seven, six foot eight with a seven, six ish wingspan, like something like that. Oh, the tug man. He is the best defensive player in college basketball, point blank. Okay. Like no questions asked to me. I saw him play against Auburn. He like blocked a shot in a help, like in his momentum, took him out of bounds, like beneath the baseline.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
He gets up the offense. Alabama gets the rebound and like swings it out, you know, twice onto the opposite side. Wing from where he was gets up. Mark Sears shoots a three. He rotates like 35 feet all the way out to Mark Williams after or Mark Sears. I'm sorry. After blocking the shot and blocks the jumper. And I'm like, what in the world just happened here? Like, like how, how did he do this?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
It's what it's like. It is the craziest defensive play ever. I have seen non-Victor Wembanyama addition in five years. Wow. He's unbelievable on that end. The issue is from an NBA perspective, there's no offensive game right now. It's really, really tricky to figure out what the fit is. He's a great offensive rebounder. He will occasionally make a three here and there.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
Not often, but it's going to take time with him on offense, but he is...
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
It's more of a big than what Ryan Dunn is. He's more of a true four, whereas Dunn you could see being a 3-4 kind of. But JoJo Tuggler this year made the all-Big 12 team, averaging five points and five rebounds a game. That's how good he is on defense.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
Good question. I would say I want to see more Casper Siakashonas. Had a great start to the year. has had an up-and-down run in Big Ten play, I would say, and there have been a few more downs, realistically. He's just not a great athlete, and that's a real concern for his NBA future. But in terms of his... passing, feeling ball screens, ability to get to pull up jumpers.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
Like all of that stuff is there. I would just like to see him continue to play against higher level, like athletes that maybe aren't, you know, getting to see him night in night out in big 10 play, like within your own conference play. he has a chance to like take the tournament by storm.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
He has the chance to kind of shoot Illinois out of a game potentially if, you know, he just has to fire from distance and he's getting like blitz on his ball screens. And, you know, he isn't able to, I mean, he's an unbelievable passer. The issue is that like nobody else on that Illinois team can really create a shot. in all honesty.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
So Yaka Shona, this is the guy for me, like he, and I'll also give Jace Richardson some love here. Jace Richardson has been unbelievable to close the year for Michigan state. He's Jason Richardson's son plays nothing like Jason Richardson. Like if you were to put a polar opposite player on,
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
you know, out there, you know, Jason was this unbelievable, incredible nuclear athlete, like three and D player. Jace is this like six foot one, like Jalen Brunson knee in terms of style guard, who's just like unbelievable navigating space on the interior and being able to get to his spots and get the floaters and finish around the rim. Um, really, really fun player.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
And the way that he came on late in the year, being more of the primary for Michigan state, who has been awesome throughout the year in the big 10. I, if he has a big tournament run, we could be talking about him as like a top six, top seven type player in this class for sure.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
Not really. No. Okay. Not really. It's just a, it's, it's an eye of the beholder situation. Like there are people who really like Trey Jones. I'll talk to teams that don't really like Trey Jones or not Trey Jones. I'm sorry. Trey Johnson from Texas due to like the shot selection and the questions about him being able to separate.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
Then other teams are like, Oh my God, look at his shot making and like, look at his ability to hit threes and everything like that. Like he's a guy that, there's a real mix on Jace Richardson, another guy that's, you know, just up and down for teams, Derek queen, unsurprisingly, he's like a six foot 10 big man who is probably 245 pounds and has incredibly sweet feet, but doesn't defend really.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
So it's, and it's like an incredible perimeter skill game with his ability to handle the ball. But yeah,
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
Yeah. I have Cooper out of all of them except Wendy. Wow. The level to which Cooper has been able to problem solve basketball this season at Duke as an 18 year old. It's almost like when you watch his first five minutes, six minutes of a game or whatever, you can see all of the information flowing into the supercomputer that is his brain.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
Huh. Okay. So, like, Spot Shooter I would say the guy that I trust most is actually a guy that might go undrafted in Kobe Brea at Kentucky. I'll pull up his numbers while I'm talking, but the shot is just unbelievable. He just drills everything, it feels like to me. This year, he's at 44% from three. Last year, he was at 49.8% from three. Six attempts per game. Just an absolute sniper.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
right, at Kentucky, like 23, 24 years old, can't really do anything else other than shoot, but is like a serious, serious shooter. In terms of pull-up shooting, I would say that that's actually the one thing in this class in terms of shooting that I don't love. I think that where I'm at is like there is just a real case.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
It might end up being Cooper by the end of it, because he's the guy that like, will be the on ball player that like, we'll get the most reps on ball and we'll be able to play in that way. He's shown that he's comfortable shooting off the pull-ups to some stretch.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
I think the answer realistically is probably Trey Johnson from Texas, just in terms of like the numbers would dictate Trey Johnson, but yeah, It's a lot of tough shots. It's a lot of really, really tough shots with him. And he's a talented shot maker. But I worry that he's not going to be able to separate at the NBA level because it's been hard for him to separate in college, frankly.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
And then off of movement, I don't even know like the numbers would bear out that it's con, but I would say con can nipple just from like a balanced perspective, running off of screens, knowing how to run off of screens, um, understanding how to curl, understanding how to flare out. Like, um, His movement shooting ability is just like really, really special because of his balance.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
He is always constantly just straight up and down. You can get him the ball and he will get into his hop and he will like find his balance almost no matter what, if he's wrong footed, if he has to realign himself in midair, like he's just really, really good at finding that balance with his shot prep. So that's probably the way I would go about answering those three.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
But this is a class that has some shooters for sure.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
There's not another way to put it. Okay. So like Maryland will like oftentimes like pre switch him and make it so that he doesn't have to get North South as a defender and like really come up to the level and guard. It was very similar actually to, you know, rest in peace.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
Like, you know, Caleb Swan again, when he was at Purdue, like Purdue devised the scheme where like he would call out to a teammate on the wing to go up, guard the ball screen. I'll switch onto the guy on the wing. Right. And for his part,
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
And then right around that point in the game is where you start to see him just go, okay, like to quote the lethal shooter guy, I understand it now. You know what I mean? Like he just gets it from that point forward and he understands, okay, this is how I have to attack this guy. This is now the matchup that I'm looking for.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
Derek queen is actually like a really good communicator on defense within the scheme and is like really good at making sure that like he has his teammates, you know, in the right spots and that he's in the right spots. I think he's actually also like pretty okay. Laterally on defense. Like if he is in a switch situation and is guarding like a wing and
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
he can slide his feet in like cut off that player. The problem is when you get them North South, it's really hard. I think for him to kind of stop his momentum and then change directions. Right. So like if he's closing out onto a shooter in like a scramble situation, I think he's really, it's, it's really hard for him to like stop and, and cut off a drive against him.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
Like that's what I worry about most with him. And then like in drop also, I don't think he's particularly long and he's only like, you know, six, 10 ish. Let's go with. So like, he doesn't take up a lot of space in those circumstances either. Like the best drop coverage defenders in the league, they tend to be very big because they can just extend their arms.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
They take up as much space as possible in the one on two. It's just a very, very difficult because of where teams set ball screens in the NBA. Like there's just a lot of space to cover. And I worry that he might not be long enough to cover all of that space effectively. So concerning for me, for sure. Okay. Concerning.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
more often than he should be because they just don't have good point guard play this year. So he's asked to like, kind of separate from his man occasionally and try and get downhill. And like, that's not really what he's great at. Like he's an unbelievable shooter and floor spacer and movement shooter and everything that has some ball skills, but is not like a primary creator out there.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
So you look at him and he's shooting 40% from the field and like 35 from three. And it's like, well, yeah, he's shooting 39, 40% off the catch from three and he makes his shots off of movement. And like, he's doing everything that we expected of him coming into the year.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
It's just that the efficiency tanks, because he's like a 37% shooter or 40% shooter at the rim when he's asked to drive and take these like leaning floaters and things like that. So he's an answer here for sure. I mean, Carter Bryant, like he's, I love that Arizona scheme. I think Tommy Lloyd does a great job. It's just baffling to me that he doesn't play as much as is humanly possible.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
All of the numbers dictate that Carter Bryant should be on the court for them. They are a drastically, drastically better team when Carter Bryant is on the court. I'll pull up the numbers while we're talking, but you can look at any of the numbers and it's just like...
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
So, so abundantly clear, you know, they are, um, you know, a plus 9.2 in the minutes where Carter Bryan is out there and all of their starting lineup is in the negatives in terms of their on operating. So, you know, him and Henri vase are like, who are currently, as I look at this, I believe, you know, sixth and seventh in minutes played for Arizona this year. Like,
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
This is what they're doing in terms of help defense and how I can attack it. The processing ability that he showcases is incredibly, incredibly high level. He's improved a ton as a shooter this year. That was the biggest concern coming into this season was what he would look like as a shooter from distance, from mid-range.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
they've been two really, really impactful players ahead of guys like Trey Townsend and, you know, some of the other guys, you know, Townsend stands out to me, but you know, a walker this year is another one that hasn't been like wildly impressive to me. So I look at them and I'm like, okay, like Carter Bryant's probably capable of a little bit more than what we've seen this year.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
It's just that he has kind of been held back by the role as much as anything.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
Dylan Harper, James Harden. I mean, again, like what I said earlier that like Harper's question is the pull up shooting and James is like an incredible pull up shooter.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
I understand what they're going for physically there, you know, six foot five, big physical understands like how to navigate spaces. I don't think that Harper has quite the natural deceleration that James does. So, you know, not quite for me, but I at least like understand, you know, bigger lefty guard vibes. Okay. Okay.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
next one one of my favorite guys in the draft vj edgecombe and jalen green uh not close yeah yeah vj is yeah like jalen green's more of a like on ball player vj is you know like struggles with his left hand right now not really like a creator at the moment Um, athletically I get the comp, you know, I think Jalen might even be a little bit bigger than VJ is. We'll see what VJ measures that.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
But, you know, VJ is an unbelievable defender, like for the guard position and for his size. Like he, he is awesome on that end. He, uh, really flies around. He's very active with his hands. He's aggressive. Like, you know, Jalen has never really shown an inclination to do that consistently throughout his career. So that one, that one doesn't really work for me at all.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
uh here's a very popular one igor demon and josh giddy yeah so jaeger unfortunately has not found a way to score within college basketball i actually think josh is like a little bit ahead of him in that respect in terms of like being able to get to his spots as a scorer i think jaeger is actually like probably a little bit better of an athlete than josh
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
He started to show flashes of that during his last year at Montford, but we weren't quite sure how exactly that would translate from day one within college basketball as the game speeds up and you're dealing with better athletes on a night-to-night basis.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
The shooting is probably somewhat similar, I guess, in terms of where they are. Yeah, I mean, I understand what you're going for there. I can pick up what you're putting down because Jaeger is like 100% the best defender, or not best defender, best passer in this class. Some of the looks he finds are incredible and very Josh-like.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
in terms of being able to, you know, live dribble, throw the ball from like underneath a defender's arm out to like the cross wing. And you're just like, what just happened? Like how, how did that just work? But yeah, you know, the ability to get to the rim consistently.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
I actually think that Josh is a little bit ahead of Jaeger in terms of like getting paint touches and frankly, like his pacing and ball screens a little bit too. Josh is really sharp in the way that he uses his pacing, even though he's not a great athlete. There are, there are teams out there that still love Jaeger though. I can definitely assure you of that. And it's not impossible.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
He goes in the lottery regardless.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
Yeah, no, not really for me. We almost got you there.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
Yeah. It's, it's more than like case. Him was a killer on defense. Like Jace is okay on defense. He's a little slower. Yeah. Like really like his ability to slide and stride laterally. Like it's pretty sick. Like he's really, really good at that. Um, Jace isn't quite that, but, um,
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
Um, and Jason's like all more of like a driver to the rim and like, likes to get into that, like within six foot range, Cason was always a little bit more of like a pull up, pull up from the mid range, like take threes kind of player. Um, so yeah, stylistically, not even really the same to me.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
whether or not he's dealing with better athletes on a night to night basis, you know, as he was in the NIBC playing at Montverde versus playing in the ACC up for debate. The ACC is not very good this year, but they're certainly better players at the very least. Uh, people I think will point to like some of his performances in high level games.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
Don't mind this one actually. Um, okay. Okay. I think Richard is an athlete was a little bit stiffer even than like what ACE is. I think that Richard, it's interesting. Cause like ACE really elevates into his jumper. Richard just had like the crazy high release point. So like maybe, you know, maybe like similar in terms of like effective release point. Um,
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
not really like a full, like ACE is not flexible is the thing. Like, that's what worries me about like him getting the most out of his athleticism, uh, in terms of like, they're different in terms of athleticism, but like functional role on the court. I don't mind that one.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
Like that, that feels plausible to me in terms of an outcome for ACE, but ACE is a ways away on defense too, in terms of like being an impact guy on that end, he has the tools to be an impact guy on that end. And he has flash plays where like he switches and he makes these like crazy scramble rotations and things like that.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
And you're like, Oh, I can see the vision, but it's going to take a minute for sure there too.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
I'm going to guess assists. and we're talking totals right not per game correct okay total assist i'm like trying to do math in my head in terms of like guys that have missed games like i'm gonna i'm gonna guess scoot is first and assists
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
And I mean, I can pull up his numbers in these high level games and high leverage moments. And it's just like, yeah, he's still a stud. He did have a poor moment at the end of the Kentucky game. And at the end of the Kansas game, But if you look at the Kentucky game, he had 26, 11, 2, 3, and 2 against Arizona, who's a top 20 team.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
For what it's worth, I probably would have said Kamara for steals, so I wouldn't even have been right.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
How close was Scoot here? How close was Scoot? It has to be very close, I feel like.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
He had 24, 7, 3, 4, and 3 against Auburn, who is a top three team in the country. 22, 11, 4, and 2 blocks. You can go up and down the board, and it's just like this dude is a total joke. Every single thing that he does, is going to translate to the next level at an incredibly high level.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
Man. So, like, Jabari Smith has just played a lot. So I'm going to say, oh, wait. Wait. So, so like where I'm thrown here is again, the games played, right? Because Matherin missed like a pretty, like, I guess like Jabari, I'm going to say Matherin actually here. Matherin final answer.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
Okay. Okay. So that's a fun draft. Very fun. I'm going to guess Franz. Franz Wagner? Yeah. Or a different Franz. Franz Wagner is my answer. That is incorrect.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
I mean, obviously for no points, but like my second guess would actually be Josh Giddy here.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
It's Alperin. Yeah, Shingun was the one.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
But more than that, and this is really what I want to end on, when you select Cooper Flagg, you are drafting a culture and a competitive character unto itself within your organization. He doesn't take days off in practice. He doesn't take plays off during games. He is as competitive as you will find in a truly elite level prospect. Uh, he is, is that he's everything that you're looking for.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
Oh, wow, Andrew. Yeah, that's correct. That's the one I was hoping to get on the steal.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
You know, when we did this right around this time last year, I don't think anybody could have guessed that future first-round pick Dylan Jones would make an absolute mockery of basketball playing as a permanent sub. Permanent sub. This is an even position on the court. What are we doing?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
That's the reason I thought of it immediately. Yeah.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
Sam, you can steal a point. Okay, so the one that I know is Precious, because Precious is Miami, Toronto to New York this year. Yeah.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
Has he? Okay. Yeah, I'm glad, I guess. I knew Precious was right. I thought Killian... Had you had dreams about Killian playing on another team? I tend not to dream about Killian Haynes, unfortunately.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
Okay. So I'm like thinking through. like injuries now so RJ has had like a couple of random ones not like big deals but like a couple of things that have stopped him Jordan pool wasn't up immediately with Golden State so like I don't think it's him Yeah, like DeAndre Hunter's missed time. Darius Garland missed a bunch last year with the jaw injury.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
True. Okay, I think I'm down to like two guys. Ooh, okay. I'm going to say... The only reason I'm saying this guy is I can't remember him being hurt. Okay. I'm going to say Kobe White.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
Nice job. I was down to him and P.J. Washington.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
We got a game on our hands. PJ's like not even in there. Okay. Interesting.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
Uh, he's not as good as Victor Wembanyama in terms of upside as a prospect in my mind, but he's, you know what, like Victor is probably going to be the best player in the world as long as like the health allows it. I think Cooper's upside is to very easily be a top five player in the world at some point.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
Because, like, Winshares is, like, super heavy into, like, box score stuff.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
So, the two names that, like, immediately came to mind were... Mitchell Robinson. Okay. And Rob Williams. Okay. And the only reason for that is that again, like knowing the formula, like, like baselines of like the formulas there, like it tends to be like bigs tend to do well there. I'm going to guess that, Because of the assists, it's probably Rob Williams over Mitchell.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
I'm going to say... Yeah, the advanced numbers love Rob Williams. Rob Williams is my guess.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
Yeah, that was lucky based on just like... A vague understanding of what goes into those things and disagreeing with it strongly.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
It is, it is hard for me to envision a world where he's not a top 25 player in the NBA and very easy for me to envision a world where he is a top five to 10 player in the league.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
Back to Sam. Mitchell is probably the other guy in between them, I would guess. Donovan Mitchell is number two on the list.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
Okay, now we're just going like box score hunting. John Collins, probably.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
Malik Monk was number 10. Dang it. So my next guess was probably Derek White after Malik Monk. I think he was number 11. I would guess Dylan Brooks, Jarrett Allen.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
Josh Hart would be somewhere here.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
Al, I love this so much. You've done great.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
Also, just like shout out to Al for this amazing structure. Instead of going with the number system, going with the number of like the year of the draft.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
I'm really trying to buy you time, Andrew.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
Are you trying to remember your numbers?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
Yeah, I'm going to say over for sure. It just feels like the right thing to do.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
I think my number would have been four for what it's worth. But that might have been too high. You automatically just go under on that, right?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
I have rookie rankings that are probably out by now by the time this goes up.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
go read those on the athletic um yeah all stuff coming i'm like in the middle of draft guide season right now i'm like trying to get ahead of that so i'm through like you know 25 of those 30 profiles so the goal is for you guys to have it earlier this year whether or not that's possible we'll see who knows could could be a miracle but we we shall see
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
I think early on when I was doing this, I think I had a tendency to undervalue bigs that just have an incredible set of tools to work with, right? So super long arms, right?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
extreme high level athletes real size for the nba center position uh in hands is the other thing like being able to catch the ball like that's the difference between like james wiseman and like clint capella or something like that right uh wiseman's hands are not very good and that is what ended up kind of being the downfall of his career to this point um
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
I think that early on I would probably underrate the hands aspect of it. And I think that I, I am somebody still, even I would say to this day that unless the upside is very, very high, in my opinion, I tend to be someone who likes to draft not 24-year-olds or 23-year-olds, but I'm pretty comfortable drafting older and getting value on rookie-scale deals.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
I need to really feel confident in the player. But project players with limited upside were probably something... And by limited upside, I mean, okay, this guy can be a... regular season starting center, right. As opposed to like a guy that you feel comfortable with in the playoffs. Right. I would say that that is a role that I probably have consistently undervalued.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
And this year is interesting in that respect because there are actually, there's a pretty good amount of depth in this like center class. And I'm trying to determine like, which of them I like, which ones I don't like. And there's a kid in, I guess he's in Lubania right now, which would be Slovenia, if I remember correctly. Johan Beringer, Beringer, they say it 16 different ways on broadcasts.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
And the scouts I talked to have said it every type of different way. Beringer, Beringer, you know, Beringer is one thing they've said on broadcasts. I believe it's Beringer. He is a little bit undersized for the center position. He's like six, 10 ish is what I've been told to expect, but he has super long arms. He has amazing hands.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
And on one side, you can see the trajectory of, oh, my God, like Sedevita signed this kid this summer, expecting him to not even be on their senior team this year. Like they expected him to be on the junior team. And holy shit, like he's here. He's like playing a real role for them, starting occasionally on their senior team, a Euro Cup team that's like quite like quite good.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
On one hand, you can say, okay, like the trajectory here is quite high. On another hand, you can say, okay, this is going to take a while for him to like develop the things that you need. And oh, by the way, he's still probably like six foot 10. So the, you know, doesn't have that like super sized center role that you expect. where does that leave him? It's tricky. It's actually like quite hard.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
I would say somewhere in the first round, but there are going to be people that have them in the lottery. I've talked to NBA people that have them as like a late lottery guy.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
There are people who have them like end of the, or like, you know, end of the first early second and trying to figure out that balance of that for a kid that has a ton of tools, but you know, might, might take a while in terms of getting up to the NBA speed.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
the shooting off of pull-ups would probably stop him from getting there. He's just okay at that right now. Honestly, I think the numbers this year are quite bad, but in high school, like there were really, really good reps. And I think the numbers are actually pretty okay in high school. If you go back and look at them, um,
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
Shooting off pull-ups will be the big question, though, because he's not a nuclear athlete. Where he excels is he's excellent spatially and really understands how to navigate tight spaces despite being as big as he is. He's excellent with hostage dribbles on his left and right hips.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
He's excellent at being able to eat up that space and then on his gathers be able to maneuver around rim protectors and help defenders to be able to create real attempts at the basket and the ability to finish at the rim at a really high level as well, despite playing on a Rutgers team this year that outside of Ace Bailey does not have a lot of talent around him.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
So there are a few different things to look at there. I would say, you know, I feel quite confident with him as the second overall pick. Like he, I can't really see a world where he moves off of that spot for me. Do I think there's a chance he's just like a really good, like bigger guard who plays next to another star player? Yeah. I think that that's like really within the cards.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
Like there's a real possibility of that. Do I also think there's a chance he becomes like a real all-star who's like a borderline all NBA player? I can see that pathway. If he becomes a serious pull-up shooter from the mid range area and particularly from behind the three point line in, you know, Kid's a great worker, you know, comes from a great family.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
You know, his mother, you know, his father's obviously Ron Harper, but his mother is like a longtime basketball coach who, you know, has done an amazing job, you know, raising him and all of the intel there is incredibly positive. So, yeah, I'm definitely a big Dylan Harper fan as well.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
Hmm. I tend to be quite hard on some of these things. So this is a hard one. Weakness that I don't think is as bad as what it is perceived to be. That's a difficult one. I'm sorry. I'm like ruining the lightning. It's okay.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
Yeah, I would say that I think Con Canepo's defense is actually quite good, actually, at the college level. Now, I have questions as to whether or not it will translate to the next level at a particularly high level. But in terms of staying in front of his man, competing... rotating with anticipation, understanding what's happening around him, being a good team defender.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
I think Khan's actually quite good on defense at Duke. Now, in the NBA, there are longer areas to traverse, longer closeouts. You're in more oceans of space. So shiftier guards are going to be able to potentially beat him off the bounce in straighter lines and then cause more help and teams are going to have to rotate around Khan and try and help him out that way. But
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
I actually think like Khan has a better chance to be a neutral defender than what other people I think contend at the very least. Like what, what I'm most worried about him with is not actually the bigger, you know, the Lucas, the Jason Tatum's, the, the bigger wings, right. It's actually like the smaller guards, right. in my opinion, that could actually like give him more problems.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
Like a Donovan Mitchell, I think could give him more problems maybe than even like Luca, because Luca is just trying to like lean on you the whole time and like, you know, use his frame to his advantage. Khan's big, he's strong. He's like 215 pounds already. He's like six, six, he's physical, he's competitive.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
it's so genuinely it's one of the coolest like funniest things i've seen in a while mark is you know as everybody knows just an incredibly sharp intelligent human being uh yeah i kid when i say it's a mockery of basketball but yeah it's just like one of my favorite things i've seen in a long time
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
Like, I think he'll be able to like really stand those guys up when they try to attack him. it's more the like shiftier guards that I think could catch him. And absolutely those guys will try to catch him early in his career. So I would say that is probably my, that's probably a good answer for that one.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
That's the easiest answer on this board.