Former Duke basketball phenomCooper Flagg is gearing up for the NBA Draft.He's waiting to be the No. 1 pick by the Dallas Mavericks following a surprising draft lottery win in May.
Already, people are expecting him to be the next big newcomer, so much so that sports journalist Bill Simmonsis putting him in the same category as two NBA legends.
On the latest episode of The Bill Simmons Podcast, Simmons envisions Flagg being of the same caliber as Kevin Garnett and Tim Duncan.
“I thinkhe’s going to be incredible,”Simmons said. “I think he has a chance to be somewhere in the Duncan, KG vicinity is his ceiling.”
His guest Chick Klosterman threw a curve ball by saying that Flagg has the makings of former Seattle SuperSonic Detleft Schrempf.
“I thinkhe’s going to have a career like Detlef Schrempf,”Klosterman said. “I thinkhe’s going to bea very good player for a lot of years.Schrempf I think made All-NBA once, I think he was athird team All-NBA once,played a fewall-star games, but Idon’t know if I see him as a dominating player. Like I think he will be the second best player on a good team and the third best player on a great team.”
Shortly thereafter, Simmons followed up by noting that Flagg has more of the makings of a Garnett-type of player.
“I think KG, even though hedoesn’t have the same height KG has, I thinkthat’s the best comparison because of his competitiveness, which is what is similar to KG,”Simmons said. “He’s just a maniac. All the guy wants to do is win.”
Is Cooper Flagg the next KG, and Tim Duncan
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Simmons has higher expectations for Flagg than Klosterman does. InSimmons's eyes, Flagg has the budding potential to bring a winning mentality and passion for the game.
Whereas Klosterman contends that Flagg will likely be the third-best player on a great team or the second-best on a playoff team.
Flagg has drawn comparisons to Garnett. Both are very athletic and versatile on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball. Flagg and Garnett can also score from multiple spots on the floor.
Fittingly, Garnett said he saw himself in Flagg last fall when assessing his game at Duke on his “KG Certified” podcast.
In comparison to Duncan, Flagg mirrors him in possessing a high basketball IQ and all-around solid character.
The parallels are there;it's just a matter of whether Flagg can live up to the hype.