Like Pippen or Tatum? Flag: The Son of the United States, the only candidate for the No. 1 pick. Really no weaknesses?

Name: Cooper Flagg (Cooper Flagg)

Date of birth: December 21, 2006

Position: Small Forward/Power Forward

University: Duke University

Height: About 2 meters03 (naked feet)

Weight: About 100 kg

Wandspan: 2 meters13

Template: Scotty Pippen/Jason Tatum/Andre Kirilenko/Shawn Marion

Statistics:

2024-25 season, Flag played 37 games for Duke, averaging 30.7 minutes per game, able to score 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.4 blocks, shooting percentage was 48.1%, three-point shooting percentage was 38.5%, free throw percentage was 84% ​​(5.8 free throws per game, scored 4.8), and 6 basic data (playing time, scoring, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks) led the team.

Pick Prediction: No. 1

Advantages:

1. Flag is one of the most comprehensive newcomers in the NBA in recent years. He was famous all over the world in high school and was fragile in various honors. He also led Montward High School to win the 2024 Chipotle High School National Championship with a perfect record of 33 wins and 0 losses, and shined in events such as the U17 World Youth Championship, Nike EYBL PeachJam and Nike Basketball Summit;

In 2022, Flag, who was only 15 years old, was elected the Best Male Athlete of the Year, becoming the youngest winner of the award since its establishment in 1980.

2. Although he showed outstanding talent in high school, Flag has never been a person who only relies on talent to play. When other children are playing with their bodies, Flag has not forgotten to improve his skills;

In order to seek new challenges, Flag chose to skip to the 2024 class in 2023 to participate in the NBA draft in 2025.

2022 U17 World Youth Championship final, contributing 8 seconds, 4-cap miracle

3. As the only favorite and even the only choice of the 2025 NBA No. 1 pick, Flag has the top physical fitness among white players, with a bare foot height of 2.03 meters and an arm span of 2.13 meters, and can compete with two positions in the front line;

Flag's strength and confrontation ability have been improved during college, with excellent balance and coordination, good at jumping, smooth movements on the field, and quick movements.

4. On the offensive end, Flag is an excellent finisher with more and more offensive methods. He is the number one scorer in Duke, contributing 19.2 points to the Blue Devils every night with a shooting rate of 48.1%. He is a powerful tool for converting offense. He is good at aerial homework and contributed a very explosive fast break dunk against the University of Pittsburgh.

Flag's fast break dunk against the center

Even the outside projection criticized by the outside world, Flag's performance gradually shuts down the questioners. In his freshman season, Flag averaged 3.6 three-pointers and 1.4 three-pointers, with a shooting percentage of 38.5%.

Flag is energetic on the court, more active in impacting the basket, and very aggressive. He averaged 5.8 free throws (4.8 scores) per game in his freshman season;

Flag is a selfless player. He is willing to do goals for his teammates, with the highest assists per game (4.2 times) in the team, and has good decision-making ability on the court.

5. Flag is an all-rounder in defense. His potential and level on this end of the court are fascinating;

Flag has shown his comprehensive defensive attributes. He has top-level defensive awareness and delicate defensive skills, interfering, protecting the basket, assisting defense, sweeping, stealing, blocking, and blocking shots, and he is everywhere;

Flag has been an excellent defender since high school. With the support of his outstanding body shape, flexibility, mobility and comprehensive technology, he is now more handy on the defensive end.

Disadvantages:

1. Although Flag was good at controlling the dribble in college, he was still not skilled enough. Sometimes facing high-intensity defense, he still had problems with holding and protecting the ball, and the stability of controlling the game was slightly insufficient;

2. Indeed, Flag was the top scorer in the team when he was at Duke University, and averaged 19.2 points per game. It looked very good on the books! But some scouts pointed out that Flag lacks a killer weapon on the offensive end, which is his biggest problem in offense;

3. Flag was competent for No. 3 and 4 in college, but if he was a full-time power forward in the NBA, his physique was still a bit thin, and he needed to gain weight and improve his core strength appropriately, but at the same time he could not lose his flexibility.

Summary:

As a highly anticipated superstar and the son of the United States in the new era, Flag naturally has his own outstanding features. He has excellent resumes in high school and college. Last year, he was selected as the sparring team for the US men's basketball team preparing for the Paris Olympics. He is the only youth player in the training camp and the only (quasi-) college student player. In the training camp, Flag played outstandingly against the US men's basketball team, which has become famous NBA stars such as James, Curry, Davis and Holiday, and has been recognized by his opponents and teammates..

At present, there is basically no suspense that Flag was elected as the No. 1 pick and joined the Mavericks! Unlike playing bad teams, the Mavericks are a team with many famous veterans. Their goal is to playoffs, even if Irving may not return until January next year! In such an environment, the Mavericks' positioning of Flag and Kidd's training of him are worth looking forward to.

Fragduke period highlights