[Highlight] Cooper Flagg posts 33 PTS 9 REB and 9 AST in win vs Nuggets
kid turned 19 a couple days ago and already looks like a seasoned vet out there. absolute prodigy
If NBA didn’t give Mavs Flagg for the trade, basketball would be dead in this town for the next decade
I’m getting less and less sad about Luka every day.
I feel like Coop just goes out there, does his thing. Doesn’t try to be flashy, tries hard on both ends of the floor. The questions were valid early on, but he’s caught up to the pace of the game and is showing great BBIQ now.
He’s not a distraction, and I don’t think we’re gonna have Fat Flagg issues/memes. We got lucky, and we don’t have Nico anymore. All we need is for the team to be sold to people I actually can stomach, and things will be good again.
It’s a massive bailout, and I never thought he could be as good as Luka but the past few weeks have put that in question.
yah tbh i was fully in denial about coop since everyone and their mom gets called generational these days but shiiittt i mean idk for sure if he’ll be better than luka but i also wouldn’t be surprised based on what i’ve seen so far
he’ll probably never be better than Luka offensively but his ability to impact both ends of the floor at a high level, malleable playstyle and lack of apparent deficiencies is going to make it easier to build competitive rosters around him.
Plus he’s not fat
yet
Hot take: he will be better than Luka. Because the injuries & defense are a real thing, though perhaps not to the level which justified the trade in a vacuum.
Cooper Flagg wasn’t part of the trade. Trading Luka was still stupid but the real stupidity was always the return
That’s the interesting part here for sure. The trade will never not be stupid unless it really was rigged for Flagg to go to the Mavs, otherwise it was an incredibly stupid risk. But it’s increasingly looking like, whether due to dumb luck or something more nefarious, this might work out.
which just doesn’t make any sense bc the team would not have missed the playoffs without Kyrie tearing his ACL. So there was never some wink wink agreement to rig the draft in exchange for sending Luka. It was just pure malpractice by an incredibly stupid egomaniac.
Especially considering we barely have any of our picks, getting one first for Luka is wildly stupid
So you think he can be NBA 1st team as soon as next year and for the next 4 ?
He’s good, really good but Luka is a different beast to me
Probably not, but I also think there’s a chance Luka peaked early in his career.
Maybe, maybe not, nobody can say yet, this year he’s still a frickin monster
Yeah but what if you had Flagg and Luka
Doesn’t happen without the trade, sadly.
But imagine if it wasn’t rigged
I’m so conflicted because mav fans got done dirty and I’m happy Flagg is looking so good for y’all, but I agree your ownership sucks and needs to go. Not sure how that happens though.
All we need is for the team to be sold to people I actually can stomach
Not happening. The Adelsons aren’t giving up on Texas gambling that quickly (just gotta outbid the weird Christian nationalist oil guy for the Lege) and the team’s value absent gambling has been hurt by the Luka trade.
He looked like he was having fun, almost like he couldn’t believe he’d finally made it.
Bro got thrown in the deep end of the pool
Can’t wait til he’s a Celtic
Hope this is the start of him hitting threes at a decent level. It’s crazy that he is averaging almost 20 pts as a rookie, without making 3s.
LeBron lite
At this age looking like LeBron Reg
I dreamed of getting a player as good as AD during Lebron’s first stint with CLE.
Flagg isn’t the athlete LeBron was in his day but he seems to be the basketball genius and also insanely athletic. LeBron is just a 1 of 1
Mavs should trade AD and try to get a top 5 pick in this next draft to pair with Cooper. They don’t control their picks for like 5 years after.
nah. LeBrons athleticism absolutely clears flagg
Lebron athleticism clears everyone lol
real
Ya LeBron athletically is in a different world, but Coop’s game looks a lot like LeBron in that he doesn’t force anything, makes the right play and when he is coming down the lane he’s hard to stop.
LeBron’s of course more athletic and a better ballhandler, although that doesn’t mean Flagg isn’t strong in those areas for his size, but the crazy thing is there are areas where Cooper is better. I say that as someone that watched rookie LeBron game in and game out as a kid.
LBJ didn’t have much of a midrange game back then whereas Flagg is already looking really smooth there, and while they have similar defensive counting stats, I think Flagg is the better defender with higher defensive potential.
That’s obviously not to argue LeBron isn’t the best 18-year-old to enter the league. It’s just crazy to finally have someone coming close enough to him as a prodigal SF to actually spark fair comparisons.
People forget LeBron couldn’t shoot for shit when he came into the league.
Yah watching his old highlights and he would just fade no matter what lol it took him a couple years to develop his jump shot but I mean it made sense for him he never needed it.
We were all hitting fadeaways even with no one around at the turn of the Millennium. It was just the cool thing to do.
Now instead of fadeaways it’s step backs
I wasn’t super into basketball as a young kid, but being 5 in 2002 I definitely knew what a fadeaway was while I had no idea what an alley oop was. I wanted to shoot a fadeaway even if I was right under the basket
Fair write-up. I see the comparisons, too, but LeBron is LeBron, lol.
80% from the line is pretty promising
He’s such an incredible finisher. This is almost certainly just a hot streak from 3, but it will come in time.
20pts as an 18 year old rookie.
Wild
After watching people clown on Wemby early on, I knew people were overreacting after Coop’s first few games. Dude is special.
His first game ever and against Wemby did not look good. But hell, who is looking good against Wemby ^^?
I am glad it is working out for him and I cannot wait for a rivalry against the allmighty Spurs…
Lively first game vs Wemby was fire
I miss him :(
The thing is, he didn’t actually look bad at all.
He missed a ton of bunnies in that first one, wasn’t really hunting his shot but didn’t seem out of place or overmatched
I think that that first missed alley oop just fucked him up a tiny bit for the rest of that game lol
Somehow steph always plays incredibly vs wemby
We found one of our 2028 Olympic Starters. Prime Flagg is gonna feed mouths.
This draft class is so talented that I could also see Kon Knueppel and Derik Queen be part of the olympic team
Man I love Queen.
Freddie could belt!
Pels should start playing Killer Queen during the games
Still a nasty 2026 class of Americans coming too. I know people were starting to worry about the Olympic team with the legends aging out, but I think as they age a new class of young American stars are emerging. We’ll have an inexperienced team in 2028, but it will have crazy talent.
https://youtu.be/qKvt4Ma6lBc?si=Pxzpa3JRu9Lj5_5r
Homer take…add Castle to that list of studs, and that’s a deadly squad.
Castle could be the Jrue on steroids for the new bloods, POA defender who makes the right plays on offense
Olympic team ethos seems very defensively focused except from the lead guard, so Queen will not be there in 2028, but Flagg 100% will. We’ll have to see how people judge Knueppel’s defense next season when the rookie shine wears off and he comes under greater scrutiny.
Yup. The 2025 & 2026 draft classes are going to carry team USA for a long time.
1 rebound and assist away from a good game :/
What a bum
Blue collar buckets. Might be the face of the league in a few years
Theres so many elite American prospects coming into the league. Next years draft looks even crazier than this years.
The demise of American basketball has been greatly exaggerated*
They will win again next Olympics.
Exaugurated- I was poking fun at your typo but learned a new word
Yeah that was a somehow an auto correct lol🤣
Are you a priest? Lol
Hey man, its one of those words where you arent sure if its spelt correctly and you use the auto correct feature and end up with that lol.
i mean…hes great. but shai and wemby still there for a bit. if and big if wemby can stay healthy, no chance he rises above. but hes got less injury concerns so who knows its a guess lok
Don’t get caught up in the Reddit Wemby circlejerk - there is a chance. Flagg is improving faster than Wemby did during his rookie year
lol i prefaced it with saying no one knows. but ask anybody who doesnt glaze either team, whod they would rather have. wemby had a guy running point not even in the rotation anymore. his cieling is way higher but also his floor is way less bc injuries. no need to get defensive. i want them all to be good.
but wemby has a way better aura thats for sure
edit: yes, there is a significant non zero chance we look back and coopers xareer is better. but its like 65⁄35. i want both to be great.
People were already calling him a bust a month ago
Absolute idiots.
Coop demise is overly exaggerated.
I’ll get downvoted probably but give me Flagg over Luka today. He looks like he can be a 27+ PPG guy who will most likely make a few all nba defense teams as well. Give me that over the offensive engine that plays virtually 0 defense.
Yep flagg is going to be a 2 way beast.
Luka is the way better player (ofc) and still is only in his mid 20s and already a HOFer who still can add onto his legacy
Even if all of this being said Flagg ceiling is ridiculous and has the potential to be a lockdown defender who can average an efficient 25-30 ppg and if he’s that in a few years
Him>>Luka
Atp its worth the downvote to suggest taking Flagg over Luka today, but I agree. in 3-5 years time, he probably will be a more impactful player than Luka.
Especially with how scoring is in todays NBA.
Kinda hard to predict but it will at least be easier to build around an all around talent like Cooper than Luka.
Luka is an immense talent but i think you need a specific team around him to shore up his defensive deficiencies and be an actual contender. The Mavs pretty much provided the blueprint, which was good three and D wings, great defensive rim running centers and a good 2nd option cause you can’t possibly have luka man the entire offense.The entire team has to be an extension of Luka basically.The biggest problem being that some of those player profiles are pretty much desired by every team so actually acquiring them is extremely difficult.
Where as for Cooper, it’s all whole lot easier to build around a forward that has no real glaring weakness. You can slot him into various team configurations and find success.
No chance in hell.
Even if hes 70-80% of the offense that Luka can generate. He’s likely to still bring more impact to a team because he looks to be an ALL-NBA defender.
Currently the advanced stats are saying Luka is a worst defender (And by a lot) then even Jokic.
Yea that true but he isn’t on the level of luka even considering his ceiling, luka is a rare offensive talent
You quite literally cannot make that assumption from his first season. He’s far more athletic and quick than Luka and has better size.
Why would you imagine it not possible for him to be better than Luka? He’s the number 1 pick for a reason.
RemindMe! 5 years
He did this with 1 free throw. He scored 42 earlier with zero 3 point makes.
Don’t fuck around and let him get a whistle now. Good lawd.
His whistle has been very inconsistent thus far. There were games where they called everything like in his career high game vs Utah and then games especially earlier in the season where they knocked the shit outta him without a call.
People will say his ceiling is Tatum, but I think his ceiling is shorter Kevin Garnett with more playmaking.
I’ve seen that comp a bit but even now Flagg’s already much more of a perimeter player than KG ever was, though you could chalk that up to era differences and his comfort level shooting the 3.
I feel like if KG was born in 2005 he would be a 40% three-point shooter. That dude was money on long twos.
KG is one of the few players in NBA history with his length and athleticism and touch where I think you can honestly say for the next 50 years that he could get fucking buckets in this era or that era. He’s not a product of his time like a lot of other players.
History will be very kind to KG.
Imo KG is the goat pf. Yes Duncan is right there with him and chuckster and Malone (and ig Dirk) have arguments but KG’s defensive iq and execution paired with the best motor itl and still managing to be a scoring champion somehow with fantastic mid-range play that is era-agnostic was honestly magical. The noughties belonged to Kobe and Duncan and the biggest surprise was probably Wade or Nash but the three year peak ticket had from 02-05 is an island to me, no one else could’ve taken a team with Sam Casell as the second option to contender status in the west. Iinw, he was also the first defense first mvp since Hakeem, although that’s an oversimplification of his role.
Duncan’s superior post play and thus being able to be a more consistent threat offensively in late game situations gives him the edge over KG
I’m sorry but I have a hard time having KG as the GOAT PF. I KNOW it isn’t fair, but when an incomplete Dirk completely shits on you in a playoff series and routinely outplays you head to head it’s tough.
Duncan always showed up against Dirk and they would have monster battles head to head. KG never had a chance, and I’m unsure why now that their careers are over. He is literally the prototype of the kind of player you would want guarding Dirk. /tangent
please don’t kill me wolves fans, just my opinion
I don’t see how Tatum comparison is even bad. He was a top 5 player in the league before injury, top 10 if it really pisses you off to have him that high.
Tatum before injury absolutely had MVP potential, idk how he will be after the injury, but it was there.
We’re talking about the ceiling. It’s an optimistic thing.
The ceiling for Victor Wembanyama is the greatest peak we’ve ever seen. Does that mean he’s going to have a run of dominance like Shaq did? No. But that’s the ceiling. Just like the ceiling for LeBron when he came out of high school was to be the greatest player of all time. If LeBron came and went as merely even a top 20 player of all time, people would say that’s a very successful NBA career and that he’s a legend, but that wasn’t his ceiling.
If Coop can become Tatum, that’s going to be amazing. It’s no shade at Tatum. But I’ve already watched enough of this guy to think that he can go even beyond that. His IQ, his fluidity, his feel for the game, etc. At a fresh 19 years old, he is already better at getting quality shots than Tatum. Not a lot of contested threes and fadeaways and people are gunning for him now. That’s what excites me about his ceiling. He’s getting better as he’s taking more responsibility on the floor and he’s getting more attention from the defense. Seeing that he kind of rises to the challenge just makes me think he’s one of those people who will keep getting better and better.
IDK im just blabbing at this point.
As a Mainer im so proud, will be the biggest celebrity from here since Stephen King and Anna Kendrick.
Is he y’all’s first potential superstar athlete?
Joan Benoit Samuelson (winner of the first woman’s marathon) is a local celebrity here, but yes Cooper absolutely will be.
He looks pretty developed already at a young age. Definitely a cornerstone to build around. He looks about the most well rounded player at that age since LeBron. Sky is the limit really here, doubt he has the same longevity but this guy is going to be top three in the NBA for awhile soon.
Man one of the main things I’m looking forward to for the 2nd half of the season is how this team gels when Kyrie gets back on the court. Could take them up a notch or it may be growing pains.
Where are all the idiots who called an 18 year old a bust in the beginning of the season?
Some people just don’t give things time, and even still, this is incredibly fast development!
Imma a Pistons fans, but I’m glad real Mavs fans got promising talent quickly, they deserve it. Eff the haters and bandwagoners!
Don’t forget he had 42pts last week…..as an 18 year old
It’s been the same since the beginning of r/NBA. People love to make fun. It will never change. Just embrace the overeactions and don’t err overreact?
Welp, it appears the West will continue to be a bloodbath for years to come. Realignment anyone?
It’s there any way to watch this kind of videos but with all posesions?? Id like to see what the players try and doesn’t work or have troubles. Would really help to know better.
Does this website playdb do it or the nba advance stats?
Yes, you can use nbaplaydb to use filter videos by action type, players, defensive matchups and even more
Luka could never dream of playing defense as good as a teenage Flagg let alone when he gets his man bones
Looks like Cooper has gotten a bit bigger and noticeably more physical since getting drafted as well.
He’s got a big frame with broad shoulders. When he does add another 10-15 lbs of muscle over the next few years he will be a OKC style two way demon.
Man watching these highlights makes me wish I watched this game. Cooper is already becoming a problem for the NBA 🤣
The West is ridiculous man. Can you imagine OKC having to see a fully healthy Mavs team in the first round? They probably win but idk in how many, they barely got past the pacers last year.
The East is probably gonna get the top 3 picks next years draft, and its historically stacked as of now, so the Talent is evening out.
I can’t believe people were writing him off after his slow start. Dude was always going to be a really nice player.
BBQ CHICKEN IN THE PAINT
Was glazing this guy and then he decides to fry my team twice 🙄.
I’m never not going to think the NBA gifted the first pick to the Mavs after Nico tried his hardest to destroy the franchise for the next 10 years.
Very exciting watching him put it all together.
This dude is going to be special.
Single double, pathetic.
Still sad that the spurs didn’t get him. Would’ve broke the league for years having Wemby and Flagg together. And I don’t even like the spurs lol
Flagg was phenomenal last night. He had a lot of jaw dropping plays where I was like god damn, this dude is fucking nice with it.
Congrats on the dub Dallas
Coop is a smooth criminal out there.
Kid was ballllllin
He has been awesome. But I also think this just shows where the nuggets wing rotation is at the moment. After this game their top 3 wings are all out right?
It’s unbelievable that mavs got him right after trading away Luka..
Can’t wait to see Luka and Flagg on the Lakers together!
Justifying the trade or saying it’s ok that Luka is gone because they have Flagg is absurd. First, the Mavs had absolutely no idea or guarantee they’d draft Flagg when they traded Luka and 2) they were in the NBA Finals! Any number of years that go by between that trade and if and when they return to the finals are lost years. Lost. Gone forever. Winning a championship in 2032 is no replacement for contending for title every year from 2025-2032.
Who cares? You can’t change the past. And yes winning a title in 2032 would easily make up for everything, contending with Luka was never a guarantee, let alone a championship. He missed the playoffs the year before the finals
That was the best game I’ve seen him play - suddenly the Mavs look dangerous again.
But there’s no reason the refs should allow him to hang from the rim for 3 seconds after a dunk when other players get T’d for that.
What an insult to the game. /s