Cooper Flagg’s college career is now almost certainly in the books following Duke’s stunning 70-67 loss to Houston in the Final Four. Flagg will soon be shifting his attention to the NBA, and while he is the consensus No. 1 pick, an Eastern Conference GM doesn’t believe he’ll ever be the best player on a title-winning team. When asked for an NBA comp for the 18-year-old, the executive went with Scottie Pippen.
“I say Scottie because he could have been a No. 1 guy, and was after MJ left [Chicago], but he became by far the best No. 2. I think Cooper will be a hell of a No. 2, but he might need a top 10 [player] running mate with him. He can obviously prove me wrong, but I don’t see him as a No. 1 guy on a championship team in his career.”
The GM believes Flagg is more likely to be that do-it-all second option that Pippen was during his career. He doesn’t reckon we’ll see the teenager turn into someone like his former partner-in-crime with the Chicago Bulls, Michael Jordan.
Pippen averaged 16.1 points, 6.4 rebounds, 5.2 assists, 2.0 steals, and 0.8 blocks per game in his career. He was an exceptional defender and was a pretty good scorer, rebounder, and playmaker.
The role Pippen played is one that you can picture Flagg playing. He is a more refined scorer than Pippen was when he entered the league, though. You’d expect Flagg to be able to score at a higher level than the Bulls icon did.
Flagg’s all-around game was on full display at the NCAA tournament. He averaged 21.0 points, 7.6 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 0.6 steals, and 2.0 blocks per game while shooting 44.2% from the field and 50.0% from beyond the arc.
This GM probably expects Flagg to put up somewhat similar numbers in the NBA. Not quite a dominant scorer, but a pretty good one, who can impact the game in many different ways. No team is going to be too disappointed if this turns out to be the case after he’s selected with the first pick.
Flagg would be backing himself to do even more, though, and you wouldn’t blame him considering how well he played at Duke. He averaged 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.4 steals, and 1.4 blocks per game over the course of the season and led the Blue Devils to a 35-4 record.
Flagg’s exploits led to him becoming the youngest player ever to win AP Men’s Player of the Year. He is also just the fourth player to win the award as a freshman after Kevin Durant (2007), Anthony Davis (2012), and Zion Williamson (2019).
Durant is one of the greatest players in NBA history, while Davis has been a force in the league for over a decade. As for Williamson, he could have been one of the best players in the league today if his body weren’t breaking down on a regular basis.
Speaking of someone whose body has unfortunately broken down from time to time, Flagg has also been compared to prime Kawhi Leonard. Now, that’s someone who has been the best player on a title-winning team, so it’s by no means a consensus that Flagg won’t be one.
