A few NBA executives got brutally honest with Cooper Flagg's potential as the face of the 2025 NBA Draft class.
The 2025 NBA Draft is still roughly six months away but the intrigue and hype surrounding it continues to trend to historic levels. Especially with how much last year's NBA Draft class left to be desired, there's a strong belief that this year's draft will be one for the record books. Compared to recent years, the 2025 draft class has the top-tier talent and depth that would blow previous years out of the water. For now, the prospect sitting atop the draft class is Cooper Flagg.
As he continues to shine during his freshman season at Duke, there's a growing belief that he's going to eventually be the No. 1 overall pick. But even as he averages 16 points, nine rebounds, and four assists per game, a few NBA executives opened up with their critique surrounding the reality of Flagg's potential in the Association.
NBA executives get brutally honest about Cooper Flagg
The most notable admissions from the executives polled by Jeremy Woo of ESPN revolved around how he may not be a No. 1 franchise player at the next level and how he may not translate as a premier scorer on a team. In fairness, the executives praised his size and skill set while also noting that he was already mature beyond his years. All in all, the bottom line was that while Flagg is getting a ton of hype, it's probably fair to slow down on it a bit.
The Flagg hype train has been in overdrive since the moment he began to turn heads during the summer as he particpated with Team USA Basketball. However, it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world to pump the brakes and allow Flagg to continue to grow into who he can be as a player at the next level.
That could be expectedly difficult as he sits as the face of the 2025 NBA Draft class. There's no question he has the capability to be a great player at the next level but much of that will be decided by not only how he finishes out his freshman season at Duke but also by how he looks during the pre-draft process. One thing is for sure, and it's that Flagg is expected to be the next great player in the NBA. Fair or not, that's the situation he is currently in.