Cooper Flagg, ranked atop the 2025 NBA Draft class, received an odd NBA comparison by one former All-Star player.
Being selected to participate in Team USA Basketball's select team this summer was just the beginning for Cooper Flagg. Already projected to be selected No. 1 overall in the 2025 NBA Draft, Flagg is considered to have one of the brightest futures in the NBA. If he isn't a name that most NBA heads know right now, I have a strong feeling that will begin to swiftly change over the course of the next few months.
By the time the 2025 NBA Draft season rolls around, Flagg will emerge as a player most fan bases will want their teams to tank for. Before he begins to make his mark in the Association, Flagg will have to get through his likely one year in college, where he'll suit up for the Duke Blue Devils. If all goes according to plan, Flagg is expected to be the headlining name from the 2025 NBA Draft class.
And for those who have not seen Flagg play or even his highlights on YouTube, it's difficult to find a natural NBA comparison for him. He can do everything on the floor as a 6-foot-9 wing and has truly developed his outside game over the past couple of seasons. As he prepares to make his debut for Duke, there's an argument to be made that he's still evolving as a player.
An odd basketball comparison for Cooper Flagg
Interestingly enough, Paul George gave a somewhat odd basketball comparison for Flagg. PG compared Flagg to Michael Beasley. PG would largely note that this comparison is based on the fact of how talented and versatile Flagg is on the wing. Similarly, that was the scouting report on Beasley coming out of college.
As the most dynamic offensive player from the 2008 NBA Draft in which he was selected No. 2 overall by the Miami Heat, there was not much Beasley couldn't do offensively on the basketball court.
Beasley surely had some off-the-court struggles but it wasn't a lack of talent as the reason why he wasn't able to make the jump to stardom once he got to the NBA. But his career aside, if Flagg is getting comparisons to Beasley, whose offensive game is still respected by NBA players, that's a glowing compliment.
Flagg has not played a minute of college basketball yet, so this all might be a bit premature, but there's no question that he has the potential to be a superstar in the NBA one day.