The six-time All-NBA defender predicts Duke star to be “a one-time All-Star”
You know Cooper Flagg, right? The kid from Duke who will most assuredly be the first overall pick by Dallas Mavericks and looks like he could be the next face of the league whenever LeBron James decides to retire?
Maybe it’s just a contrarian view, but one former NBA champion thinks Flagg is going to have a thoroughly unspectacular career.
Tony Allen, a six-time All-NBA defender who won a title with the Boston Celtics in the 2007-08 season and whose number is retired by the Memphis Grizzlies, made an audacious claim about the future No. 1 pick during a recent appearance on the Chris Vernon Show, a GrindCityMedia podcast.
“I don’t think Cooper Flagg is going to turn your franchise around like that,” Allen said. “I’m serious. I ain’t seein’ KD (Kevin Durant). I’m just not seeing all that. I’m seeing (former Utah Jazz forward) Andrei Kirilenko. That’s who I’m seeing bro.”
Who says you need to be like Durant to turn an NBA franchise around? And frankly, with Flagg’s height and ability to score in a variety of ways, a Durant comparison is warranted.
But Allen didn’t stop there with the ludicrous takes.
“He going to be a one-time All-Star,” Allen said. “I don’t see it, bro. [I’m] just not hyped on these Duke kids.”
Okay, my dude.
The Duke college origins and “lack of seeing KD” are not valid reasons to look at Flagg and think he won’t amount to anything.
Allen isn’t the only person dumping on Flagg in recent weeks. ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith encouraged the Mavericks not to trade the top overall pick in next month’s NBA Draft because it’s easier to market white athletes in Texas – not because Flagg is the best available player.
“When you’ve got somebody with that kind of potential, and they’re white, and you are in America, you keep that dude. I’m telling you right now,” Smith said.
“With my black self, I’m the owner of the Dallas Mavericks, I ain’t thinking about drafting somebody else. I’m not thinking about moving Cooper Flagg. I’m drafting Cooper Flagg… just think about the marketability.”
Cooper Flagg of the Duke Blue Devils dunks the ball against the Houston Cougars in a Final Four game of the NCAA Tournament in April. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
Flagg is as talented of a prospect as we have seen in the past 10 years, and he was voted the best player in the country as a freshman who turned 18 during his first season.
Furthermore, he practiced with the 2024 Olympic men’s basketball team, and some NBA scouts were reportedly blown away by what they saw. Flagg can shoot from outside, post up big men, hit the mid-range, protect the rim, and lock down guards.
Nothing about this guy screams future bust. In fact, quite the opposite.
Allen may have been a baller in his day, but his assessment of Flagg is wildly off target. Flagg has all the talent he needs to eventually be a top-10 player in the NBA.
