[Givony] “Cooper Flagg is an outstanding prospect, but he’s got some serious heat coming in behind him — This is the best group of prospects that I’ve seen in my 20 years covering the draft.”
[Givony] “Cooper Flagg is an outstanding prospect, but he’s got some serious heat coming in behind him — This is the best group of prospects that I’ve seen in my 20 years covering the draft.”
it sure is a good time to have 4 firsts + a early 2nd
KneelBeforeCube
Even Edgecombe and Traoré who are at the end of his list are studs. Edgecombe had big matches in the Olympics qualifier for Bahamas and Traoré just dropped 27/5 with 2 steals on 50% in 26 minutes in his first ever Eurocup game. Monster class incoming.
DreamyFlowerThong
Flagg’s got a bright future, but it’ll be exciting to see who else steps up and shakes things up..
[deleted]
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iapunk
Let’s go (lose) Clippers!
Longjumping_Kale3013
Watching that game Flagg had against team USA, and it’s hard to imagine a better high school player. Flagg looked like the best player on the floor when he played
WeBelieveIn4
We better play Ulrich Chomche 25 mins a night so help me god. If we end up picking 9th and missing out on these prospects I will commit sudoku
Acrobatic-Dog7044
Yawn it’s still Capture the Flagg until I see otherwise he’s the clear cut number one prospect no reason to overthink it yet. I got Dylan Harper as number 2.
gridironk
Flagg would’ve went 1st overall in this years draft easily. Even as a 17 year old.
alpacamegafan
If the Murray for the Lakers first backfires for the Pels, I might become the Joker.
ontheru171
#Rutgers
Little_Obligation_90
This is the year for a lot of dead end teams to tank. Bulls for sure. Warriors, Kings, Raptors, Spurs, Pelicans should be ready to hit eject midseason.
Diamond4Hands4Ever
So I said this in the NBA draft sub. I think this draft is definitely well above average (as of now in the college preseason) for the last 20 years but it’s certainly not the best in the last 20 years. Givony needs to hype up this draft since that’s his job, especially after 2024 being historically weak.
This draft right now looks to have a ton of parallels with 2014.
2014 had 3 really good prospects in the college preseason (Wiggins, Parker, and Randle) who are like Flagg, Bailey, and Harper. Wiggins had a ton of hype before college (called Maple Jordan by some) like Flagg, except he just struggled a bit during the season that dropped his hype. Parker was on the cover of Sports Illustrated in high school but a lot of people may forget that. 2014 also had two good international prospects, one of which went to college and another stayed overseas (Embiid and Exum), again paralleling Maluach and Traore this draft. Then 2014 also had a bunch of raw athletic freshman who we needed to see how they did (Gordon, Aaron and Andrew Harrison – although they stayed another year), kind of like what we have now with the next tier in Edgecombe, Powell, and others.
The reason I don’t consider 2025 that strong is because it lacks returning star power from non freshmen. Drafts like 2007, 2008, and 2009 not only had great freshmen prospects but had returning lottery projected non freshmen from the previous year who gave it a ton more depth. The best returning player for 2025 is Collin Murray-Boyles, who only would have gone late first in the weak 2024 draft.
iDestroyedYoMama
Her fake smile is so weird. She holds the grin waiting for the other person to talk and it’s so awkward. Imagine talking to someone like that irl.
TheMoorNextDoor
Nets getting Cooper Flagg or Ace Bailey.
It was written.
Jicama-Smart
givony does not sound like he looks
tonydanzatapdances
I hate the hyperbole about draft years being the “best in the last X years”. We’ve heard this about other drafts and you just can’t really know for a while. People have endlessly called this year’s draft super weak, but what happens if some guys shine? You can loosely predict but these grand statements are weak when everything can look different in 2-3 years
kungfoop
My stupid wrestling brain thought “heat” meant he rubbed a lot of people the wrong way.
alan-penrose
If it’s him vs the field, I do not think Flagg is the best player in the class.
Classics22
I just want to live in a world where the Blazers starting lineup next year is Scoot, Sharpe, Avdija, Flagg/Bailey, Clingan with Camara first off the bench
Please NBA gods
AntSmith777
Last year was probably the least excited I’ve ever been for the NBA Draft. It’ll be nice to have a great draft to look forward to again this season.
overweighttardigrade
The reality for the new faces coming in is that the expectation for the top 3/4 is to be “that guy” for the others it’s to fit a role and to that role well, unless you’re fortunate to be in a good situation already (okc with chet), but the hope is more is to get a nuggets Aaron Gordon or Celtics Derrick White
dwninaho
The only knock on Cooper that I see so far is he might not be an offensive engine, but he is so good in other aspects that he’d go #1 right now.
This class is insane though, I think there is going to be a couple guys who can go #1 and it not be a reach.
alfi_k
This means a lot coming from the guy who had Bronny at 10 in his mock draft in the year before the draft.
““He has a very high floor because of his frame, his defensive instincts, the way he can make spot-up jumpers, his feel for the game, his competitiveness, his versatility.”
That amazing frame and jumper! C’mon Givony you’re just a backpacker who found a way for ESPN to pay for his East Europe trips. I respect that!
Intrepid-Journalist6
Outside of playing for a prestigious university, why would Flagg choose Duke over other schools? Does playing for a 37-year-old 3rd year head coach make as much sense as playing for someone proven like Dan Hurley, Bill Self, or even John Caliper? I feel like that’s going too all-in on your own abilities and discrediting what proven coaches could do for your own development.
alldasmoke__
Lmao at these comments. You’re going to look back at this thread in 5 years and half the names will be on the bench or Europe.
As for Flagg, this is typical “hype up a prospect for many years then act like he’s not that good”.
RGPISGOOD
So he has 20 years of draft experience and he says this is the best group of draft prospects in last 20 years? I call BS. How about 2009? Or even more recent, 2018??
ohnoohnoohyeah
Well, well, well, the Blazers win again. By losing. A lot Typical Blazers W.
No-Economics4128
Feel like if you are tanking, this might be the year.
fostyinthebuilding
Next three classes are loaded
FrankCarmody
Sick take Chad
DaBeegDeek
This guy speaks like he’s got a mouth full of marbles.
32 Comments
it sure is a good time to have 4 firsts + a early 2nd
Even Edgecombe and Traoré who are at the end of his list are studs. Edgecombe had big matches in the Olympics qualifier for Bahamas and Traoré just dropped 27/5 with 2 steals on 50% in 26 minutes in his first ever Eurocup game. Monster class incoming.
Flagg’s got a bright future, but it’ll be exciting to see who else steps up and shakes things up..
[deleted]
Let’s go (lose) Clippers!
Watching that game Flagg had against team USA, and it’s hard to imagine a better high school player. Flagg looked like the best player on the floor when he played
We better play Ulrich Chomche 25 mins a night so help me god. If we end up picking 9th and missing out on these prospects I will commit sudoku
Yawn it’s still Capture the Flagg until I see otherwise he’s the clear cut number one prospect no reason to overthink it yet. I got Dylan Harper as number 2.
Flagg would’ve went 1st overall in this years draft easily. Even as a 17 year old.
If the Murray for the Lakers first backfires for the Pels, I might become the Joker.
#Rutgers
This is the year for a lot of dead end teams to tank. Bulls for sure. Warriors, Kings, Raptors, Spurs, Pelicans should be ready to hit eject midseason.
So I said this in the NBA draft sub. I think this draft is definitely well above average (as of now in the college preseason) for the last 20 years but it’s certainly not the best in the last 20 years. Givony needs to hype up this draft since that’s his job, especially after 2024 being historically weak.
This draft right now looks to have a ton of parallels with 2014.
2014 had 3 really good prospects in the college preseason (Wiggins, Parker, and Randle) who are like Flagg, Bailey, and Harper. Wiggins had a ton of hype before college (called Maple Jordan by some) like Flagg, except he just struggled a bit during the season that dropped his hype. Parker was on the cover of Sports Illustrated in high school but a lot of people may forget that. 2014 also had two good international prospects, one of which went to college and another stayed overseas (Embiid and Exum), again paralleling Maluach and Traore this draft. Then 2014 also had a bunch of raw athletic freshman who we needed to see how they did (Gordon, Aaron and Andrew Harrison – although they stayed another year), kind of like what we have now with the next tier in Edgecombe, Powell, and others.
The reason I don’t consider 2025 that strong is because it lacks returning star power from non freshmen. Drafts like 2007, 2008, and 2009 not only had great freshmen prospects but had returning lottery projected non freshmen from the previous year who gave it a ton more depth. The best returning player for 2025 is Collin Murray-Boyles, who only would have gone late first in the weak 2024 draft.
Her fake smile is so weird. She holds the grin waiting for the other person to talk and it’s so awkward. Imagine talking to someone like that irl.
Nets getting Cooper Flagg or Ace Bailey.
It was written.
givony does not sound like he looks
I hate the hyperbole about draft years being the “best in the last X years”. We’ve heard this about other drafts and you just can’t really know for a while. People have endlessly called this year’s draft super weak, but what happens if some guys shine? You can loosely predict but these grand statements are weak when everything can look different in 2-3 years
My stupid wrestling brain thought “heat” meant he rubbed a lot of people the wrong way.
If it’s him vs the field, I do not think Flagg is the best player in the class.
I just want to live in a world where the Blazers starting lineup next year is Scoot, Sharpe, Avdija, Flagg/Bailey, Clingan with Camara first off the bench
Please NBA gods
Last year was probably the least excited I’ve ever been for the NBA Draft. It’ll be nice to have a great draft to look forward to again this season.
The reality for the new faces coming in is that the expectation for the top 3/4 is to be “that guy” for the others it’s to fit a role and to that role well, unless you’re fortunate to be in a good situation already (okc with chet), but the hope is more is to get a nuggets Aaron Gordon or Celtics Derrick White
The only knock on Cooper that I see so far is he might not be an offensive engine, but he is so good in other aspects that he’d go #1 right now.
This class is insane though, I think there is going to be a couple guys who can go #1 and it not be a reach.
This means a lot coming from the guy who had Bronny at 10 in his mock draft in the year before the draft.
““He has a very high floor because of his frame, his defensive instincts, the way he can make spot-up jumpers, his feel for the game, his competitiveness, his versatility.”
That amazing frame and jumper! C’mon Givony you’re just a backpacker who found a way for ESPN to pay for his East Europe trips. I respect that!
Outside of playing for a prestigious university, why would Flagg choose Duke over other schools? Does playing for a 37-year-old 3rd year head coach make as much sense as playing for someone proven like Dan Hurley, Bill Self, or even John Caliper? I feel like that’s going too all-in on your own abilities and discrediting what proven coaches could do for your own development.
Lmao at these comments. You’re going to look back at this thread in 5 years and half the names will be on the bench or Europe.
As for Flagg, this is typical “hype up a prospect for many years then act like he’s not that good”.
So he has 20 years of draft experience and he says this is the best group of draft prospects in last 20 years? I call BS. How about 2009? Or even more recent, 2018??
Well, well, well, the Blazers win again. By losing. A lot Typical Blazers W.
Feel like if you are tanking, this might be the year.
Next three classes are loaded
Sick take Chad
This guy speaks like he’s got a mouth full of marbles.