This 12 months’s NBA Draft class could have lacked top-end expertise however you actually can’t say the identical concerning the subsequent crop of younger basketball expertise making waves in America.
Particularly, the clear-cut first general prospect Cooper Flagg continues to indicate why the much less aggressive NBA groups could throw away their season to tank for the 17-year-old.
Flagg is already seen as the highest decide from subsequent 12 months’s class on all draft boards, with Kevin Durant even declaring he may be “one of many prime gamers within the league for 15 years” in an interview with Boardroom.
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“The intangibles that he has, his measurables and his uncooked expertise. I can see that by the TV,” Durant stated in February.
Now, Durant and the remainder of the Crew USA gamers obtained to see it up shut as Flagg led the best way for his Choose Crew in a 74-73 scrimmage loss on Tuesday (AEST).
Ben Golliver of The Washington Publish shared a number of clips of Flagg’s highlights from the scrimmage on X, previously often known as Twitter, displaying the fearless 17-year-old taking on for his workforce.
The highlights included Flagg draining a pair of 3-pointers over Anthony Davis, hitting a turnaround jumper over Jrue Vacation and flying for an offensive rebound to get the putback in opposition to Bam Adebayo.
In different phrases, at simply 17 years outdated Flagg was already proving he was able to mixing it with the very best within the league.
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“I’m assured in my capacity and my talent. On the finish of the day, I’m assured in who I’m and what I do,” Flagg stated in a brief interview after the sport, posted by Golliver.
Flagg was already producing loads of buzz on Monday after extra clips from an earlier scrimmage in opposition to Crew USA had been posted on-line, together with one which confirmed the 17-year-old first being blocked by Davis earlier than recovering to move the ball and make a backdoor reduce for the two-handed jam.
Flagg, who averaged 26.8 factors, 12.4 rebounds, 5.2 blocks and 4.7 assists per recreation on the Nike EYBL 16U league, will play his freshman season at Duke later this 12 months after reclassifying.
He was one among 15 gamers named to the USA Choose Crew, turning into the primary collegian to be picked since 2013.
ESPN’s draft skilled Jonathan Givony not too long ago wrote that Flagg “does every part on each ends of the ground”.
“He’s an explosive athlete, a prolific scorer, a a lot improved 3-point shooter, an impressive passer and an extremely impactful defender who performs with nonstop depth masking floor, making performs on the rim and guarding on the perimeter,” Givony wrote.