July 9, 20241 yr Cooper Flagg was apparently beyond impressive in Team USA scrimmages. Unlike 2024, this is a deep, deep draft and there's even a small possibility that Flagg isn't the first guy selected. For a decent portion of the league, the 2025 season is going to be a race to the bottom, the likes of which we haven't seen since all the way back in 2023. It looks like we will have probably 8 teams (6 of them in the East) actively not trying to win. And Flagg isn't the only prize here. Looking at the potential tankers, I have Brooklyn and Washington at a tie for 1st (last) place playing completely abhorrent basketball. Both these teams are relatively new to the tank and will embrace it with extreme gusto. It's going to be ugly. In the next tier, I've got Detroit and Portland. Both have put together some solid tanking the last few years, but don't have much to show for it. They should both still be terrible. In the third tier, I have Chicago, Toronto, and Charlotte. They all have some decent young roster talent that will fuck around and accidentally win some games. Nothing would be more hilarious than Chicago finally embracing the tank only to have Zach Lavine come back to play 82 games at an all-star level, them still not being able to move his contract, and the Bulls getting back into the play in. And finally, I have Utah. They need to pick a lane and embrace the tank, but they can't fully do it without unloading Markkanen and they aren't going to give him up for nothing. The West is so loaded that there are going to be some competitive teams that get pushed into the lottery. The Spurs won't be outright tanking unless Wemby misses some significant time, but even a 15 game improvement only gets them to 37 wins.
July 9, 20241 yr The bottom feeders:30. Detroit 29. Washington28. Portland27. Brooklyn26. Charlotte 25. Chicago Hello lottery:24. Toronto 23. Spurs 22. Jazz21. Hawks 20. Clippers Play-in fighters:19. Heat18. Warriors 17. Lakers 16. Rockets15. Pelicans 14. PacersPlayoffs or bust:13. Magic 12. Kings11. Memphis 10. Cavs9. Suns8. Bucks Contenders:7. Wolves 6. Dallas 5. New York4. Denver3. Sixers 2. OKC1. Boston
July 9, 20241 yr 18 minutes ago, chainsaw said: Am I the only one who doesn't understand the Flagg hype? Sheryl Swoopes
July 9, 20241 yr 31 minutes ago, chainsaw said: Am I the only one who doesn't understand the Flagg hype? Eh. I have never really seen the kid play but it's just what the media does. He seems pretty damn good. I'm with you though, there hasn't been a high school player with this much hype pan out in awhile. Zion was the last one who was a big deal and a success at Duke but we've yet to see him live up to NBA hype.
July 9, 20241 yr 44 minutes ago, chainsaw said: Am I the only one who doesn't understand the Flagg hype? yes.
July 9, 20241 yr 58 minutes ago, Pam Cummings said: Eh. I have never really seen the kid play but it's just what the media does. He seems pretty damn good. I'm with you though, there hasn't been a high school player with this much hype pan out in awhile. Zion was the last one who was a big deal and a success at Duke but we've yet to see him live up to NBA hype. chet was the most recent american hs kid with hype like this and he’s definitely lived up to the hype.
July 9, 20241 yr 1 hour ago, Underdog said: I'll see your Flagg and raise you two iterations of another.
July 9, 20241 yr Besides Flagg, what other players are in contention for first pick? The two kids at Rutgers?
July 10, 20241 yr 10 hours ago, Pam Cummings said: Eh. I have never really seen the kid play but it's just what the media does. He seems pretty damn good. I'm with you though, there hasn't been a high school player with this much hype pan out in awhile. Zion was the last one who was a big deal and a success at Duke but we've yet to see him live up to NBA hype. I don't remember Zion being as hyped as Flagg out of high school. If memory serves me right Zion wasn't even the #1 player in his class. HIs actual play at Duke is really what got the hype train rolling. In fact I think Between him, Barrett, and Reddish, Zion may have been the lowest ranked.
July 10, 20241 yr 20 minutes ago, Catdaddyhorn said: I don't remember Zion being as hyped as Flagg out of high school. If memory serves me right Zion wasn't even the #1 player in his class. HIs actual play at Duke is really what got the hype train rolling. In fact I think Between him, Barrett, and Reddish, Zion may have been the lowest ranked. Williamson was a #1 recruit and ESPN televised his commitment. I just remember the videos of him making those poor high school kids look so hopeless.
July 10, 20241 yr 2 minutes ago, Pam Cummings said: Williamson was a #1 recruit and ESPN televised his commitment. I just remember the videos of him making those poor high school kids look so hopeless. Flagg is the consensus #1 recruit among all services. Williamson was 5th in the composite rankings in 2018, so no, he wasn't near as hyped as Flagg irrespective of where he was ranked with ESPN.
July 10, 20241 yr 1 hour ago, Catdaddyhorn said: Williamson was 5th in the composite rankings in 2018, so no, he wasn't near as hyped as Flagg irrespective of where he was ranked with ESPN. The thing with Zion is that he got 3X more youtube/social media hype due to all of his highlight reel dunks. The recruiting analysts might have liked those other guys better, but I guarantee you that Zion was better known to the casual college basketball fan than all the others. Nobody was watching Nassir Little or Bol Bol highlights on youtube. Edited July 10, 20241 yr by Blotto
July 10, 20241 yr Author 8 hours ago, CurlyDumps said: Gag for Flagg is S tier. Best tank/name rhyme since...? I'm blanking. Suck for Luck. Don’t think that one will ever be topped.
July 10, 20241 yr 1 hour ago, Mitch Cumsteen said: Suck for Luck. Don’t think that one will ever be topped. Tank for tua
July 10, 20241 yr 1 hour ago, Mitch Cumsteen said: Suck for Luck. Don’t think that one will ever be topped. I'm gonna make Capture the Flagg stick. It's gonna be a thing.
July 10, 20241 yr 1 hour ago, Pam Cummings said: I'm gonna make Capture the Flagg stick. It's gonna be a thing. Pretty fetch of you bro
July 10, 20241 yr 2 hours ago, Pam Cummings said: I'm gonna make Capture the Flagg stick. It's gonna be a thing. NBA Draft 2025: Don't be a Flagg
July 10, 20241 yr I’m gonna go ahead and predict the Pistons get the 4th pick. I’m going to go with the Clips getting the #1 pick and Ballmer’s face exploding.
August 5, 20241 yr In Vecenie's lastest pod, he mentioned that Ben Saraf, a 6'5 Israeli point guard, lit up the U-18s recently was the best player in that tournament, which included Nolan Traore. He's doing a deep dive on Saraf soon, but it seems like this guy is now a likely lotto pick at the very least He did a deep dive on Traore in the episode, and said that while Traore is an obvious top five ish type in a typical draft, he has him squarely below Flagg, Edgecombe, and Harper (unclear if Ace Bailey was an accidental omission)
August 5, 20241 yr Some other options: Drag for Flagg In Rags for Flagg Dismantle for Randall All horrible
August 11, 20241 yr On 8/5/2024 at 1:48 PM, HookEm said: Some other options: Drag for Flagg In Rags for Flagg Dismantle for Randall All horrible Take it up the Pooper for Cooper has some promise.
August 11, 20241 yr Author On 8/5/2024 at 10:35 AM, Fud said: In Vecenie's lastest pod, he mentioned that Ben Saraf, a 6'5 Israeli point guard, lit up the U-18s recently was the best player in that tournament, which included Nolan Traore. He's doing a deep dive on Saraf soon, but it seems like this guy is now a likely lotto pick at the very least He did a deep dive on Traore in the episode, and said that while Traore is an obvious top five ish type in a typical draft, he has him squarely below Flagg, Edgecombe, and Harper (unclear if Ace Bailey was an accidental omission) I haven’t seen Saraf but Traore is niiiiice. I need to check him out. I watched some of Edgecombe in Olympic qualifying play and he’s really really impressive as well. This class is freaking loaded. There will probably be 5-6 guys who would’ve been the first overall pick in the 2024 draft.
August 28, 20241 yr Cooper Flagg inks the whitest shoe deal possible Jamal Murray says shut your mouth.
October 10, 20241 yr Vecenie's updated mock. He said on his pod that Ace Bailey's upside is similar to Flagg's, but his floor isn't; has concerns about his shot selection (too many mid range jumpers and not enough at the rim or at three) and his functional ball handling, and if those issues aren't cleaned up he might be a thicker Brandon Ingram. He likes the three guards at 3-5 in the mock but they're a clear step below the first two. He sees 6-20 in this draft as relatively weak, and there's not a lot of separation in that group. 1. Brooklyn Nets Cooper Flagg | 6-8 forward | 18 years old | Duke 2. Washington Wizards Ace Bailey | 6-9 wing/forward | 18 years old | Rutgers 3. Portland Trail Blazers Dylan Harper | 6-5 guard | 19 years old | Rutgers 4. Detroit Pistons V.J. Edgecombe | 6-3 guard | 19 years old | Baylor 5. Chicago Bulls Nolan Traoré | 6-3 guard | 19 years old | Saint-Quentin 6. Utah Jazz Kasparas Jakucionis | 6-5 guard | 19 years old | Illinois 7. Charlotte Hornets Asa Newell | 6-9 forward/big | 19 years old | Georgia 8. Toronto Raptors Ben Saraf | 6-6 wing | 19 years old | Ratiopharm Ulm 9. San Antonio Spurs (via ATL) Kon Knueppel | 6-5 guard | 19 years old | Duke 10. San Antonio Spurs Liam McNeeley | 6-6 wing | 19 years old | Connecticut 11. LA Clippers Collin Murray-Boyles | 6-7 wing/forward | 20 years old | South Carolina 12. Golden State Warriors Donnie Freeman | 6-8 forward | 19 years old | Syracuse 13. Oklahoma City Thunder (via HOU) Drake Powell | 6-6 wing | 19 years old | North Carolina 14. Atlanta Hawks (via LAL) Jalil Bethea | 6-3 guard | 19 years old | Miami (Fla.) 15. Oklahoma City Thunder (via MIA) Dink Pate | 6-6 guard | 19 years old | Mexico City Capitanes 16. New Orleans Pelicans Hugo González | 6-6 wing/forward | 19 years old | Real Madrid 17. Houston Rockets (via PHX) Motiejus Krivas | 7-2 big | 20 years old | Arizona 18. Indiana Pacers Hunter Sallis | 6-5 guard | 22 years old | Wake Forest 19. Sacramento Kings Alex Karaban | 6-8 wing | 22 years old | Connecticut 20. Orlando Magic Khaman Maluach | 7-1 big | 18 years old | Duke 21. Memphis Grizzlies Tre Johnson | 6-5 wing | 19 years old | Texas 22. Utah Jazz (via CLE) Rocco Zikarsky | 7-3 big | 18 years old | Brisbane Bullets 23. Dallas Mavericks Egor Demin | 6-8 guard | 19 years old | BYU 24. Brooklyn Nets (via MIL) Alex Toohey | 6-8 wing | 21 years old | Sydney Kings 25. Orlando Magic (via DEN) Kwame Evans Jr. | 6-8 wing/forward | 20 years old | Oregon 26. Oklahoma City Thunder (via PHI) Jaland Lowe | 6-2 guard | 20 years old | Pittsburgh 27. Utah Jazz (via MIN) Noa Essengue | 6-9 forward | 18 years old | Ratiopharm Ulm 28. Brooklyn Nets (via NYK) Michael Ruzic | 6-10 forward | 18 years old | Joventut 29. Brooklyn Nets (via OKC) Ian Jackson | 6-4 guard | 20 years old | North Carolina 30. Boston Celtics Kam Jones | 6-4 wing | 23 years old | Marquette
October 10, 20241 yr Wait - Rutgers has two of the top 3? Wtf happened there? Some stupid rich alum give them a blank checkbook?
November 5, 20241 yr Had a great dime I saw. Also abusing these defenders off the dribble - has had two massive punches in the lane already granted one was like a half second after the shot clock. You know who his dunks look like?
February 15Feb 15 That reminds me of when Peter Griffin had the choice between the boat and the mystery box. "Cooper Flagg is Cooper Flagg, but these mystery picks could be anything! They could even be Cooper Flagg!" "Then just take Cooper Fla-" "We'll take the mystery picks." Edited February 15Feb 15 by Pam Cummings
April 9Apr 9 On 2/14/2025 at 11:30 PM, Derka said: Simmons is so fucking regarded, but I can’t look away. If Russillo or one of the Ringer’s basketball nerds isn’t on to check him, he just says the dumbest shit imaginable. I think if the Jazz draft Flagg, Simmons will die inside. Hopefully the Rockets use the Suns pick to select Tre Johnson, Fears, or Clayton Jr.
May 11May 11 Draft lottery is tomorrow - my three preferred destinations for Flagg: 1) Portland 2) Utah 3) Dallas
May 11May 11 5 hours ago, Message Board User said: 2) Utah Gross. An American born white superstar in Utah? The fawning over would be nauseating.
May 11May 11 42 minutes ago, Mitch Cumsteen said: You misspelled San Antonio. He meant other than the Spurs. Obviously.
May 11May 11 Everyone keeps speculating if OKC would trade for Giannis (prolly not) but what if they instead traded for Flagg? Send Chet or Jalen Williams plus Cason Wallace and 3 tasty pics? If I'm the other team I seriously consider that.
May 11May 11 3 hours ago, Mitch Cumsteen said: You misspelled San Antonio. As if Spurs fans aren't insufferable enough already. With Flagg? Oof this board would be unreadable.
May 11May 11 1 minute ago, MNLonghornFUKM said: huge shocker Message board user wants Flagg in the west. No, no, no, no, no, no...that's not it all... well yeah
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