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2025 NBA Draft - Gag for Flagg

Mitch Cumsteen

By Mitch Cumsteen
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Mitch Cumsteen

Mitch Cumsteen 18547

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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.

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Fastbreak

Fastbreak 3973

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The bottom feeders:

30. Detroit
29. Washington
28. Portland
27. Brooklyn
26. Charlotte
25. Chicago

Hello lottery:

24. Toronto
23. Spurs
22. Jazz
21. Hawks
20. Clippers

Play-in fighters:

19. Heat
18. Warriors
17. Lakers
16. Rockets
15. Pelicans
14. Pacers

Playoffs or bust:

13. Magic
12. Kings
11. Memphis
10. Cavs
9. Suns
8. Bucks

Contenders:

7. Wolves
6. Dallas
5. New York
4. Denver
3. Sixers
2. OKC
1. Boston

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Pam Cummings

Pam Cummings 9639

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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.

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Derka

Derka 6135

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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.

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Catdaddyhorn

Catdaddyhorn 3444

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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. 

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Pam Cummings

Pam Cummings 9639

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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.

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Catdaddyhorn

Catdaddyhorn 3444

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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.

image.thumb.png.3cc76d3c95df275a4d28a70324177e80.png

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Blotto

Blotto 23484

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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.

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Fud

Fud 9551

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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) 

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Mitch Cumsteen

Mitch Cumsteen 18547

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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. 

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Fud

Fud 9551

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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

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ztejas

ztejas 43411

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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?

Nba Playoffs Dunk GIF by Phoenix Suns

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