Breaking down what Cooper Flagg excels at and what needs work at the NBA level | Top Prospects

Breaking down what Cooper Flagg excels at and what needs work at the NBA level | Top Prospects

cooper Flag was the assumed number one pick in the 2025 NBA draft before he played a minute at Duke and even exceeded the hype as the eventual national player of the year the 18-year-old’s offensive game is so well-developed and his physical tools and intangibles are what every GM and coach desire also unlike most top picks Flag might be landing with a playoff contender and he’s ready to contribute on both ends of the floor [Music] this episode of Top Prospects is presented by Robert Half cooper Flag may end up being a transcendent talent we’ve been talking about him for years in the college game wondering when he would metriculate to Duke and how it would work and how well he would develop we were all impressed and he was the national player of the year his offensive game is very welldeveloped and wellrounded we’ll show you plays there and how he has grown throughout the course of the year which is critical for this guy that was 17 when he started the season how much he’s improved just from November until April in the Final Four when him and Duke’s season concluded defensively he has all the physical tools and the talent and the intangibles of a guy that wants to be one of the greatest players of all time but he also can improve in some areas there too as he gets ready for the NBA level we’ll break those down too we’re going to start with the offensive side of the game too and I chose the North Carolina game the second time they played why because again this development there was adversity this Duke team did not face a lot of adversity this year and Cooper although he failed a lot of big game situations early Kentucky and Kansas in particular November he continued to improve and late game under pressure got much better especially on their rivals court all right the first play we’re going to pick here is pretty much right the tip of the game uh it’s within a first minute this mean OB under now he’s going to set up his defender nicely here kaman Malanch is going to come set a screen for him and what you want to do as a player is especially the second time around understand how a team is going to guard you they’re going to go under the screen here so when you go under the screen right away he recognizes that he’s now not going to go toward the ball you’re going to bump back away from your defender malawatch adjusts his screen he gets his feet set beautifully rises up and hits the three now he doesn’t hit it clean see it goes off the rim and in part of why I liked to showing this play was showing he’s got great backman and touch on his shot he’s got good form and good lift he will have to continue to develop out to the NBA range consistently but he shoots a good ball and does not force it especially when he has time and space and on balance like he was coming off that down screen not a lot of 69 guys are coming off off the ball screens and finishing as cleanly as he just did here all right we discussed him going through some adversity through the course of this game he had foul trouble they were up and as a team controlling this game though jaylen Withers defending him gets the pop out screen off the inbounds this is a straight ISO he’s got the ball in the middle of the floor which means there’s no help on either side of the floor you see the defenders locked on their guys also because Duke is an elite shooting team you cannot have a help side when something the ball is in the middle of the floor you can’t help he knows this he recognizes this he’s looking at Khan Canipple seeing if Keniple is going to come off open for a three but really his goal is to rip this thing and go buy him where his game has developed was that shoulder into Withers if you go back and watch him earlier in the season he wasn’t always able to elevate on balance through contact here his game has developed to this point he understands that the ability to create space using his shoulder and his body go straight up knocks it down he is a three-level scorer in college which will translate in the NBA level especially as he gets more comfortable and confident with his handle and better at beating guys off the bounce all right we move into the second half we talked about his foul trouble he was already struggling through the first half a little bit they are on the road north Carolina is in the midst of a run they’ve come back they’ve taken over this game and what does he have we showed we talked about earlier he struggled early in the year this was one of his seminal moments i looked at his season and her his development they need a basket he’s got the ball away from the hoop right now and again not a lot of help side can he go one-on-one he goes aggressively right at Withers again using his body finishing with no fear there was no hesitation there was no worry the help side was coming he went and finished with his left hand at the rim laying it in as we move to the next play note the run North Carolina’s on 20 to six since Flag’s third foul here again they’re looking for an isolation he comes off a down screen he’s going to face up and assess the situation right now as Malawatch is looking like he’s going to come set a screen he’s going to ghost out on the screen and kind of go to the other side allowing that driving lane you’d see Cooper earlier in the season find ways to let up at the rim spin at times not here he’s going to have his head down go in straight line drives you play in straight lines as a player put your shoulder into that guy’s midsection and he does something great here too he’s going to play off two feet he’s not out of control a lot of times you see a guy go off one foot his left foot and kind of put that thing up he played off two and complete control elevates through Withers and again though finishing to his weak hand this is a great move at a critical moment of the game also reading how Malawatch was twisting there and how where his opportunity was to drive the lane line now how does he create again note the score they are down six they are struggling defensively on the other end they need to continue to answer so they’re going to get him on the on the pop out to the wing here he’s assessing what’s going on james looked like he was going away but he comes to the ball screen this is again where where Cooper’s game will develop he he got about four assists a game one of the most efficient players in the country when you combined his points per possession and assists he was in the 93rd percentile per Synergy comes off the ball screen good screen now here’s where his understanding of the game has developed the weak side the the help defender the guy guarding Seion James is Elliot Gadau elliot’s barely 6 feet tall one of the quickest guards in the country but you see where his hands are cooper’s got a 9 in advantage on him where’s Where does he understand here i’m not going to throw a bounce pass a lot of guys will throw a pocket pass right there no the pass for him is over the top to James as James can then create more space and Kdau is pretty much dead in the water you throw a pocket pass Kado is going to get a foot or maybe a kick on that and break it up he puts it over the top seion James finishes a big two points as they continue to try to battle back into this game all right more of him working in terms of his vision at times they would play through him in the post and here he’s again recognizes the switch he set he set the ball screen this time and now he gets the switch we just talked about the smaller guard being LA CDO this time it’s R.J davis again about a 6′ guy who’s 23 years old he’s been around 5 years in college understands how to defend but Cooper does a great job of putting that guard on his backside as a former guard myself mouse in the house bit of a problem at times for little guys you got to get in front you cannot allow them to get a catch he does a good job of sealing him off and he doesn’t need to get deep he knows he can operate in any pos any any space once he has that guy on him now Withers you see 24 as they cut away he is now looking dead at Cooper flag so he’s losing his vision of help right now you’ve got their entire team all five guys are focused on yes the future national player of the year there’s another lottery pick you see number seven Khan Kipple across the way hands are up he’s waiting for the ball cooper’s waiting for him to clear just a little bit further malawatch can set a little bit of a brush screen here and then boom that’s the shot that’s the play that’s all they were looking for the entire time he understood it his teammates understood it and he delivered on time and on target really good vision hard to double because he has a great feel and understanding of the game all right let’s go to some of the negatives where what can he work on right now and we chose the Clemson game because they lost that game they were on the road and we mentioned before already some of their struggles late game he was a bit under the weather here so maybe I’m picking on him but still there you have to show the toughness and the fight when you’re struggling but some of the problems he had guarding Chase Hunter in particular are things that have to improve at the NBA level he’s he’s got all the physical tools on the defensive side but the lateral quickness will come again only 18 years old his ability to close space and be smart especially staying down on different moves so let’s look at Chase Hunter who took over this game late one thing Brad Bronnell and the Clemson Tigers did in this game was they they hunted him they went at him they wanted to put him in screening situations to get advantageous switches the best switch late game for them was Chase Hunter a fifthear guard that’s super talented they get him on the switch on the handoff he shot fakes chase can make that maybe but he’s 26 feet away you if anything at Cooper it’s a late contest here he’s got his his body off balance he’s leaning forward heavily shot fake rip right by him for just a very easy layup in a game that’s tied when you’re on the road great execution by Hunter not so much by Cooper here now 352 left in the game duke is up one every single one of these possessions is a must-win possession that they were unable to do they get the switch they want they’ve got Chase Hunter again he gives the shot fake keeps him a little bit unbalanced see Cooper did reset reset better there but see how his feet are positioned right now his feet are not You want to be parallel to the baseline his feet are almost perpendicular to the baseline he’s opening up he’s allowing Hunter to drive to his strong hand hunter is a 6’4 dynamic guard allacc guard who has some NBA moves he’s going to see this all the time in his future and he’s got to be better in terms of his body position his stance and then his execution as he opened up this is a straight line drive now you’re going to shimmy step back and knock it down he didn’t have the ability or the strength to recover even though because of his size Hunter didn’t think he’d get to the rim but he had him where he wanted he had him off balance the entire possession was able to step back and knock it down that’s an NBA level move that’s something he has to defend better games on the line 50 seconds left duke up one what do they do they want the same thing hunter right now as you see is being guarded by a guard as he goes away from the hoop cooper’s got the ball right now but their whole thing is to get him into switches and isolate and try to make him make plays so here comes your screen here comes your switch and now you have your your you have your matchup you want and you got a Duke team one of the best defensive teams in the country supposedly locked in and you got to have your future number one draft pick be able to get a stop here or at least a really tough contest he keeps him off balance the hesitation right by him again we know he was under the weather here his body position his foot movement and really his will has to be a little better even when you’re down even when you’re not feeling great you got to put a little bit more than he did in that game and I think he will learn that along the way here now now some of that is a little nitpicking again this kid could be a transcendent talent and if the Mavs don’t take him after trading away a transcendent talent Luca I’m going to lose my mind you could fire me right now okay there’s no doubt that they are picking this guy number one and the players they have there if fully healthy they have a chance to be a contender in the West next year i cannot wait to watch this young man develop again it’s not just the physical tools the intangibles every time you’ve met with him talk to him or talk to anybody around him the guy wants to be one of the greats i hope he can accomplish that this episode of Top Prospects is presented by Robert Half at Robert Half we know talent

In this episode of NBA Top Prospects, Dalen Cuff breaks down tape from the player whose name has been penciled atop the 2025 NBA draft for years: Cooper Flagg. The Duke Blue Devils star somehow lived up to his stratospheric hype as a freshman, showing a well-rounded offensive game and flashes of brilliance on defense in his Player of the Year campaign. Now, he’s primed to join a Dallas Mavericks team fresh off a tumultuous post-Luka Doncic finish to the season, but with enough talent to compete for a playoff spot right away.

0:00 Intro
1:05 Offensive film study: 3/8/25 at North Carolina
1:25 Play 1: Off-screen jumpshot
2:15 Play 2: Physicality without fouling
3:10 Play 3: Decisive drive
3:46 Play 4: Playing off two feet
4:36 Play 5: Evolving as a playmaker
5:40 Play 6: Passing from a post-up
6:51 Defensive film study: 2/8/25 at Clemson
7:23 Play 1: Biting on the shot fake
7:58 Play 2: Allowing strong-hand drive
8:51 Play 3: Effort with the game on the line
9:37 Flagg’s talent and desire

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