Stephen A. says Mavericks can be ‘FAVORITES’ with Cooper Flagg 👀 | SportsCenter

Stephen A. says Mavericks can be ‘FAVORITES’ with Cooper Flagg 👀 | SportsCenter

take it away from brooklyn friend oh thank you so much we’ll get to that ace bailey conversation because it’s been all the buzz especially in the pre-draft conversations and interviews and workouts as we are here on the abc set joined by steven a smith and bob myers they will join me at 8:00 eastern as we highlight the journey of 30 young men and their families to get to this moment at the barclay center let’s talk about cooper flag and his moment here stephen a especially joining a maverick’s team listen there’s no doubt the mavericks are going to say cooper flag is going to be the number one pick and we’re going to hear adam silver shake the hands and see him shake the hands of uh the duke product then he joins this team how does that change the balance of power in the west when you look at the additions of the mavericks and who they have when they’re healthy well him alone doesn’t do it kyrie irvin’s got to get back anthony davis has to stay healthy you got to remember the dallas mavericks last year only had about three players that played 60 games or more everybody else obviously it was significantly less because they were one of the top five injured teams in all of basketball but coopa flag is the real deal make no mistake about it he’s built like a small forward he’s a legit 6869 player with an inside game an outside game an open court game a perimeter game he’s got the whole package led duke in points rebounds assists steals and block shots he is something special to behold and he plays on both sides of the ball so when you think about what he brings to the equation the fact that you sent away luca donuch and this is now clearly the face of this franchise that motor that’s on him the face of the franchise the market the marketability of this guy it’s going to get everybody up on their toes because all eyes are going to be on the dallas mavericks and i think went healthy if you look at the oklahoma city thunder the one team that gave them trouble a couple of years ago when they were the number one seed and this past season when they were the number one seed was the dallas mavericks with or without luca donuch in the lineup i think about that and i say if the dallas mavericks are healthy they could easily ascend to being the favorites in the western conference yeah i i look if you’re in the western conference it’s already competitive it’s already highly it’s much more so than the east it’s it’s really the balance has even become more prominent in the west with all the injuries now we’re going to talk about that in the east there’s not a player in the draft that any gm was worried about going anywhere to affect winning besides cooper flag so if you’re a competitor in the west and you’re competing with the dallas mavericks that’s the time of the draft that draft lottery where you just said “are you serious like the mavs got cooper flag?” because the mavs are good yeah right the mavs are a very good team they traded luca we saw what happened but they lost kyrie and that’s when they really started going sideways anthony davis is one of the best centers in the league without question i mean he’s he he’s top two three for sure and then you got kyrie irving who went healthy and he’s supposed to come back and they have a deep team yep and now you got cooper flag who helps you win and you’ve added him so they’re they’re a force now in the west and then lively and gafford you got the defense behind him and then cooper flag’s ability to play defense uh let’s talk about and el brought it up ace bailey uh the only us prospect to not work out for any of the teams here in this draft process as a former gm what does that tell you about a player as you try to figure things out and try to line things up because he’s projected as the third best prospect in this draft and the sixers pick third well it has me concerned kevin um i just got to figure out how much right because it’s easier when a guy shows up looks you in the eye says he wants to be there that makes you feel good you’re committing guaranteed money right this is 20 $30 million of guaranteed money this is an opportunity to pick very high he’s going to go high wherever he goes he’s going to go i think somewhere between three and six but when you don’t you want that comfort level as a gm it’s like a job interview you want somebody to tell you i want to come to work for you we’re getting the inverse of that where the guy is saying you know i don’t know if i want to come work for you now my question with ace is maybe uh he’s got a place he wants to go and they’ve promised him something i don’t know if that’s true or not that’s what’s fascinating about ace a lot of times when you see a player like this say “i’m not meeting with anybody.” they have a home and they’ve had a secret workout with somebody in this case i’m wondering if he’s kind of like “i didn’t even do that i’m not working out for anybody.” and then you have to value this how much does the workout actually matter i tell you this if you ask any gm now it matters a lot less than you think because you saw these guys play all year you saw them play 20 30 times so at this point it’s uh it’s something where you should be comfortable if you’re going to take it here’s what i’m going to tell you why it does matter granted the actual workout itself bob you would know that better than most and we get that part the flip side to it is that an attitude yeah like you just got here you’re a baby at this you wearing diapers on this level and before you had an opportunity to pass gas here you are trying to dictate what somebody is going to do who you’re going to work out for you’re not going to work out for that absence of capitulation should be something that concerns any team because you did that before you got paid before they made an investment in you so what about once they do make the investment in you and your money’s guaranteed and you’re locked into a commitment from them you don’t just get paid for potential you don’t just get paid for what you’ve done you get paid because somebody trusts that whatever they believe you can deliver you will go all out to validate their investment in you and when you’re that young and people are already questioning that i’m not saying he’s doing a good or bad thing because it could be on the advice of experts or you know his legal team or whomever that are his agent or whomever that advis that’s advising him to do this so i’m not trying to point the finger of blaming him but ultimately the onus will fall on his shoulders because they’re looking at you and they’re saying “excuse me you you know you’re not a toddler you know you 18 plus years old you you making nobody else is doing it stephen nobody else is doing it.” and that’s where and that’s where it becomes problematic i i will add that a year ago it happened we saw something similar alex sar said “i’m not going to the hawks i’m not going to work out.” and then he fell to number two which he wanted to and the destination was the wizards but that’s him saying “i wasn’t going to work out for a particular team.” this guy hasn’t worked out for anybody it makes you wonder it makes you wonder like you guys said does he have a promise we’re talking about a young man who’s 18 averaging 18 points and seven rebounds at ruters and then there it is cooper flag the projected number one pick going to hear his name of course called 8:00 eastern on abcl back to you

Stephen A. Smith and Bob Myers join Kevin Neghandi on SportsCenter to discuss the Dallas Mavericks’ expectations if they choose to select Cooper Flagg with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft.

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