Stephen A. Smith on the Mavericks drafting Cooper Flagg 👀 ‘It’s a delicate situation’ | First Take

Stephen A. Smith on the Mavericks drafting Cooper Flagg 👀 ‘It’s a delicate situation’ | First Take

what’s going to happen now tonight because the NBA draft just hours away and you can catch it tonight on both ESPN and ABC Cooper Flag is all but guaranteed to go number one overall to the team Stephen A was just talking about the Dallas Mavericks And when his name is called he’ll be the second youngest player ever to be selected first in the draft behind only LeBron James LeBron isn’t surprised as he has nothing but praise for the end prospect He wants to be great you know Um you know he had a hell of a year at Duke Um a guy that can do so many different things out on the floor Can play with the ball can play without the ball Um you know his jump shot is going to continue to get better Super athletic quick second jump And also he has the benefit unlike myself he gets to join a team that’s established
right
with Hall of Fame guys Klay Thompson Anthony Davis Kyrie Irving right off the bat Hall of Fame coach Jason Kidd you know these guys are like they’re going to they can give him the whole blueprint while he continues to learn what his blueprint will be All right LeBron on his podcast Mind the Game All right Wendy I know Stephen A just cautioned us about question marks surrounding new ownership in Dallas but do you feel like Cooper Flags going into a perfect situation
i think LeBron is the perfect person to analyze that because LeBron can really relate to what it’s like to be a high uh you know high expectation number one overall pick And boy is he right As someone who was there in 2003 LeBron not only did LeBron not have an infrastructure to walk into in Cleveland like Cooper Flag is walking into in a dream situation here LeBron got bullied a little bit by some of the veterans when he came in They had to make trades in the first two months he was on the team because there were players on that team that didn’t think LeBron should have the role Not only that they played him out of position They said “Come in here and play point guard as an 18-year-old when that wasn’t his game.” I can go on and on about that But LeBron saying this is exactly underscores just how great of a situation this is On lottery night I think Cooper Flag was a little bit shell shocked because when he was examining his opportunities I don’t think Dallas ever came into his mind and he’s like “Wait a minute I thought I was going to come in and maybe they were going to build everything around me.” It’s you know I think it I think he stuttered stepped a little bit but now as he’s looked not only that it’s a great spot to live no state taxes Mr Smith I think you’re aware of that And um and they are in position to compete right away And here’s the thing he is in position to help these players right away He can play roles that will help them He may not win rookie of the year because they’re not going to feed him a ton of shots He’s not going to put up great stats but he is in position to make a difference in winning from day one which is extremely rare for a top pick Keith go ahead Keith
uh yeah I have to I have to agree with Wendy I had to agree with Wendy on this one right this is this is not the ideal situation that you normally see right he’s going to be able to go in there to this team and grow right the best things about his game is the intangibles The way he the high IQ basketball player he is at such a young age right he doesn’t have to go in there and be an elite scorer right away He has three Hall of Famers around him and and a boatload of other guys who’ve played this game at a high level and just being able to help a team He’s going to go in there and be just like a JT was when he walked in to Boston with the Kyres and the Horers and those guys with my brother and those guys being a being guys that was established in the league for a long time and being able to teach this young player how to play a game Like I said earlier he reminds me of a young Paul George walking into Indiana and not having to be a superstar right away and being able to grow his game and being able to be the player that he grew into today The brother’s the truth Cooper Flag is no joke and his versatility really really comes shining through But I’m going to caution everybody in this regard and I don’t disagree with anything that LeBron James said I will just say this ownership can mess stuff up because of look at what all the stuff that we’re talking about and the fact that they let go of Luca Remember how people were reacting Remember Nico Harson had to have security in his front and backyard for crying of li I mean they had to watch his back This this you know you had people who wanted to kill this man for letting go of Luca Donic This is not an exaggeration And so when you when your concerns are assuaged because you got the number one overall pick what was their chance like 1.8% they ended up pulling it off
and they get the number one overall pick in the NBA draft and this brother Cooper flag a freshman national player of the year One of only four people in history to do that It’s coming with big time expectations right you got to make sure that y’all don’t mess this up as an organization the the the fan base there is going to be looking for something LeBron is absolutely right in terms of he how special he thinks this kid is going to be We all believe this kid is going to be incredibly special but he’s not walking into a clear-cut situation He’s walking into a situation where there’s a fan base saying “We lost Luca What you got cuz we know what we saw from this brother What you going to bring?” And those comparisons might mess things up to some degree And ownership the team you know Nico Harrison his staff Jason Kid assuming he’s going to still be there It’s a delicate situation that they’re going to have to maneuver their way through I’m not saying that Coopa Flag in any way is going to be a disappointment to those of us who love the game and watch the game Certainly not to somebody like LeBron James who’s a savant when it comes to knowing the game of basketball I’m talking about the outside stuff that could affect your passion to play the game You got to watch out for that because an organization can mess it up for you [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause]

On First Take, Stephen A. Smith, Brian Windhorst and Markieff Morris join Molly Qerim on First Take to respond to LeBron James’ analysis of Cooper Flagg potentially being drafted No. 1 overall by the Dallas Mavericks in the 2025 NBA Draft.

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