Cooper Flagg Rumors

You’re also known as a complete player. What went into building those habits? Kon Knueppel: “I used to not be able to shoot. I was a bad shooter. So in between my mid-range game, I was a playmaker. That was kind of my game. Shooting was the piece that I added on at the end. Obviously, now it kind of flipped a little bit because that’s valued so much more now. That’s kind of how that came to be.” Obviously, you and Cooper had such a great connection at Duke. What’s it going to be like now matching up against him? Knueppel: “It’ll be super fun. He’s going to have a whole lot of success. I’m super happy for him. It’ll be fun.”

SportsKeeda

Mike Curtis: The #Mavs are shutting down Cooper Flagg for the remainder of Summer League, a person’s familiar with the decision confirms. Flagg averaged 20.5 points, 5 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.5 steals and 1 block in his two games against the #Lakers and #Spurs. @Marc Stein was first.

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Tom Orsborn: Cooper Flagg on how Carter Bryant hounded him: "He is really lengthy. He plays really good defense. I mean, he didn't look tired at all the whole game. He was picking me up 94. I was definitely feeling a little bit gassed, but he was just there playing great defense the whole way, physical."

bsky.app

Cooper Flagg showed out on Saturday against the Spurs, going for 31 points on 10/20 shooting, including 3/8 from three and 8/13 on free throws (this will need to improve). He wasn't playmaking as much, only having one assist, but there were still strong signs of good playmaking that didn't end in an assist. He added four rebounds and a block, as well.

Sports Illustrated

Thursday’s Lakers-Mavericks NBA Summer League game, which marked the NBA debut of #1 pick Cooper Flagg, averaged 955,000 viewers on ESPN — marking the fourth-largest Summer League audience ever on the ESPN networks. The Mavericks’ win, which peaked with 1.12 million viewers, trails only Hornets-Spurs in 2023 (Victor Wembanyama’s debut: 1.39M), Pelicans-Knicks in 2019 (Zion Williamson’s debut: 1.61M) and Celtics-Lakers in 2017 (1.1M).

Sports Media Watch

The other thing that matters: neither the Mavericks nor Cooper Flagg sounded concerned about his debut. Summer League performances rarely foreshadow NBA excellence or failure. But one important Mavericks figure saw a positive development as he observed Flagg’s shots clank off the rim. “You kind of have to think of the Kobe Bryant arc,” former Mavericks majority owner Mark Cuban told a small group of reporters. “It took him some time to get it right. I don’t want to curse him by comparing him to Kobe because they’re not the same. But Kobe didn’t come in right away as a polished player. It took him two years to get it.”

SportsKeeda

“I think the difference is that Cooper can pass,” Cuban said. “He can play the game. He can defend. So you can put him in any NBA game.” Aside from Flagg’s poor shooting numbers, the Mavericks walked away actually impressed with how the No. 1 pick fared. Flagg added six rebounds, four assists, three steals and a block. He often assumed ball-handling duties. He ran the floor well in transition. He performed that job description in 32 minutes, though Cuban joked it felt like “90 minutes.” “He’s only 18 so you can play him 90 minutes in a summer league game,” Cuban said. “Even if you could tell he was gassed, he still made the right play. He didn’t try to do too much and say, ‘Hey, I’m the No. 1 pick. Let me try to show you why. He played basketball the whole time.’ And he’s 18. My daughter just graduated from high school last month, and he’s younger than her.”

SportsKeeda

Cooper Flagg scored 10 points in his unofficial debut as a Maverick. While he wasn’t especially efficient, connecting on only 5 of 21 shots, he still provided several reminders of why he was the top pick in last month’s NBA Draft. “That might be one of the worst games of my life,” Flagg said. “But we got the win, so that’s what really matters to me. My teammates, they held it down. They did what they had to do.”

New York Times

Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said in June that he planned to deploy Flagg at point guard frequently throughout the season, and Dallas wasted no time putting Flagg in a ballhandling role Thursday. He brought the ball up the floor on the Mavericks’ first possession of the game, and the Lakers sent a double team at him. “That was something we tried: Try to disrupt him, try to slow him down, hopefully get a steal,” Lakers summer-league coach Lindsey Harding said. “We know he’s a great player. We know that they’re gonna go to him. We know he is the future of this league, so we wanted to try to make it a little difficult for him.”

New York Times

“I was looking forward to (playing point guard), splitting some reps with Ryan (Nembhard),” Flagg said. “It’s new for me, bringing it up, having that full-court pressure a bunch. Obviously, I’m not in full game shape. I’m a little tired, but (I’m) just dealing with that. It was fun experimenting and trying to do different things.” “He didn’t score the ball really well,” Nembhard said of playing with Flagg. “It wasn’t his night, but the gravity he has, it helps guys get good looks. He’s super talented.” Expect plenty more “Point Flagg” this season based on everything the Mavericks’ coaching staff has said. Flagg will suit up again on Saturday, as the Mavericks face the San Antonio Spurs and No. 2 pick Dylan Harper in Las Vegas. “I was a little nervous but excited,” Flagg said. “Just happy to be here. It’s a dream come true. Just trying to enjoy the moment.”

New York Times

Dave McMenamin: Bronny James on guarding Cooper Flagg in the post: “Just trying to hold my ground. He’s got like half a foot on me.” Went on to say that Flagg is “an amazing player” and “he’s going to be something special” pic.x.com/3FLb0eR0Ce

Twitter

In a much-hyped matchup against Bronny James and the Los Angeles Lakers, No. 1 overall selection Cooper Flagg overcame scoring issues in his summer league debut Thursday, July 10 to help push the Mavericks to an 87-85 victory. It was uneven and inefficient — Flagg scored just 10 points on 5-of-21 shooting (23.8%), adding six rebounds, four assists, three steals and one block. He looked very much like someone who played his first competitive game of basketball since April 6. He also looked very much like someone who was dropped into a group of new teammates with whom he had little chemistry. “That,” Flagg said after the victory, “might be one of the worst games of my life.”

USA Today

“I was obviously a little nervous,” Flagg said. “It's a new environment, a lot of new fans and whatnot. So I was a little nervous and a little excited, but just happy to be here. It's a dream come true, so I'm just trying to enjoy the moment.”

USA Today

He's the youngest player in this draft, and the professionalism that he's shown — it's been pretty awesome to see. Just your overall impressions post-draft coming out of your camp — it seems like everyone is just over the moon about him." JASON KIDD: "You got to give his family — his mom and dad, and his brothers — credit. They've done an incredible job with this young man off the floor. When you talk to him, you forget that he's 18. He loves basketball. The one thing I thought he said in his press conference is that he played outside. You don't hear a lot of kids talk about playing outside. And then also growing up in Maine — it could be a little nippy, could be a little cold — but it just shows his toughness. Again, as a coach — but I think the Dallas organization — we're very excited to have this opportunity."

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