Cooper Flagg woke up in Dallas on Wednesday morning as he prepared for the second day of his 48-hour visit with the Dallas Mavericks, but he’s making national headlines.
The presumptive No. 1 overall pick in next Thursday’s NBA draft graced the cover of the latest issue of Sports Illustrated, which details the former Duke star’s versatile two-way skillset that combines athleticism, elite basketball IQ and an extraordinary poise for an 18-year-old.
The Mavericks will be the first team with the opportunity to select Flagg, and all signs point to that possibility becoming a reality on June 25. Flagg will inevitably have to answer questions about playing alongside new Dallas star Anthony Davis and serving as the replacement for Luka Doncic, SI’s Chris Mannix wrote.
“I think the biggest thing is … not trying to think too far into the future, not worrying about what’s coming down the road, but just focusing on right here, right now, on what I can control and just making the most out of every single day,” Flagg told Mannix.
Brian Scalabrine, a 6-9 forward who played 11 seasons in the NBA and won a championship with the Boston Celtics in 2008, told SI that Flagg is a “supercomputer.” He’s been mentoring Flagg, a 6-8 forward, since before he entered high school.
“Whatever you tell him, he’ll master in 24 hours,” Scalabrine said. “Just picture that for one second. Think about the trajectory of a player that you could tell something one day and he figures it out the next. Chris Paul, LeBron James, those are the guys with minds like that. He’s as smart as any player I’ve ever been around. His basketball IQ is off the charts.”
Flagg also told Mannix he was conflicted about his decision to enter the NBA draft as opposed to returning to college for a sophomore season at Duke.
“Was it obvious?” Flagg said. “Yes and no. If somebody could tell me that I could have that group of people for another year and go back and have the exact same team, I would a hundred percent do it. But it’s just not reality and you can’t pass up on the opportunity. You just have to do what’s best for you and move on.”
The answer speaks to Flagg’s level of admiration for his teammates. Duke is on track to have three lottery picks taken off the board next week, including Flagg, sharpshooter Kon Knueppel and 7-foot center Khaman Maluach.
The Blue Devils lost to Houston 70-67 in the Final Four. Flagg, in his final collegiate game, had 27 points, seven rebounds and four assists. He had an opportunity to score the go-ahead basket with eight seconds left but missed a turnaround midrange shot.
Flagg reflected on the play for the sake of the interview but said he has not rewatched the end of the game.
“Got to a solid spot,” he said. “That’s just not who I am. … I’m not going to beat myself up over whether I could have taken one more dribble or whether I could have done something different. It was a tough shot, but I don’t think you’re going to get an easy shot in that opportunity. If you look at any game-winner at any level, I don’t think there’s a lot of wide-open [ones]. You get to a spot, you raise up, and you trust the work that you put in over time. I’m just going to live with what I trusted.”
Story by Mike Curtis, The Dallas Morning News. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
