2025 NBA Draft: Breaking Down Cooper Flagg's Skills

Some scouts consider Cooper Flagg a generational talent. Will he live up to the hype?

Jaylynn Nash-Imagn Images

It’s very early in the draft cycle, but it looks like Cooper Flagg is running away with the top overall pick. Many have already claimed Flagg to be a generational talent and something we haven’t seen in a very long time.

While that may be true, he still has a lot to prove as we still haven’t seen him make his official regular season debut in college. Let’s dive into his game.

Flagg is a 6-foot-9 forward who has a 7-foot-1 wingspan and weighs 205 pounds. He has great positional size and physical tools which will allow him to comfortably play up and down the lineup. Not only does he have those great physical tools, but he also is an elite athlete and is arguably a top-five athlete in this year’s draft. When it comes to measurables and athletic testing, Flagg absolutely dominates there and it will show at the NBA Draft Combine.

There’s not really a debate here, but Flagg is undoubtedly the best defensive prospect in this year’s draft. When you factor in the combination of elite physical tools, athletic tools, awareness, anticipation and defensive IQ, you get one of the most complete young defensive prospects we have seen in a very long time. The Duke forward is an elite secondary rim protector who has great timing and leaping ability to send shots away. He also has the versatility to defend out in space and clamp up ball-handlers.

Flagg is just an elite versatile defender.

On the offensive end, he is rapidly improving year in and year out. Dating back to his time in the FIBA U17, it was clear he was more of a defensive guy than an offensive guy at that time, but he has rapidly improved his shot-making and shot-creating abilities. Flagg is a multilevel scorer who finishes at the rim, can hit pull-up jumpers and is a good shooter off the catch. As a scorer there just isn’t much he can’t do.

Not only is he a very good scorer, but he also is a good playmaking forward. Flagg has very good vision and plays very unselfishly. He has the ability to create open shots for teammates due to the gravity he holds as a scorer, but also has a very good balance between scoring and playmaking. He won’t ever be a guy to initiate an offense, but he can certainly be a secondary playmaker who can take pressure off a lead guard.

Overall, he is an elite two-way forward who has an unreal ceiling. There is little doubt that Flagg will be an NBA player. The big question is will he be a superstar in the NBA? If he ends up reaching his ceiling then we could be calling Flagg the next NBA great as there are not too many players in the game of basketball that impact the game on both ends of the floor as he does.

It should be a fun season for the Blue Devils and Flagg.

---

Want to join the discussion? Like Draft Digest on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest NBA Draft news. You can also meet the team behind the coverage.