NBA Mailbag: Would Cooper Flagg Really Remain at Duke for Another Season?

Plus, what to make of the Bucks and Knicks and the rebuilding situation in Phoenix with Kevin Durant likely playing his final games in a Suns jersey.

Flagg will lead No. 1 seed Duke in the NCAA tournament starting Friday. / Rob Kinnan-Imagn Images

With less than a month to go in the regular season—seriously, how is it nearly April?—it’s time to break open the mailbag. As always, fire off any questions to Instagram or X, with longer ones to mannixmailbag@gmail.com. Let’s go: 

Are you putting any stock in these rumors that Cooper Flagg will stay at Duke for another season? I mean I wouldn’t want to play for the Wizards either but that makes no sense to me. —Steven, Fairfax, Va.

Short answer, Steven: No. Longer answer: Hell no. I haven’t talked to people in Flagg’s orbit about this, but no one in the NBA believes Flagg won’t be in the draft this June. It’s not unusual for a top prospect to be lukewarm about the team in position to draft him. And the teams that are in position to grab the top pick—the Charlotte Hornets, Utah Jazz and, yes, the Washington Wizards—may not appeal to Flagg, for whatever reason. But enough to stay on campus for another year? No shot. 

The reason is two-fold. He could get hurt. There really isn’t a career-ending injury anymore, but if Flagg got hurt playing for Duke next year it could damage his draft stock and could cost him time when he turns pro. There’s money. The reason players leave early is to start the clock on future contracts. The first NBA contract is nice, the second is better. The third? That’s the one that leads to generational wealth. The (financial) goal for any NBA player is to be in position to sign as many contracts as possible. 

Besides—there’s no guarantee Flagg will like the teams at the bottom of the next draft, either. 

Mannix! Enjoyed the pod with [Chris] Fedor. He made an interesting point about the Evan Mobley/Kristaps Porzingis matchup. He said Cleveland needs to dominate that matchup to beat Boston. You agree? —Dave, Brighton, Mass.

It’s an interesting point. Look at the two most recent Celtics-Cavs matchups. Feb. 4, a seven-point Boston win. Porzingis scored 19 points in that game. Mobley had seven. Feb. 28, in Boston. No Porzingis in this game. Mobley had 17 points and 12 rebounds in a seven-point Cleveland win. 

Obviously, there’s more to a Cavs-Celtics series than a Mobley-Porzingis matchup. But I think Fedor is right. Porzingis is a mismatch-creating monster. He’s lethal in the high post. He’s shooting close to 40% from three. He’s evolved into a complete defender. If Porzingis outplays Mobley, it’s over. It’s probably tough to win if it’s a wash, too. 

I said on the pod, the Cavs know what is coming in a series against Boston. They are 2–2 against the Celtics this season, but privately they will acknowledge that they don’t think they have gotten Boston’s best shot. A playoff-tested Celtics team in a conference finals is a different animal. Everyone, Mobley included, is going to have to rise to a different level.

What’s going on in Milwaukee? —Elliott (via Instagram)

Doc Rivers reportedly meeting with Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard this week was a troubling sign. The Bucks offense has issues. They are 16th in offensive rating, per NBA.com. Over the last seven games, they have slipped to 22nd. During that stretch, they are averaging 110.4 points per game, 23rd in the league, a fraction of a point ahead of Charlotte. They dropped back-to-back games to the Oklahoma City Thunder and a Stephen Curry–less Golden State Warriors, leaving them in a virtual tie with the Detroit Pistons for the fifth seed. The kicker: Milwaukee is 0–11 against OKC, Cleveland, Boston and New York. 

Individually, Antetokounmpo and Lillard are still putting up numbers. But the offense lacks fluidity. Teams have gotten wise to Brook Lopez’s three-point bombing. More than half of Lopez’s attempts this season (4.8) are threes; more and more you are seeing opposing teams stick a wing player on Lopez, daring him to beat them in the post. Oklahoma City did it. Lopez responded by shooting 3-of-8 from the floor. Kyle Kuzma is shooting just 30.7% from three in his 19 games in Milwaukee. That’s a problem, too. 

Is it fixable? I don’t know. The clock is ticking on the season, and while the Bucks won’t play great defenses on this current five-game road trip, they are just 14–18 away from Fiserv Forum. It once seemed certain Milwaukee would at least get a crack at Cleveland or Boston in the second round. Now … maybe not.

We have had nearly a full season of the Karl-Anthony Towns Knicks and I still don’t know if they are better than last season’s team. Your thoughts? —Edward, White Plains, N.Y. 

Wednesday’s loss to the San Antonio Spurs was bad. Blame it on the end of a long road trip, on Jalen Brunson’s injury, on underestimating an injury-ravaged Spurs team, whatever. But you can’t lose these kind of games to teams with no incentive to win. 

The Knicks measure themselves against Boston and Cleveland. They haven’t beaten either this season. They are a very efficient three-point shooting team (37%) that doesn’t shoot a lot of them (the Knicks are 27th in the league in three-point attempts). Mikal Bridges has been O.K., but when you surrender five first-round picks for a guy, you expect more than that. 

Still, there are reasons to be optimistic. Mitchell Robinson’s return has had an impact. The Knicks have been a middle-of-the-pack (or worse) defensive team for most of the season. Since Robinson rejoined the rotation last month, they are top five. Having a shot blocking 7-footer to play alongside Towns for stretches (where the Knicks have been very good) and fill in for him when he’s out has been a boon to the defense. 

I’ve seen a lot of sky-is-falling stuff from some former players, with some going as far to suggest the Knicks could lose in the first round. I’m not there yet. New York has a solid hold on the No. 3 seed, which likely means a first-round matchup against Milwaukee or Detroit. I like the Knicks against both. Can they compete against Boston? A New York team without Robinson can’t. We’ll see if one with him can. 

I have to say it was infuriating reading Mat Ishbia’s quotes in that ESPN article. I can appreciate an owner doing whatever it takes to win, but doubling down on a bad situation doesn’t make any sense. What do you think the future looks like in Phoenix? —Edward, Long Beach, Calif. 

Like you, I respect Ishbia’s aggressiveness. He has put his money where his mouth is from the day he took control of the team. But any moves this team makes that aren’t part of a full-scale rebuild won’t change anything. It’s putting Band-Aids on bullet holes. There isn’t a deal the Suns can make in the next two-to-three years that will push them into the conference elite.

It’s no secret that Phoenix will split with Kevin Durant this summer. Durant has one year left on his contract and even approaching 37 still has incredibly high value. I think—and this is just my opinion—that Durant wants to wind up in Houston. I think if the Rockets wanted Durant before the trade deadline, it would have happened. Durant has a lot of respect for Ime Udoka and in Houston he could be a missing piece to a title contender. I’d keep an eye on that after this season. 

The big question is Devin Booker. If you believe Ishbia, Booker is not available. I’m not buying it. The Suns have control of Booker through the 2027–28 season so there is no urgency. But Booker is 28. He’s an elite scorer. His value will never be higher than it is this summer. You trade Durant, bring Booker back … and then what? The Suns don’t have the draft assets to make a blockbuster deal. You’re talking about bringing Booker back for his age-29 season to a team likely destined for the lottery. 

To me, the smartest thing the Suns could do is put Booker on the block. There would be a bidding war. Houston, which holds a chunk of the Suns’ future draft capital, wants him. Detroit could be interested. So, too, could Oklahoma City, which could make an incredibly appealing offer. 

I get it—rebuilding is painful. It’s a couple of years (at least) of low attendance and bad records. But look at the teams at the top of the standings. From 2018–19 to ’20–21 the Cavs didn’t win more than 22 games. Oklahoma City is three years removed from a 24-win season. Houston was a dumpster fire two seasons ago. Rebuilding stinks. It also works.