Far too early to panic about Cooper Flagg after the beginnings of the NBA Summer League
If the $ 70 million contract and the shoe agreement did not help, Cooper Flagg should be easy to know that it is far from the first (or the last) to have one night to forget in Las Vegas.
Flagg made his debut with the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Summer League on Thursday evening and left the ground anxious to go to his second professional match on Saturday afternoon.
“Not up to my standard, but I’m going to regroup; I’m going to go well,” Flagg told ESPN after the match. “It’s a new feeling, a new environment, new teammates, but the guys have settled.”
In 32 minutes, Flagg collected 10 points, six rebounds and four assists. Dallas was stressed to beat the Los Angeles Lakers when Bronny James abused Backboard in an attempted winner of the missed match. Flagg was just 5 for 21 on the ground and went aimless in the second half.
The star of the show for the Mavericks was in fact the former goalkeeper of Gonzaga Ryan Nembhard, who scored 21 points. Cole Swider led all the scorers with 22 points to go with 10 rebounds.
Of course, none of these guys will be marked on the marquee in their hometown and beyond the way Flagg is this season. Its standard will not change, and we are 100% behind Jason Kidd that the anomaly was not all we already know and appreciate the Flagg game – but Sin City Thursday. Remember that the boy is 18 years old, overcrowded Duke in the Final Four in the first year and became famous against the United States team in the scrums before the Paris Olympic Games last summer.
If you reduce a personal perspective on Flagg, it would be like making Paul Skenes after a defeat, separating from Shohei Ohtani after a few stick withdrawals or abandoning Caleb Williams for launching a pick-6.
Take a look beyond the box score and apply a context Smidgen, and it is easier to appreciate what Flagg brings to the NBA floor.
“I think that when you have someone like Cooper who can manage, who can shoot, who can pass, you want the ball in his hands,” said Mavs coach Jason Kidd, half-time Thursday’s game in an ESPN television interview. “He is a great decision maker. He did it to Duke and also in high school. So you can see him tonight. He will have some mistakes. We all did it; we all threw him in the stands from time to time, but I think that his balance as 18 is incredible.”
Flagg obtains another test on Saturday afternoon in a match HE at 4 p.m. against the overall choice n ° 2 Dylan Harper of the Spurs, followed from a Monday evening (6:30 am) with the Charlotte Hornets.
Pass your FLAGG stock in this direction if you no longer buy its advantage.