05-14-2025, 06:02 PM
(05-14-2025, 05:57 PM)JamesConway912 Wrote: I think Flagg’s rookie campaign will be close to Cade Cunningham‘s in Detroit. Good raw numbers, visible talent, a stud in the making, but the level of play in the NBA is so, so much higher than NCAA ball that there will be plenty of growing pains. He never played pro, never won an Euroleague MVP, never lead a team with proven NBA players like Dragic to a FIBA title before entering the NBA. Luka did all that, won ROY (and iirc even made the allstar game immediately) but the Mavs still missed the playoffs in his first year.
With Kyrie out our oncourt fallback option right now is Davis. Weve seen him miss the playoffs countless times in that role when he was in his physical prime and he‘s already been injured a bunch since coming here. That wont change so there really isnt nearly as high of a floor as it was in the Luka era.
Personally Id try to slowly move on from the current roster. Trade Klay & Gafford in the summer for assets, but bring in a veteran PG in FA, extend Kyrie and then see how far AD can drag this team. There is a decent chance you will land another top 10 draft pick in 2026 organically given how deep the western conference & how unreliable Davis is.
From reading the recent posts, I think the most important thing for CF's rookie year is that fans understand that he isn't Luka, period. Different game. He has great passing and court vision, but not on Luka's phenomenal level.
I would say that the one parallel between Luka and CF is that there wouldn't be much of a good excuse for CF not winning ROTY. That would be a mini- (and hopefully temporary) bust situation.