(07-04-2025, 12:06 PM)Scott41theMavs Wrote: "The guy" is clearly Cooper, but it's hard to gauge how long it will take him to be that guy. He will be interesting to build around because I believe he will be a perennial all-star and frequent at-least-2nd-team-All-NBA-guy, but probably never the scoring champion. He will always need to have two or so other players next to him who can create their own shot, with at least one being one of the top guys in the league at it. TLDR: our rich man's Scottie needs a poor man's Jordan. Kyrie can probably be that for a while if he can come back at anything close to his pre-injury skill level.
The front office and coaching staff (sorry Rick) goofed with Luka because, while they clearly valued him, they failed to see and establish to the roster that he was the guy from day one, leading to the abject idiocy we saw from Wes and DAJ (and, to a lesser extent, Harry and DSJ) until they were traded. Cooper isn't the guy like that, but will hopefully be according strong respect by the vets and be a major focal point from day one.
In the debate between the two of you, while you two are probably my favorite posters here, I'd have to lean toward F Gump on this one.
I think Flagg will be prime Grant Hill almost immediately and definitely by year 2. I can definitely see him averaging something like 19-20 PPG, 7 plus rbs and 7 plus assist a game his rookie year. He's a 2 way player so different impact than Luka. He's going to be a stud.
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