With the NBA season approaching, Dallas Mavericks rookie Cooper Flagg has all eyes on him. At the same time, Flagg is being compared to past NBA greats.
Among those are Kevin Garnett and Tim Duncan. On Wednesday, another comparison was invoked featuring them of a former Duke Blue Devil, Grant Hill, per Tim MacMahon of ESPN.
Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said that Flagg reminded him of Hill when examining film of Flagg.
When looking at film himself, Hill said that he sees the same thing.
“I saw that, too,” Hill, who as managing director of Team USA invited Flagg to join the program's select team and called some of his college games for CBS, told ESPN. “He tries to play the complete game. You look up and he's got 22 points and it doesn't even feel like he looked to score. He's so unselfish. He defends. He just tries to do what's necessary to win games.”
Cooper, 17, is fresh off a stellar freshman season at Duke. In one year, he averaged 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 4.2 assists per game. Additionally, Duke made it to the Final Four before losing to Houston in the semifinal.
Afterward, Cooper was the No.1 pick in the NBA Draft and was chosen by the Mavericks. He has become the most hyped NBA rookie in years.
Is Cooper Flagg his own version of Grant Hill?
The most significant comparison between Flagg and Hill is that they have a strong basketball IQ. Overall, Flagg has great decision-making and ball-handling skills. He also has some solid instincts on defense deriving from his ability to read plays.
That was something Hill was known for during his time at Duke as well as in the NBA. Plus, both posses winning and team oriented attitudes. On The Dan Patrick Show, Hill provided sound advice to Flagg to simply go out and enjoy himself.
Essentially, encouraging him to shake off the pressure as much as possible so it doesn't bog him down.
