New Man on Campus: Cooper Flagg

Cooper Flagg's all-around versatility makes him not only one of the best prospects in the 2025 NBA Draft, but one of the most intriguing prospects in recent years.

Superstar prospects come in many different shapes and sizes. Some are elite athletes with tremendous upside in skill development, some are offensive engines with deficiencies elsewhere, some are elite defenders who just need to figure out their shot, and some have the versatility to morph their game into whatever their team needs to contribute to winning basketball. Cooper Flagg falls into that latter group. At 6’9” and 205 pounds, the Duke freshman has the size, athleticism, skill, and IQ to do essentially anything he wants on the court. Flagg’s all-around versatility and remaining room for improvement are why he’s already the clear front-runner to be the top pick in the 2025 NBA Draft.

The evaluations with Flagg this season are going to be fascinating. He isn’t your prototypical top prospect who will routinely break down defenders and singlehandedly drive the offense. It wouldn’t be totally shocking if we inevitably see people overthink this. What’s been so much fun with Flagg’s development over the last few years is the myriad of roles we’ve seen him be used and thrive in. With USA Basketball a few years ago, Flagg was used as more of a defensive specialist and chaos agent. With Maine United, Flagg was the clear best player and operated in more of the traditional superstar role. With Montverde, Flagg effortlessly flowed between being a star and a role player, depending on what his team needed from him that game, to ensure that they won Nationals. For Duke, Flagg has proven that he can be whatever they need.

The most dominant aspect of Flagg’s game over the last few years has been his defense. Flagg is a legitimate three-level defender who can essentially switch anything, protect the rim, and thrive as a team defender. It is exceptionally rare for players at Flagg’s age to be as reliable of a team defender as he is. Flagg is an elite weak side rim protector who is always lurking and looking to swat away shots at the rim. What makes Flagg’s weak side rim protection special, though, is that he doesn’t just wildly leap at everything. Flagg does a great job of timing his blocks and staying vertical to ensure he doesn’t take himself out of the play, commit silly fouls, or allow easy dump-offs to cutters. Even when he doesn’t get a block, Flagg’s presence constantly affects shots.

Flagg’s defensive tools are also impactful on the perimeter. His length and athleticism allow him to eat up space in a hurry. The timing, awareness, and discipline that we see from him around the rim also permeate his perimeter defense. It’s rare to see him recklessly gamble or bite on fakes. Instead, he stays positionally and fundamentally sound and capitalizes when the opportunity presents itself.

Flagg also doesn’t just cause chaos but also tends to immediately convert it into transition buckets. He scored 1.17 points per possession (PPP) in transition (81st percentile) with Montverde, per Synergy.

Flagg’s defensive impact isn’t solely limited to his off-ball versatility, as he is just as disruptive defending on-ball. Flagg will occasionally struggle with quicker guards like nearly every player his size does, but he has all the tools to lock down the best opposing wings, as well as the versatility to switch consistently. Below, we can see how his length and footwork hound AJ Dybansta, forcing the turnover, and eventually leading to a transition score. It’s textbook on-ball defense that we see from elite NBA defenders.

With all prospects, you always want to try and find an elite skill. With Flagg, if it isn’t his all-around versatility, then it’s certainly his defense. There aren’t really any weaknesses on that end of the floor for him, and he projects to be an outstanding defender at every level.

Where the questions start to arise with Flagg are on the offensive end. To be clear, most of these are just questions—typical nitpicks that come with being a top prospect. I wouldn’t classify any of these as concerns; they’re just things I’m curious about how they’ll develop going forward.

The biggest question that most people will have about Flagg’s offense is his shot. The biggest “issue” is that it just kind of looks funky. There are surely some mechanical tweaks that Flagg can/should make, there always are, but he’s gotten incrementally better as a shooter every year. While his mechanics may not be aesthetically pleasing, they are consistent, and the numbers have been solid.

Last year at Montverde, Flagg took 56.9% of his jumpers (74 attempts) from three. On these attempts, he shot 39.2%, ranked in the 78th percentile in PPP, shot 37.7% off the catch, and shot 42.9% off the dribble. Flagg also shot 39.3% on all two-point attempts, 43.2% from inside 17 feet, and 31.6% on long two-point attempts. Nearly all of these numbers are up from last year, combined with his 79.6% free throw percentage and quality floater (45% and 72nd percentile in PPP), suggesting that at worst, Flagg should be an average shooter.

The other area of question with Flagg’s offense is his ability to be a consistent on-ball creator. This last year at Montverde, only 11.6% of his possessions came in isolation and as the pick-and-roll ball handler. Flagg did rank in the 96th and 89th percentile respectively, but the volume on those play types is very low. Flagg doesn’t have an overly dynamic handle, but it is tight, and he doesn’t really struggle to get to his spots. He’s patient, rarely forces it, and his high release allows him to consistently get off tough looks.

If you’re hoping for Flagg to turn into a shifty, dynamic on-ball creator, you’ll probably be disappointed. Instead, Flagg profiles as someone who will score within the flow of the offense, make the right decision, get his shot in a pinch when needed, and operate more as a secondary creator. With Montverde, Flagg was mostly used as an incredibly efficient play finisher and connector as he ranked in the 81st percentile in transition scoring, 73rd percentile spotting up, 91st percentile on offensive rebounds, and 83rd percentile on cuts. Those were his four most common play types that accounted for 65.9% of his possessions.

With Maine United, though, Flagg was on-ball much more as 22.2% of his possessions came in isolation and pick-and-roll (compared to 11.6% with Montverde), and he ranked in the 69th and 83rd percentiles, respectively. Flagg has the capacity to occasionally be that on-ball creator; he’s just more effective doing it as the secondary or tertiary option.

What’s really fun about Flagg’s offensive versatility, though, is how consistently he combines his on and off-ball skills within the same possession. Here, Flagg does a great job of attacking the close out and collapsing the defense. After he draws two help defenders, he makes the right read and kicks out to his teammate. As the ball swings, Flagg does a great job of establishing position on the block, which allows him to secure the offensive rebound. Without hesitation, he knocks down the midrange fade away.

We got a glimpse of it in that clip, but one of the most underrated aspects of Flagg’s game is his passing. With Montverde, Flagg ranked in the 94th percentile in PPP with assists included, averaged just over four assists per game, had a turnover rate of just 11.1%, and had an assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.53. When it comes to decision-making, connective passing, and floor awareness, there aren’t many players in this class who are as impressive as Flagg, especially at his position.

It isn’t always overtly flashy, but Flagg’s playmaking doesn’t need to be. As long as his decision-making and passing accuracy continue to look like they have, teammates will adore playing with him. Here, Flagg is set up in the opposite corner and runs a Chicago action (pin down screen into a dribble handoff). As he receives the handoff, Flagg uses a hang dribble to get the help defender to switch while also staring down Derik Queen on the role, which causes both his defender and the weak side defender to collapse to Queen. Flagg takes what the defense gives him, kicks back to Asa Newell, and sets up the wide-open three.

This time, Flagg runs a side pick-and-roll after setting an off-ball screen for Liam McNeeley. Initially, there isn’t anything available, but Flagg does a great job of staying patient. As McNeeley circles out, his defender goes with him and empties the lane. After Flagg comes off the screen, the defense initially switches as Newell rolls to the lane. However, Dybansta disengages from Newell and goes to recover to Flagg without communicating with his teammate to switch back. Flagg quickly identifies the miscommunication, uses his length to release the ball over his head, and layers it over the defense to set up Newell for the dunk.

The 2025 NBA Draft is loaded with some really fun and outstanding prospects, but few have the combination of NBA-ready physical tools, versatility, and IQ like Cooper Flagg does. His defensive impact gives him, at worst, the baseline of a terrific role player. As the offense continues to improve as it has in recent years, though, Flagg legitimately has All-NBA level upside. He has a way to go to be a primary offensive creator, but his off-ball scoring versatility, decision-making, and rapidly improving ball skills should make him a terrific secondary creator. A lot of players can do a bit of everything, but very few of them can do it all at the elite level that Cooper Flagg does.