Cooper Flagg got a D1 offer in middle school, but went on to be the national High School Player of the Year last season, part of the 2022 U.S. Team that won gold at the FIBA U-17 World Championships, and a commit to Duke – likely for one year before he could be the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft.
He’s also on the USA Select team practicing with the Olympic squad in preparation for this month’s games, and he’s opening some serious eyes there.
The Wiz were (barely) the second-worst team in the NBA last season, so the question now stands: should they try to top that and Tank for Flagg?
“I think Valdez came up with it: Poop for Coop,” Bish remembered, before Valdez noted that it has gone viral and he’s a little upset.
“That’s why we have to move fast, because our buddy House tweeted that hashtag last night and people think it’s incredible,” Drab replied. “We gotta get a shirt made with the quickness.”
JP read some of the quotes the Olympic team and Select teammates said about Flagg, and
“I said I liken his game from what I see to Paul George and Jayson Tatum,” JP said. “He can handle the ball, he’s tall, and he’s not like a traditional power forward, but I can see him playing the forward in the NBA. He can knock down threes, he can dunk.”
“The most impressive thing to me with him so far is that he went out on that court with nothing but Hall of Famers and he wasn't backing down,” Cakes said. “The guy was just playing his game, launching three-pointers and cutting to the basket against the best in the world.”
So where do we stand on Poop for Coop?
“The Wizards need to do whatever they can to try and secure the No. 1 pick,” Valdez said.
“Oh, I think that they're well on their way to doing that,” Cakes replied.
“They should acquire a second pick somehow. They've got assets that they're eventually going to deal, right? Get some team – like, if the Sacramento Kings are interested in Kyle Kuzma, which has been rumored, trade him for a first-rounder and then it's hope that Sacramento doesn't make the playoffs so you get two lottery picks.”
Valdez agrees and called it “looking for a Ricky Williams-type trade if you don’t get the No. 1 pick,” but, y’know, you can still try to tank it, too, because…
“If Flagg is as good as advertised, no one's gonna trade out of it,” was the consensus of Cakes and Bish, but that is “Plan B” to Valdez behind tanking.
“Yeah, no one's gonna take the trade if he is as advertised; it would be like trying to trade for Wembanyama,” Cakes said.
“And you gotta get lucky, too, because you can be the worst team in the league and not win the lottery,” Bish said.
Listen to the entire discussion above!