Is Duke freshman Cooper Flagg worth tanking for?

 

                                           (Credit: Rob Kinnan) 

One of the most talented prospects in the 2025 NBA Draft is Duke freshman forward Cooper Flagg, who is averaging 19.4 points, 7.6 rebounds, 4.1 assists, 1.5 steals, and 1.1 blocks per game. Listed at 6'9", 205 pounds, Flagg has a great blend of size, skill, and athleticism. He's really the whole package out there, which is why many mock drafts have him going number one overall. 

Having watched Flagg play a bit since I cover Stanford for Rivals.com and thus am tuned into ACC hoops, I have to say he looks like the real deal to me. The most impressive aspect of his game is what I said at the beginning, namely his combination of size, skill, and athleticism. He is capable of playing multiple positions on the floor and with the NBA really valuing guys who can play a variety of spots on the floor, that makes Flagg especially exciting. 

The other thing about Flagg that shouldn't go unnoticed is the fact that he's the go to guy on a national championship contending team. Duke is on pace to get a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament and in my opinion should be favored to win the NCAA tournament. The fact that Flagg is doing all that he's doing while playing winning basketball makes him all the more impressive. It's one thing to put up big numbers on a bad team. But to produce like he's doing while having your team in the national championship conversation? That's a whole different matter. 

The final thing that stands out about Flagg is his efficiency. He's 49.1% from the field, 37.5% from 3-point range, and 82.1% from the foul line. Those are very solid shooting percentages. He is averaging 2.9 turnovers per game, so that's something he can improve, but aside from that he's playing clean basketball on both ends of the floor, averaging just 2.6 fouls per game. 

If you are the Utah Jazz, New Orleans Pelicans, Washington Wizards, and Charlotte Hornets, you should absolutely feel vindicated in stinking it up this season if it means you end up with Cooper Flagg. He's undoubtedly a player worth tanking for. It'll be fun to see who wins the sweepstakes for the Duke superstar and how deep he'll guide the Blue Devils in the NCAA tournament. 

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The Dallas Mavericks gave up on Luka Doncic

 

                                             (Credit: LM Otero/AP Photo) 

The biggest move at this year's NBA trade deadline was undoubtedly the three-way deal between the Los Angeles Lakers, Dallas Mavericks, and Utah Jazz that sent Luka Doncic to the Lakers and Anthony Davis to the Mavericks. Given that Doncic is one of the brightest young stars in the NBA, it was a shocker to the basketball world to see the Mavericks willingly trade him to a Western Conference foe. Davis will be turning 32 years old later this season and being as injury prone as he is, it's far from a guarantee that he'll produce to the level that the Mavericks want him to. Actually, on that note, Davis reportedly might need to undergo surgery to address an injury, so there ya go. 

Doncic in contrast is turning 26 years old later this season and is only in his seventh NBA season. He's arguably not even in the prime of his career yet. At least he shouldn't be. Most guys peak at the ages of 28-30. To trade one of the brightest young stars in the league before he's hit his prime can only signal one thing: The Mavericks gave up on Doncic. 

Now the obvious question is why? Why did they give up on him? They were faced with either having to give him a max deal this summer or trade him at the deadline and they chose to move him. Why? 

The word on the street is the Mavericks were worried about Doncic's conditioning and durability. When looking at his career stats, you'll see that in four of his seven seasons, he's played 61-66 regular season games. He's barely cracked 70 games once as a rookie with 71 games played and in a league that plays 82 games per regular season, you need guys who can play at least 75 games per season with a good deal of regularity. Doncic hasn't hit that mark once. And if he's not able to hit that mark, it's hard to have faith in him being able to play deep into May and June during the playoffs. Though I should note, Doncic did play in all 22 playoff games for the Mavericks last season in which they lost to the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals in five games. 

Still, the questions about durability and conditioning appear valid when you look at Doncic's body of work. He's getting a lot of money to play in the NBA and when he's missing 20% of the regular season, that makes him cost a good deal amount more per game played. Of course, the irony of this trade is what I mentioned earlier which is that Anthony Davis is injured all the time. He's at least played in 75+ regular season games three times in his NBA career, but he too is frequently playing around 65 games per season if not fewer. 

Obviously, as I said, the Mavericks really didn't want to pay Doncic a max deal and just didn't have the faith that they could build a consistent title contender around him. That's pretty amazing considering that they were in the NBA Finals last season. For Doncic, this could prove to be a wake up call for him to get in better shape and take his conditioning more seriously. Or it could just plant even more seeds of doubt in his mind. It'll be interesting to see how he responds.

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2025 NBA Paris Games are a reminder of how international the NBA has become

                                           (Victor Wembanyama. Credit: Stephanie Lecocq-Imagn Images) 

Back in 2020, the NBA had their first installment of the Paris Games, an extension of the NBA Global Games, which have been going on since the very beginning of the 1990s. I still remember the Sacramento Kings and Minnesota Timberwolves playing in Tokyo in 1999. This past week, the NBA returned to Paris as the San Antonio Spurs and Indiana Pacers played a pair of games. The Spurs won the first game on Thursday by a final score of 140-110 while the Pacers got even in the second game on Saturday by final score of 136-98.

Of course, the big star of the event was Spurs 7'3" wunderkind Victor Wembanyama, who hails from Le Chesnay in the Paris region. The games were a homecoming for Wembanyama as he got to showcase his skills in front of an enthusiastic French crowd that included former Spurs star and fellow Frenchman Tony Parker. Wembanyama averaged 25.0 points, 11.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 1.5 steals, and 3.0 blocks during the two-game showcase, putting up 30 points, 11 rebounds, six assists, and five blocks in the victory on Thursday. 

The Paris Games are a reminder of how international the game of basketball has become. 30 years ago, if you had two NBA teams playing in Paris, there wouldn't have been any French players participating, let alone be the star of one of the teams. As a matter of fact, it was Tariq Abdul-Wahad (drafted as Oliver Michael Saint-Jean) who became the first NBA player to ever have been raised in France when the Kings selected him 11th overall in the 1997 NBA Draft. Soon thereafter, Tony Parker burst onto the scene for the Spurs and as they say, the rest is history. France is now a hotbed of NBA talent, producing some of the brightest stars in the game. 

As I occasionally mention, I cover Stanford for Rivals.com over at CardinalSportsReport.com. Their star basketball player is Maxime Raynaud, who also hails from France and has played with Victor Wembanyama and Rudy Gobert as part of the French national team. After Stanford's dominant 88-51 victory over Miami last week, I asked Raynaud for his thoughts on the Paris Games. He was certainly excited to see how they played out and what kind of show Wembanyama would put on. 

"Yeah, I mean, it's amazing," Raynaud said. "I'm sure happy for Vic. I love the fact that he's able to take the league back to his hometown and I love the fact that he took the time to spend time with the kids in Nanterre where they worked out. I hope he's going to have an amazing game and just put French basketball on the, I don't even know how you say that, we're already on the map. 

"But yeah, no, super happy for him, super happy with the way he's playing this year, and I really hope he's going to dominate this game. I mean, that's what he does every night. So yeah. And at the same time, I hope they're going to enjoy the city a little bit. I mean, the City of Love, you know what I'm saying? Gonna have a good time." 

Overall, it seems like the Paris Games went well for the NBA in terms of their global outreach. It's a bit of a bummer neither game was close, but the main thing is that Wembanyama played well and reconnected with his roots. I'm sure the NBA fans in France were thrilled with the product and at the end of the day, that's all that really matters. 

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Derrick Rose belongs in the Hall of Fame

 

                                             (Credit: Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) 

The Chicago Bulls have made the decision to retire Derrick Rose's No. 1, making him the fifth player in franchise history to have his number retired: Jerry Sloan, Bob Love, Michael Jordan, and Scottie Pippen are the other four. 

While he did last 16 seasons in the NBA, Rose's career is really divided into two parts: Before he tore his ACL (first four seasons) and after (final 12 seasons). 

Before he tore his ACL, Rose was the number one overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft out of Memphis and picked up Rookie of the Year honors, averaging 16.8 points and 6.3 assists per game. In his third season (2010-11) at just 22 years of age, Rose averaged 25.0 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 7.7 assists per game, guiding the Bulls to a league best 62-20 record. Rose became the youngest NBA MVP in league history and only the third player since the 1972-73 season to record 2,000+ points and 600+ assists in a single season. The other two were LeBron James and Michael Jordan. 

During those first four years and especially during that MVP season, Rose was one of the most electric and explosive players the NBA had ever seen. He could jump out of the gym with lightning quickness while having an amazing ability to finish and attack the rim. He had great court vision and was a true point guard all while having these amazing physical gifts. 

(Rose with the NBA MVP trophy. Credit: Nuccio DiNuzzo/Chicago Tribune)

During the 2012 NBA playoffs in the first round against the Philadelphia 76ers, Rose tore his ACL, forcing him to miss the entire 2012-13 season. From then on, Rose was never the same. He still had some productive seasons where he comfortably scored in double figures on average, but his days of being the most electric point guard in the game were done. After the 2023-24 season with the Memphis Grizzlies, Rose announced his retirement. Rose finished his career as a three-time All-Star (2010-12), an NBA Rookie of the Year (2009), and an NBA MVP (2011). 

Rose also finished his career with a ton of what ifs. He's arguably the biggest what if in NBA history, though I think Len Bias takes the cake for that distinction. At least with Rose we got to see what he was in peak form. Bias we never got to see due to his tragic passing just days after he was drafted. But still, there's a lot of questions about what Rose would have accomplished had he not torn his ACL. Would he have won an NBA championship in Chicago? Would he have won a second MVP? How many All-Star appearances would he have had? What other honors would he have garnered? We'll just never know. 

While there's a lot we don't know, if you just go off his first three seasons in the NBA, I think Derrick Rose has a strong enough resume to have a spot in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame: 

For starters, every NBA MVP has made the Hall of Fame after retirement. That alone makes a strong case for Rose. Secondly, he has the Rookie of the Year honor, which puts him in pretty elite company. And then third, he did end up playing 16 seasons in the NBA (15 if you don't include the 2012-13 season), averaging 17.4 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 5.2 assists per game for his career. 

It's not like Rose just hung up his sneakers after four seasons in the NBA. He kept playing and ended up scoring a career-high 50 points with the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first game of the 2018-19 season, his 11th season in the NBA. He still had a solid NBA career even with the ACL tear. It's just that he could have had a special career and he was special for those first four seasons in the NBA. 

Switching gears from what should be a sure fire Hall of Fame case for Rose to the Bulls retiring his jersey, I think it's really cool that the Bulls are doing this. He brought an energy back to the Windy City that they hadn't had since the days of Michael Jordan and in the process energized the entire NBA. It's a no-brainer decision. Nobody else should ever wear No. 1 in Chicago Bulls history. That number belongs to Derrick Rose and now it forever will. 

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Would San Jose make a good NBA expansion city?

                                             (Credit: Ben Parker/CardinalSportsReport.com) 

In December, I covered the San Jose Tipoff college basketball event held at SAP Center, home of the NHL's San Jose Sharks. Specifically, I was covering the Stanford/Oregon men's game for CardinalSportsReport.com. Oregon won the game rather comfortably, but as I was there, it naturally got me to thinking about the possibility of the NBA having an expansion franchise in San Jose. 

                                             (Credit: Robert Edwards/USA TODAY Sports) 

For a bit of context, the NBA has 30 teams at the moment. With the NFL having 32 teams, there are naturally questions about when the NBA will follow suit and expand to 32 as well. There are rumblings that expansion could be happening in the near future with Seattle and Las Vegas being the front runners to be the next two teams in line to get a team. 

However, there is a possibility the NBA goes a different direction and only adds a team in one of those two cities. I think Seattle is more of a lock than Las Vegas as the Supersonics were really popular in Seattle. There's a built in fanbase there and with the NHL having a team in the Seattle Kraken, there is now an arena that is up to the NBA's standards (Climate Pledge Arena). Key Arena became too old and obsolete for the NBA, resulting in the Sonics moving to Oklahoma City. There is a lot of momentum to get Seattle a team again and I think if the NBA had to choose between Seattle and Vegas, they'd choose Seattle. 

Las Vegas has never had a team before, so there isn't a built in fanbase there and the NBA doesn't feel the same need to owe anything to Vegas. Especially since they play the NBA Cup championship there as well as NBA Summer League. The NBA already has a bit of a Las Vegas presence through those two events anyways. 

If the NBA were to add a team in Seattle and some place other than Las Vegas, several different cities would enter the equation such as Vancouver (original home of the Memphis Grizzlies), Montreal, Austin, Kansas City, Buffalo, St. Louis, Tampa Bay, Louisville, San Diego, Mexico City, and San Jose. 

While I think all of those cities can put forth a strong case for why they deserve an NBA franchise, for the purposes of this blog post, I want to specifically focus on San Jose since I just covered a basketball game at SAP Center, the logical home arena of a San Jose NBA franchise. The experience of seeing basketball at that arena is fresh on my mind. 

As a quick side note, most of my memories at SAP Center have been going to watch the now defunct ATP Tour tennis tournament that used to be played there. I've only been to one Sharks game in my life and the San Jose Tipoff was the first time I had seen basketball played there in person since Cal men's basketball played against Syracuse in the 2013 NCAA tournament (Syracuse defeated Cal 66-60). Most of my memories at SAP Center have been to watch tennis, so it was fun for me to experience basketball there once more. 

Note: On my tennis blog ATPGuy.com, I share more thoughts on why the SAP Open should return to San Jose. Click here to check that out. 

Overall, SAP Center is a perfectly fine venue for basketball. You can tell that it's more designed for hockey with the way the arena is shaped. In order to fit more people in, they added an extension of seats behind the basket. Those seats looked okay, but if they were to have an NBA team playing there, they'd likely want to figure out a way to make those seats better than what they had the fans at the San Jose Tipoff seating on. They weren't bad seats, but they would need to make that experience look a bit more comfortable and aesthetically pleasing. As for the seats that were courtside, those looked good.  

There'd likely need to be some adjustments made and discussions had to make the basketball viewing experience a bit better, but aside from that, it would work out well for an NBA arena. It's a really nice arena and has a capacity of 18,543 for basketball without any obstructions. The Delta Center, home of the Utah Jazz has a capacity of 18,306 for basketball while the Chase Center, home of the Golden State Warriors has a capacity of 18,064 for basketball. The SAP Center capacity-wise is easily NBA level. No issues there at all. 

As for the city of San Jose itself, it's the third most popular city in California after Los Angeles and San Diego and the 13th most populous city in the United States with a population of just under one million people. It's the largest city in the Bay Area and San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland Combined Statistical Area. When you consider that, it's puzzling the Golden State Warriors didn't move down there when they decided to move from Oakland. The Warriors instead moved to San Francisco, which is where the Chase Center is located. 

When you look at the population of the city and the fact that it has an NBA level arena, the main hurdle to San Jose getting its own NBA team is the Golden State Warriors, who represent the entire Bay Area. At least they say they do (I'll get more into that momentarily). With the Warriors in nearby San Francisco and the Kings in Sacramento, which is about 90 minutes or so outside of Oakland, the NBA is highly unlikely to want to put a team in San Jose when there are other markets that don't have a team at all. They have two teams in Northern California and two teams in Southern California. One in the Bay Area, one in Sacramento, and two in Los Angeles. They can easily feel like they have California covered. 

That all said, I still think San Jose can make a strong case to have an NBA franchise despite the presence of the Warriors in San Francisco: 

The first point I would make is the Warriors I don't feel really represent San Jose. They say they're the Bay Area's team, but it's very clear that their marketing is geared towards San Francisco and Oakland. They have returned to San Francisco after a very long stay in Oakland and in truth really identify as more of an Oakland/San Francisco team. If you notice, they don't have any San Jose themed jerseys or logos. It's all "The City" for San Francisco and "The Town" for Oakland. Or just "Golden State", which represents the entire state of California. There is nothing for San Jose. The only true San Jose teams are the Sharks and the Earthquakes (MLS). 

Furthermore, while San Jose is close to San Francisco, it's also far away enough to be considered a different market. The two cities are 48.4 miles apart. That's further apart than the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers are from each other (13.5 miles) and the New York Knicks and Brooklyn Nets are from each other (5.7 miles). 

Not only that, the San Jose metro area also includes cities like Los Gatos, Campbell, and Morgan Hill that are even further away from San Francisco. Los Gatos is 51.5 miles away from San Francisco, Campbell is 51.3 miles away, and Morgan Hill is 69.2 miles away. These are places with money and households that likely would be interested in attending NBA games if an arena was closer to where they lived. A fanbase could easily be cultivated out of the San Jose metro area. 

To wrap this all up, while an NBA team in San Jose is unlikely to happen, I don't think it should be ruled out. A Battle of the Bay for the NBA would be pretty fun and by expanding into San Jose, the NBA would get access to a market that has money and influence. A market that I argue they aren't fully tapping into. 

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Five takeaways from the NBA's Christmas Day action

 

                           (Victor Wembanyama taking a 3-pointer-Credit: Wendell Cruz/USA TODAY Sports) 

On Christmas Day, the NBA continued their tradition of playing five games: Knicks 117 Spurs 114, Timberwolves 105 Mavericks 99, 76ers 118 Celtics 114, Lakers 115 Warriors 113, and Suns 110 Nuggets 100 were the final scores. Below are five takeaways I have from the holiday's NBA action. 

#1. The Knicks appear to be improved from last season: The Knicks took a step forward last season with their 50-32 record, finishing second in the Atlantic Division and reaching the Eastern Conference semifinals for the second straight season. After their win over the Spurs on Christmas, they are now 20-10 overall with a better winning percentage than they had last season. Two players the Knicks have that they didn't have last year are Mikal Bridges and Karl-Anthony Towns, both whom they acquired via trades. 

Bridges had 41 points and four assists while Towns had 21 points and nine rebounds, helping the Knicks overcome a phenomenal performance by Spurs' center Victor Wembanyama, who had 42 points, 18 rebounds, and four blocks. Even though the Spurs are now 15-15 and the Knicks were favored by 8.5 points, this game I think can serve as evidence that the Knicks are better than a season ago. Towns and Bridges appear to be really nice pieces around Jalen Brunson, who has become the star of the Knicks. Adding both of them seems to have made the Knicks better. 

#2. Will the Timberwolves finally get going: The Timberwolves had a huge 105-99 win on the road against the 4th place Dallas Mavericks. Anthony Edwards was fantastic with his 26 points, eight rebounds, and five assists, helping the Wolves stave off an impressive run at the end by the Mavericks, who outscored the Wolves 31-15 in the 4th quarter. The Wolves are coming off a season in which they reached the Western Conference Finals and yet as of now, they are 15-14 and 9th place in the West. Perhaps this win will light a fire in them and get them going. 

#3. Tyrese Maxey is the real McCoy: I first heard of Tyrese Maxey back when he was playing at South Garland High School in Garland, Texas. I was covering Cal for Rivals.com at the time (now I cover Stanford for Rivals) and the Golden Bears were recruiting him. He of course ended up going to Kentucky and the rest is history. Maxey would go on to get selected in the 1st round of the 2020 NBA Draft with the 21st overall pick by the Philadelphia 76ers and from there, he has become one of the top talents in the NBA averaging 25.7 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 2.0 steals per game. 

Maxey's talent was on full display on Christmas as he led the 76ers to a 118-114 victory on the road against the defending NBA champion Boston Celtics. Maxey finished with 33 points, 4 rebounds, 12 assists, and three steals. He was simply sensational. The 76ers might be having a down season at 11-17 overall, but Maxey's performance was a reminder that with him on their team, they have a very bright future. 

#4. LeBron James will play as long as he wants: LeBron James turns 40 at the end of December and he's still putting up all-star level numbers with 23.5 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 9.0 assists per game. In a 115-113 win at Golden State, King James had 31 points, four rebounds, and 10 assists. It's ridiculous what this man is doing at his age. 

I'm still in the camp of Michael Jordan is the GOAT, but James is putting up better numbers than Jordan was putting up at the same age and James has more mileage on him having played in the NBA for more seasons. If there's a case one wants to make for James being the GOAT, it's the longevity card for sure. With the way he's playing, James could probably play in the NBA for at least five more years. The only question is does he want to? 

#5. The Phoenix Suns showed they have some depth: Despite their number two scorer Devin Booker (25.1 points) being out due to a groin injury, the Suns were still able to beat a good Denver Nuggets team 110-100. Kevin Durant of course led the way with his 27 points, four rebounds, and six assists, but other guys like Tyus Jones (17 points), Bradley Beal (27 points), and Monté Morris (11 points) all scored comfortably above their season averages. 

At 15-14, the Suns are squarely in the mix for a playoff spot and they showed in this game that when one of their top two players is out, they can rise to the occasion and still come out on top against a quality opponent. That should give them a lot of confidence going forward the rest of the season. 

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Saturday Slam: It's about time the Orlando Magic retire Shaquille O'Neal's number

                                              Credit: Steve Simoneau/Associated Press 

Earlier this year, the Orlando Magic finally retired Shaquille O'Neal's number 32. He is the first player to have his number retired by the franchise, which is kinda crazy when you think about it. But if they are going to finally start retiring numbers, nobody better to start with than Shaq. 

Shaq was drafted #1 overall by the Magic in the 1992 NBA draft. While he only spent four years with the franchise before leaving for the Los Angeles Lakers, he made his presence felt during his time in Orlando. He averaged 27.2 points, 12.5 rebounds, and 2.8 blocks per game, guiding them to the 1995 NBA Finals after finishing second in the MVP voting. 

Shaq was an All-Star all four years he spent with the Magic and as a result of his incredible play, he was named to the NBA's 50th Anniversary All-Time Team. He was a member of the Lakers when the team was announced in October of 1996, but he was yet to play a game for the Lakers as the season hadn't begun. His body of work with the Magic is why he made the team. 

Even though he never won an NBA title with the Magic and went on to win his rings elsewhere (three with the Lakers and one with the Heat), Shaq still had a huge impact on the NBA during his time with them. The Orlando Magic version of Shaq is one of the most dominant forces to ever set foot on an NBA floor. He was a game changer and already established himself as one of the 50 greatest players in NBA history before he even put on a Lakers jersey. That's amazing. 

As for why it took so long for the Magic to retire Shaq's number, a couple of reasons come to mind. First of all, they're just in general hesitant to retire numbers. The fact that he's the first player to have his number retired by the organization speaks to that. 

The other thing is Shaq didn't leave the Magic on the best of terms. He kinda bailed on them and went Hollywood by joining the Lakers. That didn't sit well with them and understandably so. It can be hard to want to honor someone who you feel turned their back on you. 

Fortunately, time heals all wounds. When you look back Shaq's time with the Magic, it's clear his number should be retired. His four years with them were already hall of fame worthy and from there he just went on to even bigger and better things. The Magic should be proud that Shaq's incredible NBA career started with them and that they can forever claim him in a way that no other NBA franchise can. 

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