10 GOOD MINUTES: Is Cooper Flagg a Top-3 Future Franchise Player? Plus Mailbag Questions!

What this episode is about

The discussion centers on Cooper Flagg's impressive performance in a recent game where he scored 49 points, highlighting his potential as a top-3 future franchise player. Key moments from the game, including impactful plays and assists, illustrate Flagg's skill and adaptability on the court, even amid the Hornets' victory.

Key takeaways

• In a thrilling clash, Cooper's 49 points steal the spotlight, proving he's a scoring machine at just 19.
• Despite a stellar performance, Cooper missed the 50-point milestone, just shy of becoming the youngest to do so.
• Canipple's unique two-foot approach showcases how subtle techniques can elevate gameplay for even the less athletic.
• Cooper's 29% from three might slump now, but if he hits 35%, opposing defenses will need a new game plan.
• With playmaking IQ beyond his years, Cooper’s vision is reshaping expectations for rookies in a league full of stars.

Who speaks in this episode?

• Ryen Russillo (Host) · 37 min speaking
• Serudi (Guest) · 6 min speaking

What is discussed, and when

1. 0:00 – 5:00: Cooper Flagg, NBA, Hornets, LaMelo Ball
2. 5:00 – 10:00: LaMelo Ball, Hornets, Wizards, Seion James
3. 10:00 – 15:00: Wizards, Minnesota, Isaiah Thomas, OKC
4. 15:00 – 20:00: NBA, Denver, Minnesota, San Antonio
5. 20:00 – 25:00: Cooper Flagg
6. 25:00 – 30:00: Wizards
7. 30:00 – 35:00: Minnesota
8. 35:00 – 40:00: Cleveland, Memphis
9. 40:00 – 43:15: Memphis

Notable quotes from "10 GOOD MINUTES: Is Cooper Flagg a Top-3 Future Franchise Player? Plus Mailbag Questions!"

• Much fun. So, Cooper's kind of the headline even though the Hornets ended up getting the win with this one. Cooper goes for 49 points. He had 23 points in the second quarter. I…

  about Cooper Flagg · at 0:34

• Mavs history. and Cooper was a point shy of that. He was a point shy of the 50. He would have been the youngest player ever to score 50 in NBA history.

  about NBA · at 3:29

• The free throws and that's your ball game. So, a couple more thoughts here on the Hornets. None of us can stop talking about the Hornets.

  about Hornets · at 5:42

• I think LaMelo should be at like 15 field goal attempts per game because of this team and the talent around him offensively and the fact that if you it would maybe prioritize hey, I've.

  about LaMelo Ball · at 6:45

• Touches the basketball. And then he just decides to go in and he misses the layup. Now, same thing happened on Saturday against the Wizards. He had backto-back possessions.…

  about Wizards · at 8:39

• I know it went really long, but to see Aguire who was really emotional about this whole thing and seeing Isaiah Thomas there, they grew up in Chicago.

  about Isaiah Thomas · at 11:53

• Minnesota's only three games back of the two seed in San Antonio. I know they look they just went through a dismal stretch and now they've won a bunch in a row. So, it's kind of.

  about Minnesota · at 15:32

• I think you're not going to get the picks from them cuz they're all in Memphis. So, there's that part of it. But, yeah, I would unless Portland's going to play ball with me and I'm Milwaukee. So, if I.

  about Memphis · at 39:33

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

• Cooper Flagg — Person · Primary referenced player / central subject · 5 mentions · first at 0:37
  The segment is built around Flagg’s standout performance (49 points) and what it implies about his current level and future value versus other NBA stars.
• LaMelo Ball — Person · Referenced player (Hornets lead guard) used for team/strategy analysis · 4 mentions · first at 3:12
  Discussed as a key driver of the Hornets’ improvement; the host evaluates his shot selection, usage, and passing while noting improved 3PT shooting.
• Mark Aguirre — Person · Referenced former player (ceremonial focus / historical comparison) · 1 mention · first at 3:19
  His jersey retirement frames the night historically; his rookie scoring mark is used as a benchmark for Flagg’s quarter and overall performance.
  Retired Mark Aguire's number, and there was a number that was like most points for a rookie in a quarter. And Mark Aguire was fourth all time with 24 in Mavs history. and…
• Brennan Jennings — Person · Referenced player (historical record comparison; likely misnamed) · 1 mention · first at 3:38
  Used to contextualize age-based scoring records (youngest to score 50). The transcript likely intends Brandon Jennings, but the extracted entity is ‘Brennan Jennings’.
  Brennan Jennings did it when he was 20 years old, plus days. cuz he had 55 a bunch of years ago. I remember that one cuz we interviewed him pretty closely after that on the show. So, he would.
• Seion James — Person · Referenced player (late-game hustle play) · 2 mentions · first at 5:33
  Credited for an “unbelievable save” on a key defensive sequence late, connecting directly to the deciding possession described.
  On each other. It wasn't the entire assignment throughout the game. Canipple gets up, tips the ball. Seion James makes an unbelievable save to Caniple who then goes to the rim.…
• Caleb Martin — Person · Referenced player (in-game decision anecdote) · 1 mention · first at 3:48
  Cited as the player who chose a dunk attempt instead of passing to an open Flagg for a potential 50-point game moment.
  Martin decided to Caleb Martin would try to dunk. Kevin Martin probably would not. Caleb Martin took off from like the free throw line. Jordan Dominique dunk contest approach and Cooper was wide open the entire time on the left side.
• Isaiah Thomas — Person · Referenced former player (ceremony attendee; emotional beat) · 1 mention · first at 11:58
  Mentioned as attending Aguirre’s number retirement; their Chicago connection and Thomas’s emotional reaction underscore Aguirre’s legacy and teammate bonds.
• Kevin Martin — Person · Referenced player (comparison point in a missed opportunity anecdote) · 1 mention · first at 3:53
  Mentioned briefly in a clip description contrasting decision-making/athletic finishing (Caleb tries to dunk; ‘Kevin probably would not’).
  Have been again 19 in December if Caleb Martin had given him the ball on a clip that I posted where Kevin Martin Caleb Martin decided to Caleb Martin would try to dunk. Kevin…

Companies & orgs

• Hornets — Company · Business focus · 3 mentions · first at 0:36
  Discussed as a team with notable players and performance in the NBA.
• Wizards — Company · Business focus · 5 mentions · first at 0:25
  Mentioned in the context of games and player performances.
• OKC — Company · Business focus · 1 mention · first at 14:49
  Mentioned in the context of NBA team performance and player development.
  You know what I would say? If this means that we get to develop Usman Jen, then it's worth it. It's worth the losses. I'm okay with it. Deng, who now has improved his three-point.
• Cleveland — Company · Business focus · 1 mention · first at 39:54
  Mentioned in passing in the context of NBA teams.
  Don't get any of the rights back to my picks, this has to be I would hope about like look, I would I this came up this summer when I was Hey, they should just go to Cleveland and go, can we do a Moy deal here?

Concepts & topics

• NBA — Concept · Core topic · 3 mentions · first at 3:35
  Central theme of the episode, discussing basketball games, players, and league dynamics.

Places & events

• Minnesota — Place · Setting · 3 mentions · first at 14:55
  Mentioned in the context of NBA games and team performance.
• Denver — Place · Setting · 2 mentions · first at 15:45
  Mentioned in the context of NBA team injuries and performance.
  Without Jokic. So between does WBY get hurt again and miss some time? Denver's whole thing, Houston's whole thing, like the two seed for the Timberwolves is totally doable…
• San Antonio — Place · Setting · 1 mention · first at 15:34
  Mentioned in the context of NBA team standings.
  Minnesota's only three games back of the two seed in San Antonio. I know they look they just went through a dismal stretch and now they've won a bunch in a row. So, it's kind of.
• Memphis — Place · Setting · 2 mentions · first at 39:37
  Mentioned in passing in the context of NBA teams.

Full transcript with timestamps

0:02 A good 10 minutes on a Friday today for our YouTube only audience. The Cooper flag coniple showdown. It happened last night in Dallas. It was amazing. It was an alert game. It was start texting people. People texting you, are you watching us? Was trying to get caught up post Utah in attendance for two games. You missed some stuff. Had to get on Wizards Portland obviously. Um, but this is one of those if you missed it, go back and watch this game. It was that much fun. So, Cooper's kind of the headline even though the Hornets ended up getting the win with this one. Cooper goes for 49 points. He had 23 points in the second quarter. Uh, I can run through a bunch of the different plays from last night. I am going to I'm just going to share those with you. There was a handoff where he's at the free throw line and somebody's coming around gives him the ball and there's all sorts of stuff that he could wait to do. As soon

0:56 as he got the ball, he went and dunked. Zero delay whatsoever since some of these guys get the ball. Let me assess the situation. Let me see what's going on. Uh there was another fight for a rebound on the defensive glass. Tan Salon, my guy Cooper just ripped the ball right out of his hands. Goes in transition and won and finish. Uh it wasn't the ended finish. It wasn't bringing the ball up the court on his own. It was that he ripped the ball away from Ton because that's not an easy thing to do. If there's one thing that Salon does is he doesn't let that happen to him very often. Um he had a crosscourt pass to Hardy who was getting some minutes last night where it looked like Cooper was on the left side and was completely stuck. Hardy was at the break on the right side. Hardy missed the three. It was an unbelievable just to still see it. It wasn't like the flashiest pass and it it probably be

1:45 something you would look at and think was kind of simple. I didn't think it was simple because I just think that there are times where other players get stuck. and with Cooper's size and vision and all the stuff that we really really loved about him coming out of Duke. Um just a really smart play even though it didn't lead to a bucket. He also had um a three where everybody's going under against him. So he was reading the coverage. It wasn't drop on the drive. It was just hey this guy like can we go over on him because we've got to contest. No, you've got to balance it out. But he's 29% from three, so we'll go under to try to contain some sort of angle on these ridiculous drives cuz he's his stuff in the paint, his finishing in the paint, the way he's using his body now to separate from guys. Like all this stuff is happening 40 plus games into his career. He's 19 years old. He turned 19 in December.

2:36 This is outrageous. As much as we all loved him as a prospect, just outrageous that he's this good already. Um he's 29% on threes throughout the entire year. There's not a month where he's been north of 33%. If he starts hitting 35 36% of his threes, which he's going to do, forget it. And he plays defense. They actually put him on Caniple cuz Canipple I think hit eight of his first nine threes in this game. Um there's just a million possessions. He had a block on Dio. He had another play where he got the defensive board and he wants to actually pass to some guys because he's such a good playmaker. But then he kind of looked at what was ahead of him.

3:12 Lamelo was out there. Mel was like, "You're good. Just keep going." He went through four dudes. Uh, and it was really cool on a night where they retired Mark Aguire's number, and there was a number that was like most points for a rookie in a quarter. And Mark Aguire was fourth all time with 24 in Mavs history. Uh, and and Cooper was a point shy of that. He was a point shy of the 50. He would have been the youngest player ever to score 50 in NBA history. Brennan Jennings did it when he was 20 years old, plus days. cuz he had 55 a bunch of years ago. I remember that one cuz we interviewed him pretty closely after that on the show. So, he would have been again 19 in December if Caleb Martin had given him the ball on a clip that I posted where Kevin Martin Caleb Martin decided to Caleb Martin would try to dunk. Kevin Martin probably would not. Caleb Martin took off from like the free throw line. Jordan Dominique dunk

4:05 contest approach and Cooper was wide open the entire time on the left side. So he would have had 50. Little love for Canipple in this one. We'd mentioned the threes. There's something that he does. I may go practice it today. There is something that Canipple does where he, you know, he's talked about his two feet approach like if I stay on two, it allows me to make up for maybe some of the deficit athletically on some of the stuff that he does. And when you really watch it, man, like he'll get the ball and I'm talking about like he hasn't dribbled yet, right? So, he's got the ball and maybe he's got a little momentum going towards the hoop. He stops on two feet.

4:45 Look, just gives the slightest glimpse at the rim like he's going up and it's it's almost like the quickest triple threat that your high school coach is always yelling you about, right? And it's I don't even know if they do that anymore, but it's just this quick look and it freezes people. And so when you're watching get by guys all the time and look, he's still a really good athlete, there's there's just some little subtleties with him that are so much fun for anybody that loves basketball. So anyway, the last play defensively, Cooper's got it right side. They're sending him a double. Canibble plays the passing lane because he's kind of anticipating what's going to happen. It was really fun to watch these two guys on each other. It wasn't the entire assignment throughout the game. Canipple gets up, tips the ball. Seion James makes an unbelievable save to Caniple who then goes to the rim. Cooper fouls

5:41 him. He 100% fouled them. Caniple hits the free throws and that's your ball game. So, uh, a couple more thoughts here on the Hornets. None of us can stop talking about the Hornets. LaMelo was great last night. Um, I'm never going to necessarily love some of the shot attempts and the one foot like, hey, look at me. you know, uh then he hit four in the first six minutes of the third quarter and they were all like that. Like I like I guess they're just all going to go in tonight. Uh my favorite stat on LaMelo this year is 16 and a half field goal attempts per game.

6:12 That's the lowest since his rookie year. um his three-point shooting, he's back to 37% which has not happened in three years because it was one thing when he was taking him, then he was missing because you know when he came onto the scene it was like oh this guy's a better shooter than I thought he was going to be and then he was a bad shooter which again I think there's a lot of like shot selection guys out there I'm like if I could just get you to not take these five shots. Look, as much as I love Paulo, there's probably four or five turnarounds that I'm like, why don't you just not settle for these um everything to the rim, you know, like just get these out of the portfolio a little bit.

6:45 I think LaMelo should be at like 15 field goal attempts per game because of this team and the talent around him offensively and the fact that if you it would maybe prioritize like, hey, I've got to take the best 15 as opposed to the best 14 or 15 and then five stupid ones. Now, it may just be who he's going to be his entire career, and I'm just going to tell you that's probably the safer bet on all this stuff. Uh, but again, the shooting is up to where he was when he first came into the league. Again, hasn't happened in a long time.

7:15 And the shot attempts, too. Like, this is a team that's started 414. So, I was looking at the splits this morning. Start four of 14 or four of four and 14 record-wise. Um, they're seven and 17 and 14 in the next 31 games. That's a much bigger indicator who they are. Net differential. Offensive rankings. The defensive stuff's actually a little bit higher than you would think. They're still trying to figure out the deal. Um, [ __ ] Brener combo there. They still have Sexton Seion coming off the bench. Hell, they still have like McNeely was even playing for this team at times. Um, and then Trey Man who I think is a pretty talented guy. So, we've talked about the depth. Probably too much Hornets stuff for you here, but when you look at that split, four and 14 versus 17 and 14. um the field goal attempts the first couple months of the season. LaMelo's 19 shots a game. The first month, again, it's a

8:03 limited month there, 17 to now post that four and 14 start, he's 16 and 16 field goal attempts um per game in January and December. Now, um you know, there was a mellow possession there late, 118, 115. I know they're trying to run some clock and I'm I'm getting maybe a little too negative here, but I'm just going to do it anyway. He's he's obviously so incredibly talented. He's back to looking like the guy you were excited about. It helps to have some nice talent around him, right? But at 118 115, he dribbles the air out of the ball. I know they're trying to run clock. No one else on the team ever touches the basketball. And then he just decides to go in and he misses the layup. Now, same thing happened on Saturday against the Wizards. He had backto-back possessions. Nobody else touched the basketball. He made one of the layups. The other one he was forced into something terrible. Technically,

8:51 there was somebody he had the ball through to somebody. they gave it back to him so he could reset the dribble. But it's just those little little things for this team to be even better that I would point to. And there's also something else that I think is his passing is ridiculous. We already know that he had a play against the Wizards where he drove down the paint and threw it on a straight line through a defender basically to the right corner for a three. I think the shot was missed. The pass was so ridiculous live when I was watching it that I I had to rewind it be like he threw that left-handed on a rope to the corner and it was like right into the shooting pocket and it was through all this traffic and then there was even a defender who was like in between the paint and the corner but he was facing the ball action and so I was like how did he even get it there and how did he get it there so quickly? There are a

9:41 couple times he had a play where he wanted to go for the lob to Bridges in that game and there was also another transition play where he can be as great as his P. Look, there's so many more great passes than the couple things that I'm pointing out. But it's just something that I think is odd for somebody who's such a gifted playmaker. He can be like a step late on the transition thing cuz he may want the play at the rim because it's more fun on the pass on the lob instead of just hey if it's a twoon-one. I think this Bridges play was a three on one and all he had to do is just give it to Bridges cuz Bridges had the angle, he was ahead of the defender cuz the defender was just even NBA guys now when they're outnumbered on some of this fast break stuff. They're just not very strategic in the way they try to defend this stuff. Um all you had to do was throw it to Bridges and Bridges would have

10:28 finished and he and he waited and then went for the lob. And it was another thing that I noticed last night too on a transition. overall like most of it's awesome and they're a challenging team. Like I think they're going to be in the playing game. I know Barkley was talking about it recently and they were like giving him a hard time. You're like I don't even know that that's all that controversial at this point. Another thing from this Mavs game was that Mark Aguire's number was retired at halftime. He was the number one overall pick in 1981. Played it to Paul. Was player of the year sophomore year. Scored a million points. I think it was 25 a game that year. He in his third year with Dallas scored just under 30 points per game. I mean he was he was the definition of a bucket. He was a little unders sized. Nobody could guard him. I mean the guy just scored. He was with Dallas for basically all the 80s until

11:18 he was traded for Adrien Dantley uh to the Pistons who had lost in seven games the Lakers in the finals in 88 and then of course 89 90 win back-to-back titles. Mark Magcguire was a beast and he was more of a role player around what Detroit already had. Uh so he's somebody again me being a little bit older he just kind of knew like hey Mark's probably going to go off and watching that ceremony and normally that's not necessarily something I would watch. I would just go back to games but I was like ah let me just check in and see how this thing is going. I think the Mavs organization and how they hosted it and I know it went really long, but to see Aguire who was really emotional about this whole thing and seeing Isaiah Thomas there, they grew up in Chicago.

12:02 They were boys. Isaiah Thomas is there crying. It's all of his teammates and it felt pretty sincere of like how much his teammates love this guy. Um, and it was something that hadn't happened for a really long time. And like these are those things you could sit there and be like, well, you know, they're retiring his number or like he's not a Hall of Famer. The teams weren't really in that good. like this is a local thing, you know? This is it. It was one of the best examples of like just get out of the way national guys is when Kobe went crazy and scored a million points in that game um at the end of the year and you know it wasn't the most efficient night and then you had guys on TV the next day being like bringing up his box score in the sh and you're just like look people probably guess that that's something that I would do the next day even I wouldn't do that because it's like hey that's a celebration of Kobe

12:51 that's a celebr celebration of his career. That's a celebration of the Lakers. Like, if he's going to go for a million points, let them all enjoy it. Like, this is for them. And that's what I took from the retirement of Aguire's number 24 because, and it was really like symbolic, too, for Cooper to have that kind of night as the number one overall pick and then Aguire to be that same guy. What are we talking um you know, 45 years ago? Almost 45 years ago. Uh yeah. Yeah. I mean it was something I was thinking about just going like imagine being special enough special enough that you have this moment where all of the work, all the time in the driveway, all the time at the playground, all the practices, all the coaches, all the ups and downs of it, even with the money and the accolades and being in the NBA and all that cool [ __ ] Just imagine being one of those special players that's so attached to a

13:44 franchise that you can then have that moment and be celebrated. And it was really emotional and I thought it was awesome. Couple quick hitters before we get to some uh Cooper responses from league or team executives, I should say, because I had a question for him this morning, so I was texting with those guys. Um there's a couple things here, but I'm just going to run through them. Good Wizards Trailblazers game. That was fun. Sar was great. Sar clinging battle. Sharp was terrific as well. Tusman, my guy. Nice little stat sheet for him. Uh, Keshan Johnson did not shoot it. Keshan George, I don't know why I keep doing that. Um, probably because the other guy's really famous. Keshan George didn't have a great like shooting night, but his energy and his effort and some of the buckets that he was making late, like that's why I get really excited about him. But on a lesser note, I think between Bub, Trey, and Bal, someone of

14:41 that group needs to figure out who the fedora guy is going to be, right? Like only one guy can wear the fedora in the friend group. I think they need to figure that one out. OKC started 24-1. They're now 14-10 in their last 24. The loss last night to Minnesota out of the jump. But it is worth mentioning. Jaylen Williams has now missed 25 games. He's out again. He was out in the Toronto game. Uh Hartstein has missed 24 games. Um you know what I would say? If this means that we get to develop Usman Jen, then it's worth it. It's worth the losses. I'm okay with it. Uh Deng, who now has improved his three-point shooting four straight years, 27, 30, 32, and 40 this year. So, just saying, I think some crafty minutes against the Raptors in that loss earlier in the week. So, nice win there from Minnesota.

15:32 Minnesota's only three three games back of the two seed in San Antonio. I know they look they just went through a dismal stretch and now they've won a bunch in a row. So, it's kind of the up and down of like who you think Minnesota is, and it's probably somewhere in the middle. But between Denver's injuries, uh, think about this. They have Jokic who's going to be re-evaluated in four or five days. Last play December 29th in that heat game. Aaron Gordon's now going to be re-evaluated again in four to six weeks, which means he's probably going to be out two months. Cam Johnson's last game was December 23rd. Um, Christian Brown hasn't played, I think, since November 12th. They're 10 and six without Jokic. So between does WBY get hurt again and miss some time? Um Denver's whole thing, Houston's whole thing, like the two seed for the Timberwolves is totally totally doable here. And Payton Watson, shout out to

16:26 that guy. He was player of the week earlier this month. January 226 and three, 49 47% shooting splits in January and he's getting to the free throw line almost six times per game. All right. So, a question, the front office question today. I won't be able to do it every single week. These guys are busy. Um, the question to three different front office executives was, "How many players would you take in the NBA right now just in a vacuum over Cooper flag?" We're not talking about contract. We're talking about the 26 playoffs. You're just going right now. How many other players would you take in the league over Cooper?

17:02 Great day to do it, right? because not that long ago we were having like a Cooper Amen conversation. That's over. Um, all right. So, the first guy said three players, SGA, Yokic, WBY, three. Um, another guy said four. I assume Ant is his fourth. Uh, I had another guy that said, "Do we include Kaminga?" That was pretty funny. Um, and it looks like I am waiting on one more answer. So, we'll share that with you. A lot of We've never done this before. Live suspense. Waiting on an answer on this question. All right, let's get to the mailbag. NBA mailbag rgmail.com and bring in Serudi.

17:57 What's up? What's up, man? Not much. Uh, wait. So, so four, who were the four guys again?

18:06 The three locks were Jokic, SGA, and Wimyama. Is there a fourth? I mean, this seems

18:12 So, already ahead of Giannis, already ahead of Luca. Like, we're already ahead of Ant. already ahead of Cade.

18:21 Already ahead of Cade. Is that wrong? We're talking like right now. Well, no. You mean like reddraft the entire league?

18:30 Oh, to start a like you're you're talking like for 10 years. Start a franchise.

18:33 And let's not go like, "Oh, he's he's cheaper than Cade. That's the difference. Like, let's not let's not factor that in."

18:40 Yeah. Why we well why don't we just get to this email because this is one of the this one ties into it well because we talked about this a couple of weeks ago uh about the Amend Thompson thing. This is from Griffin and this is a respectful email because I you know I I I think I was wrong in this assessment but I'll read it. Uh he goes a Thompson is a special talent but the hype has gone too far. A few weeks ago Seri said he would still take a men over Cooper Flag and I just want to say even how dumb that is. It's even dumber now. Uh Cooper is a better offensive talent than a men today and he is 5 years younger. flag also has as much upside defensively though I do realize how special a man is on that side of the ball. Not a sudi hater. I just have to point out when my guy is out of line. Love the pod.

19:19 Not audi hater. I like that he said that. Yeah, I appreciate that. No, it's a respectful Griffin. Thank you for that respectful email. Um it's funny. I've thought about this for a week since we did that. I've thought about this for a week because because Cooper has like literally as as soon as I said that Cooper has gone on this like insane tear and like not that I didn't think he had it in him or anything like that, but I think I was just enamored by the athleticism of a men. The playmaking was getting there and you know the problem just is it's going to be the shooting.

19:43 The shooting is just not it's we're you know he's 20 he's 23 years old. that wave his birthday's today. So, happy birthday to a men. Uh, Anisar,

19:51 but the Yeah, I guess I'm over with birthday. Well, I guess if I'm going to say happy birthday to a men, they are twins. I should I should give the other NBA brothers some shout out. Um,

20:01 I don't know. I'm just I guess I'm just maybe too enamored with what a men can be cuz god, it's so fun to watch. And I'm not saying Cooper is not fun to watch either. Back then, too, when we were talking about that, I mean, there were like legitimate people and I'm not going to sit here and tell you I've like watched every Mavs game. I've watched, you know, some of the Cooper flag games, especially some of the ones that are that are bigger games nationalally televised, but um it was like, hey, Cooper's like kind of an elite two. Like he's a good connector. He could do a little bit of everything, but is he going to be like the number one on a championship team guy? I think he's put a lot of that stuff to to rest. So, I'm I'm happy to say that I'm wrong, but I'm not selling any of my men stock. I still love a men, and I'm not going to apologize for that.

20:36 Right. But you wouldn't take a mend today if if you were if we did my my awesome NBA like if the NBA were ever like really really hurting as a as an organization just reddraft the entire league and it would be I mean it would be pretty dismal like and then it'd be a lot of fun. The draft would be the most covered thing other than I don't know the Super Bowl. It would be they if they imagine if they did every year but

21:00 that's what I'm saying like every year reddraft the entire league and that way you you would get in front of like player empowerment be like hey I want to trade don't worry about it you're going to you're going to be

21:08 you're out anyway next year who knows welcome to Sacramento if you that could be a bummer for you if you goes both ways. Um

21:14 what if Sacramento does a great job reddrafting you you're going to bank on that? I don't know about that.

21:21 I I think there's some smart people there. I don't think there aren't smart people there. I think the owner just kind of does what he wants to do. Uh I will say on the reddrafting though, like man, we're already like rooting for players. Like what are people going to even root for teams anymore? Is that even what would happen at that point? We already have LeBron stands and Cooper Flag stands and Webby stands. Like might as well just take the names out of the jersey.

21:43 Yeah, it's it's fun. It's fun, but it's it's not a good idea. So you're fully I mean this is the all-time worst day to do the amend side of this argument and as as great as we all kind of like he is so far ahead offensively now where I was like I think he's going to be all these really good things but I'm not sure about like are you going to clear out a side for him and then he's getting you a bucket in the playoff game. Now it's like I'm not I I can't believe 40 plus games into his career it's like oh yeah you can totally do all that stuff with him now. Like some of those finishes in the paint were just absurd. And then you can finish both hands. And it's not just, oh, cool dunk. It's him dissecting and then keeping his hip on somebody else and then being big and athletic enough to finish over whatever help is coming. So, uh, I I just was blown. I mean, this has just been an insane stretch. So, I don't want to be a

22:34 prisoner of the moment thing, but I mean, if you got into like a Luca Cooper flag conversation, I think there's a real conversation there right now. I think you are right. I think How about this? Did you say Did you talk about the guys in this year's class?

22:51 Well, what do you mean like Cooper's better than all those guys? Did I do that? No.

22:58 I forget it was off air on air, but like he's he he would go one this year again

23:03 in what's like a historic freshman class. Yeah. Somebody somebody else didn't Somebody You're right. Now I understand what you're referencing. It was off the air so the audience understands because it's not like I'm tr Somebody answered as if it was the 26 draft class which is really really strong and they were like what are you why are you asking like that's the dumbest question ever. Of course Cooper would go number one in the 26 draft and I was like that's not what I was asking. So yeah there's one there's one I mean I don't know maybe somebody likes Darren Peterson better than Cooper. If you watch the Baylor game you might like him better. Uh but to see him do this and again I cannot emphasize this enough 19. He turned 19 in December. So that is going to be the one where a lot of I think a lot of front officeic is in this hypothetical right off the record you know anonymous Western Conference

23:52 executive Eastern Conference executive which is what I'm doing. They're just going to go do the guy's 19. Like I'll I'll go ahead and sign up for that. So, we're we're we're fully ready to be like the Mavs were actually like they're actually lucky that that trade happened because they might have the better player long term than Luca.

24:15 Well, uh I mean I know what you're doing. Yeah. I mean, this is not like the Nico Harrison quote. People are starting to finally see the vision. It's like you just

24:25 No, this is Nico aside. Yeah. This is just like they lucked into actually maybe being in a better situation than they were before. falling off of your house and landing on your feet and then going like told you like

24:35 I I'm not ready to go there yet only because like Luca carried what was an all right Mavs team to the finals.

24:41 Yeah. Like two years ago. I love it. I think you're right. I think you're right to push back a little bit. Like are we really going to say this about the toughest single matchup maybe offensively in the entire NBA and he's also really young.

24:53 I mean considering he's motivated, you know, he's got a tan. He's looking good. That might be where it is. And I don't know. There's probably somebody said, "Hey, Yokic is 30." Or, "Hey, WebM is going to get hurt all the time." But some people, like I talked to somebody about it, and they were like, "Absolutely not. Wy's not going to get hurt all the time." And I was like, I I think there's just so much real estate for people to fall into. It doesn't mean that I think there's something wrong with him. Like, when I think about when Durant got hurt against the Wizards, it had nothing to do with Durant. It had everything to do with just somebody rolled into his leg.

25:30 Mhm. Um well, for the record, uh happy to say that I'm wrong, but I'm I'm I'm still an Amen guy. I I still love a man, and I will continue to love a man. Happy birthday to my guy. Um by the way, if you look, I'm just saying he's got a lot of advanced stats that that men is is is I know he's I know he's 19. I know he's 19, but there's a lot of there's a lot of a men stuff to like, too. So, I think we should,

25:52 right? Cooper, those guys are four years old in there, right? Yeah, Cooper could theoretically be a freshman college right now. We've covered that before. All right. Happy happy for Cooper. I can I have a I have a question for you though about that draft last year's draft.

26:05 Um, okay. If you reddrafted today, does Caniple still go four or does he go higher?

26:15 Yeah. This is the the does he go ahead of Dylan Harper thing? He goes ahead of VJ and VJ's awesome. This draft class is awesome. Like every single guy is ahead of schedule. If Dylan Harper had more opportunities, he'd be putting up buckets. Every night I watch Dylan Harper play, he he'll do something. I'm like, man, this this might end up being like really nice.

26:37 I think the size and that he can run your team theoretically and that he can give you some of that kind of like, hey, do I have a huge onball guy that can run pick and roll with? then he's going to have an advantage because of his size and athleticism. I think teams would probably still prioritize that over Canipple even though the numbers like it's not fair to do that to Harper necessarily and be like well look at his numbers and look at Canipple's numbers. It's it's strictly opportunity based. Um I might make a mistake on this one but I'm not going to we're already mass this is the most prisoner of the moment good 10 minutes that we've ever done with this. Like where would Cooper actually go now? Like how many players would you take over him? Will it this seems stupid in two months? I don't know. He's still he's still only going to be 19 years old and he's probably going to put up some good numbers. I'm

27:25 not ready to just say Canipple's a lock like oh the Spurs should have taken Canipple. I'm not ready to do that. How's that? Is that Is that all right you? I think that's I think that's fair. I think we need to give it more time. I just think it's an interesting thought exercise. Um because I still like Dylan Harper a lot too and I still like EJ a lot. So,

27:45 it's it is funny though cuz Saman Prey reference there. Well, he went fourth thought,

27:51 you know, remember people are like, "Oh man, like you know, I can't believe he went over like Ace, who was like maybe thought to be a top three guy." And it's like, "Oh, actually, I mean, who knows? Ace can end up being awesome, too." But,

28:01 dude, Ace in person was fun. Like, he's he was fun. There were some there were some guys um on the other teams that noticed being like you like he's got some [ __ ] to him. So, who knows? You know, I mean the reality is is in three years some of the stuff that we're saying right now are going to go oh my god. You know, you guys didn't even mention Jerger Gilman.

28:25 Yeah, Cedric Coward. Awesome draft class. A lot of fun. A lot of headers, too. All right, next one. We got two more. Uh this is from Pat He goes, "Hey, Ryan. 511 190." Uh, no. Coolen. Coughlin. Coolen. I It's one of those I think Irish names. I can't fully pronounce. 510 190 pickup comp is a hockey one as I do floor hockey twice a week. Brad Marshan. All right.

28:50 All right. I like that. As I can score and be really annoying uh to the other team with instigating in front of the goal. I love that. That's awesome.

28:57 In men's league. Yeah. Floor hockey. Floor hockey. Yeah. It's our first hockey team.

29:04 Floor hockey. There's a pretty good chance I played my last floor hockey game in high school and I didn't even realize I'll never play again.

29:10 Floor hockey when it was floor hockey day in high school at gym class. I mean like you would have thought that was game seven of the finals for your boy. That was uh it was nothing was

29:19 I'd rather play floor hockey than basketball when they would let us do it in gym class.

29:23 Handball, too. Handball was awesome. I love floor hockey so much, man. Why Why aren't there There should be like a thing. Is are there like gym glass for adults? That should be a thing.

29:33 Cuz you just something awesome. Yeah, this might be I got to keep this to myself just

29:37 Did you guys turn the goals around if you didn't have goalies in high school? Uh we always had goalies. I remember. Yeah, cuz who doesn't want to play goalie?

29:45 We didn't if we didn't have goalies, they would turn the nets around so everything was like bank shots off of the pads.

29:51 Oh, that's kind of cool. Or like a wraparound situation. Yeah. A lot of wraparounds, a lot of drivebys.

29:56 Yeah. But um some deing, you know. I like that. Yeah. Good times. Maybe this is a thing. Maybe we should start. This is our this is our next million. Just adult gym class. I'm in

30:06 parachute day. All right, let's keep going. You guys ever do that? Oh, parachute day was terrible. Yeah, nobody like Well, that was like elementary school. I feel like

30:13 you didn't like that when you just did the big like, you know, rainbow thing and held it up in the air.

30:19 Oh, yeah. But that I feel like that was like elementary school. We didn't do that in high school.

30:24 I don't know. Maybe maybe we'll do that in adult gym. We'll bring it back. Take a vote to what games people want to play. Uh, okay. Uh, I think you've been clear about where you are on Trey Young, uh, being someone who you just couldn't break through with the Atlanta fan base on. Uh, are there other guys like this that you can think of to that extent? I'm thinking maybe Jaw before this year, maybe Lavine with the Bulls, uh, Cousins with the Kings, DLO in Minnesota, you've hit most of them. I think you have this thing uh, where you put up big numbers on a losing basketball team. That can be gross at times. Um, bad games in late March and people who just annoy you. Maybe I'm missing someone. Keep up the good work.

30:59 That's from Pat. hit rate on those is pretty strong over the years. I have more respect for Harden than I than I do um than I do Trey, than I do Jaw, than I did for Cousins. Um certainly Zack Lavine. Like I just think there's so many small little things if you look for him. You're just like h like all right. Uh Harden has plenty of things that I don't necessarily like, but I I'd still say that the as an overall basketball player, it'd be insulting to compare those guys to James Harden.

31:33 Um that's fair. Yeah. Is there anyone else now? Yeah. I mean, look, I'm this LaMelo thing is heading in the right direction here in a big way, so I'm not going to bring it up now. I've already spent too much time and and considering like even some of the critiques that I had in the beginning of this little piece here, the general bigger picture is that all that stuff is way more important and it's been better. So, that's um that's worth pointing out. Look, there's some people that are just kind of anti-Dovan Mitchell. I am not.

32:10 I think I always appreciate him, as we said with Bobby Marks, like I I think he has those six, eight minute stretches where you're like, is anyone in the world better than this guy right now? Um, I just think he's that good. So, he's not in that group for me at all.

32:25 Um, I mean, he's not an empty guy, but Embiid pissed you. I mean, and there are a few players that I think pissed you off more than watching Embiid at times.

32:35 Yeah. I mean, sometimes it can be the free throw stuff alone, but I'm not going to get mad. Like, SJ gets plenty of free throw stuff that I can't stand. He's also insane. So, like the free throw part of it's a sliver.

32:46 Same thing. Yeah. Um, and it's not the free throw totals, by the way. Like, I have a lot of respect for Brunson because I've seen him in these big moments and I just love when that Knicks thing is rolling and I've referenced it a few times before. Like, it's just so much fun when the Knicks are at MSG and he's having these big big moments. Yes. I would say if I if I really wanted to drive myself crazy and focus on all the [ __ ] that Brunson does over the course of the game, like I hate it. I absolutely hate it. I love Tyrese Maxi. He got a call in that Sacramento game where a shooter's not reaching because I'll also do this for the officials. There are calls in the moment where I get mad and then when I see the replay or I'll look for it again. NBA players are reaching in ways that is so stupid that a lot of times it is actually a foul. Like I it maybe the offensive player like knows and he's

33:34 using the reach against them. So you're kind of like why are you reaching? Like it's one of the first things that you're ever taught. like if you're reaching and you're out of position and there's contact, the foul is always going to be on you. So, a lot of the defenders are reaching a way, you're making it easy to these guys manufacturing free throws. Um, however, Maxi has a play, which I did post last night, where the shooter's not even reaching and he knows exactly what he's doing. He's going to drive into him and he's going to do this oneup motion and throw the shot up without a chance of it ever actually being a real shot. And then he's at the free throw line. Um, they gave him another one on an and one, but it did look like he got pushed in the hip a little bit there.

34:08 Well, actually it was Cardwell I think came over and just crushed him later on. So that was a totally totally legitimate foul. It was just a late whistle on that kind of stuff. Um but I think Maxi's incredible. So I it's the same as Brunson and SGA is even at like another level. So I don't want to like just point out free throw merchants that I don't necessarily like cuz the other thing too with like free throws and numbers that fan bases will get really defensive about be like oh my god doesn't even take that many free throws.

34:35 The problem is is that when you become one of these guys that you know is going to work you for the whistle because unfortunately there's too many younger officials that I think are impressionable and they never seem to correct it. Uh it's not just the possessions that you're getting the free throw. It's also the possessions where the defenders like I don't even like I can't even get near this [ __ ] guy because then he's going to work me. And um again that kind of became like a different rant. Just because you're a great scoreer on a bad team, I don't mean I don't like it's not an automatic association with, oh, great numbers, bad team, you're an empty calories guy. My thing is you can score a bunch of points, you can even be on a decent team, but if I see you never move off the ball, never set any screens, constantly getting beat on cuts because you just stop paying attention, um, bad awful shot selection,

35:30 and just kind of a high usage like ine, you know, you know, it's sometimes it's not even efficient. I know I know what it is when I see it. I know what it is when I see it. And even with Joel's offensive explosion, which is very real, I'm telling you, there are so many plays in there where he's not actually helping if he doesn't have the ball and he's the threat, so he's going to bring attention away, but there are little things that I still see with Embiid. So, it's like if that team is healthy and in the playoffs and Embiid's put together all these numbers and they have like Paul George has looked a little bit better in stretches, I'd even say Klay Thompson, by the way, has looked better, too. He was I thought he moved really, really well last night. noticed in a few of the mass games, not watching all of them.

36:10 Um, I'm just telling you like if if the Sixers are in the playoffs and Embiid gets double teamed in game four on the baseline, it's a tie game. I mean, unless he gets the free throws, I imagine he's not going to. And I don't I just don't trust him to deliver even with all the massive points. Like that Knicks series where he had a million points in one of those games. I was like, "Yeah, but what about this play? What about this play? What about not showing here? What about not helping here? What about being out of position?

36:36 How come he didn't rebound here?" you know, oh, there was a double team that came again and he wasn't ready for it. So, yeah, Embiid's not there because I think I have more respect for him, even if it doesn't sound like it based on everything I just said.

36:48 Uh, I don't know. I don't know who else they are. Like D'Angelo Russell. I mean, we don't even do that one anymore. I mean,

36:56 DeAndre question, better question would be who's like what is the NFL quarterback equivalent of this? Like that you're a guy that you just like always throws, you know, underneath the stick

37:05 with Kurt Cousins for a long time. Yeah. Yes. Yeah. It was Alex Smith for a while for you.

37:14 Yeah. But it wasn't like he was a huge numbers guy. It was more of I felt like he limited you in the red zone and that's why he got benched. By the way, uh with San Francisco, you know, that's the other thing, too, is like if there's a guy I'm kind of on the fence about and then the head coach in a basketball game benches the guy that I'm like, I don't know if this guy's really that good. Like I'll go, "Hey, I'm probably on to something here."

37:37 That's LaMelo or was LaMelo. It was LaMelo last year in that Nets game where they brought in nine more subs to close the game and LaMelo stood on just well didn't stand. He sat on the bench. But look, headline on me and LaMelo like this is the best it's ever been. Okay, so that's the important thing. Who cares what I think about a couple shots that aren't great, a couple possessions where he doesn't pass anybody, a couple transition things that I've noticed. None of that really matters because the other stuff that's really important has been really really good. So

38:04 So that LaMelo Caleb Williams comp is coming around, you know. By the way, I was thinking about you when I was when I was doing some of the notes and thinking about LaMelo in that game last night. It's like could it still work now in the best way?

38:16 Yeah. Like I was it was a positive way. Exactly. They're both awesome. I hope it does. I like you know LaMelo's fun and you know so is Caleb. All right. We're we're about to be 40 minutes here. So we got one more. This is from Ryan. This is near and dear to my heart. Hey fellas. Quick one here. Seri as a Magic fan is a Giannis for Paulo swap worth considering who says no all assuming you could even make that trade work just popped into my head listening to Ryan Austin talk about the magic. Thanks uh Ryan I well first off it can't happen this year. It can't happen till the summer.

38:45 So uh Paulo's contract I think Poppy Marks went over this uh either on the pod or in his article like basically until that extension kicks in he can't be traded. I thought about it. I looked at the trade machine. Magic have some tradable contracts. I am. It's going to be a very interesting second half of the season for the Magic.

39:02 Wow. Wow. I'm open. I mean, would you say it's insane to not You'd have to be open to that right?

39:08 Yeah, I'd be open to it. Yeah. Like, what do you like? Would you give up? And if you're Milwaukee, you know, this is a guy Paulo who who, you know, we thought was maybe like a top 10 star franchise with guy maybe two years ago, maybe even 18 months ago, maybe even less than that. And if you can get Paulo and I don't know, who knows? Maybe you get the problem is they don't have they have like one draft pick. it's probably not going to be good. So, it's not like you're going to get draft capital, but if you want actual players, the imagine can give you players to be interesting right away.

39:33 Um, I I think you're not going to get the picks from them cuz they're all in Memphis. So, there's that part of it. But, yeah, I would unless Portland's going to play ball with me and I'm Milwaukee. So, if I don't get any of the rights back to my picks, I mean, this has to be I would hope about like look, I I would I this came up this summer when I was like, "Hey, they should just go to Cleveland and go, can we do a Moy deal here?" Because Cleveland just goes, "All right, look, we should we should win the title this year." All right. Or at least lose to OKC in the finals. Um, we have Giannis and like good job on all the stuff that we've done, but like this is ridiculous. we have Giannis, even if we know there's an injury risk and you have the huge financial decision on top of everything else. But on the Milwaukee side where they're spicy fans, we're like, are you serious? Like, you think

40:19 Moy is as good as Yiannis? You're like, is this your first day? Like, if you can get someone like that, especially when you look at some of these other trades with big time guys that are now kind of forcing their way out, and that's exactly what he's not kind of forcing his way out. They are saying, "We're open for business. Get to work." All right, that's what this thing was about earlier this week. that you can pretend it's nice. You can PR it any possible way you want. You can use different words to say the same [ __ ] thing. It drives me crazy that somehow we like go, "Oh, well, hey, they're doing this thing I don't like, but I like the way they said it." Uh, you know, just if you can get back like a franchise piece, I' I'd rather do that. The uncertainty of like, hey, I wonder who we're going to get and what the protection will be in 2030.

41:04 Well, that's my thing is like if you're talking Golden State's a home run. Yeah. Golden State, Miami, you're talking about picks that who I mean the the Warriors picks could be awesome like in five years.

41:15 Uh but like cool, you got to wait five years to get a guy in the lottery that you want that you like. Like that's awesome for the fan base. Yeah. I think that's why, you know, I think Bobby kind of said this. I think Sam Amic said it like the summer just kind of makes more sense for a lot of parties. Uh just like it's going to be a weird half of the year for Milwaukee. But if you're if you're Orlando and this this season goes kind of poorly. Also, if you're Giannis, like why wouldn't you want to come to Orlando? Play with Fron, you play with, you know, either Suggs, Anthony, I mean who depending who who's in that thing.

41:43 Yeah, listen. Both Vagner brothers. Yeah. A lot of international flare there if they just add Giannis. But like I I'd imagine you'd have to add like probably Suggs too. Would you do Suggs and Paulo for Giannis? Uh, I wouldn't want to if Suggs were always healthy all the time.

42:04 Well, the issue with you're gonna have Black. You would say no because you're going to have to pay Anthony Black, too. So, like you've got a lot of money tied up with, you know, four or five players basically.

42:15 And then the Giannis extension at his time into the league. Yeah. But at least it's a less of a less guy. I mean, you're paying what? Four guys the max instead of five. I don't I don't know. I guess because Black's gonna get paid like he's he's proven that he's he's a legit, you know, legit NBA guy. So, I I'd have to see the rest of the year. I wouldn't do it now and you can't do it now, but I I text us this summer. Email us this summer and I'll I'll have an answer for you.

42:43 Yeah, email us this summer, man. Okay. Uh you can email us as well, nbmailbagrgmail.com. Thanks, Sudi, everybody for jumping in on a Friday. A good 10 minutes. 43 minutes today. Went a little long. Uh, make sure you subscribe to the YouTube page and as always, the Rasillo Show podcast on Barto stool sports.

Questions about this episode

Who speaks in "10 GOOD MINUTES: Is Cooper Flagg a Top-3 Future Franchise Player? Plus Mailbag Questions!"?

Ryen Russillo (Host), Serudi (Guest).

What is "10 GOOD MINUTES: Is Cooper Flagg a Top-3 Future Franchise Player? Plus Mailbag Questions!" about?

The discussion centers on Cooper Flagg's impressive performance in a recent game where he scored 49 points, highlighting his potential as a top-3 future franchise player. Key moments from the game, including impactful plays and assists, illustrate Flagg's skill and adaptability on the court, even amid the Hornets' victory.

What is mentioned in this The Ryen Russillo Show episode?

17 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Cooper Flagg, NBA, Hornets, LaMelo Ball, Mark Aguirre, Wizards. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "10 GOOD MINUTES: Is Cooper Flagg a Top-3 Future Franchise Player? Plus Mailbag Questions!"?

The episode runs 43 min; the transcript is about 9,271 words in 105 timestamped sections.

More from The Ryen Russillo Show

• All analyzed episodes
• People mentioned on The Ryen Russillo Show
• Sponsors mentioned on The Ryen Russillo Show
• Topics mentioned on The Ryen Russillo Show