Former NBA champion Tony Allen has offered a stinging assessment of prospective number one draft pick Cooper Flagg.
The Dallas Mavericks are still celebrating winning the NBA Draft Lottery, defying odds of just 1.8 percent, that they only had due to winning a coin toss.
The Mavericks are set to take Cooper Flagg, the consensus number one pick, and they will not be trading the opportunity away.
Flagg will become the Mavericks’ new hero, with the fanbase recently left disconsolate after superstar player Luka Doncic was traded away in the middle of the night.
But how good can Flagg become? Former NBA star Tony Allen does not see the ‘generational’ hype.
Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty ImagesTony Allen compares Cooper Flagg to Andrei Kirilenko
Former Boston Celtics and Memphis Grizzlies star Tony Allen believes Cooper Flagg will not be able to single-handedly turn the Dallas Mavericks around.
And while perhaps he does not need to, due to the high caliber talent already on the Mavericks, who still made the Play-In Tournament, Allen believes it could be four years until the team see the best of Flagg.
In a heated debate speaking to The Chris Vernon Show on Grind City Media, Allen insisted: “I don’t think Cooper Flagg is going to turn their franchise around like that. I’m serious.”
Allen listed a number of players with unique traits, noting that he does not see any standout similarities in Flagg’s game that jump out to him.
“First he hyped up coming out of Duke, that’s extra pressure. He’s nice. I ain’t seeing KD, I don’t see that.
“He’s not a knockdown three kind of Klay Thompson. He don’t have that kind of shot. I don’t see that Zion Williamson type athleticism… I don’t see his handle.
“I’m saying he’s got a lot of work to do. You will see the upside of this kid probably in his fourth year.”
Amid pushback on his claims, Allen doubled down, adding: “I don’t see it. I’m not even hating. I don’t see it bro.
“When KD came from Texas it was like damn, he’s 6’10, he got a handle, he shooting it all up, he going to the hole.”
Allen claims the upside he sees with Cooper Flagg is former Utah Jazz player Andrei Kirilenko, a former first round pick in 1999, who spent 10 years with the Utah Jazz between 2001 and 2011, before spells with the Nets and the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Kirilenko, nicknamed AK-47, was a one-time All-Star, but not the superstar type player the Mavericks hope Flagg can become.
Allen said: “I’m giving him Andrei Kirilenko. That’s a cornerstone piece you can put in your organization, they still going to need a number one down the line.”
‘Cooper Flagg won’t win Rookie of the Year’
Asked whether Cooper Flagg will win the Rookie of the Year Award for 2025-26, Allen had a simple answer.
“No. Wherever Fears go, wherever Jeremiah Fears go, he’s the one.”
Jeremiah Fears has been projected by ESPN as the number five overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, the pick owned by the Utah Jazz.
Amid the Jazz’s disappointment at missing out on number one, if Allen’s prediction is correct, they might end up in a stronger position than they currently realize.