Sam Vecenie: Cooper Flagg is 'on par with Zion Williamson' as ...

There is a thought that the Duke Blue Devils should enjoy star freshman Cooper Flagg this season because he will likely be moving on to the NBA after one season in college. After all, he’s considered a top prospect for the next level.

Cooper Flagg has been so good that he’s even beginning to draw comparisons to another former Duke player, Zion Williamson. Even Sam Vecenie on Game Theory shared that he thinks the two are on par as far as being NBA prospects is concerned.

“He’s unbelievable,” Sam Vecenie said. “He is on par with Zion Williamson as a prospect to me. People melted down about Zion. I think Zion showcased a little bit higher of a ceiling at Duke, but you can’t underestimate the floor. We knew that Zion had a real floor with the injuries. He had been hurt leading into his season at Duke. He largely stayed healthy at Duke other than a couple of minor speed bumps.”

While Williamson and Flagg aren’t exactly the same player, they both received plenty of hype before the draft and while they played at Duke. In Williamson’s case, he ended up being the first overall pick and going to the New Orleans Pelicans. There, he’s struggled to live up to expectations and battled injuries. However, where Vecenie believes Flagg is unique from Williamson is in his floor as a prospect.

“Cooper Flagg’s floor is so much higher than what Zion’s is. Yeah, I guess Zion’s ceiling is a little bit higher, but I don’t know how much higher,” Vecenie said. “It’s not like crazy, crazy, ridiculously higher. It was higher, but when you throw in the floor, I don’t know, man. If you made me bet right now, I will have a higher grade on Cooper than I did on Zion. If you made me kind of say that. That’s the last, like, you know, great player to come through the draft process through college, right. Victor Wembanyama is a whole other ball game and everything. That’s a whole other consideration when translating European stats to the NBA. College-wise, Cooper has been unbelievable. There’s no other way to put it.”

This season, Flagg is averaging 19.7 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 4.0 assists per game. He’s shooting 48.6 percent from the field and 36.6 percent from three-point range. That’s fewer points and rebounds on average from Williamson’s only college season, but more assists. It’s also a lower shooting percentage, but slightly higher from three-point range.

The NBA certainly appears to be on the horizon for Cooper Flagg. For now, though, his focus is going to stay on his time at Duke where he hopes to lead the Blue Devils on a deep run in March.