Oden was definitely a better prospect at the time than Flagg is now. Wall and Cade are definitely in the conversation. Wall was the top point guard prospect since Magic Johnson. Cooper Flagg is a very good prospect but he hasn't shown elite level defensive ability in college thus far. He has shown he can be good defensively, but not next level like Amen Thompson or Dyson Daniels. The tools just aren't there at this point. Flagg has shown better offensive tools than were expected. However from an athletic perspective he isn't a 10 of 10 type athlete. You are certainly allowed to love Cooper Flagg and as I said - he could end up being the best player of his generation and earn many accolades, but he isn't as good a prospect at this same stage as Wemby, Oden, AD or Wall and possibly not Cade - as Cade was viewed as a every 5-10 year guy. Cooper is a genuine #1 draft pick, best of his class type guy - but there have been guys like that every 4-5 years.
I usually agree with most of your takes. But this one is off. Honestly just completely wrong. Flagg has been elite defensively, but hasn’t hunted the individual stats as much in favor of playing team ball. As far as athleticism goes, he’s not a 10, but a solid 9/10. Far better than Cade, and better than AD. Wall and Cade are not in the conversation here. Period. Oden was massively overrated. The only reason he was ranked high was because of his size.
I never heard Lebron comps for Zion. Barkley comps but not Lebron. Honestly, Flagg is more similar to Lebron. 6’9 long, athletic. Not a great shot but functional, facilitates, rebounds and can be an elite defender at multiple positions.
No less than Steve Kerr has made the Zion comparison to Lebron. https://www.usatoday.com/story/spor...-james-zion-williamson-steve-kerr/1928000002/ Flagg has been compared to Pippen more than Lebron. He is not the freak physical specimen that Lebron was nor does he play with the same brutality. Not to the level that Zion, or Zanos (play on Thanos), does anyway. https://bleacherreport.com/articles...-the-next-lebron-with-a-dash-of-anthony-davis https://mcauliffebirdwatch.com/1456/sports/zion-williamson-the-next-lebron-james/#:~:text=Williamson was the number one,like the Marvel villain Thanos. Even Lebron considers Zion to be a generational talent.
Flagg is also getting hyped because he is 17. Sure other prospects like AD are seen as better but with Flagg considering he is so young his upside is def higher than somebody like Cade IMO.
Flagg is 18 years old, he is a similar age to Anthony Davis when Davis turned pro. I think taking the position that Cooper Flagg is a better prospect than Cade Cunningham is reasonable. I would say they are likely in the same tier, but that is just my opinion. Guys like Oden, Anthony Davis and Zion were higher ranked than Flagg is though. Doesn't mean Flagg won't end up being the best of that group - he certainly can, but the scouting on Oden, Davis and Zion was very very high. John Wall also was identified as the elite and the top in his class at a very early age - highest rated point guard since Magic.
He could be the best player in the past 20 years when it’s all said and done - he just isn’t the best American prep prospect since LeBron, there are wonder kids every 4-5 years.
''Dude is 6'6" .... There are several draft sites that don't even mention the guy or have him anywhere. Crazy for a kid at that size shooting 50/45/77 in Spain's top Professional League and part of the Euro-League.
edgecombe is a dawg got the defense got that tough physical mentality and now he's showing it off the dribble and shooting whole package
