Carmelo Anthony Gives His Scouting Report on Likely No. 1 Pick Cooper Flagg

The former Knicks star has high hopes for Cooper Flagg’s jump to the NBA.

Carmelo Anthony speaks on the potential of Cooper Flagg. / @PodcastPShow / X

The NBA draft is just a few weeks away, and all signs indicate that the Dallas Mavericks will be using their No. 1 pick to select Cooper Flagg out of Duke University.

Flagg is one of the most exciting prospects to enter the league in recent memory, and the Mavs’ shock win at the NBA draft lottery got the basketball world in a tizzy.

Carmelo Anthony knows a thing or two about entering the NBA with high expectations, going third in the 2003 draft behind LeBron James and Darko Milicic. On what was essentially a crossover episode of his podcast 7PM in Brooklyn and PodcastP with Paul George, Anthony offered his scouting report on Flagg.

“Coop is nice,” Anthony began simply enough. “To me, he doesn’t do anything great. He just does a lot of s--- very good. Offensive rebounds, very f------ good. In the passing lanes, very good. He’s a weak-side defender, very good. On-ball defender, he got a lot better.”

Anthony went on to express his excitement at the prospect of seeing Flagg go up against today’s stars of the NBA, including George, but stressed that he still needs to figure out what his “go-to” will be in the league.

Cooper Flagg has all the tools to be the real deal 💯

Melo: "He's supposed to be in my son's class ... think about how much better he is than the high school senior." pic.twitter.com/91ARbOj3yq

— Podcast P with Paul George (@PodcastPShow) May 27, 2025

While Anthony didn’t shy away from where he thought Flagg could improve, it’s very clear that he thinks extremely highly of the young player. At 18, Flagg is only going to continue developing, and Anthony, like the rest of us, is excited to see what that looks like.

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