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After watching Team Canada lose 86-72 in a friendly exhibition yesterday, I saw the team return to its hotel in Vegas. Canadian fans lined up and cheered for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. They cheered for Jamal Murray. There was a smattering of cheers for Kelly Olynyk and the big men. One person dapped up Dillon Brooks. That’s it.
Raise the Flagg
The year of Cooper Flagg is upon us. Buckle up!
Soon-to-be Duke Blue Devil and possible No. 1 draft pick Cooper Flagg was the first college player to participate with the USA Select Team since 2013. You’re going to hear a lot about Flagg over the next 11 months as he leads a loaded class of draft prospects.
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We’ve talked about Flagg — a 6-foot-8 forward from Maine — in this space before, as he lit up the highlight reels and TikTok accounts of people tracking the next wave of basketball stars. Our own Sam Vecenie has him as the top 2025 prospect with this added context:
There are at least five players in this class who would have been taken No. 1 in the 2024 NBA Draft had they been eligible.
After his showing a few days ago against a Team USA squad expected to win the gold at the Paris Olympics, the fervor surrounding Flagg’s name will only heighten. Maybe the hype won’t reach Victor Wembanyama levels, but we’re going to see some wild stuff with Flagg’s highlights and the conversations surrounding him.
What’s interesting about Flagg is he hasn’t yet won over everyone at the college level but has now impressed NBA stars:
- Kevin Durant on Flagg: “He looks like a hell of a player. He’s 17 years old coming in here playing like a [veteran] almost. No emotion. Just going out there and doing his job. That’s a good sign.”
- Devin Booker: “He wants it — you see how bad he wants it.”
- Jaime Jaquez Jr.: “Coop was playing out of his mind.”
- Trayce Jackson-Davis: “I just think that he’s got a competitive fire, and he’s not afraid of anyone, and he’s gonna go at you. You need that as a player. And when you’re already like that, and you’re 17, the sky’s the limit.”
The big thing about Flagg is he’s already a tenacious two-way player. In fact, he’s a better defender than he is an offensive player. His handling ability is unrefined and a bit unimaginative. His jumper has a low release point, which isn’t gloom and doom but something he’ll have to account for against taller NBA players with unreasonably long arms. But those are things Flagg has plenty of time to hone and master … especially considering he doesn’t turn 18 until December.
This phrase gets thrown around far too often — and usually, it’s followed by a 😤 emoji because it’s easier than coming up with real analysis — but it applies to Flagg: This dude is a dog. He competes like crazy and will be an exceptional NBA player soon enough. We’ll be writing about him plenty here. The year of Cooper Flagg could turn into a decade or two.
The absolute Brotherhood 📸😈 @usabasketball
🇺🇸 @jaytatum0
🇺🇸 @realgranthill33
🇺🇸 @Cooper_Flagg pic.twitter.com/8k0uPAkVys— Duke Men’s Basketball (@DukeMBB) July 9, 2024
Match Game
NBA on TNT is officially on the brink
Our Andrew Marchand delivered a big scoop yesterday: The NBA has finalized media rights deals with ESPN/ABC, NBC and Amazon Prime that are off to the board of governors for approval. We’re seeing massive money heading to the NBA in this new agreement — $76 billion (that’s with a B, friends!) over the next 11 years. A key detail? The deals set up a nearly seven-day-a-week schedule for broadcasting games between the three platforms.
- ESPN is paying $2.6 billion annually to broadcast 80 regular-season games plus the playoffs (for reference, the NFL gets $2.7 billion from ESPN). And the network made sure it kept the finals during this entire deal.
- NBC is paying $2.5 billion and will air games on Tuesdays, with Peacock expected to exclusively stream Monday games. They’ll also alternate conference finals with Amazon Prime.
- Amazon Prime will pay $1.8 billion for the In-Season Tournament and Thursday broadcasts.
So, is this officially the end of the NBA on TNT? Maybe. Marchand also told us that Warner Bros. Discovery (which owns TNT) has five days to match any of these offers. They could go after NBC’s package or Amazon Prime’s. This could get extremely complicated if WBD decides to go for it. But maybe this is how “Inside the NBA” gets saved. Or maybe another platform tries to bring the show in? Either way, let’s see if the NBA will let us hold a million.
Serious Concerns
Leonard out, White steps in for Team USA
Before we get our load management and PTO jokes off as a collective basketball-loving society, it’s worth saying the news that Kawhi Leonard won’t play for Team USA in the Olympics actually bummed me out. Leonard will be replaced by recently crowned champion Derrick White, giving this Team USA its third Boston Celtics player. Funnily enough, reigning Finals MVP Jaylen Brown is not one of those three, which he seemingly found confusing yesterday. Ultimately, this might be a brilliant plan by coach Steve Kerr to try to drive dissension within the Celtics’ roster — it’s honestly galaxy brain stuff.
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Back to Kawhi, though: That he is not participating seems to be the LA Clippers’ doing. USA Basketball tweeted out this statement regarding the departure — you tell me if it reads passive-aggressively:
“Kawhi has been ramping up for the Olympics over the past several weeks and had a few strong practices in Las Vegas. He felt ready to compete. However, he respects that USA Basketball and the Clippers determined it’s in his best interest to spend the remainder of the summer preparing for the upcoming season rather than participating in the Olympic Games in Paris.”
USA Basketball does mention itself in the decision on Kawhi, but we can read between the lines and say it sounds very Clippers-influenced. That makes sense, considering he barely played in their first-round loss to Dallas in the playoffs after playing his most regular-season games (68) since 2016-17 (career-high 74). The Clippers must prioritize their season over stacking the USA squad. Just know that a new meme was born.
if i text you this i already left pic.twitter.com/l5Ky1GRU7i
— Travonne Edwards (@Travonne) July 10, 2024
On to a more pressing Team USA concern …
Yes, we could focus on the friendly match from Las Vegas last night between USA Basketball and Team Canada, where the Americans overcame some early rust to cruise to a win. Personally, I’m more worried about how few of our country’s finest basketball players on a quest for gold can’t spin a basketball on their finger. And it’s not the people you would think!
- The guys who can: Jrue Holiday, Anthony Davis, Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, Anthony Edwards. 👏 👏👏
- The guys who can’t: Steph Curry, LeBron James, Tyrese Haliburton, Joel Embiid. 🤯🤯🤯
Durant had it right when it said it was “sickening” that Embiid couldn’t pull it off. He was also right when he was incredulous at the thought of Hali not being able to spin the ball. And Curry was right to be embarrassed that he doesn’t have this trick up his sleeve. It’s one of the easiest things to do with a basketball if you have even a modicum of balance and coordination. It’s unbelievable that LeBron can’t do it.
Maybe Jaylen Brown isn’t the biggest snub for Team USA. Maybe it’s somebody else?
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Bounce Passes
New Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff explained why he thinks he can be successful in Detroit.
Former Raptors center Jontay Porter pled guilty in federal court yesterday to a conspiracy to commit wire fraud in the betting case that got him banned from the NBA.
Joe Vardon explained why Team USA is taking such a big lineup to Paris.
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(Top photo: Joe Amati / Getty Images )