Cooper Flagg's Fit on the Toronto Raptors

[@RaptorsReport]

Something I noticed prior to creating this video, and should have mentioned was Flagg's left hand driving ability. He's a right handed shooter, but he drives mostly left (defenders tend to sit on his right hand), and he looks very natural using that hand. Always an important thing to mention when discussing a prospect, so that's another thing to keep in mind.

[@HeresJonnie]

Keep up the good work! Love how you present the content. Def a cut above most the Raptors Content youtubers.

[@RaptorsReport]

Thank you! I appreciate the kind words!

[@BSJC1608]

Looking forward to your analysis on other prospects as the season goes on. As always, great video!

[@RaptorsReport]

Your comments are appreciated BSJC!

[@BSJC1608]

@RaptorsReport as are your videos hahaha. They're honestly such a lifesaver for international fans. With full time work, I can really only tune in for a handful of games each season, so your analysis really helps me keep up with the team!

[@seanstours3913]

Dylan Harper PG/SG, Ace Bailey SF, Cooper Flagg PF, Jeramiah Fears PG, Egor Demin SG are all players Raptors will consider drafting.

[@ross_1014]

I’m loving the structure of your videos. Really well presented! Pleasure to watch

[@RaptorsReport]

Thank you. Glad you're liking them!

[@mbmdallo17040]

I was at the raptors game vs orlando last night! We are ASS. This team has so many holes and i honestly dont think our bench is going to be here next season. The one player role player i would love to see develop is davion mitchell. Dude is always giving 110% every defensive play. I really see him as a future glue guy for our team like marcus smart.

[@RaptorsReport]

I thought Davion was great last night. It was definitely a depressing and embarrassing game for the Raptors. They’ll have to tender him and offer if they want to keep him though because he’ll be a free agent at the end of the season. Thankfully he’ll be an RFA though.

[@Hoop_Stats_Official]

Was definitely hard to watch...

[@pgauleygale]

I haven't watched enough of game play to see how we want to keep Mitchell and Agbaji? And Shead for that matter? Shead and Mitchell are both 6'0", Agbaji is bigger and a far better shooter t(at least this year so far) . If the Raptors are keeping all of the current starters, plus Agbaji, Ja'Kobe, Mogbo, we need another solid 5, a ball handler, and a shooter (I'd love to see more of Battle, he seems like he could develop into a good fit).

[@Hoop_Stats_Official]

Another great video. Keep them coming!

[@pgauleygale]

Let's hope for Flagg but I feel it's unlikely. I'd love to see a condensed draft analysis on the fit of the top 5 prospects. To me, Ace Bailey seems like a more likely option (and even then, dreaming), but how does he fit? Who else is on the radar for the Raptors if they get #3-#6?

[@RaptorsReport]

Over the course of the season I will be dropping more of these draft analysis episodes. I will be grinding some tape of the other prospects before I really give my opinion on them.

[@Htiy]

Shii I love bailey. Iq/rj/bailey/scottie/jak

[@robojimtv]

@Htiy horrific defense in that lineup though

[@johnhamilton2914]

If Raps pick 3 it will probably be Bailey if he is still there, imagine if he and Harper go 1,2 and Flagg is at 3, unlikely but anything could happen. If Raps pick 4,5 either Jackucionus, Demin or Edgecomb are the likely pick. If picking 6-8 it could be Maluach, Tre Johnson, Derek Queen, Asa Newell. Hope that helps.

[@robojimtv]

I see a lot of comments trying to figure out which prospect best fits alongside BBQ + Gradey but we need to stop assuming those 4 are ironclad core members. I don't think you can have all 3 of IQ, RJ and Gradey on the floor for long stretches. And i can see a world where one of IQ & RJ gets traded for a different player. Raptors just be to pick best player at their pick position. Flagg, Harper, Bailey, Jaku are all my faves. I'm less sold on Demin now that he's faced better competition. Giddey vibes. I'd potentially pick VJ over him for the defense.

[@RaptorsReport]

Yeah, I think you’re right that people have (understandably) gotten attached to the players currently on the team, and are trying to find the best fit rather than the brightest talent. Good thoughts on the other prospects. I’m going to be drilling down on the guys near the top of this draft (probably soon if they keep losing horribly). Thank you for the detailed comment!

[@FillGaps]

C Flagg is still 8 years from his prime. He can still grow skill wise. We need Def impact player. People in the net word want a number 1 and D Harper or Ace B might be better at that but not quite as good in Def.

[@Ednanadine]

Flagg sounds good but so much of Raptors play is all about chemistry. Central to that is Yak. I’m sure the Raptors management is aware. Let’s see what happens.

[@RaptorsReport]

Flagg would be able to play alongside Poeltl, and if his shot improves, he could play alongside Scottie and Poeltl with few issues.

[@HarrisonSilva-v7c]

What do you think about Darko? Are his terrible defensive schemes going to be permanent, or just for this development/tanking year. Curious to hear your thoughts. Love your videos, keep up the amazing work!

[@RaptorsReport]

As the games have gone from the "plucky team loses valiantly" variety to "team gets spanked embarrassingly" I'm beginning to lose some patience. Pat Delaney is the current defensive coach, and if you look at some of the teams he's been a part of, there hasn't been a lot of defensive success. I'll probably have a better answer at the end of the season, but things are trending in the wrong direction in my opinion.

[@HarrisonSilva-v7c]

@RaptorsReport Do you think there is a specific reason for the defensive decline, whether that be effort, tanking or just stupid decisions by the staff?

[@RaptorsReport]

@ well first of all, it’s a long season and the team has lost a lot of games. I think that takes a toll on the effort level. Secondly, I don’t think the overall idea behind the scheme (aggressive ball pressure) fits the personnel. It’s probably good from a teaching perspective (go out there and defend!) but it leads to blow-bys and lots of wasted energy. It also makes bad perimeter defenders look worse. I also think there’s a lineup element as well. Olynyk is a poor defender, and he is the main backup C now. Gradey’s D has regressed considerably and he’s playing major minutes. There’s lots of reasons I think could be working together to achieve the results we’re seeing.

[@YakDPOY]

Looked great for that 10 game stretch of success we had, all with very few people who actually play Defence. Poeltl hasn't been as good on that end either. He mainly runs a high ball pressure system that funnels people to the paint. We were guarding the 3pt line really well because of it, back line was failing, sometimes with Scottie out. Then Yak was down for a bit.. so you want rookies to boast this elite defence? Kelly Olynyk some great defender? We not even ranked last either and we lose most games. You honestly think Scottie putting up 11 3's a game is some optimal play to win that specific game? You would have Gradey Dick stand in the corner and never work on attacking the rim? Ochai same thing, mans been great in transition, he should stop that? Mogbo should just rebound? Or defence, he quite literally said no one will be hiding on defence, he not stupid. He and management don't want to ruin our draft prospects. If you build in a system to hide players, you have to hide a lot of players first off, 2nd off they don't get better by doing that. So yes, they will be permanent until they either get better at defence as players or we get better defenders to do so. You don't have to agree but what terrible defensive schemes. The ones other teams employ? The scheme itself isn't bad. For our personnel? Sure, why not employ it now when we aiming for a top pick?

[@YakDPOY]

Think of it like this, when Scouts are scouting a player on a bad team. They have to invision what the good things he does will translate in good situation. They also have to figure out if their flaws are really ALL on them. You can't critique a guys schemes to win games when he not trying to win games. That don't mean he is telling his guys to lose, it means Scottie knows he not putting up 11 3's to win that game. They are very aware of this being development time.. nows the perfect time for it. So we as fans need to do the same, see past the flaws of a young/banged up team. See the good, then invnision how that good will carry over to next itteration of that team. There will be trades, we too many offence only type players and defence wins championships. Critique him on that front when he is trying to win

[@hoalanho]

Also, darko has got to go next season, once we do land a top pick. He is a better development / assistant coach.

[@416nameless]

^ 😂

[@donaldmoroz686]

Lie detector detects this is NOT A LIE😂

[@Htiy]

I fw the offense. With good personnel it’s for sure top 10. Defense is.. questionable

[@YakDPOY]

You no clue how development works or how injuries work? or how rebuilds work? Man's putting on a masterclass, yet you drama queens call for his head. You actually believe you know more about basketball than him lol. Thats hilarious.. good jokes. They played out though, yall repeat em on the daily.

[@YakDPOY]

@@Htiy So are our players defensive capabilities. The one healthy stretch we had he bumped us up to a league average defence for that stretch. He did that with bad defenders, and defence requires 5 guys more than offence does. Only thing I am questioning is what will he look like with a complete roster, not what he looks like with a bunch of kids learning the game under him. Which seems to be going perfectly.. we want to lose, but casuals come for his head because we losing (not specifically you). Makes no sense

[@BlackHand531]

Shed is much better than micheal was as a rookie, so i'm not worried.

[@Kevin-gf6eu]

You mean Davion Mitchell?

[@JohnElcome]

My ideal pick for the Raptors is Ace Bailey. Gonna be an ideal NBA big once he adds some weight

[@SpiderMan-qs2td]

Let’s say we get Flagg and then two years from now SGA, wants to come home. Does IQ, Jakobe, & Flagg enough as a beginning package?

[@RaptorsReport]

@@SpiderMan-qs2td teams generally only trade their superstars if they ask out. I also am not sure how good Ja’Kobe or Flagg are going to be 2 years from now.

[@wainber1]

The Raptors could use multiple basketball equivalents to Canucks’ defenceman Quinn Hughes, with point production AND defensive acuity the Raptors have this season been sorely lacking. Maybe Cooper Flagg will be part of the answer should he be available for the Raptors to draft during June’s Entry Draft.

[@RaptorsReport]

I’m not that familiar with current Hockey players, but I totally agree. Any time you can get an elite two-way player, you have to take it!

[@jimmypope7123]

I’m a big fan of ace

[@kevinferris3007]

At the end of year one of a rebuild, Raptors need more talent. Raptors have had one # 1 pick. Most of the Raptors luck in the Raptors has been bad luck. If they get #1 - they pick Flagg. If not - they will take best available, hopefully not a guard. Ideally they take a centre, and have him develop as a C2. Otherwise they will possibly need to trade some one to free up minutes, but that can be worked out in June

[@308Karl]

Ace Bailey is the best choice for Toronto

[@ansel_]

I like your takes but more game footage/clips would make it much more engaging

[@RaptorsReport]

@@ansel_ I have a limited amount of time to create each of these episodes in order to get them out in a timely manner. I have streamlined the creation process as much as possible, but I still find myself without much time to spare. Clipping relevant video requires more time than the slides, which means that I need to pick and choose when to include them. I understand that it would be more visually engaging to have video synced up with my dialogue for the majority of the video, but unless I find another streamlining technique, it’s unlikely to happen. Thank you for the suggestion (sincerely), I’m always trying to improve and deliver the best quality content I can, and appreciate the feedback.

[@leecruz1086]

Do ace bailey next!

[@RaptorsReport]

It's probably between him and Harper next. Lots of Bailey fans in the comments though!

[@leecruz1086]

@@RaptorsReport i think most people also consider who will fit the best with the current core so yeah lets go ace bailey! great vids as always!

[@godfreyjohnmaranon7053]

i think the draft is a lottery that is why the atlanta hawks won the 1st pick even though they are a play in team last season

[@RaptorsReport]

You’re right that it’s a lottery. Even long odds will win occasionally.

[@donaldmoroz686]

COOOOPER AND SCOTTTIE SHEEEEEEESHHHHHH please lord 🙏

[@vintagepimpage6049]

Then we can turn the ball over 20 times a game between the both of them , plus clog the paint because no one will defend them ...sheeeeesh

[@donaldmoroz686]

@…. Trade poetlt 4a stretch center… SB, COOP, GRADET, QUICK AND STRETCH CENTER paint open, PROBLEM SOLVED 😂 funny you disregarded how good the defence will be… don’t just yap watch the video lol and stop liking your own comment.. casual

[@vintagepimpage6049]

@@donaldmoroz686 defense ... how would that matter with the other team getting 20 extra possessions a night ??

[@donaldmoroz686]

@@vintagepimpage6049 do you realize copper is 17 and Scottie is still under 25 😂 your worried about turnovers why don’t you trust the development staff that gave you pascal Scottie og and tons of other guys.. your worrried about hall handling.. worry about having core star players that play 100% everynight on both ends of the floor….. please show me a developing team with low turnovers lol gsw won back to back titles while being in the top 10 in turnovers bro… movement offence mean more turnovers especially when your a tanking team think about it… macro not micro think bigger

[@vintagepimpage6049]

@donaldmoroz686 star core players sloppy is Shawn Marion version 2.0 except with zero drive to lead or succeed

[@sfb1219]

I like this kid AJ hell be the next big thing generational talent ... and check out ace baily n harper

[@Reardon.]

Our best chance at flagg is if we are third in the tank standings

[@RaptorsReport]

How so?

[@Reardon.]

At third you have the exact same odds as first and second but because you can fall anywhere between 5th and 7th you're odds of falling out of the lottery are much more evenly spread out Go to tankathon keep an eye on third/fourth and simulate it a bunch of times they consistently end up jumping

[@Htiy]

⁠​⁠@@Reardon.go to the tankathon home page, hit more, then pick odds. Last place is objectively the best

[@Saed11109]

Dylan Harper is the answer for Raptors not Cooper. Raptors best players is already identical player as Barnes. Raptors need a go to offensive player who can be that first option and me that is Dylan Harper more then Cooper Flag ..,

[@RaptorsReport]

In my opinion, you can have your two best players be similar players, as long as they are wings/forwards. Look at the Magic and the Celtics for example.

[@bmac6037]

good news is he looks to miss most of his threes a little long. Maybe training with team USA messed him up a little bit.

[@RaptorsReport]

@@bmac6037 could be. There’s a lot of Team USA hangover going around this season.

[@canadianchungus701]

I like Scottie, Immanuel, RJ and Gradey on the starting lineup - don’t think Jakob is sticking around longterm but for now he’s alright. Flagg is the only one who won’t really get in anyone’s way. And raptors can try to run big and long with Scottie, RJ, Flagg, Mogbo and one of Poeltl / Olynyk / Boucher. Dylan Harper, Ace Bailey, Egor Demin, VJ Edgecombe just means one of the for aforementioned is about to get pushed into the bench or traded.

[@RaptorsReport]

I think with a lot of these guys, they will be worth making the effort to build around them. If that means one of the current starters has to go to the bench, or even traded, it could be worth it.

[@canadianchungus701]

@@RaptorsReport draft prospect overhyping has to stop tho - kid’s 18, translating his skills on court may take time and we haven’t had an actual NBA ready prospect since LeBron. What he does and how he plays - worst case we get ourselves an Andrei Kirilenko / best case we see defensive minded Larry Bird. I don’t think he plays center or Raptors even keep a center playing long stretches but rather they rotate 3-4 players to guard opposing team’s forward / center.

[@robojimtv]

I think you should push one of those to the bench if you can get a great player like Harper. I don't think both RJ and IQ are here long term together.

[@YakDPOY]

​@@canadianchungus701 What would it matter if it takes time, nothing screams he will be bad during his learning years about him. Harper and Bailey young too.. sure he may not hit his prime but his prime looks a lot better than most other prospects the last 10 years so its not like he be a bum for 8 years first. There just no way to look down on adding him.. you could believe in it less than some, still not a bad pick up

[@canadianchungus701]

@YakDPOY not looking down on him but also saying that I can think of 10-15 players that came into the league with a lot of hype and then either fizzled out OR in a terrible situation right now. I like to see him on an NBA court and put in at least 10-20 games in before giving an opinion

[@ADP72]

Sure...gamble that they can beat the odds and get this one player. Then what ? Should we expect a new losing "timeline"?

[@RaptorsReport]

I am doing a series of videos on the players near the top of this draft. Cooper is the first on this list because he’s the generally agreed upon #1 prospect. I am not suggesting the Raptors “gamble” on picking him, although they are currently losing games at a rate that suggest they will be in the running to select him. Thank you for the comment.

[@ADP72]

@@RaptorsReport Got it ..over-simplifying by a rebuild fatigued fan. thanks for doing the work.

[@saul-goodman]

Even if we got the number 1 pick, Masai would draft some guy we’ve never heard of before who ended up being better than Cooper Flagg

[@robojimtv]

People keep saying this but Masai really hasn't gone "off board" unless it's way later in the first round or second round. Even with Scottie, he was only seen as one place behind Suggs.

[@saul-goodman]

@ No whiteys

[@cissem4025]

@@saul-goodman white boy winter

[@saul-goodman]

@@cissem4025 you mean like doing cocaine at church? Because I did that once and I’m white

[@saul-goodman]

@@cissem4025 I had a funny reply but I think it got flagged. It’s a shame how KZbin lost its entire reason for existence when it became sullied by censorship

[@TimoMoham]

If you get a player like Flagg, then it is very clear that at a specific moment in the three years to come, you will need to trade Barness. Barness, Flagg and Dick can not work together. It is really hard to imagine those three players in the floor.

[@RaptorsReport]

@@TimoMoham I don’t understand why you would include Gradey on this. He isn’t similar to Scottie or Flagg at all. In terms of Barnes and Flagg, two large, higher usage forwards can work on the same team, as evidenced by the success of the Celtics and the Magic.

[@cissem4025]

gradey can fit anywhere, tf you talking about?

[@vintagepimpage6049]

Trade sloppy barnes and all vets above the age of 26

[@arkinsam7733]

Cooper , Scottie, RJ, Dick, IQ,

[@Jayse]

Rj traded for a stretch 5 like a kel el ware or myself turner type and we’re a playoff team

[@warwolf88]

if he fits a need for us better then any other player then yeah draft him if not pick someonne else

[@soulstice99]

Don't plant the flagg here

[@RaptorsReport]

Not a fan of his?