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Eight days remain until Cooper Flagg can officially become a Dallas Maverick, as everyone expects, on June 25th. At the time of writing this article, he's in Dallas for his lone pre-draft visit, meeting the coaches, front-office executives, and players.
Flagg is viewed as one of the best prospects in the last decade or so, with really only Victor Wembanyama seen as a better prospect. His defensive tools, offensive skillset, and improved playmaking give him as high of a floor as we've seen.
There are some small concerns about whether his scoring ability will be able to translate to the next level. Flagg's coach at Duke, Jon Scheyer, went on the "Ryen Russillo Podcast" and has no concerns.
“His offensive skillset, and I got to see it every day in practice, was more advanced than I expected it to be, but also I thought it grew tremendously throughout the course of the season. When you look at his numbers, I think they can still wow you with what he did this past year.
"Keep in mind, we had over 20 games we won by 20+ points, he didn’t play the last five, six minutes of a game a lot. And even in the games we’d get a lead and Cooper’s passing it, doing all this. So he’s so unselfish, that’s his nature, he could’ve averaged 20+ points this year.
"Going forward, I think he’s going to be just fine because his ability to get to spots and raise over you, which you need to do in different moments of fourth quarters and playoffs and all that. He’s shiftier than you realize, his ability to beat you off the bounce and obviously as an athlete, he’d go finish above the rim. And then the fact that you have to respect his shooting, he shot 45 [percent] from three [in ACC play] as a 17-year-old, 18-year old at that point, freshman.
"So, really, to score from three, at the rim, and then the ability to create his own shot with his shiftiness, handle, and just natural instincts. I think he’s going to be one of the best scorers in the NBA in time.”
Scheyer will have a few players go in the first handful of picks this year, with Flagg going first overall, and Kon Knueppel and Khaman Maluach expected to go in the top ten. That doesn't even include players like Sion James or Tyrese Proctor who are draftable prospects as well.
More must-reads:
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Bears GM speaks out after superstar goes down with injury
Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson is expected to miss most of training camp due to a leg injury, per ESPN’s Courtney Cronin. Johnson was placed on the non-football injury list when veterans reported to Chicago for camp. He suffered the injury during offseason training, according to Bears general manager Ryan Poles. Johnson is coming off his second consecutive Pro Bowl and is headed into the second year of a four-year, $76M deal. He has dealt with a number of injuries over his career, playing no more than 15 games in a season over the first four years of his career. In 2024, he played a full season for the first time, starting all 17 games with a career-high 1,032 snaps. An extended absence into the regular season would force Chicago to find another starting cornerback among their veteran depth, but Poles said that the team is not “overly concerned” about a long-term injury. “We’ve got a lot of faith that he’s going to put in the time to rehab and be his full self when he comes back,” said Poles on Tuesday. 2023 fifth-rounder Terell Smith will likely step into a first-team role in Johnson’s absence. Chicago largely relied on a cornerback trio of Johnson, Tyrique Stevenson and Kyler Gordon last year; Smith is the only remaining defensive back on the roster who played at least 150 snaps on the boundary for the Bears in 2024, according to Pro Football Focus. Offseason signings Nick McCloud and Tre Flowers may also see a bump in reps over the coming weeks as Johnson rehabs his leg with his eyes on returning for the Bears’ Week 1 opener against the Vikings.
Rangers Sign Former Stanley Cup Champion to Tryout Agreement
The New York Rangers are adding to their forward depth ahead of their upcoming training camp. The Rangers are entering a new chapter of their organization under new head coach Mike Sullivan. After missing the postseason last year, the organization is trying to rebound and respond accordingly in 2025 and 2026. Former Stanley Cup champion forward Conor Sheary is the latest player to join the new-look Rangers. The veteran forward agreed to a professional tryout agreement (PTO) with the club and will look to earn an NHL deal with his performance in training camp and the preseason. Sheary is a veteran of 593 NHL games. Originally an undrafted free agent, he signed with the Pittsburgh Penguins after completing his collegiate career. Following a year with the Penguins' AHL affiliate, he forced his way onto the NHL squad after posting 36 points in his first 30 games of the 2015-2016 season at the AHL level. His debut NHL season went better than ever expected, and he was a key part of the Penguins' lineup that won back-to-back Stanley Cups in 2016 and 2017. Sheary's coach at the time, both at the AHL and NHL levels, was Mike Sullivan. Now, he'll get the chance to reunite with the coach under whom he won two championships. In addition to playing for the Penguins, Sheary has played for three other NHL franchises. The Pens dealt him to the Buffalo Sabres before the 2018-2019 campaign, but he would return to Pittsburgh the following season at the trade deadline. After his second stint with the Penguins, he joined the Washington Capitals. He played three seasons in Washington, D.C. before landing with the Tampa Bay Lightning, where he spent the past two years. Over his 593 career games, he's compiled 124 goals and 143 assists for 267 points. His best NHL season came during the 2016-2017 campaign, his second in the league. He scored 23 goals and added 30 assists for 53 points in 61 regular-season games.
Bruins' David Pastrnak Calls Out Canadiens' Juraj Slafkovsky: He Just Lacks Humility'
Juraj Slafkovsky is one of the most promising players in the NHL, but now he has been called out by David Pastrnak, who stated he lacks humility. After being picked No. 1 overall in 2022 NHL Draft, expectations were high in Montreal for young star Juraj Slafkovsky, and thus far, he's shown glimpses of being the elite level player many expected when he entered the National Hockey League. However, there are still some major steps to go, and in a recent interview, Boston Bruins star David Pastrnak pointed out perhaps one area where the 21-year old may need to improve moving forward. When asked about Slafkovsky and his potential, Pastrnak gave nothing but a glowing review of the young Canadiens star, but he did note that he believes Slafkovsky needs more humility. 'He's still a young player who is gaining experience in the NHL every year. This season it was already clear that he gave the team more than before...He just needs a little more humility, he should set an example for the young ones.' On the ice, there's no doubting that Slafkovsky has the presence, the size and the talent to be a true star, posting 101 total points over the past two seasons, but for whatever reason, it appears as though Pastrnak believes he needs to improve off the ice before he can take a major leap in Montreal. Ultimately, the talent is still there for Slafkovsky, and at 21-years old, he'll continue to learn off the ice, and if he can go anywhere close to living up to the potential that he's shown in his first three years at the NHL level, there's no doubt that he can be a big time star and help lead the Canadiens to significant post-season success.
Pirates' Paul Skenes continues to make Cy Young case with dominant July
Pittsburgh Pirates ace Paul Skenes continued his charge toward the National League Cy Young Award on Sunday afternoon, pitching six shutout innings against the Arizona Diamondbacks in a 6-0 win. It also completed an utterly dominant month of July that saw his performance reach an entirely new level, even for him. Including Sunday's start against Arizona, Skenes made five starts in July and threw 27 innings. He allowed just two runs in those innings, and both of them came on one swing of the bat in a July 11 start at Minnesota, where he allowed a two-run home run against Trevor Larnach. Other than that one swing, nobody scored a single run against Skenes in the month, including his one inning of work in the 2025 All-Star game. Overall, his ERA in July was a microscopic 0.67 with a 0.88 WHIP, while striking out 36 batters (12 per nine innings) and walking just three. It is almost impossible for a pitcher to be more dominant than that over a single month. He has also yet to allow a first-inning run in any start this season. All of this has only strengthened his argument for the 2025 NL Cy Young Award. Through the end of July, his ERA for the season is down to just 1.83, while he leads the National League in ERA, FIP (fielding independent pitching) and WAR (Wins Above Replacement), while trailing only Philadelphia's Zack Wheeler in WHIP (0.89 to 0.90). Sunday was the 45th start of his career, with his career ERA now sitting at 1.89. That is the third-lowest of any pitcher in baseball since ERA became an official stat in both leagues. He is sandwiched between a bunch of pitchers who played before the live-ball era. In other words, nobody watching baseball today has ever seen anything like this to start a career. The only thing working against him this season is that the Pirates offense has been consistently bad, so even with his dominance, he only owns a 6-8 record, while the Pirates are just 11-11 overall in his starts. That is a knock on the Pirates offense. Not him.
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