3-Time NBA Champion Boldly Snubs Cooper Flagg in Favor of ‘Starting a Team With’ $50,438,478 Rookie

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Cooper Flagg has lived up to the hype this season. Even if the Dallas Mavericks aren’t exactly in the thick of the playoff hunt, Flagg has been awesome for them as a Rookie of the Year candidate. Perhaps the bigger twist about his rookie season is that several of his fellow draftees have made a compelling case as well.

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76ers Rookie Looks More Like a Franchise Player Than Cooper Flagg, NBA Champion Claims

Former NBA player Udonis Haslem, who won three titles with the Miami Heat, explained on NBA on Prime why he believes Philadelphia 76ers rookie V.J. Edgecombe has looked more like a building block than Flagg has.

Beforehand, he also tried to make it clear he wasn’t trying to fire a shot at Flagg himself.

“A lot of times, when people say no disrespect before they say something, they’re about to say something disrespectful,” Haslem said. “I know Cooper is doing his thing, I know Kon (Knueppel) is doing his thing, but VJ, out of all these guys, he is the two-way guy. He is the guy that can impact both ends of the basketball court.

“…This guy impacts the game regardless if the basketball is in his hands, and then if the basketball is in his hands, he obviously knows what to do with it… I understand it’s a great rookie class, but if I’m starting a team, I’m starting my team with a two-way guy.”

Haslem’s words reflect more on just how good Edgecombe and the rest of the 2025 NBA rookie class are, more than it is a shot at Flagg, but Flagg himself is also a pretty good two-way player.

Things can change over time. What has benefited Edgecombe is playing alongside the likes of Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid, which takes the pressure off the Sixers’ rookie to thrive offensively. Flagg technically has Anthony Davis and Kyrie Irving, but he has yet to play with Irving, and his time with Davis has been severely limited.

Perhaps when the Mavericks start building a better team around Flagg, people will get to see just how good a two-way player he is. That might be a while, or it might be next year. No matter who is seen as better, this rookie class is historically impressive.

The Sixers got a building block, and better yet, they got him on a four-year rookie contract worth $50,438,478.

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