Long before the start of the college basketball season, Duke commit Cooper Flagg had been penciled in as the best prospect in the nation. Fast forward to today, and that’s still the same.
Nevertheless, he’s no longer the consensus best player about to take his talents to the pros. Rutgers’ Ace Bailey has also entered the conversation with his strong play this season.
With that in mind, Philadelphia 76ers star Paul George dug deep on the tape and shared his thoughts on this draft class, and he explained why he thinks Bailey’s ceiling is higher than Flagg’s.
Paul George raves about Ace Bailey’s raw talent
“I would probably go Ace Bailey,” Paul said on his podcast. “I think Ace Bailey is a little bit more raw talent. I think he can scratch a little bit more off of his surface than Cooper Flagg can, which I think both will be All-Stars.”
Of course, he also stated that Flagg had the potential to become one of the best players in the game, so it’s not like he doesn’t like what the Duke star has done so far:
“Both will be superstars, you know, once they develop, you know, and get to the NBA. I think both of them will be superstars. I think it will be a Magic Johnson, Larry Bird comparison in terms of similar body types and the parity between those two,” he argued.
At the end of the day, teams picking first overall can’t go wrong either way. Whatever these two do in March Madness could also make or break the narrative around them.