Jay Bilas on Cooper Flagg's rookie season expectations: 'He'll have some triple-doubles'

After being selected with the No. 1 pick in Wednesday’s NBA Draft, former Duke forward Cooper Flagg heads to a Dallas Mavericks franchise built to succeed immediately. The roster boasts future Basketball Hall of Famers Kyrie Irving, Anthony Davis and Klay Thompson, along with solid pieces in Derek Lively II, P.J. Washington and Daniel Gafford.

ESPN’s Jay Bilas joined the “Pat McAfee Show” Thursday morning. There, he discussed Flagg and his expectations for his much-anticipated rookie season.

“Well, he’ll have some triple-doubles but won’t average it because he won’t need to,” Bilas said. “The key for Dallas is gonna be, can they get Kyrie Irving back healthy, kind of middle of the season? He had an ACL, so he’s gonna be able to come back from that during the season if everything goes well. Flagg is one of those guys, talking about his competitiveness and mentality, he’s not one of those guys that’s gonna go into a game thinking ‘I’m gonna get 25 in this one or I’m gonna get a triple-double.’ He really does think about making the right play every play.”

Bilas praises Cooper Flagg’s ego

As a freshman, Flagg averaged 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4.5 assists for a Duke program that advanced to the Final Four. He was named Naismith National Player of the Year and was a consensus All-American.

“He stacks the right play over and over again and at the end of the game, he may have 25 and 12 rebounds and six assists and three steals and a couple of blocks,” Bilas continued. “That’s kind of the way he’s built. He’s got this interesting combination of humility, like he doesn’t think he knows it all, and he’s gonna be a member of a team. And ego, because he knows he’s the best player.”

“He’s got a great ego. Coach [Mike Krzyzewski] used to say all the time that he wasn’t interested in ‘check your ego at the door.’ He’s like, no, bring your ego with you! Your egos are great, but blend your ego in with the ‘we’ part of the team. Make your ego part of the team. All these egos blended together are really good, and Flagg really does that. Whether learned or natural, he does that. He’s a unique dude and they don’t make ’em that good very often.”

NBA fans will get their first look at Flagg in the upcoming NBA Summer League, which is set to begin on July 5.