Luka Doncic's controversial weakness is already catching up to Cooper Flagg

Luka Doncic's Achilles heel is catching up to Cooper Flagg, but he has plenty of time to turn this "weakness" into a strength.

Jared A’Latorre

Dallas Mavericks, Cooper Flagg / Garrett Ellwood/GettyImages

No one can deny that Cooper Flagg is the best 18-year-old basketball player on the planet, but if he plans to get better, he has to better preserve his energy to stay on the court and make his reps count more. Conditioning was an important subject that led to Doncic being traded. Under most circumstances, it would be ridiculous to trade a multiple-time All-NBA player in his prime just because of his conditioning skill, but it still happened.

Of course, Flagg has every reason to be the Rookie of the Year. He just became the only 18-year-old in NBA history to put up 40 points in a game. His generational talent is only being compared to guys like LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, and Tracy McGrady. Those are the three players he is up there with when it comes to most points and overall dominance as an 18-year-old in the NBA.

We're not saying that Flagg is going to put on a whole bunch of weight as Doncic did. Flagg has to decide his battles and decide how to go about them. He goes 110 percent on every single play, and his first offseason will be crucial for him to improve his conditioning and strength.

Flagg's conditioning and strength must be key focuses moving forward

Yes, he already looks good. Flagg's flying high jam on Cade Cunningham the other night is every reason to believe that he will be a well-conditioned player. We also have to factor in the obvious. An 18-year-old still has a lot to learn in that department, and he clearly looks gassed at least one time a game.

He's going all out on every play. Flagg's natural athleticism is enough to make his presence felt, and he'll learn to pick his battles and when to turn up the energy and when to take a step back. His shooting, IQ, and length on defense are enough to make a difference on the court. Players like Giannis Antetokounmpo can go 110 percent on every play, but it's going to take Flagg some time to do that.

Naturally, as Flagg gets older, his stamina will get better. Nobody anticipates another NBA GM making the same foolish mistake as Nico Harrison did with Doncic. OK, maybe Doncic did gain some weight, and maybe he didn't take his conditioning as seriously as he should've. Doncic was a generational talent, just like Flagg. Those are the kind of players that deserve patience with their journey.

Flagg has all the time in the world to gain muscle mass and improve his conditioning. He skipped a year of high school to attend Duke a year earlier. This is one of the things that Flagg and his camp were preparing for, and it's just another step along the way for what very well could be a Hall of Fame career ahead.

Other than that, there's nothing at all to say to critique Flagg, at least for now. The only other weakness about him is that he's a rookie. The media and fans don't take rookies seriously when it comes to the All-Star selections, but there's definitely a case for Flagg being an exception.

His conditioning and strength will improve over time, and despite Flagg struggling in this area, he is bound to improve soon.

Jared A’Latorre

Jared is the Site Expert of Sport DFW, and oversees Dallas sports all the time. He also spent time as a Senior Contributor to The Smoking Cuban, The Landry Hat and Gig Em' Gazette. His work has been featured on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, Yahoo Sports and MSN. He also covered various sports at Oklahoma State and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Sports Media from Oklahoma State. He's done play-by-play radio broadcasting in North Central Oklahoma and currently does play-by-play radio broadcasting for high school football in North Texas. Jared is also a co-host for Grizzlies Digest, covering the Memphis Grizzlies. In his free time, Jared loves watching sports, spending time with family and friends and watching anything Billy Bob Thornton related.