Southwest Notes: Flagg, Griffin, Sengun, Grizzlies Arena

Mavericks No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg is one of the most anticipated rookies since the days of Blake Griffin. Now, Griffin himself has explained why.

Griffin appeared on the Post Moves podcast with former WNBA MVP Candace Parker and rising All-Star Aliyah Boston, where he broke down what he loves about Flagg’s game.

“I think he is the most complete player that we’ve seen come into the NBA in recent memory,” Griffin said (h/t to Grant Afseth of The Dallas Hoops Journal for the transcription). “I’m not saying he doesn’t have room to grow — he still has a ton of room to grow — but he passes, shoots, defends, rebounds. He seems like a great teammate, a great kid. There is, like, what’s the red flag? Which is really exciting for basketball to have these young guys. … Cooper is just able to play and guard so many different positions.”

There’s more out of the Southwest Division:

• Rockets All-Star big man Alperen Sengun has been working to develop a more consistent three-point shot over the summer, per Eurohoops. Sengun has been plying his trade for native Turkey in preparation for EuroBasket next week.“We mostly worked on shooting,” coach Djordje Sijan said. “I went through Partizan’s school with centers, and I can say that Sengun is the best player with his back to the basket in Europe. In the NBA, they focused on where he is dominant, and he developed to perfection. But creativity was forbidden to him. I was asked in an interview, ‘What did you do with him?’ Nothing, I let him get off the shots from all possible positions. Some coaches don’t like it. But this year we worked mostly on the three-point shot. That shot was forbidden to him.”
• The city of Memphis and the Grizzlies have been collaborating on a $550MM plan to renovate FedEx Forum, reports Samuel Hardiman of The Daily Memphian (subscriber link). Both sides want to keep the franchise in town beyond the 2028/29 end of the Grizzlies’ current lease.
• In case you missed it, the Spurs have brought in beloved NBL coach Jacob Chance to lead their NBAGL affiliate, the Austin Spurs.