Duke began its road to a sixth national championship on Friday. As a No. 1 seed and the favorite to win it all, fans just wanted to see a blowout in the first game, with no funny business against a lesser No. 16 seed. The Blue Devils took care of business, winning 93-49 against Mount St. Mary’s.

They were led by four double-digit scorers, including Tyrese Proctor, Khaman Maluach, Caleb Foster and, of course, Cooper Flagg. Fans that wanted to see Flagg make a statement in his NCAA Tournament debut were left half-pleased, as he only played 22 minutes due to the lopsided score. Still, Flagg filled the stat sheet with 14 points, seven rebounds, four assists and two blocks in his short stint.

NBA general manager compares Cooper Flagg to “prime” Kawhi Leonard

Before the game even tipped off, though, a report from ESPN’s Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo surfaced that brought with it a take from an NBA general manager that tried to come up with Flagg’s best comparison to a player in the league: Kawhi Leonard.

The best comp I’ve heard from our scouts is prime Kawhi Leonard. Now, that’s not perfect because they are very different players at the same age, but it’s the one I like in terms of their style of play, two-way versatility, passing and the fact that they can both guard point guards, wings and big men. Kawhi’s defense was way ahead of his offense, and he has a lot of the same manufactured qualities [as Flagg] to his handle and shooting.

The GM also mentions some traits that both Flagg and Leonard share, in his opinion: unwavering confidence, relentless work ethic, IQ, and physical tools. That GM wasn’t alone in his glowing praise of Flagg.

In fact, one Western Conference executive made a bold statement about just how prepared Flagg is for the league despite his young age: “He’s as NBA-ready as any of the [No. 1] guys in the past 10 drafts, if not more“. That’s high praise considering Victor Wembanyama was just drafted first overall two seasons ago, but it’s a testament to Flagg’s overall body of work.