5 stars vying to dethrone LeBron James and be crowned as the new face of the NBA

5) Cooper Flagg

Cooper Flagg has yet to play even a college game. However, the hype is most assuredly real, as the young Duke Blue Devil wowed when scrimmaging with Team USA this summer. Still just 17 years young, Flagg has a bright future ahead of him if all goes as planned, and will make one lucky tanking team very happy next summer.

A smooth athlete with an impressive skillset as a shooter and a facilitator, Flagg has the makings of a generational offensive talent. Defensively, he boasts a strong profile that combines his athleticism with ideal size and length and the skill and desire to guard the opposition's top weapon. Confidence is no issue for Flagg, but he'll need to prove himself continually against increasingly challenging competition.

Flagg will have a target on his back as soon as he enters the league, but that's nothing new for the nation's top recruit. The potential is simply that until it has the chance to be proven, but based on what has been seen by him so far and the additional year to two years that LeBron James inexplicably appears to still have, Flagg just might have next in the NBA.