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DURHAM, N.C. — It seems like a third of the teams in the NBA are tanking — OK, trying — to get Duke star Cooper Flagg.
The Nets are among them.
The Nets have gone from fighting against a rebuild to fully embracing one.
They played Wednesday in Charlotte, a fellow lottery hopeful.
And a couple of hours up the road — up on Tobacco Road, to be specific — Flagg is the franchise-changer they’re hoping for.
“It looks like we’ve finally got a No. 1 pick who’s actually a real No. 1 pick,” a Western Conference scout familiar with the 6-foot-9, 205-pound Flagg told The Post.
Flagg is averaging 19.9 points, eight rebounds and 4.1 assists, even adding 1.5 steals and 1.2 blocks.
Flagg has an all-around game, making him a rare prospect that would be an attractive complement for an established All-Star.
But for Flagg, what impresses scouts aren’t his measurables, but his mentality.
If teams are going to gamble by tanking away a season, what convinces them Flagg is the closest thing to a sure bet isn’t just ability, but coachability.
And he drove that point home in Duke’s 74-64 win over NC State.
Flagg finished a rare quiet first half Monday with just five points on 2-for-7 shooting, and the Blue Devils down by four.
During a timeout just before the break, Duke coach Jon Scheyer was blunt with his star freshman.
“Coach is always honest with me about what he thinks, and that’s one of the reasons I chose him to be my coach … he’s always honest with me and he keeps it 100,” Flagg said. “So, that’s what I need from a coach, and that’s what he does.
“He kept it honest with me. He told me I was being finesse and soft and a lot of other things. So just about responding well, and just hearing that helps me a lot.”
That’s what kind of tough love Flagg got from Montverde’s Kevin Boyle, who also coached Joel Embiid, Kyrie Irving and Scottie Barnes.
The Nets — who entered play Wednesday fifth in the NBA lottery odds — have a similar coach in Jordi Fernandez.
Honest coaching is what Flagg has had and wants — and presumably would thrive under.
“Yeah, for sure. I’ve always had coaches through AAU or high school who were always really tough on me and hard on me, at the same time letting me work through some things,” Flagg said. “That’s kind of what I need.”
Flagg responded in the second half with 23 points on 6-for-10 shooting, five rebounds, two assists and a block — even seeking contact to draw eight fouls.
“In that timeout I challenged him, because his game is not just about scoring but about impacting winning in every facet,” Scheyer said. “He knew it. Credit him for responding.
“I could go on all day about Cooper, how coachable he is. There’s maybe a few times throughout the year where he’s not going to like everything you say. A lot of guys will fight it, not acknowledge it. It’s a credit to him.”
Flagg downplays talk of his growing hype and NBA future.
But he admits the need to fight physicality with aggression going forward.
“I have to find ways to be better at combating that,” Flagg said. “It’s not a choice anymore, I have to be aggressive. What Coach told me is that’s going to create for everyone else … I can’t get anyone else open if I’m playing soft. For me, it’s no longer a choice of if I want to be aggressive or not. I have to be aggressive at all times.”
That won’t be a problem, according to Dariq Whitehead, one of four Boyle disciples on Brooklyn’s roster.
On Dec. 13, the Nets had no chance at Flagg, set to draft 15th.
Now their odds of winning the draft lottery are up to 10.5 percent — and just two games out of a Top 3 seed, all with a flat 14 percent.
And Whitehead was full of praise for Flagg, the ultimate prize.
“Everybody in the top [echelon] in the country, they have a great skill set. But for him, playing hard with it,” Whitehead told The Post. “You’ve got a lot of top guys, their skill set gets them by. For him, he has an edge with him when he’s playing. He goes out and plays like he’s the last guy on the bench. That’s what separates him from a lot of other guys, the mentality he has in going out there and playing like he’s not the No. 1 player in the country, which he is.
“Just a certain level of hunger. He’s out there playing like he’s the last guy on the bench, like he’s getting garbage minutes. And he’s playing like that … the entire time. He’s playing as hard as he can for however long he’s in the game, which is [what] separates him from a lot of guys that’s supposed to be top of the draft.”
And what makes him as close as possible to a sure thing worth tanking the Nets’ season for.
