The fortunes of the Dallas Mavericks franchise turned around in an instant this week, thanks to the NBA draft lottery.
The Dallas organization, and their fans in particular, had suffered through a difficult few months after the front office’s heavily derided trade of star Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers.
The move outraged fans and led to calls for Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison to be fired. With the team just one season removed from a trip to the NBA Finals, things seemed to be getting desperate in Dallas.
Big man Anthony Davis struggled with an injury almost immediately on arrival as part of the February trade with the Lakers, and guard Kyrie Irving went down with a season-ending knee injury. A talented if somewhat aging team looked like it might be having its window slamming shut in the Western Conference.
Enter Cooper Flagg, the presumptive number one pick who won just about every player of the year award there is in college basketball as a freshman at Duke.
Mavs see chance to draft Flagg as ‘gift’
Nothing is a sure thing with the NBA draft until names start being called on June 25 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. But the Mavs plan to draft Flagg rather than trading away the pick, sources told ESPN this week.
Team officials reportedly, and rightly, are viewing that improbable lottery win and the chance to select Flagg as a “gift.” The Mavs only had a 1.8 percent chance of securing that top pick in the June draft, giving them some of the worst odds ever for a team that went on to win the lottery. And it seems they plan on putting that gift to use by drafting Flagg.
Plenty of teams that win the NBA draft lottery are years away from competing at the highest level of the league. That’s not the case for the Dallas Mavericks. Yes, the Doncic trade shook the Dallas faithful to their core, and it was a steep drop from being a finals team one year to a lottery team the next. But if healthy, this is a team that is ready to win right away rather than having to rebuild.
Pieces in place now
When Irving returns from his injury next season, the Mavs lineup could be downright formidable. Irving, Davis and fellow veteran Klay Thompson have all won NBA titles. And while they all are in their 30s now, the trio of veterans can provide a wealth of ability and experience when on the floor together. That certainly was what Harrison envisioned with the shocking trade, though that plan was derailed by injuries this season.
Irving, like Flagg, played at Duke. The same is true for center Dereck Lively II, who made the NBA All-Rookie Second Team in 2024 and continued to impress in his second year in the league.
“As far as Dallas goes, they’ve got a lot of really good pieces,” Flagg said at the NBA draft combine this week, as reported by the Associated Press. “D-Live, coming from Duke, that’s pretty cool. So I think it would be a really cool opportunity.”
A frontcourt of Davis, Flagg and Lively could be crowded, but that could be a good problem to have for Dallas. Pair that with Irving at the point and Thompson at shooting guard, and a healthy Mavs team could go from the lottery to causing a lot of trouble in the West.
Flagg’s defense could be key right away
When the Mavs traded Doncic, Harrison emphasized that defense wins championships. While there may have been concerns about Doncic’s effort on that side of the ball — concerns that have lingered in Los Angeles — don’t expect that to be an issue for Flagg.
The 18-year-old’s defensive ability is one of the attributes that have contributed to his astronomical ceiling as a prospect. Flagg’s longtime player development coach Matt McKenzie was asked about that defense and what it could look like for Flagg in the NBA, regardless of where he ends up.
“I think his defensive versatility is going to be something that really helps him stand out from others right away in the league,” MacKenzie told the Bangor Daily News. “His ability to switch on to different players in different positions, his intensity and grit on the defensive end is something that teams salivate over. And so I think immediately he’s going to be able to make an impact on the defensive end, and I think it is primarily because you can use them in so many different ways.”
Former Boston Celtic and current ESPN analyst Kendrick Perkins highlighted Flagg’s ability as a two-way player in an interview with the Newport, Maine, native during the draft lottery on Monday night.
“That’s something I’ve done since I was a little kid,” Flagg responded. “So I’m just going to try and keep doing that to the best of my ability.”
Flagg focused on being a complete player
Flagg also said Monday night that he is focused on trying to get better every single day in all aspects of his game. And while it’s looking increasingly likely that he will be playing for the Mavericks next season, that won’t be a sure thing until his name is called at the draft and the season begins. There will certainly be a lot of chatter about trades between now and then from pundits and GMs alike.
In the meantime, MacKenzie said Flagg and those close to him will be focused on getting him ready for the NBA.
“Right now we can only control what we can control, and Cooper’s just really happy to be in the position he’s in, and the work that he’s put in up to this point speaks for itself,” MacKenzie said. “And for him to be in this position to hopefully be drafted number one in another month or so, it’s just a dream come true for a kid from Newport, Maine, and he doesn’t take that lightly.”
Flagg is “very hungry to be the best player he can be once he does get into the NBA,” according to his longtime coach. “He wants to continue to make Maine proud.”