NBA – LeBron’s agent admits : « The Mavs are the right team for Cooper Flagg because of this »

Par Joël Pütz | Journaliste sportif

With Dallas holding the first pick in the 2025 draft, the odds of Cooper Flagg landing in Texas are astronomically high. Rich Paul, known for being LeBron James’s agent, believes this partnership would be ideal for the player.

In 2023, everyone knew from the night of the lottery who the Spurs would select with the first pick in the draft. Two years later, another Texas franchise found itself in the same situation, as the Mavericks pulled off a surprise win. Indeed, we’ve known for months that Cooper Flagg is predestined to become Adam Silver’s first draft pick on June 26.

A true college superstar at Duke, the power forward is so promising that the franchise apparently doesn’t plan on parting ways with its first-round pick, regardless of offers from the competition. And Rich Paul believes this is not without reason, as the Mavs would be the ideal environment for the young American’s debut. LeBron James’ agent spoke on Pat McAfee’s podcast:

Rich Paul convinced by the Cooper Flagg/Mavericks duet

I think there will be no trade, I think the Mavs take him. I think it’s the right thing for the kid. Obviously, there have been some teams that there that love to have him, but I think when you look at Cooper Flagg, look where he’s at today with his ability to develop next to guys like AD, Lively, and Kyrie once he’s back, I think it helps him.

Oftentimes, guys go number one, and we put so many expectations on these young players, and that’s not really realistic. This allows him to develop a real timeline; he gets to play through mistakes without all the pressure being on him to get 20-30 points a game. That’s not realistic, especially equating it to wins. So I think this will be a great environment for him.

Not saying that if he went to Utah, if he went to San Antonio, it wouldn’t. It’s okay to develop into the guy, there’s nothing wrong with developing into the guy.

Put like that, Dallas does indeed seem like the perfect destination for Flagg, perhaps more so than anywhere else in the NBA.

With several stars around him, notably Anthony Davis to offer valuable advice in the frontcourt, the young big man would immediately find himself on a competitive team without immediately becoming its figurehead. And it’s true that the prospect of a duo formed by him and AD is quite terrifying…