NBA – The Mavericks, perfect destination for Cooper Flagg? « He gets to do this »

Par Joël Pütz | Journaliste sportif

It seems unlikely that Dallas won’t set its sights on Cooper Flagg on draft night. This would be especially wise for the franchise, given that all the conditions could be in place for the young big man to become an NBA superstar…

He’s been hailed as the first pick favorite in the 2025 draft for months, even years. That’s how much Cooper Flagg is considered a prodigy among NBA scouts… Whereas some players with such status at such a young age have ended up crumbling under the pressure before even joining the league, he only aroused even more hype in 2024-25 while playing for Duke University.

This season, several NBA franchises didn’t hesitate to tank to ensure they had a chance to draft him. But to everyone’s surprise, it was the Mavericks who received the first pick in the lottery, just three months after losing Luka Doncic and despite having Kyrie Irving and Anthony Davis on their roster. This prompted many to cry conspiracy, unsurprisingly.

Dallas could be a dream scenario for Cooper Flagg’s NBA debut

In any case, the chances of seeing him arrive in Dallas at the end of June are enormous, as the franchise has no plans to miss this opportunity. And while the latter has had a turbulent season internally, the fact remains that Flagg would have many advantages in starting his career with the 2011 champion. Advantages that were all put forward by a fan of the franchise recently, just to embellish the picture:

@All_Things_Mavs : Diving deeper into the exact situation Cooper Flagg is about to walk into with Dallas and why it’s so perfect… He’s very likely going to get playoff experience in year one. He gets to learn how to handle the pressure of being a #1 pick from two former #1 picks in AD & Kyrie.

He gets to learn how to be an elite NBA defender from Anthony Davis. He gets to improve his shot alongside one of the greatest shooters of all time in Klay Thompson. He gets to grow as a ball handler next to Kyrie Irving and under God Shammgod. He gets to learn what it means to be a winner from multiple NBA champion teammates and a head coach.

The Mavs may have missed the playoffs this year, but they have several high-quality veterans who can help the future rookie improve in every possible way. Not sure he would have had such a privilege with the Hornets or even the Wizards… The cherry on top is that he would be joining other Duke alumni there:

@All_Things_Mavs : He gets to play alongside two Blue Devils in (Dereck) Lively & Kai