2025 draft thread: THE MAVS SELECT COOPER FLAGG

[RoyTarpleysGhost]

 Ever since I read Dan's post about a potential lineup including all of Flagg/Klay/PJ/AD/Lively, I got pretty freaking excited. 

I can't tell if this is a bit.  Cooper Flagg isn't Luka Doncic.  That lineup would struggle to score 80 points per game.

[SleepingHero]

I can't tell if this is a bit.  Cooper Flagg isn't Luka Doncic.  That lineup would score 80 points per game.

He is not. That entire lineup hinges on Flagg's ability to generate offense. Its a stretch for sure as he has not shown he can do that at a "Luka" level, but I'd rather not limit what Flagg can do. Maybe he can grow into that role. Maybe he can't. I'd rather give it 10  games and see what happens while Kyrie is out.

[LukaMVP]

this was well testified in the playin game @ Memphis. we started the game with big lineups with Klay being the only guard and we started the game poorly. after we got a handler on court, even if that was Dinwiddie or Brandon, things began to look hopeful and we could stay in the match. thankfully the deficit made in the first quarter was big enough to secure us the lottery. Flagg maybe in his prime will be able to handle this job but now as a rookie he's probably not the choice of the primary ball handler for a playoff team, let alone a contender.

[LukaMVP]

He is not. That entire lineup hinges on Flagg's ability to generate offense. Its a stretch for sure as he has not shown he can do that at a "Luka" level, but I'd rather not limit what Flagg can do. Maybe he can grow into that role. Maybe he can't. I'd rather give it 10  games and see what happens while Kyrie is out.

agree i'd also like to give Flagg more freedom and space for growth. in some games maybe we can try that lineup and see what Flagg may be capable of, but i'd rather not try that in games we need to win. a solid combo guard who can preferably organise offense, defend and shoot is what this team needs and would help us more than pj would imho.

[Jmaciscool]

I wonder how many teams have had three number 1 picks on their roster at the same time?

Did a quick Google search and found a couple of recent examples:

2016 - 2017 Cavs: LeBron, Irving, Andrew Bogut (who got hurt in the first minute of the first game)

2017 - 2019 Twolves: KAT, Wiggins, Derrick Rose

[myconsumerclub]

Developing Flagg is the most important thing going forward. We probably keep the three real bigs since all 3 have an injury history and could suffer replapse so you need the talent level deep in case we are cursed by the injury bug again. TDL is likely when any trade is made after they were able to re-establish their value and being more established in the eyes of potential suitors. I know I would want to see what they do as they get back to playing and who knows who has need for such bigs when they have not even begun to test what they could have in the way of bigs to pick in the coming draft. There are a lot of bigs only teams with little chance will hit the draft for a starter since all the main contenders have centers except LA and GSW who should look to add more size in the draft. I say we should move to add some as well since it will only lower options for LA and GSW etc while giving us someone to groom as a replacement for some big we trade. Other option is to dump others we have for more picks in the draft and add a PG and or SG/PG to serve as a cheaper way to add talent and protect our ability to make moves as we manage our cap space. Coopers old PG at Duke is 6'5 and shoots 40% from 3, there are a lot of 7 foot bigs that will go later in the 2nd round and some may even slip out of the draft plus Moses Brown and Kai Jones did good as fill ins. Kessler Edwards also deserves looking at as a SF backup. OMax is about done if he does not start to improve his shooting and I mean fast. A trade for a PG would be more appropriate than drafting Dukes PG but it may be an option that factors into salary situations and given his size and ability to hit 3's so he could play at the 2 I would not rule it completely out.

[KillerLeft]

I just thought of (perhaps) my favorite thing about getting Flagg: we only have to worry about him "playing for his national team" for the olympics. No more of this Eurobasket crap. Dude is gonna be working with THIS TEAM'S trainers over most summers.

Can't believe how excited I am about that.

[LukaMVP]

duke's PG Proctor seems a decent choice and would have good chemistry with Flagg. Proctor is ranked in the mid 2nd round in mock draft so he probably wouldn't cost much imho. not sure if he's ready for nba though. we still need a proven ball handler that can preferably take some minutes at SG after Kyrie returns, a qualified sixth man that's good for 30 or more minutes a game.

[Jym]

duke's PG Proctor seems a decent choice and would have good chemistry with Flagg. Proctor is ranked in the mid 2nd round in mock draft so he probably wouldn't cost much imho. not sure if he's ready for nba though. we still need a proven ball handler that can preferably take some minutes at SG after Kyrie returns, a qualified sixth man that's good for 30 or more minutes a game.

It'd be nice if we still had that Philly 2nd rounder

[LukaMVP]

we could even turn that Philly pick into two mid-table second rounders to get Proctor and also that duke's wing as well.

[OBX Maverick]

duke's PG Proctor seems a decent choice and would have good chemistry with Flagg. Proctor is ranked in the mid 2nd round in mock draft so he probably wouldn't cost much imho. not sure if he's ready for nba though. we still need a proven ball handler that can preferably take some minutes at SG after Kyrie returns, a qualified sixth man that's good for 30 or more minutes a game.

I wouldn’t mind scooping up Proctor in the second somehow, but there is no way this team isn’t going into the season without a veteran point guard who can 1) lead the offense until Kyrie gets back and 2) play as point guard 1b as Kyrie is playing his way back into form. With some of the tradable assets on the roster, that type of player shouldn’t be too hard to find.

[LukaMVP]

agree, some of the assets we have now are better traded rather than kept, and a quality ball handler would help us more than any of these tradable assets would.

[SleepingHero]

I just thought of (perhaps) my favorite thing about getting Flagg: we only have to worry about him "playing for his national team" for the olympics. No more of this Eurobasket crap. Dude is gonna be working with THIS TEAM'S trainers over most summers.

Can't believe how excited I am about that.

I admired Luka wanting to represent his country. I didn't mind that he played over the summer. Partly because I think it kept him in shape (at least somewhat), and partly because I got to see him play in an international setting which is crazy fun. But the downsides of him never truly healing nor ever really prioritizing the Mavs hurt. A lot. 


Still going to root for Slovenia as my underdog team though.

[KillerLeft]

I admired Luka wanting to represent his country. I didn't mind that he played over the summer. Partly because I think it kept him in shape (at least somewhat), and partly because I got to see him play in an international setting which is crazy fun. But the downsides of him never truly healing nor ever really prioritizing the Mavs hurt. A lot. 


Still going to root for Slovenia as my underdog team though.

That’s cool. I did mind, personally. Kind of a lot.

I never minded with Dirk, because I always felt he was able to maintain a balance between the teams, but for the past several years, I have increasingly felt that Luka prioritized the Slovenian team over the Mavericks, resulting in him missing injury rehabilitation and not being ready for training camps. I also don’t buy that it helped him stay in shape, because he has been increasingly out of shape with each passing year.

Given that the Mavericks were providing him with generational wealth via our fan support, this was one of my major issues with Luka. This might be a step too far for some, but to me it was almost amoral.

[Dundalis]

One of the key issues as to why I think treading lightly is warranted with the current situation, is because of the potential for Nico to screw this up, and I don't even mean by attempting to trade Flagg away, since presumably Dumont won't let him. I'm talking about the need to pick a lane. Win now, vs the future. IMO, the former while still properly developing Flagg and having the assets in place to support him properly when he gets close to his prime years 3-4 years down the line, doesn't work with a strategy that aims to make the best effort possible to win now. If you wanna win now, you have to go hard with how you move assets, you can't mess around, because the conference is too strong, and the team has too many weaknesses. IMO you basically should be looking at trading Flagg if you absolutely want the win now strat to have a real chance of success. This team has too many weaknesses that I don't think marginal, even starting caliber type players makes up for. It really needs another true star. I also think the window while keeping Kyrie and AD as the foundations of the contention period is gonna be more like 2 years than 3-4 due to age and injury.

I think a hedge strategy (where essentially keeping Flagg is the only hedge) is going to result in a high likelihood of failure in the win now strat (too many weaknesses, too stacked conference), while also not providing enough assets to support Flagg with the team around him he needs when Kyrie and AD are over the hill because you are not valuing future assets in any moves you make, you are valuing immediate result assets, and throwing future value assets away to acquire them. 

The opposite scenario, making moves to acquire future value assets and put a good, but not real contending team on the floor, but high potential to build a great team on Flagg's timeline I think means giving up on the win now scenario. It means looking to see what you get for AD and/or Kyrie. This is obviously the strat competent GMs would follow.

I think there is absolutely zero chance the latter is considered by Nico. Meaning we get a hedge scenario where Nico is handicapped due to not being able to trade his most tradeable asset, that has a high likelihood of causing the win now strat to fail, and leaves us with barely any assets when Flagg is hitting his straps in a few years. Flagg isn't a European who's only experiences in America will be playing in Dallas and putting down roots there like it was with Dirk and Luka. I don't expect similar loyalty to what those two showed. 

Basically what I'm saying is the decision to keep Nico, even for just another season could have repercussions years down the line that render this 'miracle' a second big what if situation that we already have with Luka. I think Nico probably does stick around at least another year, and I think that's enough to potentially put us in a pretty bad position, since I think he 100% would trade Flagg given free reign, because it absolutely gives his win now strategy the best chance of success and therefore he will simply not make decisions congruent with having just drafted an 18 year old franchise level talent. I'm fully bracing for completely counter intuitive moves as long as he's still in charge, and that could be enough to cause major, even unrecoverable issues for any GM that eventually comes in to replace him. I know a great GM (if we somehow eventually land one), can always turn an asset poor franchise around, but it's a huge concern as long as Nico remains in the job, that our asset acquisition strategy will be completely and utterly counter intuitive.

All of the above might just be a lot of extra word salad that really boils down to Nico just being a bad GM (understatement) and the high likelihood that he simply makes really bad moves that significantly inhibit the team moving into the years you want to have the best team possible, which isn't now, but when Flagg is nearing/at his peak. Having true, uninhibited excitement about anything the team does isn't really possible while he's still the one making asset decisions, which is kinda ridiculous and sad, given how rare and incredible what happened at the lottery is.

[Chicagojk]

Would you trade Marshall or a mid first round pick (20's?). I don't think Dallas will do this, but I wonder if they really like a guard in the 20's if they would make a move. Maybe a goodish team would want a more win now player. Just wondering if one of the guards would catch Dallas interest. Give up a role player for a future piece and then fill the win now piece with a veteran in FA.

[Winter]

Honestly, Nico has to understand what happened. He's young, and if ever wants to have a career in the NBA, he's going to need to play all this more traditionally and with more input. Maybe he's stupider than we know, but I'm guessing the near-future is what we might expect: Keep Flagg and build a better roster to win soon.

I think Nico is a bit of a control freak, and didn't respond well to the very lack of control he had over Donic's medical team and his summers away from the team. I agree with some of the above that Flagg is going to be much easier to manage, especially during the off-season.

[Winter]

Would you trade Marshall or a mid first round pick (20's?).    I don't think Dallas will do this, but I wonder if they really like a guard in the 20's if they would make a move.  Maybe a goodish team would want a more win now player.  Just wondering if one of the guards would catch Dallas interest.  Give up a role player for a future piece and then fill the win now piece with a veteran in FA.

I had a similar thought, and yes I think that's entirely possible. But I think they will still need a veteran guard. I see no reason why both things can't be true given the assets the team has.

[david75090]

In my opinion, if AD thinks he's a PF, and that's his preferred position, then he and CF are redundant. I'm fairly sure that's PJW's preferred position also. AD should be the most tradeable asset that's likely to bring the most in return in a trade. Also, AD fits the Flagg timeline the least. (Fire Nico) and have our next GM follow the Flagg timeline to maximize Flagg. Use AD's contract to bring in younger talent that fit positions of need. That's what this know-it-all amateur GM (me) is seeing.

[Scott41theMavs]

In my opinion, if AD thinks he's a PF, and that's his preferred position, then he and CF are redundant. I'm fairly sure that's PJW's preferred position also. AD should be the most tradeable asset that's likely to bring the most in return in a trade. Also, AD fits the Flagg timeline the least. (Fire Nico) and have our next GM follow the Flagg timeline to maximize Flagg. Use AD's contract to bring in younger talent that fit positions of need. That's what this know-it-all amateur GM (me) is seeing.

I'm not getting the whole "Flagg is a four and a four only" argument.