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Dick Vitale Shares Ecstatic Cooper Flagg Statement After NBA Draft Lottery

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Robert Marvi | Last updated May 13, 2025 1:58 AM ET

The Dallas Mavericks have been in eclipse over the last few months. They traded away young generational superstar Luka Doncic in early February, causing their fans to become indignant, and to make matters worse, several of their key players suffered serious injuries shortly afterward.

They missed the playoffs despite some picking them to be dark horse contenders in the Western Conference, and with Kyrie Irving tearing his ACL in early March, their prospects for next season looked bleak.

But on Monday, the Mavericks won the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft via the draft lottery despite having very slim odds of doing so. It is now presumed they will use that pick on Cooper Flagg, the Duke freshman phenom.

As college basketball personality Dick Vitale pointed out in a post on X, this means they could have three starters who once played for Duke: Flagg, Irving and center Dereck Lively II.

"Wow @DukeMBB has now 3 potential starters for the @dallasmavs A moment for the Mavs fans to get excited after the heartbreaking trade of @luka7doncic .Here comes COOPER BABY @Cooper_Flagg of Nico Harrison answered!" Vitale wrote.

Wow @DukeMBB has now 3 potential starters for the @dallasmavs A moment for the Mavs fans to get excited after the heartbreaking trade of @luka7doncic .Here comes COOPER BABY @Cooper_Flagg of Nico Harrison answered!
— Dick Vitale (@DickieV) May 12, 2025

Flagg, who is originally from Maine, was a hugely anticipated high school recruit last year. A dynamic 6-foot-9 forward, he can seemingly do it all on the court, and he excels on both ends of the floor.

He averaged 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.4 blocks while shooting 48.1% from the field and 38.5% from 3-point range this past season. He led the Blue Devils to the Final Four round of the men's NCAA Tournament, where they lost in stunning fashion to Houston.

He has been compared by some to Hall of Fame forward Scottie Pippen, who won six NBA championships with the Chicago Bulls and was one of the greatest defenders in basketball history.

Lively was a promising freshman at Duke during the 2022-23 season before he turned pro. Irving averaged 17.5 points per game in his lone season there before he was the No. 1 pick in the 2011 draft.

Even with Irving expected to miss a big chunk of next season, the Mavericks could become a very potent and interesting team with Flagg, assuming it does take Flagg with the No. 1 pick.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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