17 NBA Execs, Scouts Believe Dallas Mavericks’ Cooper Flagg Will Win Rookie of the Year

ESPN’s Jeremy Woo surveyed 20 anonymous NBA executives and scouts in Las Vegas at Summer League, and the consensus is that Dallas Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg will win the 2025-26 Rookie of the Year Award.

The Mavericks selected Flagg with the first overall pick in this year’s NBA Draft out of Duke. The youngster is expected to have a high usage rate next season since Dallas All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving is out with an ACL tear.

“The early Rookie of the Year front-runner isn’t exactly a surprise: Flagg was the No. 1 pick for good reason and is considered not only the top prospect but perhaps the most NBA-ready player in the class,” Woo wrote. “He joins a Mavericks team expected to lean on him, with Kyrie Irving recovering from tearing an ACL in March. Flagg’s playmaking skills, positional size, and defensive impact project to be immediately useful.”

Flagg shot 5-of-21 from the field and 0-of-5 from beyond the arc in his Summer League debut against the Los Angeles Lakers. He finished with 10 points, six rebounds, and four assists in 31 minutes.

Flagg bounced back in a major way in his second Summer League outing against the San Antonio Spurs. The talented swingman went off for 31 points while shooting 10-of-21 from the field and 3-of-9 from beyond the arc, showing the entire sports world why the Mavericks drafted him with the first pick.

“I assume someone like Ace Bailey or Tre Johnson may outscore Cooper as a rookie,” one Eastern Conference executive told Woo. “But Cooper will make more meaningful contributions that push Dallas into play-in range.”

The Mavericks are expected to start D’Angelo Russell, Cooper Flagg, and Anthony Davis, with the option of deploying either P.J. Washington or Klay Thompson on the wing, and one of Dereck Lively II or Daniel Gafford at center. Irving will replace Russell once he returns from his ACL injury.