Cooper Flagg Was Main Reason Dusty May Joined Mavericks

Apr 5, 2026; Dallas, Texas, USA; Dallas Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg (32) reacts after scoring during the first half against the Los Angeles Lakers at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Cooper Flagg Was Main Reason Dusty May Joined Mavericks

Originally posted on Dallas Mavericks on SI
By Austin Veazey | Last updated Jul 5, 2026 1:58 PM ET

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The Dallas Mavericks know how rare a prospect they have.

Cooper Flagg was electric on his way to winning Rookie of the Year, becoming the second rookie in the last 50 years to lead his team in points, rebounds, assists, and steals. When the only other company in that is Michael Jordan, there's a chance for him to go down with the all-time greats already.

That made the Mavericks an extremely attractive option this offseason for executives and coaches.

Team governor Patrick Dumont fired Nico Harrison early into the 2025-26 season, and after a long deliberation, hired Masai Ujiri to be the next team president. He gave Ujiri the authority to do whatever with the head coach, and Ujiri decided to part ways with Jason Kidd, leaving a head coaching vacancy.

A day before the 2026 NBA Draft, it was announced that the Mavs would hire Dusty May, fresh off winning a national championship at Michigan, as the next head coach.

Some people were surprised that May left Michigan after just two seasons there, especially after he had just won a championship.

However, the Mavericks checked "every box" for May, and it certainly helps that they have Cooper Flagg.

"A superstar who plays hard, who cares about his teammates, who is incredibly unselfish, those things aren’t that common, according to others. When you’re coaching at FAU, and guys like Cooper are playing in one gym, you go to another gym and find some other guys," May said in his introductory press conference on Monday.

Mavericks Have to Build Around Cooper Flagg

Masai Ujiri was very honest in his first press conference in Dallas that every decision they make will be about the future and building around Cooper Flagg.

As of now, people are struggling to see that, as the only trade that's officially been announced has been to acquire yet another forward, and they used a lottery pick on Morez Johnson, another forward.

Trades could always happen, but they have added some youth around Flagg, which was desperately needed. With how strapped the cupboard is for future draft picks, the Mavs will have to be creative on how they build around Flagg moving forward.

It would help if they could clear up some minutes in the frontcourt. As we saw last season, Flagg is versatile enough to play almost any position, but that doesn't mean he should, and he still needs some spacing around him so he can operate.

This article first appeared on Dallas Mavericks on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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