Grading Cooper Flagg's NBA debut

Things went downhill after that. Flagg didn't seem to be in the wrong spots, though the drives of Stephon Castle (22 points) and Wembanyama's presence everywhere (40 points) meant that the Mavericks defense was scrambling constantly. The frontcourt got in foul trouble early, with Dereck Lively, Anthony Davis and P.J. Washington finishing with 13 fouls combined.  

The distressing part was the Mavericks' poor transition defense team-wide, though some of that was Davis, notoriously not fond of getting back on fast breaks. Flagg was part of the Spurs shooting 57.5 percent overall, but it's hard to blame the rookie. Even if Wemby drove by him for one of his many dunks. Ironically, this earns Flagg a D.

Rebounding

The best part of Flagg's debut was his work on the boards, where he collected 10 rebounds. Not bad for the starting point guard! That's especially impressive considering San Antonio often had two seven-footers on the court when Luke Kornet played, and because the Spurs didn't miss many shots. B+.

Playmaking

Flagg started at point guard for the Mavericks, a ringing endorsement from head coach Jason Kidd. He finished the game with zero assists and three turnovers, while the Spurs terrorized all Mavericks ball handlers with Castle, Devin Vassell and No. 2 pick Dylan Harper.

Again, it's not fair to expect an 18-year-old forward to come in and play point guard at the NBA level, but Wednesday might mark the beginning and end of the Flagg-at-PG experiment. D.

Hustle

Flagg may not have played all that well overall, but his struggles didn't affect his effort. Down 21 points late in the third quarter, Flagg dove for a loose ball to force a jump ball, and ended up getting himself a dunk on the subsequent Mavericks possession. B.

Facial hair

Flagg's mustache looks pretty wispy, and like most of his outside shots on Wednesday, the 'stache and the hair on his chin fail to connect. He's still only 18, so his facial hair has a lot of room to grow, but this isn't the area where Flagg wants to be compared to Larry Bird. C-.

Overall, this wasn't the debut Flagg or the Mavericks wanted. But the game exposed more of the team's flaws than it did the flaws of the No. 1 overall pick. This game was a disaster for Dallas, but for Flagg, it's a small bump in a long, long road.

In fact, things might start to look up very soon. Friday night, Flagg and the Mavericks get to play the Washington Wizards. Don't expect him to go scoreless in the first half in that one.