How Quickly can Mavericks’ Cooper Flagg Become an All-Star?

Despite the odds, Cooper Flagg is a Dallas Maverick.

Even now — months after the draft lottery and weeks removed from his Summer League debut — it feels hard to envision the best player in the ’25 draft donning a Mavericks jersey. And yet, in the coming months, Flagg will debut his two-way talents in Dallas.

At 6-foot-9, Flagg was a collegiate superstar, averaging 19.2 points on 48% shooting with nearly three stocks per game. He led Duke to the Final Four, coming up just short in his quest to make the national title.

No. 1 draft picks have a fairly proven track record of quickly parlaying their earlier success into All-Star bids. And Flagg likely fits that mold with size, athleticism and feel for the game.

Still, the jump from college to the NBA is never easy, and it could take an adjustment period even for the best player in the class. Just how quickly can Flagg achieve All-Star status?

There’s several factors that play into it: individual success, team success, the quality of the conference and more. To get an idea on just how achievable it is in the next few years, one could look at the history of other modern No. 1 picks.

We’ll go ahead and take Year 1 All-Star off the table for Flagg, not that it was likely anyways. Two seasons ago 2023’s No. 1 pick in Victor Wembanyama went for 21.4 points, 10.6 rebounds and 3.6 blocks per game, effectively ending any notion that a rookie can still be an All-Star.

Outside of that, there’s little pattern among No. 1 picks, the only one being that All-Star bids happen eventually.

Paolo Banchero and Wembanyama both earned their way onto the team in their sophomore seasons, though Banchero missed out last year due to injury. Anthony Edwards — who’s led the Timberwolves to two-straight Western Conference Finals — achieved the feat in Year 3. And Cade Cunningham did so with a breakthrough in Year 4.

Flagg mostly likely projects similarly to Banchero — a highly physical combo forward who can do plenty with the ball in-hand. But even Banchero had the advantage of growing with a lesser team, and being in the East.

It’s not inconceivable that Flagg could make the All-Star team in his second season. But given a few factors — his being in the West, playing with Anthony Davis and Kyrie Irving, and plenty more — it seems Flagg could need time to cook in the stardom kettle.