Dallas Mavericks News

Home

Quizzes

Watch

Newsletter

Mark Cuban (L), Cooper Flagg (R) Mark Cuban (L), Cooper Flagg (R) Credits: IMAGO

Mark Cuban Teases Getting Cooper Flagg More Spacing

Originally posted on The SportsRush | By Terrence Jordan | Last updated Feb 5, 2026 2:35 PM ET

Cooper Flagg came into the NBA as one of the most heralded prospects of the last few decades. The former Duke freshman seemed to be the total package, combining a varied offensive bag with the size, smarts and competitiveness to be an excellent defensive player, as well.

Flagg showed plenty of flashes but still took some lumps at the start of his rookie campaign, in part because of the seemingly odd decision by Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd to play him at point guard.

Whether that trial by fire approach is paying off now, or whether Flagg is just naturally evolving as he always would have anyway, the fact remains that the Rookie of the Year favorite is on an absolute tear that has put the rest of the league on notice.

Flagg has gone nuclear in the last three games, dropping 49, 34 and 36 points, respectively, while shooting over 50% from the floor each game and averaging double-digit rebounds. The Mavs have lost each of those three games, but that’s more a reflection on the team around him than the superstar rookie, because he’s doing all he can and then some, and has been for some time.

Bill Simmons has had a long-running love affair with Flagg’s former Duke teammate Kon Knueppel, but he also loves what he sees out of the No. 1 overall pick. On his podcast after Flagg dropped 36 on his Celtics, he gushed over the rookie’s blossoming game, saying, “He went from being a really good rookie to a f****** animal in the last two months.”

“This guy’s an elite offensive player already.”@BillSimmons can’t believe the moves that Cooper Flagg already has in his arsenal as a rookie. pic.twitter.com/Ij8VGpgN9T

— The Ringer (@ringer) February 4, 2026

The Sports Guy went on to rattle off an entire list of advanced moves Flagg has already mastered, then said, “I’m dumbfounded by this. This guy was supposed to be this awesome two-way glue guy, had some offense, but was just impactful all over. This guy’s an elite offensive player already.”

The Ringer clipped Simmons’ full ode to Flagg and tweeted it out, prompting a response from Mark Cuban that honestly, should terrify the rest of the NBA. “Wait till we get him spacing so teams can’t pack the paint,” he said.

Cuban is right that Flagg has been doing all this under suboptimal conditions. The Mavs are frontcourt-heavy, a truth they began to rectify by trading away the oft-injured Anthony Davis yesterday.

Even after that, Flagg is still Dallas’ de facto point guard, and he’s been playing this whole time with a roster that’s nowhere near 100% as Dereck Lively II and Kyrie Irving have been out.

Once Kyrie comes back, that will help open the floor for Flagg, and the Mavs should also have money to spend this offseason on shooters to space the floor for him.

They also have their own first-round pick, which will almost certainly land in the lottery, and the Thunder’s first-rounder, which they received from Washington in the AD deal.

Though the West is loaded with a juggernaut in the Thunder, a potential one in the Spurs, plus many other talented teams like the Wolves, Rockets and Lakers, it would be foolish to discount the Mavs in the coming years with Flagg coming into his own.

This article first appeared on The SportsRush and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: