Mavericks battling competing timelines with Cooper Flagg benching

The Dallas Mavericks' competing timelines came to a head on Monday night.

During a 101-94 loss to the defending NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder, Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd sat rookie forward Cooper Flagg, the No. 1 overall pick of the 2025 NBA Draft, for the majority of the fourth quarter after he suffered a first-quarter injury scare and had an off shooting night, going 1-of-9 from the court.

The decision highlighted a potential conflict for the Mavericks, who are being pulled in opposite directions. On one hand, they have a veteran core that should be a playoff contender. On the other is a team building toward a future with Flagg as its star.

Cooper Flagg's benching reveals potential Mavericks conflict

After the loss, Kidd explained his decision to sit Flagg most of the fourth, telling reporters, "It wasn't his night tonight."

"We're a team, and so understand that the group that was out there put us in the position to win the game," Kidd added. (h/t ESPN)

Per PivotFade data, the Mavericks' best lineup in the fourth consisted of Max Christie, Jaden Hardy, Anthony Davis, D'Angelo Russell and P.J. Washington. The unit outscored the Thunder 20-4, helping cut what was at one point a 91-69 deficit to one before Oklahoma City ended the game on a 6-0 run.

While only one game, Dallas can't make a habit of sitting the top pick of the 2025 NBA Draft in crunch time. The prevailing sentiment after Flagg ended up with the Mavericks was that he was in an excellent place to begin his career by being surrounded by All-Star veterans, including Davis, Klay Thompson and Kyrie Irving, who is out with a torn ACL.

But Monday showed that Flagg might not have the luxury of playing through off-shooting performances. Everyone goes through slumps, but the best players muscle through those games by impacting them in other ways, whether by facilitating for others, winning 50-50 balls or playing stout defense.

With Dallas prioritizing a playoff run, Kidd can't afford to give Flagg as much leeway as many other No. 1 overall picks who usually begin their careers on bad, rebuilding teams. Flagg demonstrated in a win Sunday against the Toronto Raptors when he scored 22 points that he should be just fine in the long run. Still, Monday was a reminder that he's still a rookie, and we should expect him to experience the natural ups and downs of a player in his first season on the professional level. 

However, that doesn't fit the Mavericks' playoffs-or-bust 2025 timeline. Flagg, despite giving Dallas a bright future, must grow up in a hurry to be a consistent part of the present.