Mavericks' Cooper Flagg building Rookie of the Year case

The Dallas Mavericks are home to Cooper Flagg, the No. 1 overall pick, who is in the running towards becoming the Rookie of the Year.

Flagg is averaging 17.3 points per game so far this season, which is why CBS Sports writer Sam Quinn listed him as the favorite to be the league's Rookie of the Year.

"Flagg is starting to catch up. He's up above 20 points per game in his last nine outings, and while the efficiency hasn't reached Knueppel's levels, that's mostly a function of cold 3-point shooting that should turn around. He's not playing point guard anymore, but he remains a solid wing playmaker who has plenty of on-ball responsibility," Quinn wrote.

"That's really manifesting in the clutch, where Flagg has scored 52 points on 59.3% shooting. None of his teammates have scored even half as much in those settings, and he leads the team in clutch assists as well. The Mavericks trust Flagg when it counts. That's almost never true of rookies, and we haven't even covered his defense.

"Flagg is an essential component of the No. 7 defense in basketball, one that has had practically no other front court players on the court consistently. Daniel Gafford, Anthony Davis, and Dereck Lively, the monstrous rim-protecting trio that was supposed to power this unit, has played 32 of a possible 75 games thus far. But Flagg has sat just once."