Mavericks: Expectations for Cooper Flagg in Year 1

With the 2024 NBA Draft not having a consensus top prospect, Cooper Flagg’s arrival to the NBA comes with even more excitement.

He was a superstar at Duke, earning multiple national player of the year awards, helped the Blue Devils cruise to the Final Four, and generally had one of the better one-and-done seasons we’ve seen over the last decade. 

Now, all eyes will be on the Dallas Mavericks as he joins a core that should be ready to win some games in the West. But what will expectations actually be for Flagg in his rookie season?

A brief refresher may be needed before projecting his season. At 6-foot-9, he’s one of the more physically ready top prospects we’ve seen in the last few years, offering a great frame, solid athleticism and fluid movement as a combo forward.

His scoring came in simple, albeit fairly unstoppable ways in college, with the biggest chunks seeing him as the pick-and-roll handler, getting out in transition and spotting up. The first of these will be especially potent for the Mavericks, seeing as they have numerous frontcourt weapons for him to work with, as well as star Kyrie Irving’s early-season absence due to injury.

Defensively, Flagg saw nearly three steals and blocks combined per game with the Blue Devils, offering up solid weak-side rim protection, as well as versatile on-ball defense spread across multiple positions. With such a sound defensive base in place for the Mavericks already, he should fit in flawlessly. 

Early expectations for Flagg are just to add production where he can. Dallas has a genuinely talented lineup, featuring players like Anthony Davis, Dereck Lively II, Daniel Gafford, PJ Washington, Klay Thompson and more, all of which known their way around an NBA system. He won’t necessarily be expected to be the team’s leading scorer or defender, meaning he can focus on simply playing winning basketball and let the stats come naturally.

With that being the case, he may not see the most statistically explosive debut season. But he could very well contribute to winning basketball faster than most NBA newbies, and create a solid base to build on for the future.

The Mavericks are certain to prioritize his development despite the roster's age, though, meaning he could eat up plenty of shots from some of the veterans. Somewhere in the range of 15-17 points per game — less than Davis and Irving, though more than proven role players — sounds about right. His defensive stats will likely reflect just how Dallas uses him.

The Mavericks will open their 2025-26 season with a bout against Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs on Oct. 22.