Jun 27, 2025; Dallas, TX, USA; Dallas Mavericks first overall pick Cooper Flagg speaks to the media during a press conference at the Dallas Mavericks Practice Facility. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Mavericks' success with Cooper Flagg depends on this one question

Originally posted on Dallas Mavericks on SI
By Austin Veazey | Last updated Aug 30, 2025 2:15 PM ET

The Dallas Mavericks magically won the NBA Draft Lottery, awarding them the opportunity to select Cooper Flagg with the first pick. He could save the franchise after the disastrous decision to trade Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers, but there's a part of Flagg's game that has people questioning the team.

ESPN's NBA analyst Tim Legler appeared on the "DLLS Mavs" podcast with Kevin Gray Jr., where he helped preview Cooper Flagg's rookie season and revealed the one major question with Flagg's game.

"The big question is going to be, how long does it take to be a consistent three-point shooter?" Legler asked. "Because I think that is the spacing component they're going to need offensively from that position if they're going to play two bigs alongside him."

How will Cooper Flagg immediately impact the starting lineup for the Mavericks this season? @LegsESPN joined us talking Cooper Flagg, if the Mavs will be top-5 defense and more! #MFFL

: https://t.co/5a5Il03Xfn
: https://t.co/aTEg8M5iNt pic.twitter.com/tFoT4gz6NK
— DLLS Mavs (@DLLS_Mavs) August 30, 2025

Early on, the plan is for the starting lineup to likely be D'Angelo Russell, Klay Thompson, Cooper Flagg, Anthony Davis, and Dereck Lively II (or Daniel Gafford, but should be Lively). That's at least three players who will be playing out of position, as Davis should be a center but he's stubborn, Flagg should be a power forward, and Thompson is better suited as a small forward at this stage in his career.

That lineup features very little perimeter shooting, and defenses will be able to key in on Thompson off-ball. If Flagg can grow as a shooter, that helps a lot.

Cooper Flagg's Shooting Numbers Can Be Deceiving

If one were to look at Cooper Flagg's shooting splits at Duke, it'd be fair to wonder if shooting is that big of a question mark for him. After all, he shot 38.5% from three last season on 3.6 attempts per game, and those numbers rose in ACC play, shooting 44% on 3.8 attempts.

Flagg's free-throw shooting was strong, too, coming in at 84%, and free-throw shooting is always a strong indication of three-point potential. But that doesn't tell the full story.

In his two games during the NBA Summer League, Flagg shot 3/14 from three. Obviously, that's not a big enough sample size to make a judgment on how his shooting will translate to the pros, but there are things to take away from it. He was often hesitant to shoot the three, and when he did, he sometimes had a hitch at the top of his release, something he'll have to clean up.

If his shooting isn't NBA-ready early in the season, the Mavericks will be playing 1980s basketball until Kyrie Irving returns from his ACL surgery.

This article first appeared on Dallas Mavericks on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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