The Flaggs get honest about the Mavericks.

At the time, it seemed so impossible that conspiracy theories sprouted up all over. The Mavericks had just a 1.8% chance to win the NBA's draft lottery and with the team's entire season having gone haywire thanks to the massively unpopular Luka Doncic trade, it hardly seemed like karma was going to line up and smile upon the franchise.

And yet on that evening in May, that's exactly what happened. The Mavericks pulled through and won the NBA's draft lottery, shocking just about all observers in the process. Among those observers were those most directly impacted by the proceedings: the family of Cooper Flagg, the Duke star who was never in doubt as the No. 1 pick in this year's draft.

Speaking to Slam magazine this week, Flagg's mother, Kelly Flagg said that of all the possibilities on the board, Dallas was one of the few the family simply overlooked.

"We never once discussed Dallas," Kelly Flagg said. "It wasn't a conversation we had."

What Will Cooper Flagg's Role With the Mavericks Be?

One of the benefits of Flagg landing in Dallas is that he won't have the typical education that young star players have in the NBA, with their first couple of seasons marked by personal growth but also by withstanding losing. Sometimes a lot of losing.

But Flagg is going into a different sort of situation in Dallas. Doncic is gone and star guard Kyrie Irving is out with a knee injury, but Flagg will be playing alongside future Hall of Famer Anthony Davis, and will have quality veterans like Dereck Lively, Daniel Gafford and D'Angelo Russell around him.

Flagg does not need to be the No. 1 option offensively. Some nights, he can even be the third option.

But playing with the likes of Davis will help Flagg focus on his notable defensive chops while also encouraging his playmaking ability. If he had gone to, say Washington, Brooklyn or Charlotte, Flagg would have had to carry the offensive load for what was sure to be an awful 2025-26 team.

Now, he gets to play a big role for a team that should be comfortably in playoff contention.

That's a good thing for a competitor like Flagg, whose Duke Blue Devils were 35-4 last season. Flagg averaged 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4.2 assists for Duke, earning national player of the year honors.

"For me," he told Slam, "it's just loving to win, loving the competition. I've always wanted to win, more than anything else. It stems from there."