Mavericks GM's bold take on Cooper Flagg is premature

Dallas Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison was obviously thrilled with the opportunity to draft Duke superstar Cooper Flagg No. 1 overall in the 2025 NBA Draft.

Just months after inexplicably trading away the face of his franchise, Luka Doncic, to the Los Angeles Lakers, Harris was given an unbelievable do-over with the opportunity to draft Flagg.

The Mavs had 1.8% odds to win the NBA Draft lottery, but there they were on Wednesday evening, taking the next face of their franchise to pair alongside established superstars in Kyrie Irving and Anthony Davis.

So yes, Harrison had reason to be thrilled after the pick. He even indulged in a little bit of hyperbole. 

"It's a generational talent, a once-in-a-lifetime chance," Harrison said after the draft, according to ESPN. "So just top to bottom, we're excited."

Harrison is right that Flagg has the tools to be a star in the NBA. He's an athletic, 6-foot-9, 205-pound forward who can do everything on the court. He averaged 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game for Duke as a freshman en route to being named the ACC Player of the Year and ACC Rookie of the Year.

Flagg has star potential, but is he generational? Let's cool the jets on that for a minute, because he still has to prove he can make the jump from college to the NBA and he hasn't even played a minute yet in the league.

Also, to say someone is "once in a lifetime" is to put them in the category of players that perhaps only a few in NBA history have been. We're talking about the GOATS like LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan in recent memory, and it would be hard to make an argument for anyone else.

While players like Doncic, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Kevin Durant have been superstars, even they don't deserve to be in that rare air reserved for the NBA's Mount Rushmore of "once in a lifetime" players.

Does Flagg have the potential to be in those conversations? Yes. Will he be a part of the GOAT conversations with guys like LeBron, Curry, Kobe and Jordan, though?

Anything can happen, of course, but let's see him play his rookie season first before going down that road.