Welcome To The New Era: It Is Flagg Day
We look at the player Cooper is right now, what he isn't, and what we can expect soon.
This is all too weird, of course. And frankly, nobody asked for any of this.
One year ago today, the Dallas Mavericks were trying to look on the bright side of finishing second in the NBA Finals and starting a window-opening where they knew they were close to winning it all around their Slovenian superstar (perhaps multiple times).
They had figured out how to beat multiple strong sides but came up short against the final boss in Boston. One offseason and adding Klay Thompson, Naji Marshall, and Quentin Grimes might add what they needed to finally break on through to the other side.
They did none of that, of course. Oklahoma City won the title and they didn’t even have to consider how to beat the Celtics or the Mavericks because neither team showed up in their path. Dallas did not show up for the rematch because they decided they were done with Luka Doncic. The first piece I wrote that first morning after the trade was entitled, “Mavericks Trade Luka Doncic Away and Nobody Knows Why.”
I believe we still have little to no clarity on why they thought it was a good idea to send him to the Lakers and maybe more importantly why they thought they should move him without any other franchise having a clue he was even available.
But, that dark day in DFW sports is never coming back. We move on, whether we like it or not.
Now 100 days after trading Doncic away, the Mavericks were given a lifeline by winning the NBA lottery (many suggest way too conveniently) and were granted the drafting rights of the next NBA superstar to be.
This one is from Maine and is the youngest prospect we can recall as Cooper Flagg is 18 years, 6 months, 5 days old on this draft day. He won’t turn 19 until four days before Christmas.
He should have just graduated high school and preparing to attend Duke in the fall. Instead, he has already been there for his required year and won the National Player of the Year honors in all of college basketball. Tonight, at an absurdly young age, he will join the Mavericks active roster.
It is pretty insane if you think about the ride we have all been on – assuming you are still on the ride at all, which I know is taking a big leap judging from that last Mavericks piece I published – but six weeks after the lottery and 20 weeks after the trade, the franchise is born again.
It is born again in the form of young Cooper Flagg. His bar, whether he (or we) likes it or not, is to basically be on the tier with Dirk Nowitzki and Doncic. The bar is to be an All-NBA player who will be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame and to carry your franchise in Dallas deep, deep into the playoffs and to be destined to be a world champion someday.
No pressure, kid.
Seriously, though, in the short term as he remains a teenager for another 18 months, it will be vital for Flagg and those around him who run this franchise to allow growth to be incremental, steady, and reasonable as the outside world jumps to conclusions immediately about what he can and can’t do. We have already heard the Detlef Schrempf comp and I believe it is absurd. The “2nd best player on a good team or 3rd best player on a great team” premise is definitely not his ceiling, but it could be his floor. Either way, it does feel like we will be talking about him for ages and ages and it could all start at NBA Summer League in a few weeks time.
In the meantime, I want to write this piece today about the player he is right now.