DALLAS — Cooper Flagg is set to make his NBA debut on Wednesday night as the Dallas Mavericks will host the San Antonio Spurs. Flagg, 18, is ready for the moment. It's a long season, of course, but the 2025 No. 1 overall pick believes in Dallas' potential as a team. So, what excites Flagg the most about this 2025-26 Mavericks squad?
“I think our depth,” Flagg told reporters after practice Tuesday. “You know, just having a deep team… We have a lot of guys that won't start, but could start on a lot of other teams in this league. Think just having that depth… is going to help us in the long run of just having a really good deep team.”
Players such as Daniel Gafford and PJ Washington may end up not starting during the 2025-26 season, yet they would likely start on many other rosters as Cooper Flagg mentioned. Dallas' depth will prove to be impactful.
Flagg also said that one specific part of the game the Mavericks have worked on in training camp and the preseason is off-ball cutting. In previous years, the offense ran through Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving. To begin this season, however, there won't be a true point guard at times on the floor with Doncic now in LA and Irving currently recovering from injury. This will lead to a number of creative lineups and a constant moving offense — and off-ball cutting will be crucial as a result.
“That's something we've talked about a lot as a team is just the off-ball cutting and we need to get a lot better at,” Flagg said. “Just continuing to work at that cutting aspect and playing off certain guys when they get it going. We have a lot of guys that can get hot on certain nights. So, just kind of feeling that out and working on that cutting and knowing when to cut and different spacings will be huge for us.”
Cooper Flagg-Anthony Davis duo
The Cooper Flagg-Anthony Davis duo will benefit from off-ball cutting with AD in the high post. Davis may even take a step forward as a play-maker with teammates consistently cutting while also having options like Dereck Lively II for a lob or Klay Thompson outside the three-point line for an open look.
“I think AD has the ability to have a great year offensively with the weapons that are around him,” Jason Kidd said of Davis' possible step forward as a play-maker.
There is plenty of reason to believe in this team. Cooper Flagg and the Mavs will begin their 2025-26 regular season at 9:30 PM EST on Wednesday night against the Spurs.
