Wednesday night will mark the first time since 2017 that the Dallas Mavericks will be starting the season without Luka Doncic on the roster after the controversial trade that sent him to the Los Angeles Lakers. Thankfully for the Mavericks, they received a mulligan in the form of Cooper Flagg, with the first overall pick of the 2025 NBA Draft falling in their laps despite only having a 1.8 percent chance to do so.
Now, the Mavericks have a clear path back to contention, with Flagg looking like a transformative talent who will make tons of All-Star games as well as earn tons of All-NBA nods. In fact, some fans even view him as the team's “savior”, as the next superstar to get the torch passed to him all the way from Dirk Nowitzki and then Doncic.
However, Flagg knows that the Mavericks' contending hopes don't rest solely on his shoulders and that he doesn't feel that much pressure to be the great hope this team needs to get over the loss of Doncic.
“No, not really [I don't feel like a savior]. To me, I feel like kind of the opportunity that I was given and put into this year took a lot of that pressure off of me,” Flagg said, per ClutchPoints Mavericks beat reporter Joey Mistretta.
He gave his teammates plenty of credit; with Anthony Davis and later on Kyrie Irving leading the way, Flagg isn't just about to embark on a one-man crusade to get the Mavericks back to true title-contention.
“We're a really deep team, I think that takes a lot of that pressure off of me… To just be myself and not worry about expectations to be like anybody else, but just to be me and help this team win as much as I can,” Flagg added.
Cooper Flagg, Mavericks starting point guard?
Considering how head coach Jason Kidd operated in the preseason, there is a chance that the Mavericks open the season with Flagg as their primary ballhandler — sending D'Angelo Russell to the bench.
At this point, doing so could be very good for Flagg's development and his eventual emergence as a do-it-all star on the wing for the Mavericks. He will be learning how to navigate point of attack defenses, getting his own shot, as well as balancing all those responsibilities with setting up his teammates and putting them in prime position to succeed.
And given how talented Flagg is, he should be up for the challenge — starting with Dallas' opening night tussle against the San Antonio Spurs at 9:30 PM E.T.
