Dallas Mavericks rookie Cooper Flagg will have all eyes on him when he makes his NBA regular-season debut in the coming 2025-26 campaign. On Tuesday morning, ESPN formally announced the games on its slate for Opening Week Presented by State Farm, and among them is the showdown between Texas rivals in the form of the San Antonio Spurs and the Mavs.

That game is scheduled for Oct. 22, Wednesday, at American Airlines Center in Dallas, with ESPN's coverage of the contest beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET (Eastern Time).

There are a lot of reasons for basketball fans to be excited for that meeting. Apart from Flagg's debut, that meeting between the Mavericks and the Spurs will also have two of the last three top NBA draft picks. The Spurs will have 2023 top pick Victor Wembanyama welcoming the 2025 first overall pick in Cooper Flagg.

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The Mavericks won the regular-season series against San Antonio in the 2024-25 campaign, winning three of four meetings. Dallas took the first three games before the Spurs took care of business in the finale. However, Wembanyama was only able to see action in one of those games, which was during the Spurs' 120-109 loss in both teams' season opener in Dallas. Wembanyama missed the next Dallas game with a knee issue and the final two Mavericks assignments for the Spurs due to a blood clot in his right shoulder.

Cooper Flagg carries the hope for a bright future for the Mavericks, who are still trying to establish their footing following the shocking February trade of Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers. With Flagg, the Mavs have a new young talent who appears to have the makings of the next face of the Dallas franchise. However, Dallas could face rough sledding in the coming season, with Kyrie Irving expected to miss a long period because of a torn left ACL injury.

Before turning pro, Flagg played a college basketball season with the Duke Blue Devils. During his stint under Jon Scheyer, Flagg averaged 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.4 blocks through 37 games, while making 48.1 percent of his shots from the field and 38.5 percent of his tries from behind the 3-point line.

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