The Dallas Mavericks are one of the most interesting teams in the NBA this season, and it all comes down to their No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg. All eyes are on the former Duke star as he gets his feet wet in the pros, and he is starting to settle in through three games after a rocky debut.
Flagg is currently starting at point guard for the Mavs because of the injury to Kyrie Irving. Dallas brought in D'Angelo Russell in free agency this offseason to help fill that void, but he is currently coming off the bench while Flagg runs the show with the starting unit.
After Dallas got its first win of the season with a 139-129 victory over the Toronto Raptors on Sunday night, Russell sent a warning to the rest of the NBA about what Flagg has coming.
“Unbelievable,” Russell said of Flagg. “He's just getting started. Everybody's chasing that Flagg.”
Flagg shot just 4-for-13 in his NBA debut, a loss to the Spurs in which Victor Wembanyama stole the show with his monster performance. He improved some in his second game, an 18-point showing in a loss to the Washington Wizards, but he played some of his best basketball against the Raptors.
On Sunday night, Flagg scored 22 points on 8-for-14 shooting while splashing a pair of 3-pointers. He also added four rebounds and four assists as he settles into his new role running the Dallas offense.
It makes sense that playing point guard would take a bit of an adjustment period for Flagg, who spent a lot of time as the four-man during his time at Duke. He still did his fair share of ball-handling and initiating the offense, but he also shared that role with guys like Kon Knueppel throughout the year.
Still, it is clear that Flagg is picking things up quickly during his first week in the NBA and appears poised to be an impact player for this Mavericks squad during his rookie season. Whether it will be enough to keep them in the playoff hunt until Irving comes back remains to be seen, but it will be fascinating to watch his development throughout the season.
