The Dallas Mavericks may have fallen to 3-8 on the season after suffering a 116-114 defeat to the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday night, but at the very least, their prized rookie, Cooper Flagg, appears to be taking the next step in his career. Flagg put up a career-high 26 points to go along with nine rebounds, four assists, two steals, and one block while shooting 60 percent from the field on 15 shot attempts.
This is the kind of play that Flagg was expected to consistently put up to start his young career, which, regardless of how talented he is, was an unfair expectation to begin with. Nonetheless, for him to start putting up this sort of well-rounded stat line, all while playing with an injury, should be nothing short of a major feat.
Flagg was dealing with a thumb sprain on Monday night, with his right thumb being heavily taped, and he revealed during his postgame presser just how severe this injury actually is.
“It's doing okay. Happened [on] one of the plays the last game. I was attacking the rim and trying to dunk. It got hit off the rim a little bit. A little sprain, thumb sprain. Nothing too crazy. See, I was able to play through it tonight. I'll probably tape my thumb every game. But thumb's okay. It's obviously a little painful, but I'd say nothing crazy,” Flagg said, via ClutchPoints Mavericks beat reporter Joey Mistretta.
Cooper Flagg reveals he played through a “thumb sprain” tonight pic.twitter.com/cvt6B7mMs7
— Joey Mistretta (@JoeyMistretta_) November 11, 2025
It's not quite clear if this injury will swell up the next few days and require Flagg to miss time. But it is very promising that he wasn't able to just play through the injury, he was also able to put up the best game of his NBA career to this point.
Mavericks to team up Cooper Flagg with prized 2026 rookie?
It's looking like competing for a playoff spot is a longshot for this Mavericks team. They are already 3-8, and it's not quite clear when the likes of Anthony Davis, Dereck Lively II, and Kyrie Irving would be returning.
The smart move for the Mavs may be to tank, hope for another top pick (to chase someone like Darryn Peterson, AJ Dybantsa or Cameron Boozer) to pair with Flagg.
