Cooper Flagg Rumors

Flagg is joining a team of future Hall of Famers, but one day he’s going to take the reins of the franchise. What advice do you have for him in that role, since you experienced it with the Mavericks? Nowitzki: It was hard for me. My personality wasn’t, ‘Hey, look at me. I’m the big speech guy. Follow me now.’ I had to grow into it. Learn through some mistakes. I’m not quite sure I can help him with advice. The only thing is keep your eyes and ears open. Keep learning from your veterans. He’s got some incredible players on the team now with Kyrie [Irving], obviously Klay [Thompson]. AD’s [Anthony Davis] been around forever. There’s so much knowledge there that he can tap into and learn from. Ask questions. How are their pregame routines? What do they eat? How do they prepare for events? What do they do with appearances? How do they interact with the media? That was key for me at the beginning, watching Michael Finley, who was a true pro. Steve Nash, learning from them.

Dallas Morning News

What's been the hardest part of going from a majority owner to now a minority?" Mark Cuban: "Not making the final personnel decisions, right?" Host: "That's what I was going to get to." Mark Cuban: "You know, oh yeah—let's trade one of the top three players in the NBA, right? I wouldn't have done it, but it's done. And so, you know, sometimes the basketball gods smile on you and you get Cooper Flagg and the number one pick, right? But yeah, that's been the toughest part: just not being the final decision maker when it comes to on-court decisions.

YouTube

"This just happened in Boston and in L.A. In Boston, Wyc Grousbeck, you know, decided—or came to an agreement with the new owners of the Celtics—that he’s not going to remain in charge. And he was going to remain in charge as the CEO. It’s a different kind of operation than mine. We haven’t seen what will happen with Jeanie Buss. Jeanie says she’s going to retain control." Mark Cuban: "You know, you’ve got to have 15% to be a governor, right? I have 27%. And that was intentional." "So what happened? Mark Cuban: There were things in the contract that I don’t want to get into. I’ve already said this—there’s no reason to relitigate it. It’s done. It’s done, right? I’d rather talk about Cooper Flagg and what’s next because I can’t change any of it. What’s done is done. I try not to look back and think, 'would’ve, could’ve, should’ve,' because that doesn’t change sh*t. I’m still a Mavs fan for life, and that’s what matters."

YouTube

DLLS Mavs: Mark Cuban reacts to the Luka Doncic trade: "We all were hurt when Luka got traded. Me as much as anyone because I felt like I let people down by not being there. But what's done is done. We got Cooper. The basketball gods were looking down on us, and Coop's the real deal. He's not even 19 years old. He could literally, depending on science, play for the Mavs for 25 years. I'm guessing if we do well and win, those sentiments will change."

x.com

League sources tell The Stein Line that an extension for Washington is likely. While he is no longer an automatic starter in Dallas after the Mavericks stunningly won the draft lottery in May and the right to select Cooper Flagg with the No. 1 overall pick, Washington only just turned 27 himself on Saturday and has no shortage of admirers in front offices around the league.

marcstein.substack.com

"I think he's the most complete player we've seen come into the NBA in recent memory. Not saying he doesn't have room to grow; he still has a ton of room to grow, but I mean, he passes, he shoots, he defends, he rebounds, he seems like a great teammate and seems like a great kid," Griffin said on the "Post Moves" show. "What's the red flag? Which is very exciting for basketball to have these young guys. Wemby is very complete as well, but Cooper is able to play so many different positions, guard so many different positions… I'm just excited for him to start this journey."

Yahoo! Sports

Former NBA star Blake Griffin believes the Dallas Mavericks struck gold with rookie Cooper Flagg, calling the 18-year-old forward the most complete player to enter the league in recent memory. “He passes, he shoots, he defends, he rebounds,” Griffin said in a recent interview. “He seems like a great teammate [and] a great kid. He's the most complete player that we've seen come into the NBA in recent memory... Like, what's the red flag? But, like, what’s the red flag? Which is really exciting for basketball to have these young guys.”

Clutch Points

Griffin said Dallas is the perfect landing spot for Flagg. “I love that he’s in Dallas,” Griffin said. “I think they have a really solid team around him. Most No. 1 picks are going to teams that haven’t been doing too great in the past. But I’m just excited for him to start this journey.”

Clutch Points

Tom Orsborn: Per the NBA, the scheduled matchup between Cooper Flagg and Dylan Harper would mark only the 2nd time since 1966 the top 2 picks in the same NBA Draft will face each other in the 1st regular-season game for both players. The previous instance was in 2015 (Karl-Anthony Towns and D’Angelo Russell).

bsky.app

James Ham: League source confirms Kings open the season Oct. 22 in Phoenix against the Suns. Home opener is set for Oct. 24 against the Jazz. Hearing Kings play Cooper Flagg and the Mavs in Sacramento on Dec. 27 and again on Jan. 6. De'Aaron Fox returns to Golden 1 on March 17.

Twitter

Marc Stein: If the Mavericks’ provisional schedule holds, Dallas will play San Antonio at home on Opening Night on Oct. 22 in a showdown pitting No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg against No. 2 pick Dylan Harper, league sources tell @TheSteinLine and @DLLS_Sports.

Twitter

That's not to say that Flagg won't win MVP eventually. But it's also worth noting that sources at NBA summer league pointed out a couple of minor deficiencies in Flagg's game that he'll need to iron out over his first couple of years in the league to rise to the level he's projected to reach. After that, several factors -- that are beyond his control -- come into play, including overall team success, media narratives and how Flagg's NBA peers are performing. Flagg possesses the background as the most promising American No. 1 pick since LeBron James and the all-around game that will draw the around-the-clock attention consideration from MVP voters.

ESPN

Lively discussed the event and was also asked about the Mavericks landing the first overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, which ended up being Cooper Flagg. “It was an insane moment,” Lively told reporters. “Grateful for it. We welcome in Coop with open arms. You know, I called him earlier today. And he's always having a smile on his face, always cracking a joke. “So I'm making sure that he's feeling as comfortable as possible. Giving him any little detail or any little thing to get him by because whenever I was in his position, I remember how frightened I was and I was 19, he's 18.”

Clutch Points

Carter Bryant, Spurs: I’ll couch this by saying I thought Bryant did some positive things, especially at the defensive end. He had multiple impressive on-ball sequences, including turns against Cooper Flagg in the Spurs’ contest against Dallas. The future stopper potential is definitely there. Bryant also made some nice reads that, unfortunately, didn’t result in assists, and he blocked 10 shots in six games. However, his overall offense was a complete dud, with some head-scratching shoot-pass decisions and blown finishes. In six games (including a couple in the California Classic), he had six 2-point baskets, and he had more turnovers (19) than field goals (14). I’m still relatively bullish on Bryant because of his defense and the fact that his 3-point shooting (8 of 31 this summer) should straighten out, but a 3.0 PER for summer league is no bueno.

New York Times