{"id":15724,"date":"2025-06-26T07:42:14","date_gmt":"2025-06-26T07:42:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/15724\/"},"modified":"2025-06-26T07:42:14","modified_gmt":"2025-06-26T07:42:14","slug":"adding-cooper-flagg-sets-up-dallas-mavericks-to-win-in-present-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/15724\/","title":{"rendered":"Adding Cooper Flagg sets up Dallas Mavericks to win in present, future"},"content":{"rendered":"

More than two hours after the fact, Nico Harrison<\/a> emerged from the Mavericks\u2019 draft room late Wednesday with a smile so fresh, one would have thought he drafted Cooper Flagg<\/a> moments earlier.<\/p>\n

Then again, it\u2019s probable Harrison has smiled every waking hour since that unfathomable night of May 12, when the Mavericks drew the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft lottery.<\/a><\/p>\n

How much does the addition of uber-talented 18-year-old Flagg<\/a> mean to the franchise? In a word, everything: present and future.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s win now. It\u2019s also win in the future,\u201d Harrison said during a post-draft news conference in Dallas. \u201cEventually it\u2019s going to be Cooper\u2019s team. We don\u2019t know when that transition will happen. So I think it\u2019s win now and then set yourself up to win in the future as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mavericks<\/p>\n

Be the smartest Mavericks fan. Get the latest news.<\/p>\n

Related:Dallas Mavericks draft Cooper Flagg No. 1 overall, ushering in new era for the franchise<\/a><\/p>\n

One of Harrison\u2019s Mavericks predecessors, Don Nelson, remarked after becoming Dallas\u2019 general manager in 1997 that the two most important things a franchise can create for fans are hope and excitement.<\/p>\n

Cooper = Hope.<\/p>\n

Flagg = Excitement.<\/p>\n

A burning question on fans\u2019 and reporters\u2019 minds as they envision 6-9 Flagg in a Mavericks uniform is what position he\u2019ll most often play.<\/a><\/p>\n

Harrison indicated the beauty in the answer is that it doesn\u2019t matter. Flagg is capable of playing, and will play, multiple positions.<\/p>\n

Related:Could Mavericks play Cooper Flagg at point guard? Former Jason Kidd teammate chimes in<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s funny that J-Kidd and I have this joke,\u201d Harrison said of coach Jason Kidd, who, yes, the GM assured Wednesday, will coach the Mavericks next season and not the Knicks.<\/a> \u201cWhen the season\u2019s over with, he passes me the ball.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd then when the season starts, I pass him the ball back. And so that would be a J-Kidd thing. But really, he\u2019s a basketball player. He can handle the ball. He can shoot. He can make plays for people. He\u2019s a good passer.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s going to be on the floor. And the big thing is who he can defend. He\u2019s a great defender. So I think positionally, you\u2019re going to see us play a different style of basketball with him and P.J. on the wings.\u201d<\/p>\n

That would be P.J. Washington<\/a>, the incumbent starting small forward when big men Dereck Lively II and Anthony Davis<\/a> are healthy.<\/p>\n

Most speculation has been that Flagg will primarily play small forward, but clearly Harrison envisions him and Washington sharing the court.<\/p>\n

The general manager said many people outside the organization don\u2019t realize how strong the Mavericks\u2019 culture is. For example, he noted that six players took Flagg out to dinner on the second night of his visit to Dallas last week<\/a>.<\/p>\n

And when Flagg worked out for about 75 minutes, Washington was among the Mavericks players watching.<\/p>\n

\u201cI said, \u2018Hey, P.J., you think you guys can play together?\u2019 \u201d Harrison recalled. \u201cHe\u2019s like, \u2018Oh yeah, we can play together.\u2019 So I don\u2019t see any jealousy. I think guys are excited to play with him and as he\u2019s ready, he\u2019s gonna get more and more opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Clearly the Mavericks understand Flagg is a gift<\/a>. Harrison called him a generational talent.<\/a><\/p>\n

For all of the physical attributes and savvy Flagg showed during his lone season at Duke, and before that, Montverde Academy in Florida, Harrison said most impressive is the way Flagg\u2019s coaches and teammates talk about him.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis coach will tell you, \u2018When I can coach my best player tough, it makes it easier to coach everybody else,\u2019 \u201d Harrison said. \u201cHis teammates will say, \u2018Best teammate I\u2019ve ever had, most competitive person.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n

Unlike most high draft choices, Flagg isn\u2019t coming to a bottom-feeder team he\u2019ll have to carry. <\/p>\n

He\u2019s coming to a franchise with fellow No. 1 overall picks Davis and Kyrie Irving, who certainly will be Naismith Basketball Hall of Famers, as will teammate Klay Thompson.<\/p>\n

Related:Nico Harrison was gifted Cooper Flagg, who\u2019s not here to be Luka Doncic. So now what?<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you really have a good culture, I don\u2019t think it matters who\u2019s the focal point or who\u2019s the guy,\u201d Harrison said. \u201cI think if you\u2019re just playing and everybody\u2019s focused on winning, then the ball is going to find people and you\u2019re going to play. … We\u2019re just gonna play basketball as he develops, as he progresses. I think his team\u2019s gonna embrace him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Photos: Celebrating Flagg Day! Mavericks fans party at American Airlines Center after Dallas drafts Cooper Flagg with No. 1 NBA draft pick<\/p>\n

\"DallasView Gallery<\/p>\n

Find more Mavericks coverage from <\/b>The Dallas Morning News<\/b> here<\/b><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"More than two hours after the fact, Nico Harrison emerged from the Mavericks\u2019 draft room late Wednesday with…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":15725,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5135],"tags":[5229,6272,2494,1596,3139,11018,6650,2629,12624,62,358,3187,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-15724","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dallas","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-anthony-davis","10":"tag-cooper-flagg","11":"tag-dallas","12":"tag-dallas-mavericks","13":"tag-kyrie-irving","14":"tag-mavericks","15":"tag-nba-draft","16":"tag-nico-harrison","17":"tag-sports","18":"tag-texas","19":"tag-tx","20":"tag-united-states","21":"tag-united-states-of-america","22":"tag-unitedstates","23":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","24":"tag-us","25":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114748545144391539","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15724","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15724"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15724\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15725"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15724"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15724"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15724"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}