The Dallas Mavericks were fortunate enough to be able to select Cooper Flagg with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft on Wednesday night. And in the eyes of former Mavericks head coach turned CBS Sports analyst Avery Johnson, the Mavericks are getting a player perhaps even better than the superstar player they just traded away this past season.
Flagg comes into the NBA as one of the most hyped up prospects in recent memory, receiving comparisons to anyone from Kevin Garnett to LeBron James.
Only time will tell whether Flagg will ultimately live up to that kind of hype. But prior to Wednesday’s draft, Johnson shared the highly controversial opinion that Flagg is actually a better player than former Mavericks star Luka Dončić.
“Man, give me Cooper Flagg,” said Johnson when asked to pick between the two. “Cooper Flagg in this team… Yeah, give me Cooper Flagg. This team is gonna be tremendous once Kyrie Irving gets healthy. You’ll still have Anthony Davis when he gets healthy. This team, they are going to re-sign Daniel Gafford. There is talks to re-sign Kyrie Irving. This team is gonna be one of the best two-way teams in the league.
“And they didn’t really have to sacrifice any of that depth. They have quality young players coming off that bench. Klay Thompson is a champion. You are talking about a team, when healthy, that has three future Hall of Famers, with Kyrie, AD, and Klay Thompson. So, this is really exciting. The Mavericks, their future is bright. They have a window when they are healthy, the next two or three years, with this roster as currently constructed.”
“Give me Cooper Flagg.”
Former Mavericks Head Coach @CoachAvery6 says he would take the potential No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg over Luka Dončić. pic.twitter.com/Uxo6EFBIyJ
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) June 25, 2025
We see elite prospects fail to pan out all the time. So on paper, it’s still pretty absurd to say that Flagg is already better than Dončić.
Still, Johnson’s point is certainly a valid one in that if Flagg is all that he has been hyped up to be, this Mavericks team could very well be a force to be reckoned with in the Western Conference.