The Dallas Mavericks officially have their next face of the franchise, or so they hope. They took Cooper Flagg with the first overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, who has drawn comparisons to Scottie Pippen, Jayson Tatum, and Kawhi Leonard.
That came mere months after they traded away Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers, a move that continues to draw serious criticism. They went from the NBA Finals to winning the first overall pick with their own pick in a year. That doesn't happen.
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Cooper Flagg
Jun 25, 2025; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Cooper Flagg arrives before the first round of the 2025 NBA Draft at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images / Brad Penner-Imagn Images
Those moves in such short succession have forced people to compare the two players. One person who asked about it was former Dallas Mavericks coach Avery Johnson in a pre-draft show on CBS Sports.
"Man, give me Cooper Flagg,” Johnson said. "This team is going to be tremendous once Kyrie Irving gets healthy. They're going to re-sign Daniel Gafford, obviously. There's been talk about Kyrie Irving re-signing. This team is going to be built to be one of the best two-way teams in the league."
Doncic got off to arguably as good of a start to an NBA career as one could have before he was traded, making five All-NBA First Teams in his first six seasons, making a Western Conference Finals, and an NBA Finals. It's rare for a young prospect who mostly had below-average teams to make that kind of impact.
As high as Flagg's floor is, making him a helpful player to contend right away, some doubt his ceiling. He's not going to be the offensive hub that Doncic was for Dallas, but he could be an impactful player on both sides of the floor.
Avery Johnson was the head coach of the Mavs from 2005 to 2008, leading the team to its first NBA Finals appearance in 2006.
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