Dallas Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg drew a huge crowd to the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas. Candice Ward USA TODAY NETWORK
In the final moments leading up to the debut of the NBA’s latest No. 1 overall pick in summer league action, Kon Knueppel was as curious as everybody else.
Before his former Duke teammate took the floor inside the Thomas & Mack Center on Thursday night, the Charlotte Hornets rookie anticipated big things from Cooper Flagg in his initial outing with the Dallas Mavericks — a nationally televised grand introduction to the masses who weren’t familiar with his game.
“I’m just trying to keep in contact with him,” Knueppel said. “Obviously, you want the best for him. He’s just a really good guy. And that’s more than anything basketball-wise, that’s what’s most important.
“I’m looking forward to seeing him play and I’m sure he’ll do great.”
Turns out Knueppel wasn’t overly prophetic. Flagg had other thoughts.
“Coaches had a lot of confidence in me, told me they wanted me to experiment, try some new things,” Flagg said. “I was trying to be aggressive and that’s new for me, too. I’ll say that might be one of the worst games of my life. But we got the win so that’s what really matters to me.”
Dallas Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg (32) looks to pass the ball against the Los Angeles Lakers in the first quarter of their game at Thomas & Mack Center. Candice Ward USA TODAY NETWORK
Flagg was solid enough in the Mavs’ 87-85 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers, showing off the skill set that aided in propelling the Blue Devils on their ACC Championship title run and berth in the NCAA Tournament championship game.
Although statistics can be misleading during summer league action because of the level of competition, Flagg certainly filled up the box score, posting 10 points on 5-of-21 shooting — misfiring on all five 3-point attempts — with six rebounds, four assists and three steals.
“I’ve just got to find a rhythm,” Flagg said. “Really, I just couldn’t get into a rhythm. This is a different environment. Honestly, very different from college, probably way different than what the NBA is going to be like. So, I’m just trying to find a rhythm. It’s a new team, new environment. I’m not worried, but obviously I’m just not happy with the way it went. But at the end of the day, we did get the win.”
Flagg’s summer league coach had another assessment of how things went and it’s not quite as harsh as the 18-year-old’s critique of himself.
“I thought great, I thought great,” Mavs assistant coach Josh Broghamer said when asked what he thought of Flagg’s performance. “One thing, you get that ball in your hands, the conditioning aspect comes into play. They were picking him up full court, they were trapping him. They were being super physical with him in the post or anytime he drove it.
“So, that’s something obviously for him, he’s at a high level conditioning-wise, but continue to go. He just had the draft and three workouts and all that stiff and now he’s coming in and playing fives again. So, that will get better, and he just makes the right play over and over again. And the shots were falling. And if he keeps passing to his teammates they’ll keep knocking them down.”
Even the subplots surrounding Flagg were ultra-competitive, likely pumped up by the massive crowd. Any time Flagg got matched up with Bronny James, the son of star LeBron James, the fans cheered enthusiastically, almost egging Flagg on.
James got whistled for a foul on one sequence while bodying Flagg up in the paint and Flagg sparked a huge reaction minutes later when he hit a mid-range spinning jumper over James to the delight of the throngs of Mavs well-wishers in the arena.
“This crowd was high energy, a lot of fans,” Flagg said. “Everybody showed and then you tap into some of that energy. That’s why we play, live for those types of moments in games. It’s a very similar feeling to being in those college environments.”
Flagg gave them a taste of his nifty passing skills, leading one fast break with a nice feed to Moussa Cisse for an easy layup, which is certainly what the Mavs are looking for. Upon drafting Flagg, Dallas coach Jason Kidd mentioned they were thinking about putting the ball in Flagg’s hands during summer league, hoping to make him uncomfortable so it aids his development.
At Duke, Flagg averaged 4.2 assists and running the offense through him could benefit the Mavs, particularly with Kyrie Irving likely missing the bulk — if not all — of the 2025-26 regular season while he rehabs a torn left ACL.
Putting the ball in his hands would also allow him to be more of a triple threat, providing him with ample opportunities to let it fly like he did against the Lakers — except with better results.
“My shots just weren’t falling,” Flagg said. “That’s going to happen. It’s new to me. I’ve never taken that many shots before, so that’s somewhat new. I’m going to try to figure it out, but new experience. I’m excited to keep moving forward.”