The Dallas Mavericks were able to quickly move on from the Luka Doncic trade, landing the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft and using that pick to select former Duke Blue Devils star Cooper Flagg.
While they only had a 1.8 percent chance to win the pick, the Mavericks were given a major stroke of luck. Dallas now has a chance to develop Flagg in a winning environment and get back to being a top contender in the Western Conference quickly.
Just like Doncic, Flagg has the potential to be a generational star in the NBA. If he is able to reach his ceiling, he could end up becoming one of the top players in the entire league.
Of course, all of that is in the future. He's set to begin his professional career this season and get his feet underneath him in the NBA.
With that in mind, the legendary Shaquille O'Neal spoke out and weighed in on Flagg and his future with the Mavericks.
As shared by Alyssa Cooper of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, O'Neal is a big fan of Flagg landing in Dallas.
"Great young man. I know both his parents very, very well," O'Neal said. "Everything about this city, this organization, it's going to be the right place. And then we'll give him time to develop. We all remember Dirk [Nowitzki] wasn't Dirk when he first got here. I think this is a great organization, a great town for him to start off his NBA career."
Not only is the town a great fit for Flagg, the team that the Mavericks have put together will give him a much better start than many rookies get. Dallas has both Anthony Davis and Kyrie Irving on the roster. Irving is coming back from an ACL tear, but both players are elite NBA superstars.
In addition, the Mavericks have names like Klay Thompson, Dereck Lively II, Daniel Gafford, D'Angelo Russell, and P.J. Washington as key supporting role players.
During the 2024-25 college basketball season at Duke, Flagg's skill-set was on full display. He averaged 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.4 blocks, and 1.4 steals per game across 37 appearances. Flagg also shot 48.1 percent from the floor and 38.5 percent from three-point range.
Jason Kidd is expected to give Flagg some minutes at the point guard position this season. He's going to have a lot of different opportunities to impact the game in different positions and roles.
It will be very interesting to see what kind of rookie season Flagg can put together. Clearly, O'Neal thinks he landed in the perfect situation for him to develop.
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