Cooper Flagg, Dallas Mavericks
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Cooper Flagg dribbles the ball past Walter Clayton Jr. during the second half of the preseason game.
The Dallas Mavericks have one of the most intriguing rosters heading into the 2025-26 NBA season.
They’re littered with size and length across the roster, featuring a trio of great centers in Anthony Davis, Dereck Lively II, and Daniel Gafford.
They’re stacked at the forward position as well, with No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg, P.J. Washington, and Caleb Martin.
The one department they’re lacking in, though, is point guard.
Throughout the preseason, we’ve seen Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd experiment with lineups including Flagg at point, although it remains unclear if this is something Dallas will be doing in the regular season.
When asked about the dilemma, Kidd declined to give specific details about Flagg’s potential role as the starting point guard.
“He’s got to keep an index of who got shots, what was the last shot, and that’ll come with reps. But I think he has done an incredible job of handling the situation of running the team. And the other thing that I think that is going unnoticed is that his teammates enjoy him running the team,” said Kidd via ESPN’s Tim MacMahon.
Mavericks’ Lack of Point Guard
Kyrie Irving, the team’s true floor general, is still recovering from a torn ACL suffered late last season.
And while they brought in D’Angelo Russell to handle floor general duties in the interim, he hasn’t proven to be the most reliable player over his 10-year NBA career.
Kidd started Russell at point in the first two preseason games, but then pivoted in game three to a lineup featuring Flagg orchestrating the offense, flanked by Klay Thompson, Washington, Davis, and Lively II.
While lanky and long, the lineup became a bit stagnant offensively.
Kidd pulled the plug when the Los Angeles Lakers went up 22-10 halfway through the first quarter.
The Mavs starters shot 20% from three-point range on 15 attempts with the no point guard lineup.
Considering the offensive struggles, it remains unclear if this is something Dallas will try when the real games begin.
Flagg’s Shades of Another Former Duke Star
With Flagg’s unique skillset, Kidd reportedly wondered if he could use the former Duke star like Grant Hill.
Hill, a former highly touted Blue Devil prospect, shares some similarities with this past draft’s No. 1 pick.
“Kidd saw shades of another former Duke star in Flagg’s game: Grant Hill, who shared the Rookie of the Year award with Kidd in 1994-95, when the 6-foot-8 Hill ran the point a lot for the Detroit Pistons. Kidd saw the same phenomenal blend of feel and force in Flagg that Hill had coming out of Duke,” wrote MacMahon.
While the Dallas Mavericks patiently await Irving’s return to the floor, they are going to need to find some playmaking.
Even after the preseason struggles, Flagg could find a groove with his fellow stars and work to develop his floor general skills as the regular season progresses.
“Just continuing to get comfortable. I made some mental lapses today, time and score situations. Got to know [and] be aware of what’s on the clock at all times,” the rookie phenom told the press.
“Just got to stay more attached [defensively]. Can’t let a hot player keep getting looks. So some of those things you can definitely clean up.”