At the heart of the league's least efficient offence, the first pick of the last Draft's shooting is not taking off. Because he is being asked to carry the ball too much?
Shooting nights follow one another but do not look the same for Cooper Flagg. Since his debut in the big league, the first pick of the 2025 Draft has been up and down in his performances. A few days after a clean outing of 15 points (6/11) and 10 rebounds against the Indiana Pacers, he followed up with 16 points and 8 rebounds against the Detroit Pistons, with a much less clean 3/14 from the field.
In the final quarter of this encounter in Mexico City, which swung in favour of Detroit, his entire team went off the rails offensively: just 17 points on 4/16 shooting, with 7 turnovers. Over these 12 minutes, Cooper Flagg only scored from the free-throw line (4/4, compared to 0/2 from the field).
"It is a difficult league. It is a transition period. Obviously, I have not made many shots or been as efficient as I would have liked, but I will continue to trust the work. I am not worried about anything. You have to continue being aggressive and believing in what we do. I think everything will be fine," said the 18-year-old player.
Concerning efficiency numbers after six games
Dallas Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg
After six matches, the rookie is admittedly averaging 13.8 points, with 6.5 rebounds and 3 assists in 32 minutes. But his shooting percentages raise questions: 37.3 percent including 28.6 percent from three-point range. And when he is on the court, the Mavs only produce 98.4 points per 100 possessions. One of the worst offensive ratings in his team.
And this, within the worst offensive threat of this start to the championship. With 104.2 points per possession, the Texans display the least efficient offence in the league.
Part of the rookie's difficulties, and therefore the Mavs', can be explained by the situation in which he has been placed. Jason Kidd has refused to start a traditional point guard this season, preferring to entrust P.J. Washington – 2.8 assists for 3 turnovers per match – and him with the responsibility of carrying the ball.
As a result, he creates more for others than the reverse. Of his 28 converted shots in total, 13 come from assists, 15 do not. Despite this ratio, his coach remains attached to this "Point Flagg" approach. "We are playing for something bigger. Having this experience from the start is a blessing," Jason Kidd still believes, who thus prefers to continue bringing his main creator, D'Angelo Russell (5 assists), off his bench.
"It can only help us in this marathon, having another ball handler capable of making decisions when we are at full strength," the coach maintains regarding his experimentation with Cooper Flagg. Whilst waiting for Kyrie Irving's return to rebalance this sharing of tasks?
This article was originally published on Basket USA.
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