The top pick in the 2025 NBA draft wasn’t supposed to miss games this early. Cooper Flagg has carried a heavy load for a Mavericks squad drowning in injuries and scrambling to find any consistency.
His ball-handling and shot creation from the wing became essential once Kyrie Irving, Danté Exum, and Ryan Nembhard all went down. That strain might have finally caught up to him.
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Flagg is set to miss his first game Wednesday night when Dallas faces the Knicks. ESPN’s Shams Charania broke the news just hours before tip-off. The matchup airs nationally on ESPN at 8:30 p.m. ET.
Charania revealed that Flagg has been dealing with an unspecified illness over the past two days.
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“Sources just told me that Cooper Flagg will miss his first game of his NBA career tonight,” Charania said on ESPN. “He’s been feeling sick over the last 48 hours. We know he’s banged up, his thumb, his shoulder. He has been averaging 17 points per game since moving to forward, but he will be out tonight—he’s out sick.”
Dallas plays the Pelicans on Friday, so there’s a chance he returns later in the week if his condition improves.
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Through his first 15 outings this season, Flagg has posted 15.5 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 3.1 assists per game. Outside of Anthony Davis, who’s only appeared in five contests and is also sidelined, no one on Dallas has matched that scoring output.
Dallas Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg (32) reacts during the second half against the Portland Trail Blazers at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images
Losing him now strips away the one steady offensive option the team could lean on during this brutal stretch. Beyond the numbers, he was also one of the few players the coaching staff trusted to run the offense when things got tight.
The Mavericks will have to figure out how to survive without their rookie anchor, at least for now.
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