Mavs Notes: Flagg, Veterans, Irving, Approach

Cooper Flagg‘s start to his NBA career with the Mavericks has been an exercise in steady progress and managing expectations, writes Grant Afseth of the Dallas Hoops Journal.

It hasn’t exactly been smooth sailing so far for the 6’9″ rookie forward, who joined a team with aspirations of contending and has unexpectedly taken on the role of starting point guard. The No. 1 overall pick is shooting just 37.3% from the floor and 28.6% on three-pointers as he learns a new role.

Flagg, for his part, is not satisfied with his performance so far, but neither is he losing confidence.

“It’s a tough league. It’s a transition,” Flagg said. “Honestly, I haven’t made a lot of shots or been as efficient as I would’ve wanted to, but I’m gonna just keep trusting the work. It’s nothing I think they should be worried about. I’m not worried about anything.”

The Mavericks share Flagg’s faith in his ability to figure things out.

“Cooper’s not the kind of player who gets rattled,” a Mavericks staffer said. “He wants to understand why something didn’t work, then figure out how to fix it. That’s rare for someone his age.”

We have more from around the Mavs:

• One way that the Mavs are helping to ease Flagg’s burden as he transitions to being the new face of the franchise is through their veteran stars, writes Tim MacMahon for ESPN. Kyrie Irving and Anthony Davis both have the perspective of being former No. 1 overall picks who entered the NBA with big expectations, and they’re using their experiences to help Flagg. “Being a No. 1 pick is still going to come with the pressure, still going to come with a lot of the inner thoughts that you want to impose on the team,” Irving said. “You want to let everybody know who you are, and you want to earn everybody’s respect. And that’s what it takes to be in this league. There’s no boys allowed. For me, it’s just making sure he doesn’t get overwhelmed or it’s not too much for him.” MacMahon describes Flagg as a 6’9″ shadow to Irving when the point guard goes through his post-practice routine, whether shooting sessions or one-on-one work.
• Head coach Jason Kidd is tantalized by the potential combination of Irving playing alongside Flagg and is hopeful that fans will get to see that duo sooner rather than later, Afseth writes. “[Irving] is going to be a perfect fit with Cooper Flagg, when you talk about his skill set of being able to dribble and score,” Kidd said. “He also creates space on the floor for Cooper, and vice versa. We just can’t wait to get Kai back, at some point. Hopefully it’s in the year of ’25 — not ’26.” Afseth notes that the optimistic timeline stands in clear contrast to the cautious approach Kidd and the Mavs have taken when previously discussing Irving’s rehabilitation schedule.
• Until Irving does return, Mavs fans shouldn’t expect a change in approach, despite the team’s early struggles to score, according to Christian Clark for The Athletic. Dallas’ offense went bone-dry in the fourth quarter against the Pistons in Mexico on Saturday, Clark writes, a trend largely indicative of the greater struggles the team has faced en route to a 2-4 start to the season. Entering Sunday, the Mavs were averaging 104.2 points per 100 possessions while every other team in the league was scoring at least 106, Clark notes. However, Kidd seems content to focus on the bigger picture rather than getting weighed down by the offense’s current struggles. “We are playing for something greater,” Kidd said about the ongoing Point Flagg experiment. “Just to have that experience early on is a blessing.”