Just months after torturing their fanbase by trading franchise cornerstone Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers , the Dallas Mavericks lucked into winning the 2025 NBA Draft Lottery, earning the first overall pick. Their lotto luck paved the path for the Mavs to select Cooper Flagg out of Duke with the top selection in the draft.
Flagg's still waiting to make his official NBA debut, but fans have gotten a chance to see the former Blue Devils superstar in Vegas Summer League, where the 18-year-old has already started two games.
However, after the new face of the Mavericks' franchise scored 31 points while shooting 10-of-21 from the floor, the team decided to shut Flagg down for the rest of summer league.
While it's a bit of a disappointing development, it's the latest sign that Flagg is arriving in the NBA exactly as advertised, as a potential superstar.
Plus, the Mavericks don't want to risk an injury to one of their top players in an exhibition matchup. He scored just 10 points in his summer league debut, but the Mavs were clearly more than impressed with what they saw on Saturday, where he broke out for 31 more points.
No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg dropped 31 points… and was a HIGHLIGHT REEL in his 2nd game of Vegas action 🔥💥📽️ pic.twitter.com/wafUeM1lxx
— NBA (@NBA) July 12, 2025
Related: NBA Rookie of the Year 2025-26: Cooper Flagg becomes early frontrunner
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