The Hall of Famer detailed what many may already know: Cooper Flagg is the Dallas Mavericks' future and the 2026 offseason is a crucial one in that future prospering.
Dallas Mavericks legend, Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer, and Prime Video NBA analyst Dirk Nowitzki was in attendance at Michael Finley's "Fin & Friends iCompete Experience" fundraiser over the weekend.
He spoke with the media about various Mavs topics as his former team remains at the bottom of the Western Conference and turning their attention to the NBA Draft as soon as the season is over.
"It’s going to be a big offseason," Nowitzki said.
There's no arguing that.
But among the few bright spots of this season has been the formal introduction to Cooper Flagg, the generational talent drafted No. 1 overall by Dallas last offseason. Dirk knows the team has given Flagg the keys, just as he once experienced as a franchise player.
It's now up to the front office to build a competing roster around him, something Nowitzki rarely had with much consistency during his 21 years with the Mavs.
"Obviously, if you’re the Mavericks your goal always has to be to get better and improve and build on what you got,” Nowitzki said. "They’re building on Cooper, obviously now – the obvious choice, the way he’s presented itself.
"We’ll see what happens here in the next few months, obviously - where the draft pick lands."
Currently, the Mavericks own the sixth-best odds to win the top pick for a second straight year in the draft lottery. Most mock draft simulations will have Dallas landing between 4 and 8 to select what is being considered a deep first round pool of prospects.
Flagg sat down with Nowitzki for a one-on-one interview on Prime early into the teenage phenom's rookie season. From that point forward, Nowitzki has expressed openness to helping Flagg in his development.
"I’m here for him," Nowitzki said. "Obviously, I told him. We met him a few times over this year and I let him know if there’s anything he ever needs, I’m here for him. Obviously, he’s a busy man, he’s traveling around and he’s playing super well.
"I think he’s having an incredible rookie year. I think we all know that. I think he’s exceeded expectations the way his all-around game has flourished. It’s been super fun to watch. The sky’s the limit and if he ever needs something I’m a phone call away."
Flagg is neck and neck in the Rookie of the Year race with Charlotte's sharpshooter Kon Knueppel - his former roommate at Duke last season. Dirk, as media-trained as ever, wouldn't express his outright leaning to one player or another, but spoke highly of both budding stars.
"Kon is obviously an incredible shot-maker," Nowitzki said. "He plays hard. He’s a little bit more in the mid-range than you think, can get to the basket, is smart.
"Cooper, obviously, to me has a little bit of a higher ceiling when it’s all said and done with him playing both ends, the athlete that he is, the length that he has on both ends, the playmaking that he has, the ability."
Nowitzki wishes that the two could split the award, which happened with Nowitzki's future teammate and current Mavs coach Jason Kidd in 1994-95 when he and Grant Hill were named "Co-Rookies of the Year".
"I’d love to see another co-Rookie of the Year like we did back in the days with Grant Hill and J-Kidd," Nowitzki said. "Both had an incredible year.
"To me when it’s all said and done, [Flagg] has a higher ceiling, but for this year it’s super tough. Both have had an incredible year. I wish we could give it to both."
First for the Mavs, the goal is to land a permanent general manager shortly after the season concludes. CEO Rick Welts expressed interest in finding a replacement for embattled former GM Nico Harrison before the NBA Draft, which is scheduled for June 25-26.
Dallas opened up cap space to fill out the rest of the roster by trading away Anthony Davis at the deadline. Nowitzki is intrigued to see how the extra resources are allocated in free agency.
"We’ll see what the team really looks like next year."
