After a historic rookie campaign, the nineteen-year-old phenom is shattering expectations and solidifying his place as a versatile cornerstone capable of leading Dallas into a new era.
The hype surrounding Cooper Flagg has officially moved beyond rookie excitement and into something much bigger. Around the NBA, the conversation is already shifting toward where the Dallas Mavericks star could eventually rank among the league’s elite players.
And after the season that he just had at 19 years old, the expectations are skyrocketing.
In a recent article by ESPN's Jeremy Woo, where he talks a bit about the upcoming draft lottery, he went into Flagg, but when talking about the Mavs. And he had nothing but overwhelmingly good things to say.
"It can't be stressed enough how far ahead of schedule Flagg showed to be on the offensive end this season -- a development many around the NBA feel gives him a chance to develop into being one of the league's best players," Woo writes.
Coop became the only teenager in NBA history to score 50 points in a game, and he was consistently able to carry the Mavericks through stretches where the roster around him struggled with injuries and inconsistency.
He averaged 21 points, just under seven rebounds, and 4.5 assists, affecting the game in just about every way. Flagg was also able to get it done on the defensive end, guarding basically every position, and doing it effectively.
That all-around dominance is a huge reason why people around the league are already discussing him as a future top-10 player in basketball.
That might not necessarily come as a complete shock, given how hyped up he was coming out of Duke, but he is somehow even farther ahead of schedule than one might have thought.
Not long ago, there were major questions surrounding the organization’s direction after the blockbuster Luka Dončić trade and a chaotic transitional period. Now, Dallas appears to already have another foundational superstar capable of leading the franchise for the next decade.
The scary part for the rest of the league is that Flagg may still be scratching the surface. His outside shot should improve with experience, and his physical development is still ongoing, given his age. If those areas continue progressing, it becomes much easier to understand why NBA observers already believe he could eventually sit in the same conversations as the league’s biggest names.
For Dallas, the future suddenly looks far brighter than many expected just one year ago.