Dallas secured the face of their franchise through the NBA Draft, and a recent mock has them pairing Cooper Flagg with one of the best shooting guard prospects in years.
The Dallas Mavericks drafted the future of their franchise with the first overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, and they could be in a place to further build their future in this year's draft.
Cooper Flagg is one of the brightest young stars in the entire NBA, and the Mavs are going to build around him for the future. As a result, the team could be willing to trade most of their players in order to give him the best chance to contend.
And that is exactly what they could do in order to get a very solid pick in the 2026 NBA Draft.
In a recent mock draft from Ricky O'Donnell of SB Nation, they have the Mavericks jumping all the way up to the second overall pick. And with that pick, they think they would draft Kansas star Darryn Peterson, who is being regarded as one of the best shooting guard prospects in years.
"The Mavs jumped up from No. 8 in the lottery standings to the No. 2 pick in our sim, and if that happens Dallas fans are never allowed to complain about the Luka trade again," O'Donnell writes. "Peterson’s shot-making is a signature skill in this class, and he’s shown he has easy NBA range both off the dribble and off-the-catch. He’s a ball dominant star who demands high usage, but he also moves better without the ball than similarly heliocentric players... Peterson and Cooper Flagg would have the chance to be an all-time NBA duo."
It may be a bit of a stretch to say that Dallas could get all the way up to the second overall pick, but crazier things have happened. They were able to get the first pick this past year with just a 1.8% chance of winning the lottery, and here we are.
And if the Mavericks could secure a high draft pick, Peterson is one heck of a player to use it on.
He is averaging just under 22 points and five rebounds so far this season, and he is doing so on some incredible percentages. Peterson is shooting 49% from three and 42% from three on seven attempts per game.
He has missed some games with an ankle injury, but that does not diminish the fact that he has been outstanding when he has been playing. The 19-year-old guard scored 32 points earlier this season against TCU, which just goes to show that he is quite the scorer.
Flagg has the potential to be one of the future faces of the NBA, and pairing him with another player with a very bright future like Peterson would be something the team would do in the blink of an eye if given the chance.