Former Duke Star Cooper Flagg Ranked 23rd-Best Player in NBA in Year 2

Bleacher Report believes former Duke star Cooper Flagg is the 23rd-best player in the NBA. 

Flagg is one spot ahead of Deni Avdija of the Portland Trail Blazers and one spot behind NBA legend LeBron James of the Philadelphia 76ers. 

Flagg averaged 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game in his lone season at Duke. The Maine native's best game in college was against Notre Dame on January 11, 2025. He had 42 points, six rebounds and seven assists.

The Dallas Mavericks selected Flagg with the first overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft. 

Flagg appeared in 70 games during his rookie season with the Mavericks. He averaged 21.0 points, 6.7 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game while shooting 46.8% from the field, 29.5% from beyond the arc and 82.7% from the free-throw line. 

Flagg recorded 13 double-doubles last season. His best game was against the Orlando Magic on April 3. The talented forward put up 51 points in 33 minutes, becoming the first teenager and the youngest player in NBA history to score at least 50 points in a game.

The Mavericks actually have three players who went to Duke: Kyrie Irving, Flagg and Dereck Lively II. Mike Krzyzewski likely watches a lot of Dallas games in his free time.

Flagg won the 2025-26 NBA Rookie of the Year award. He has All-Star written all over him. 

Flagg said at Mavericks media day that he's excited to play with Irving, one of the best guards in NBA history.

Irving has made nine All-Star teams and three All-NBA teams. He has career averages of 23.7 points and 5.6 assists per game in the regular season and 23.0 points and 4.9 assists per game in the playoffs.

“Ky’s one of those guys, playing alongside him, I feel like he just makes it easy to play with him,” Flagg said. “Obviously, he’s one of the greats of our game, and he’s an incredible talent. But I think that combined with his personality makes it really easy to fit next to and play with. And I think the time that we’ve been able to spend in the summer on the court together has been really good for both of us to kind of build that connection. So I’m really excited. I think it’s gonna be really fun to be able to share the court. Obviously, having somebody like that down the court with you at all times is gonna be amazing.”

Irving missed all of last season recovering from the torn left ACL he suffered during the 2024-25 season against the Sacramento Kings in March.

With Flagg and Irving leading the way, the Mavericks should win more than 26 games this NBA season.