Mavericks guard Cooper Flagg collides with Spurs guard Dylan Harper during the first half of a game on April 10 in San Antonio. Flagg completed his rookie season last week and is the favorite to win the NBA Rookie of the Year. (Darren Abate/Associated Press)
That was a fun ride, wasn’t it?
Cooper Flagg’s rookie season ended last Sunday when his Dallas Mavericks beat the Chicago Bulls, 149-128. Flagg, whom you may recall was raised in Newport, scored 10 points in the season-ending win. It was his lowest offensive output since a six-point game in a mid-January loss to the Denver Nuggets, but Flagg also was on the court for his fewest minutes (9:59) since he played a shade under 15 minutes of that game against Denver and left because of a sprained ankle. Another ankle sprain was the cause for his early exit from the season finale.
In his debut NBA season, Flagg averaged 21 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 4.5 assists. He shot 46.8% from the floor and 82.7% from the free-throw line. Doesn’t it feel like it was just yesterday that Flagg and his twin brother, Ace, were leading Nokomis to the Class A state championship?
Flagg started each of the 70 games he played for the Mavericks, missing 12 games because of various injuries. In his homecoming game against Boston at TD Garden on March 6, Flagg scored 16 points with eight rebounds and six assists.
Cooper Flagg returned to New England when the Mavericks faced the Boston Celtics on March 6. Flagg had 16 points, eight rebounds and six assists in a 120-100 loss. (Derek Davis/Staff Photographer)
Purchase this image
The debate that’s raged throughout the NBA for at least a few months is who deserves Rookie of the Year, Flagg or his former Duke teammate, Kon Knueppel of the Charlotte Hornets. Call this an endorsement of Flagg.
Knueppel had a fine season, averaging 18.5 points per game while shooting 42.5% from 3-point range and making a league-high 273 3-pointers. His Hornets made the play-in round. Knueppel looks like he’ll be a good NBA player for years to come.
In Charlotte, Knueppel is a piece. In Dallas, Flagg is a cornerstone. That needs to be taken into consideration. Nothing happens in a vacuum.
But if you want to break down stats, let’s do it. Flagg led his team in points, rebounds, steals and assists. The last time a rookie accomplished that was more than 40 years ago, in the 1984-85 season. It was some guy named Michael Jordan. Didn’t he turn out OK?
This is not to compare Flagg to arguably the best player of all time, because that’s not fair or realistic. But Flagg did become the first teenager in NBA history to put up a 50-point game when he scored 51 against Orlando on April 3, and his four 40-point games are the most ever by a teenager. LeBron James didn’t do that. Neither did Kevin Garnett, Kevin Durant, Luka Doncic, Kobe Bryant or any of the other fantastic players who started their career as a teen.
Even if Flagg doesn’t win Rookie of the Year, if the voters decide Knueppel’s season was superior, Flagg’s next task is to get better. The league will adjust to him, and he’ll have to adjust and develop in kind. Flagg needs to make the leap other recent top rookies made.
The Mavericks didn’t select Flagg with the No. 1 pick in last June’s draft so he could collect individual accolades. He’s the foundation of the team’s rebuild. Dallas played in the NBA finals just two years ago. Trading Doncic was seismic and opened the door for the Mavs to slide into last year’s draft lottery, where they overcame slim odds to win the Flagg Sweepstakes.
Trading Anthony Davis to the Washington Wizards in February made it clear that Dallas is Flagg’s team. As the Mavericks continue their rebuilding process, they’ll do so around the kid from Maine.
Dallas went 26-56 this season. The team will have better odds in the draft lottery of May 10 than last season, when it had a 1.8% chance of getting the top pick. Mavericks fans dream of pairing Flagg with a player like BYU’s AJ Dybantsa or Kansas’ Darryn Peterson, or even Duke’s Cameron Boozer, who took the mantle of the Blue Devils’ top player after Flagg spent one season with Duke.
Every team Flagg has played on has enjoyed success. Now that he has a season of NBA ball on his resumé, he’s ready to do the same for the Mavericks.
