<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/dallas-mavericks/mavericks-news-matt-barnes-reveals-what-stands-out-about-cooper-flagg');   ga('set', 'title', 'Matt Barnes reveals what stands out ‘most’ about Cooper Flagg');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Mavericks-Cooper-Flagg.jpg"><figcaption>Candice Ward-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Matt Barnes reveals what stands out ‘most’ about Cooper Flagg</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-09-12T14:36:25-07:00">September 12th, 2:36pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-09-12T14:36:25-07:00">September 12th, 2:36pm</time><address><a>Jake Faigus</a>Jake Faigus graduated from the University of Arizona in 2022 and has written for several publications and websites. He has had stops at Catena Media, Playmaker, DraftKings, USA Today, Spike Up, and Spotlight Sports Group. He also writes for Sporting News and works at iHeartMedia in Phoenix when he is not writing for ClutchPoints.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Dallas Mavericks</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The 2025 Dallas Mavericks have a chance to bounce back massively this season after the way they finished last season. They made a massive move in trading away Luka Doncic to the Lakers, but then they had good luck. They ended up with the top pick in the NBA Draft and <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/dallas-mavericks/mavericks-news-dallas-officially-selects-cooper-flagg-2025-nba-draft" rel="noopener">took Cooper Flagg out of Duke</a>. Now, expectations have completely shifted in a good way.</p><p>When talking to the DLS Mavericks Podcast in Las Vegas for the Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford fight, Matt Barnes was asked about Cooper Flagg. He praised Flagg’s motor and energy and said he obviously has the size and the skillset, but <a href="https://x.com/DLLS_Mavs/status/1966583935040647357" rel="noopener">his motor immediately jumped out when he first saw him</a>.</p><p>Matt Barnes said, “I absolutely love Cooper Flagg. I coach my kids in AAU, so I got to see him for one season, and what stood out to me the most was his effort and energy. I came from an era where effort was necessary, and he has one of the best efforts I’ve seen on both sides of the ball.</p><p>“What excites me most is his defensive prowess. He can be someone in today’s NBA who can guard any position. On offense, he is freakishly athletic and continues to improve his jumper. I am really excited for his future.”</p><p>As excited as Barnes is to watch what happens with Flagg, he also recently subscribed to the idea that the NBA must have helped the Mavericks somehow because they were not a bad enough team. They still have quality players all over this roster, starting with Kyrie Irving and Anthony Davis.</p><p>“There are certain things that happen, like when LeBron goes to Cleveland and he’s from Cleveland, and Derrick Rose goes to Chicago, with the first pick, he’s from Chicago. There are certain ways that the balls get played with to be favorable for teams,” Barnes said on a recent episode of Big Boy TV.</p><p>“Somehow, that was a favor because Dallas wasn’t a bad team; they shouldn’t have been the No. 1 team to get the pick,” he continued. “On the flip side, it’s so important as a young player to go to a stable organization with veterans and great leadership. The ownership of the Dallas Mavericks has to show that now, their job is not to f–k it up because they’ve done some questionable things in their short time (after) taking over from Mark Cuban.”</p><p>Whether it was random or not does not matter because Dallas now has massive expectations, and they can get to the postseason immediately. It depends on what is around Cooper Flagg, especially when<a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/dallas-mavericks/mavericks-news-kyrie-irving-out-injury-torn-acl" rel="noopener"> Kyrie Irving recovers from his ACL tear</a>.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Matt Barnes reveals what stands out ‘most’ about Cooper Flagg

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/ncaa-basketball/duke-basketball-news-cooper-flagg-paolo-banchero-scrimmaging-blue-devils-excite-fans');   ga('set', 'title', 'Cooper Flagg, Paolo Banchero scrimmaging with Duke basketball will excite fans');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Flagg-shoots.jpg"><figcaption>Bob Donnan-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Cooper Flagg, Paolo Banchero scrimmaging with Duke basketball will excite fans</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-09-09T10:53:48-07:00">September 9th, 10:53am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-09-09T10:53:48-07:00">September 9th, 10:53am</time><address><a>Jackson Stone</a>Jackson Stone is a Mercer University alum from Atlanta who graduated with a BA in communications. A lifelong sports lover, Jackson is a die-hard fan of all Atlanta teams. He joined ClutchPoints in 2023.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NCAA Basketball</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/ncaa-basketball/duke-basketball-news-blue-devils-make-2025-26-announcement">Duke basketball program is currently</a> preparing for the upcoming 2025 college basketball season, which is slated to begin in around two months. Duke is entering a bit of a transitional year after several key players, including multiple first round picks, departed for the NBA Draft this past offseason.</p><p>One of those first round picks<a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/dallas-mavericks/mavericks-cooper-flagg-generational-talent"> was Cooper Flagg</a>, who was drafted number one overall by the Dallas Mavericks this summer.</p><p>Recently, Flagg and fellow former Duke player and number one overall draft pick Paolo Banchero, now a star with the Orlando Magic, were spotted at the Blue Devils practice<a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/1965466688171933826" rel="noopener"> scrimmaging with some</a> of the current members of the team.</p><p>(Via @DukeTWTClips on X, formerly Twitter).</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Cooper Flagg and Paolo Banchero scrimmaging with the current Duke roster with Jayson Tatum watching 👀🙌 </p><p>(via <a href="https://twitter.com/DukeTWTClips?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DukeTWTClips</a>)<a href="https://t.co/PvipypttNP">pic.twitter.com/PvipypttNP</a></p><p>— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/1965466688171933826?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 9, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Also in attendance was Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum, who was watching from the sidelines as he recovers from the torn ACL injury he suffered during last year’s NBA playoffs vs the New York Knicks.</p><p>Overall, playing against elite NBA competition is sure to help the current members of the Duke basketball team as they prepare to embark on another season.</p><p>Duke fans are getting restless for a national championship as they once again came up short in the 2024-25 season, this time falling in the Final Four against the Houston Cougars.</p><p>Duke was actually leading that game for the majority of the way but completely fell apart down the stretch, which, combined with some hot shooting from Houston, ultimately lost them the game.</p><p>Flagg had a chance to hit an iconic shot late in the game that would have given the Blue Devils the lead, but unfortunately for Duke fans, he ended up missing it and taking his talents to the NBA not long after.</p><p>In any case, Duke basketball is slated to kick off its 2025 campaign against the Texas Longhorns on November 4 in what should be a fun matchup.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Cooper Flagg, Paolo Banchero scrimmaging with Duke basketball will excite fans

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/dallas-mavericks/mavericks-news-cooper-flagg-nba-2k26-rookie-season-ronnie2k');   ga('set', 'title', 'Cooper Flagg turns to NBA 2K26 to prepare for rookie season, Ronnie2K says');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Cooper-Flagg-1.jpg"><figcaption>Candice Ward-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Cooper Flagg turns to NBA 2K26 to prepare for rookie season, Ronnie2K says</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-09-06T08:32:59-07:00">September 6th, 8:32am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-09-06T08:32:59-07:00">September 6th, 8:32am</time><address><a>Zachary Draves</a>Zachary Draves is a sportswriter and broadcaster based in the Quad Cities of Illinois and Iowa. Zachary covers a variety of different sports as well as sports history, sport and society, and sport and culture. He is also a professor of sociology.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Dallas Mavericks</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Dallas Mavericks rookie <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/dallas-mavericks/mavericks-cooper-flagg-generational-talent">Cooper Flagg is preparing for a much-anticipated rookie year</a>. Indeed, an inordinate amount of pressure is being brought to bear on the young hotshot from Duke.</p><p>As a result, Flagg has found a way to keep him calm and motivated, NBA 2k.</p><p>It’s true. Ronnie Singh “Ronnie 2k” is the face of marketing for NBA2k. He confirmed that Cooper <a href="https://heavy.com/sports/nba/dallas-mavericks/flagg-nba2k26-irving-davis/">regularly plays the game</a> to prepare for the season, per Heavy.com.</p><p>Additionally, Flagg can form connections with the likes of Kyrie Irving and Anthony Davis.</p><p>“I’ve been talking to Cooper Flagg a lot the last couple of weeks, and he’s already trying to shape up how he’s going to fit into that team by playing the NBA2K26 game with him, integrated with Kyrie Irving and Anthony Davis,” Singh said. “He might not get to play with Kyrie for a minute, so it’s kind of cool that he gets to simulate that, see how the off-the-ball movement is. Our AI is so good. It really simulates the authentic experience of being on the court.”</p><p>In the spring, the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/dallas-mavericks/mavericks-rumors-more-evidence-dallas-wont-trade-cooper-flagg-pick-giannis">Mavericks were granted the top lottery pick</a> in the NBA Draft. As a result, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/dallas-mavericks/mavericks-news-dallas-officially-selects-cooper-flagg-2025-nba-draft">Flagg was selected as the No.1 pick</a>.</p><h2><b>Cooper Flagg is poised to become the face of the Mavericks</b></h2><p>Undoubtedly, the Mavericks are looking to start anew following a chaotic season. A season in which they <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-luka-doncic-anthony-davis-trade-makes-nba-history">lost Luka Doncic in a trade</a> with the Los Angeles Lakers.</p><p>Also, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/dallas-mavericks/mavericks-news-kyrie-irving-out-injury-torn-acl">Kyrie Irving went out with a season-ending ACL injury</a>. As a result, Flagg, with his all-around talent, is poised to become the focal point for the new generation of the Mavericks.</p><p>The hype surrounding him is palpable and very warranted. Through all of that, it only makes for him to find a healthy outlet to release energy and psyche himself out.</p><p>Going from level to level if you will.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Cooper Flagg turns to NBA 2K26 to prepare for rookie season, Ronnie2K says

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/dallas-mavericks/mavs-news-cooper-flaggs-mom-strict-price-limit-first-car');   ga('set', 'title', 'Mavericks rookie Cooper Flagg’s mom puts strict price limit on first car');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Flagg-during-Summer-League.jpg"><figcaption>Candice Ward-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Mavericks rookie Cooper Flagg’s mom puts strict price limit on first car</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-09-02T15:53:26-07:00">September 2nd, 3:53pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-09-02T18:47:01-07:00">September 2nd, 6:47pm</time><address><a>Jackson Stone</a>Jackson Stone is a Mercer University alum from Atlanta who graduated with a BA in communications. A lifelong sports lover, Jackson is a die-hard fan of all Atlanta teams. He joined ClutchPoints in 2023.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Dallas Mavericks</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The<a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/dallas-mavericks/mavericks-news-klay-thompson-anthony-davis-claim"> Dallas Mavericks are looking forward</a> to what should be an interesting season with number one draft pick <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/dallas-mavericks/mavericks-news-cooper-flagg-debut-could-see-him-in-shocking-role-open-season">Cooper Flagg at the helm.</a> Flagg’s arrival helped minimize the pain of the disastrous Luka Doncic trade to the Los Angeles Lakers, and once Kyrie Irving is healthy, Dallas could have a legitimate chance to compete in the Western Conference.</p><p>Flagg is still getting used to the luxury of being a high-profile NBA player, and recently, his mother, Kelly, made sure to <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/articles/not-buy-bugatti-away-cooper-115252931.html" rel="noopener">keep her son in check</a> when it comes to buying his first vehicle.</p><p>“Do not buy a Bugatti right away,” she said, per Chime, via Shane Garry Acedara of Yahoo Life.</p><p>She later stated that she thinks $180,000 is the maximum amount that her son should spend on his first car, while Cooper Flagg opined that it should be $200,000.</p><h2><b>Strange times for the Mavericks</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Cooper-Flagg-at-NBA-Summer-League.jpg"><figcaption>Candice Ward-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption></figure><p>Heading into the draft lottery night, the Mavericks figured to be in one of the worst positions in the NBA, with a roster full of aging and injury-prone vets and little to no young talent on the roster in the wake of the Doncic trade.</p><p>However, that all changed a few hours later when the Mavericks were awarded the first pick in the draft and thereby the chance to draft Flagg number one overall.</p><p>Flagg will have some understandable growing pains, as any young player does when transitioning to the NFL level, but he’ll have one of the league’s best mentors in big man Anthony Davis to help show him how to be a forward in the NBA.</p><p>Kyrie Irving is expected to miss a good chunk of the upcoming season due to the torn ACL he suffered in March, but once he is back, there’s a legitimate chance that the Mavericks could be a competitive team in the vaunted Western Conference.</p><p>Even if things don’t work out with the core of Flagg, Davis, and Irving, Mavericks fans can rest assured that they have a young star player who they can at least watch blossom for a few years until trading him just as he’s about to enter his prime.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Mavericks rookie Cooper Flagg’s mom puts strict price limit on first car

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/dallas-mavericks/mavericks-news-cooper-flagg-debut-could-see-him-in-shocking-role-open-season');   ga('set', 'title', 'Mavericks’ Cooper Flagg debut could see him in shocking role to open season');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Cooper-Flagg-Mavericks-1.jpg"><figcaption>Candice Ward-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Mavericks’ Cooper Flagg debut could see him in shocking role to open season</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-09-02T09:59:21-07:00">September 2nd, 9:59am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-09-02T14:45:20-07:00">September 2nd, 2:45pm</time><address><a>Zachary Weinberger</a>Zachary Weinberger joined ClutchPoints in October 2023 as a Miami Heat reporter as well as an Associate Editor. He graduated from Florida Atlantic University in 2022 after covering the school's athletic programs since his freshman year at the FAU University Press, where he was a Sports Editor and Editor-in-Chief. He then covered FAU Sports for The Palm Beach Post.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Dallas Mavericks</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>While fans are waiting to see if <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/dallas-mavericks/mavericks-cooper-flagg-generational-talent">Dallas Mavericks rookie Cooper Flagg turns out to be a generational talent</a> for the team, his role in his first year in the league could be an interesting one. With <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/dallas-mavericks/mavericks-news-kyrie-irving-already-getting-shots-up-amid-surgery-recovery">Mavericks star Kyrie Irving still recovering from a torn ACL</a> and his timeline to return in the air, some ESPN NBA insiders discuss the possibility that Flagg will play a role that could be shocking to some.</p><p>On the podcast “Brian Windhorst and The Hoop Collective,” he would be joined by Tim Bontemps and Tim MacMahon about what the starting lineup could look like in Dallas. With the discussion of Klay Thompson possibly coming off the bench, Bontemps would point out that Flagg <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOK_7Qy5ykI&amp;t=1398s" rel="noopener">could start at the point guard position.</a></p><p>“Are we sure they’re not going to start, let’s say, Dereck Lively soon as he’s healthy?” Bontemps said. “Anthony Davis, PJ Washington, Klay Thompson, and Cooper Flagg at Point Guard? Are we sure they’re not doing that? Are we sure they’re starting D’Angelo Russell over Klay Thompson?”</p><p>MacMahon would say that he “cannot completely rule out that possibility” with the number of possibilities Dallas has for their starting lineup. Windhorst himself said he would “be stunned” if the team did that, though he also would not rule it out.</p><p>“I have had no conversations about this. I would be stunned if you start Cooper Flagg at point guard,” Windhorst said. “I’m not saying he’s not going to play point guard, but I would be stunned.”</p><h2><b>It could be “easier” starting Mavericks’ Cooper Flagg at point guard </b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Cooper-Flagg-1.jpg"><figcaption>Candice Ward-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>As rumors around the Mavericks will continue up until the first starting lineup steps on the floor on Oct. 22 in the opener against the San Antonio Spurs. It is widely understood that Flagg is a forward, though one could say that one of the reasons why he was the No. 1 overall pick in the last NBA Draft is due to his elite play-making, and giving him the chance to play point guard could showcase that.</p><p>Bontemps would go as far as to say that Dallas has “talked about it a little bit” in regards to Flagg playing point guard and that it could be easier to do that, rather than benching Thompson.</p><p>“They’ve talked about it a little bit, and it might be easier to start him at point guard than it would be to have Klay Thompson come off the bench,” Bontemps wrote.</p><p>There’s no doubt that the expectations are high for Flagg as he’s far and away the heavy favorite to win Rookie of the Year, as shown in ESPN’s latest poll.</p><p>“This award tends to be about the confluence of talent and circumstance, and Flagg enters the league with an optimal combination of both,” Jeremy Woo of ESPN wrote.</p><p>It remains to be seen what Flagg’s role will be, but there’s no denying a lot of eyes will be on the Duke product this upcoming season for the Mavericks.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Mavericks’ Cooper Flagg debut could see him in shocking role to open season

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/dallas-mavericks/mavericks-cooper-flagg-generational-talent');   ga('set', 'title', 'Why Mavericks’ Cooper Flagg is a true generational talent');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Why-Mavericks-Cooper-Flagg-is-a-true-generational-talent-.jpg"></figure><h1>Why Mavericks’ Cooper Flagg is a true generational talent</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-09-02T07:43:20-07:00">September 2nd, 7:43am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-09-02T07:43:20-07:00">September 2nd, 7:43am</time><address><a href="https://www.facebook.com/joey.mistretta/" rel="facebook">Joey Mistretta</a>Joey Mistretta is a Dallas Mavericks beat reporter, Dallas Wings beat reporter and lead MLB editor for ClutchPoints. He is originally from Lake Arrowhead, California. Mistretta graduated from Biola University with a degree in broadcast journalism.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Dallas Mavericks</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Dallas Mavericks rookie <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/dallas-mavericks/mavericks-news-dallas-officially-selects-cooper-flagg-2025-nba-draft">Cooper Flagg was the No. 1 overall pick</a> in the 2025 NBA Draft for a reason. He spent just one season in college with Duke basketball before declaring for the NBA Draft. At 18 years old, the forward is unquestionably ready for the highest level of professional basketball. However, there have been many No. 1 overall picks over the years — but only a few true generational talents. Is Flagg — who has been called a future generational star by many around the NBA world — a part of that select group of players?</p><p>Cooper Flagg’s ceiling is high without question. A generational star either needs to be extremely dominant or bring something to the table that we have not seen before.</p><p>Victor Wembanyama is the most recent player to earn the claim. The San Antonio Spurs’ No. 1 overall pick in 2023, Wembanyama stands 7’5″ and can shoot and dribble like a guard. He’s terrific on both ends of the floor. There is no denying his generational talent potential.</p><p>Zion Williamson was referred to as generational as well. Some are already calling the New Orleans Pelicans forward a bust, but the truth is that Williamson’s career has been impacted by injuries. Before Williamson, LeBron James was regarded as possibly the next Kobe Bryant or Michael Jordan.</p><p>He has lived up to the hype. James brought all-around dominance to the floor, with many considering him to be unguardable. He could get to the basket without any trouble while locking down opponents on defense.</p><p>So, is Flagg up next?</p><h2><b>Breaking down Cooper Flagg’s generational talent potential</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Flagg-dunks.jpg"><figcaption>Candice Ward-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption></figure><p>Flagg is able to play at a high level on both ends of the floor. His offensive ceiling is high, but Flagg’s defensive prowess is arguably even more exciting — something that says a lot given his offensive ability.</p><p>Beginning with the offense, he features the talent to score at all three levels. He shot the ball well in college but his three-point shot is still a work-in-progress. Still, he should be able to develop into a reliable long-range scorer in the league.</p><p>Flagg’s mid-range and finishing ability are NBA-ready without question. The former Duke standout can score in a variety of ways from the mid-range. Meanwhile, his finishing ability at the basket is nothing short of electric. Flagg will throw down no shortage of powerful dunks at the American Airlines Center in future seasons that will energize the fans.</p><p>Defensively, Flagg offers the ability to cover multiple positions at 6’9″. He can cause plenty of havoc due to his length and I.Q. Whether it’s blocking shots, forcing steals, staying in front of a ball-handler, interrupting passing lanes or more, Flagg projects to be an All-NBA defensive presence.</p><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/dallas-mavericks/mavericks-cooper-flagg-jayson-tatum-summer-league">Cooper Flagg has drawn comparisons to Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum</a>. Tatum features a similar frame and is 6’8″. He’s also a star two-way player. Tatum has yet to win an MVP, but he is always in the conversation.</p><p>However, there is an argument to be made that Flagg can be even better than Tatum — something that would be incredibly impressive given the fact that Tatum is one of the best players in the NBA.</p><p>In all reality, we will not know if Flagg is truly generational until years from now. It may even require a decade or so to give a definitive answer. From a potential standpoint, however, Flagg features the tools and ceiling of a generational superstar in the NBA.</p><figure class="op-interactive"></figure><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Why Mavericks’ Cooper Flagg is a true generational talent

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/dallas-mavericks/mavericks-news-cooper-flagg-dominates-espns-rookie-poll');   ga('set', 'title', 'Mavericks’ Cooper Flagg dominates ESPN’s Rookie of the Year poll');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Cooper-Flagg-1.jpg"><figcaption>Candice Ward-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Mavericks’ Cooper Flagg dominates ESPN’s Rookie of the Year poll</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-08-26T08:33:59-07:00">August 26th, 8:33am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-08-26T08:33:59-07:00">August 26th, 8:33am</time><address><a href="https://www.downeuclid.com">Evan Dammarell</a>Evan Dammarell is an award-winning sports journalist covering all things Cleveland, including the Cavs, right off the shores of Lake Erie. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Dallas Mavericks</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Dallas Mavericks rookie forward Cooper Flagg has yet to play a regular-season game, but the top overall pick is <a href="https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/46038849/nba-predictions-2025-26-expert-picks-mvp-roy-dpoy" rel="noopener">already dominating the conversation</a> around the NBA’s Rookie of the Year award.</p><p>Flagg, who starred at Duke last season and became the first freshman in program history to win the Wooden Award, received <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/nba-stories/nba-news-cooper-flagg-dylan-harper-lead-nba-2k26-rookie-ratings">overwhelming support in ESPN’s annual Rookie of the Year forecast</a>. A panel of reporters, editors, and analysts ranked him far ahead of the rest of the rookie class, awarding him 121 total points. San Antonio’s Dylan Harper finished a distant second with 38 points, followed by Philadelphia’s VJ Edgecombe with 25.</p><p>The early separation reflects both <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/dallas-mavericks/mavericks-cooper-flagg-obstacle-overcome-nba">Flagg’s talent and the situation he is stepping into</a>. Dallas is a team with playoff aspirations and established veterans, giving Flagg the chance to thrive without carrying the full burden of a rebuilding roster. His versatile scoring, defensive instincts, and ability to stretch the floor fit what the Mavericks have been searching for alongside stars Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving.</p><p>Oddsmakers have taken notice as well. ESPN BET lists Flagg as a clear favorite at -190 to win the award, with Harper and Edgecombe well behind. History also suggests that he has a strong chance. Since 2000, nine No. 1 overall picks have gone on to win Rookie of the Year, most recently Victor Wembanyama with the Spurs in 2024.</p><h2><b>Cooper Flagg has the bag to win Rookie of the Year for the Mavericks!</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Cooper-Flagg-2.jpg"><figcaption>Candice Ward-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Flagg’s lone season at Duke displayed the mix of polish and competitiveness that scouts believe will translate immediately. He averaged 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 4.2 assists while shooting nearly 39 percent from three. That production, paired with his defensive versatility, made him one of the most anticipated prospects in years.</p><p>While his path is promising, recent history also shows that being a favorite does not guarantee hardware. Zion Williamson and Anthony Davis entered the league under similar hype and fell short of the award. For Dallas, the hope is that Flagg not only secures Rookie of the Year but also helps push the Mavericks deeper into playoff contention.</p><p>At just 19 years old, Flagg has already energized a franchise hungry to contend again. If early projections hold, he could become the latest young star to deliver on the biggest stage.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Mavericks’ Cooper Flagg dominates ESPN’s Rookie of the Year poll

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/dallas-mavericks/mavericks-cooper-flagg-obstacle-overcome-nba');   ga('set', 'title', '1 obstacle Cooper Flagg is poised to overcome with Mavericks');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/1-obstacle-Cooper-Flagg-is-poised-to-overcome-with-Mavericks.jpg"></figure><h1>1 obstacle Cooper Flagg is poised to overcome with Mavericks</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-08-20T20:39:11-07:00">August 20th, 8:39pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-08-20T20:39:11-07:00">August 20th, 8:39pm</time><address><a href="https://www.facebook.com/joey.mistretta/" rel="facebook">Joey Mistretta</a>Joey Mistretta is a Dallas Mavericks beat reporter, Dallas Wings beat reporter and lead MLB editor for ClutchPoints. He is originally from Lake Arrowhead, California. Mistretta graduated from Biola University with a degree in broadcast journalism.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Dallas Mavericks</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Cooper Flagg has all of the tools to become a superstar in the NBA. He can do just about anything on a basketball court — something the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/dallas-mavericks/mavericks-news-dallas-officially-selects-cooper-flagg-2025-nba-draft">2025 No. 1 overall pick</a> demonstrated with Duke last season. However, Flagg has faced some questions heading into the NBA.</p><p>The 18-year-old’s ceiling is extremely high. He will become one of the best players in the NBA if he lives up to his potential. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/dallas-mavericks/mavericks-cooper-flagg-jayson-tatum-summer-league">Flagg has already drawn Jayson Tatum comparisons</a>.</p><p>Flagg does need to add more muscle to his frame. Again, though, he is only 18. Flagg is going to continue to build muscle as he develops and works in the NBA. One other question stems from his three-point shooting form.</p><h2><b>Will Cooper Flagg be a consistent three-point shooter with the Mavericks?</b></h2><p>Flagg’s fundamentals and mechanics have led some to wonder if his three-point shot will translate to the next level. It is still a work-in-progress. The Duke product’s shot is not broken by any means, but it could use some work. His elbow flares out at times which can lead to inconsistency.</p><p>It wasn’t an issue at Duke — Flagg shot 38.5 percent on 3.6 three-point attempts per game. It will be interesting to see how aggressive Jason Kidd and the Mavs are when it comes to encouraging Flagg to shoot from beyond the arc during the 2025-26 season. He offers impressive athleticism and a strong ability to finish at the basket. Additionally, Flagg is more than capable of connecting from the mid-range.</p><p>The Mavericks may want Flagg to be patient with his three-point shot at first. Perhaps the two-four range per game could make sense for him starting out in the league. As Flagg continues to work on his shooting form, the Mavericks may begin to give him the green light from deep on a more consistent basis.</p><p>Of course, this is only speculation. Dallas has yet to reveal its plan for Flagg’s three-point shooting. It wouldn’t be surprising to see Flagg proceed with patience when it comes to his long-range shot, though.</p><p>In the end, Cooper Flagg is a talented enough basketball player to overcome this specific obstacle. He is certainly not a bad three-point shooter. If he can find true consistency with his shot from behind the three-point line in the NBA, then Flagg will become an even more all-around dangerous player.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

1 obstacle Cooper Flagg is poised to overcome with Mavericks

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/dallas-mavericks/mavericks-news-cooper-flagg-complete-player-endorsement-blake-griffin');   ga('set', 'title', 'Mavericks’ Cooper Flagg gets ‘complete player’ endorsement from Blake Griffin');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Cooper-Flagg-Mavericks-1.jpg"><figcaption>Candice Ward-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Mavericks’ Cooper Flagg gets ‘complete player’ endorsement from Blake Griffin</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-08-20T08:35:16-07:00">August 20th, 8:35am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-08-20T08:35:55-07:00">August 20th, 8:35am</time><address><a href="https://www.downeuclid.com">Evan Dammarell</a>Evan Dammarell is an award-winning sports journalist covering all things Cleveland, including the Cavs, right off the shores of Lake Erie. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Dallas Mavericks</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Former NBA star Blake Griffin believes the Dallas Mavericks struck gold with rookie Cooper Flagg, calling the 18-year-old forward the most complete player to enter the league in recent memory.</p><p>“He passes, he shoots, he defends, he rebounds,” Griffin <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/1958183423178334218" rel="noopener">said in a recent interview</a>. “He seems like a great teammate [and] a great kid. But, like, what’s the red flag? Which is really exciting for basketball to have these young guys.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">"He's the most complete player that we've seen come into the NBA in recent memory… Like, what's the red flag?"</p><p>Blake Griffin shares his excitement on Cooper Flagg 🗣️</p><p>(via <a href="https://twitter.com/PostMovesShow?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PostMovesShow</a>)<a href="https://t.co/4tT78ZpRmu">pic.twitter.com/4tT78ZpRmu</a></p><p>— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/1958183423178334218?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 20, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>The Mavericks, who won the draft lottery despite long odds, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/dallas-mavericks/mavericks-news-cooper-flagg-massive-corn-maze-maine-honor">made Flagg the No. 1 pick</a> after his standout freshman season at Duke. Flagg became just the fourth freshman to win National Player of the Year, joining Zion Williamson, Kevin Durant, and Anthony Davis.</p><p>Griffin said <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/dallas-mavericks/mavericks-news-cooper-flaggs-debut-comes-victor-wembanyama-espn">Dallas is the perfect landing spot for Flagg</a>.</p><p>“I love that he’s in Dallas,” Griffin said. “I think they have a really solid team around him. Most No. 1 picks are going to teams that haven’t been doing too great in the past. But I’m just excited for him to start this journey.”</p><h2><b>There are high hopes for Mavericks rookie Cooper Flagg</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Cooper-Flagg-Mavericks-2.jpg"><figcaption>Candice Ward-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Flagg has already flashed his potential in the NBA 2K26 Summer League. He scored 31 points in his second game and showed the versatility that made him the top prospect. Analysts see him as the early favorite for Rookie of the Year, with HoopsHype ranking him as a top-20 small forward before his first NBA game.</p><p>The expectations are enormous, especially with Kyrie Irving sidelined to start the season and Luka Doncic gone after the blockbuster trade that shook the franchise earlier this year. Flagg is expected to step in immediately as a playmaker alongside veterans Anthony Davis, Klay Thompson, and D’Angelo Russell.</p><p>Dallas fans are eager to rally around their new star, who already carries a global following. If Flagg meets the hype, he could be the first rookie All-Star since Griffin in 2011 and give the Mavericks a new face of the franchise.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Mavericks’ Cooper Flagg gets ‘complete player’ endorsement from Blake Griffin

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/dallas-mavericks/mavericks-news-cooper-flagg-massive-corn-maze-maine-honor');   ga('set', 'title', 'Mavericks’ Cooper Flagg gets massive corn maze in Maine in his honor');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Flagg-during-Summer-League.jpg"><figcaption>Candice Ward-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Mavericks’ Cooper Flagg gets massive corn maze in Maine in his honor</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-08-13T08:36:43-07:00">August 13th, 8:36am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-08-13T08:36:43-07:00">August 13th, 8:36am</time><address><a>Jackson Stone</a>Jackson Stone is a Mercer University senior from Atlanta on track to graduate with a BA in communications. A lifelong sports lover, Jackson is a die-hard fan of all Atlanta teams. He joined ClutchPoints in 2023.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Dallas Mavericks</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The<a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/nba-stories/nba-news-lakers-rockets-warriors-mavs-nba-christmas-schedule"> Dallas Mavericks are currently gearing up</a> for their 2024-25 season, recently finding out that they will have both an opening week and Christmas Day nationally televised game this year. A large part of the reason why there is still considerable hype around Dallas despite the Luka Doncic trade and Kyrie Irving injury is the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/nba-stories/nba-news-cooper-flagg-dylan-harper-lead-nba-2k26-rookie-ratings">presence of Cooper Flagg</a>, whom the team drafted number one overall this past June.</p><p>Flagg hails from Maine, prompting some fans to give him the nickname “The Maine Event,” and recently, a farmer from Maine paid homage to Flagg with <a href="https://x.com/ClutchPoints/status/1955622876377129024" rel="noopener">an epic corn maze</a> that was designed to resemble the number one overall pick shooting the basketball, per the Mavs’ account on X, formerly Twitter.</p><p>In many ways, Flagg is responsible for putting his home state on the map in terms of basketball–Maine is not exactly known as a sports hub, and even though Flagg eventually transferred out of the state and down to Florida to finish out his high school career against better competition, he’s still frequently shown love to his home state during his rise to fame.</p><h2><b>A strange situation for the Mavericks</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Cooper-Flagg-poses-for-a-photo-with-Jason-Kidd-and-Nico-Harrison.jpg"><figcaption>Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption></figure><p>It’s not often that a number one overall pick walks into a situation where three future Hall of Famers are already on the roster (in this case, Anthony Davis, Kyrie Irving, and Klay Thompson). However, that’s exactly the situation that Cooper Flagg finds himself in ahead of the upcoming 2025-26 NBA season.</p><p>Conspiracy theorists were abuzz when the Mavericks landed the number one overall pick less than four months after trading Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers in what was widely regarded as the worst transaction in NBA history.</p><p>However, for Mavericks fans, the addition of Flagg figures to provide some sort of silver lining amid what was the darkest period in their franchise’s history.</p><p>At this point, it’s hard to envision the Mavericks competing for much considering the state of their guard rotation with Irving sidelined due to an ACL injury, but once Kyrie returns, Dallas could have one of the deepest rosters in the NBA.</p><p>The Mavericks will get their season underway on October 22 against the San Antonio Spurs.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Mavericks’ Cooper Flagg gets massive corn maze in Maine in his honor

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/nba-stories/nba-news-cooper-flagg-dylan-harper-lead-nba-2k26-rookie-ratings');   ga('set', 'title', 'Cooper Flagg, Dylan Harper lead NBA 2K26 rookie ratings');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Cooper-Flagg-Dylan-Harper-NBA-NBA-2K26-San-Antonio-Spurs-Dallas-Mavericks.jpg"><figcaption>CP</figcaption></figure><h1>Cooper Flagg, Dylan Harper lead NBA 2K26 rookie ratings</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-08-12T17:07:04-07:00">August 12th, 5:07pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-08-12T17:07:28-07:00">August 12th, 5:07pm</time><address><a>Tomer Azarly</a>Tomer Azarly is in his ninth season as the LA Clippers beat writer and NBA reporter for ClutchPoints. From the Lob City era to the Kawhi Leonard-James Harden era, he brings you everything you need to know about the Clippers as well as coast-to-coast coverage of the NBA.In his free time, Tomer likes to play basketball, video games, and draw.You can follow his Twitter and Instagram for all Clippers content.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Dallas Mavericks</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>While the NBA offseason is in full swing, the release of the upcoming video game NBA 2K26 is just around the corner. That means finding out the ratings for all players, including Cooper Flagg, Dylan Harper, and the upcoming rookie class in the new NBA 2K.</p><p>To no one’s surprise, Dallas Mavericks forward and No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg leads the way, but what about the rest of the group?</p><h2><b>Cooper Flagg, Dylan Harper lead NBA 2K26 rookie ratings</b></h2><p>NBA 2K26 has been slowly releasing ratings for some players as well as their attributes. All this will count down to the reveal of the top 10 NBA players in 2K26. </p><p>On Tuesday evening, the video game company released their <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA2K/status/1955403931787358228">top rookie ratings</a> on their social media accounts. Cooper Flagg of the Dallas Mavericks led the way as the highest rated rookie with an 82 overall.</p><p>San Antonio Spurs rookie and No. 2 overall pick Dylan Harper came in second with a rating of 78.</p><p>Utah Jazz rookie and No. 5 overall pick Ace Bailey is the third highest rated rookie with a 77 overall, followed by Philadelphia 76ers No. 3 pick VJ Edgecomb at 76 overall and Charlotte Hornets No. 4 overall pick Kon Knueppel at a 75 overall.</p><p>Tre Johnson of the Washington Wizards was also given a 75 overall, Khaman Maluach of the Phoenix Suns was given a 74 overall, and Jeremiah Fears of the New Orleans Pelicans was given a 73 overall. Tied for ninth and 10th among rookie ratings were Egor Denim of the Brooklyn Nets and Collin Murray-Boyles, both given a 72 overall.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">The future is bright 🤩</p><p>Here are the Top 10 rookies entering the League in <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBA2K26?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBA2K26</a> <a href="https://t.co/EeQOe6zIAx">pic.twitter.com/EeQOe6zIAx</a></p><p>— NBA 2K (@NBA2K) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA2K/status/1955403931787358228?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 12, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>NBA 2K is expected to release the top 10 players list sometime in the next couple weeks. In the meantime, they have already announced the <a href="https://x.com/NBA2K/status/1954981142450352474">top 10 shooters</a> —led by Stephen Curry’s 99 — and the <a href="https://x.com/NBA2K/status/1955343562498818356">top 10 ball-handlers</a> — led by Kyrie Irving’s 99.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Elite from long range 👌</p><p>Here are your Top 10 shooters from beyond the arc in <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBA2K26?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBA2K26</a> <a href="https://t.co/AECIhLjaFy">pic.twitter.com/AECIhLjaFy</a></p><p>— NBA 2K (@NBA2K) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA2K/status/1954981142450352474?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 11, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Watch your ankles 😮‍💨</p><p>The Top 10 players with the tightest handles in <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBA2K26?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBA2K26</a> <a href="https://t.co/QCK0MPL9mF">pic.twitter.com/QCK0MPL9mF</a></p><p>— NBA 2K (@NBA2K) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA2K/status/1955343562498818356?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 12, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>This year’s edition of NBA 2K26 will feature Oklahoma City Thunder star and newly crowned NBA Champion Shai Gilgeous-Alexander as the cover athlete. Chicago Sky star Angel Reese will grace the cover of the WNBA edition of the video game. Carmelo Anthony will also be a cover athlete for the Superstar edition of the video game.</p><p>NBA 2K26 is scheduled to be released on September 5, 2025, with early access to the game expected to start on August 29, 2025.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Cooper Flagg, Dylan Harper lead NBA 2K26 rookie ratings

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/dallas-mavericks/mavericks-news-cooper-flagg-dylan-harper-dallas-spurs-season-opener');   ga('set', 'title', 'How Cooper Flagg, Dylan Harper will make history in Mavericks-Spurs season opener');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Cooper-Flagg-and-Dylan-Harper.jpg"><figcaption>Candice Ward-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>How Cooper Flagg, Dylan Harper will make history in Mavericks-Spurs season opener</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-08-12T07:58:18-07:00">August 12th, 7:58am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-08-12T07:58:18-07:00">August 12th, 7:58am</time><address><a href="https://www.facebook.com/joey.mistretta/" rel="facebook">Joey Mistretta</a>Joey Mistretta is a Dallas Mavericks beat reporter, Dallas Wings beat reporter and lead MLB editor for ClutchPoints. He is originally from Lake Arrowhead, California. Mistretta graduated from Biola University with a degree in broadcast journalism.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Dallas Mavericks</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/dallas-mavericks/mavericks-news-cooper-flaggs-debut-comes-victor-wembanyama-espn">Dallas Mavericks and San Antonio Spurs will play</a> on October 22 to begin their 2025-26 regular seasons. It also represents the first career regular season contests for 2025 No. 1 and No. 2 overall picks Cooper Flagg and Dylan Harper. According to NBA Communications, the Flagg-Harper clash <a href="https://x.com/NBAPR/status/1955244278898115035" rel="noopener">will accomplish something</a> that has only been seen once since 1966.</p><p>“The scheduled matchup between Cooper Flagg and Dylan Harper is set to mark the second time since 1966 that the top two picks in the same NBA Draft will face each other in the first career regular-season game for both players. The previous instance was in 2015 (Karl-Anthony Towns and D’Angelo Russell),” the account shared on X, formerly Twitter.</p><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/dallas-mavericks/mavericks-news-dallas-officially-selects-cooper-flagg-2025-nba-draft">Flagg was selected first overall by the Mavs</a> in the 2025 NBA Draft. Expectations are extremely high for the 18-year-old. He is the most notable top pick since Victor Wembanyama — who of course plays with the Spurs.</p><p>Harper, 19, also has high expectations with San Antonio. He would have been the No. 1 overall pick in many other NBA Drafts. Flagg is considered by some to be a generational talent so he was selected first overall, but Harper has an opportunity to be a star in the NBA as well.</p><p>With both players ending up in Texas, there could be a competitive rivalry brewing between the two. The Mavs and Spurs already have a rivalry of course, and now we may see Flagg and Harper go head-to-head for years to come. With the Houston Rockets also set to compete at a high level in 2025-26, Texas basketball will be must-watch throughout the upcoming campaign.</p><p>The Mavericks will host the Spurs on Wednesday, October 22 in the teams’ season openers. The game is scheduled for 9:30 PM EST and is set to be played following the Cleveland Cavaliers-New York Knicks contest, which is <a href="https://x.com/NBAPR/status/1955237468464153060" rel="noopener">scheduled for 7:00 PM EST</a> on October 22.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

How Cooper Flagg, Dylan Harper will make history in Mavericks-Spurs season opener

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/dallas-mavericks/mavericks-news-cooper-flaggs-debut-comes-victor-wembanyama-espn');   ga('set', 'title', 'Mavericks rookie Cooper Flagg’s debut comes vs. Victor Wembanyama on ESPN');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Mavericks-rookie-Cooper-Flagg.jpg"><figcaption>Candice Ward-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Mavericks rookie Cooper Flagg’s debut comes vs. Victor Wembanyama on ESPN</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-08-12T06:57:48-07:00">August 12th, 6:57am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-08-12T06:57:48-07:00">August 12th, 6:57am</time><address><a>Rexwell Villas</a>Rexwell Villas is an experienced sports writer covering a variety of sports, including the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, and college football. He's a Communications Arts graduate from the University of Santo Tomas in the Philippines, and he claims to have JR Smith's conscience with his shot selection. He has won a basketball, a baseball, and a football championship in fantasy all within a year.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Dallas Mavericks</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Dallas Mavericks rookie <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/dallas-mavericks/mavericks-news-dereck-lively-ii-dallas-cooper-flagg-insane">Cooper Flagg will have all eyes on him</a> when he makes his NBA regular-season debut in the coming 2025-26 campaign. On Tuesday morning, ESPN formally announced the games on its slate for Opening Week Presented by State Farm, and among them is the <a href="https://espnpressroom.com/us/press-releases/2025/08/espn-and-abc-unveil-blockbuster-nba-opening-week-and-christmas-day-broadcast-schedules-for-2025-26-regular-season/" rel="noopener">showdown between Texas rivals</a> in the form of the San Antonio Spurs and the Mavs.</p><p>That game is scheduled for Oct. 22, Wednesday, at American Airlines Center in Dallas, with ESPN’s coverage of the contest beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET (Eastern Time).</p><p>There are a lot of reasons for basketball fans to be excited for that meeting. Apart from Flagg’s debut, that meeting between the Mavericks and the Spurs will also have two of the last three top NBA draft picks. The Spurs will have 2023 top pick Victor Wembanyama welcoming the 2025 first overall pick in Cooper Flagg.</p><p>The Mavericks won the regular-season series against San Antonio in the 2024-25 campaign, winning three of four meetings. Dallas took the first three games before the Spurs took care of business in the finale. However, Wembanyama was only able to see action in one of those games, which was during the Spurs’ 120-109 loss in both teams’ season opener in Dallas. Wembanyama missed the next Dallas game with a knee issue and the final two Mavericks assignments for the Spurs due to a blood clot in his right shoulder.</p><p>Cooper Flagg carries the hope for a bright future for the Mavericks, who are still trying to establish their footing following the shocking February trade of Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers. With Flagg, the Mavs have a new young talent who appears to have the makings of the next face of the Dallas franchise. However, Dallas could face rough sledding in the coming season, with <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/dallas-mavericks/mavericks-dangelo-russell-dallas-kyrie-irvings-injury-absence">Kyrie Irving expected to miss a long period</a> because of a torn left ACL injury.</p><p>Before turning pro, Flagg played a college basketball season with the Duke Blue Devils. During his stint under Jon Scheyer, Flagg averaged 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.4 blocks through 37 games, while making 48.1 percent of his shots from the field and 38.5 percent of his tries from behind the 3-point line.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Mavericks rookie Cooper Flagg’s debut comes vs. Victor Wembanyama on ESPN

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/ncaa-basketball/no-1-2027-basketball-recruit-pulls-off-cooper-flagg-aj-dybantsa-maneuver');   ga('set', 'title', 'No. 1 2027 basketball recruit pulls off Cooper Flagg, AJ Dybantsa maneuver');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Babatunde-Oladotun.jpg"><figcaption>© Chris Day/The Commercial Appeal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>No. 1 2027 basketball recruit pulls off Cooper Flagg, AJ Dybantsa maneuver</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-08-07T14:43:26-07:00">August 7th, 2:43pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-08-07T14:43:26-07:00">August 7th, 2:43pm</time><address><a>Malik Brown</a>Malik Brown is a multimedia reporter based in Atlanta who covers the Hawks and Dream for ClutchPoints. Malik has worked in entertainment and sports, and he specializes in the NBA and NFL.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NCAA Basketball</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>For the past few years, top <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/ncaa-basketball/college-basketball-news-cooper-flagg-sets-official-visits-after-reclassifying-2024">basketball prospects have decided to reclassify</a>, and the latest recruit to do so was Babatunde Oladotun, according to ESPN’s Paul Biancardi. Oladotun is the No. 1 high school player in the ESPN class of 2027, but he has made the decision to reclassify to the class of 2026, graduating in the spring from Blake High School, which is located in Maryland.</p><p>The two other recent players to reclassify are <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/dallas-mavericks/mavericks-news-dallas-officially-selects-cooper-flagg-2025-nba-draft">Cooper Flagg, who was the No. 1 pick</a> in the NBA Draft, and A.J. Dybantsa, who is a projected top pick for next season. Similar to Flagg when he reclassified to the class of 2024, Oladotun won’t be 17 until December.</p><p>Oladuton spoke to ESPN about reclassifying and why he <a href="https://x.com/SCNext/status/1953525124558094616" rel="noopener">decided to make the move</a>.</p><p>“First and foremost, I am ahead of schedule academically and will graduate next year,” Oladotun said. “Most of my life, I have played up in age and after playing in the 17U division for Team Durant, I felt comfortable. I have gained 20 pounds over the last year and it never felt like I was playing up. Lastly, I am staying and graduating from Blake High School. It is a great environment, and I have a lot of support.”</p><h2><b>Babatunde Oladotun reclassifies to class of 2026</b></h2><p>Oladotun will most likely be a part of next year’s McDonald’s All-American game, and he has a chance to be a top-10 pick in 2027. Standing at 6’9 with a 6’11 wingspan, he has the makings of being a strong prospect if his body continues to develop and he puts in the work.</p><p>Right now, Oladotun is known as a three-level scorer and has the length to shoot over his defenders if need be. His playmaking is also something that has people excited about his game, and he’ll only get better in that area of his game.</p><p>As far as his recruitment, colleges such as Arkansas, Virginia Tech, Duke, Kansas, Kentucky, and Maryland are all interested in him. He plans to visit Maryland and Virginia Tech first out of all of those colleges. His father, Ibrahim Oladotun has noted that they’re looking for a coach with a lot of experience.</p><p>“We are looking for a coach that has a long history of teaching and winning,” Ibrahim said. “Someone who knows how to use a big guard and has a history of coaching big guards. A coach that also plays an NBA-style offense with quick actions.”</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

No. 1 2027 basketball recruit pulls off Cooper Flagg, AJ Dybantsa maneuver

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/dallas-mavericks/mavericks-news-cooper-flagg-dallas-receive-lackluster-playoff-prediction-from-espn');   ga('set', 'title', 'Cooper Flagg, Mavericks receive lackluster playoff prediction from ESPN');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Cooper-Flagg-Dallas-receive-lackluster-playoff-prediction-from-ESPN.jpg"><figcaption>ClutchPoints</figcaption></figure><h1>Cooper Flagg, Mavericks receive lackluster playoff prediction from ESPN</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-08-07T08:59:19-07:00">August 7th, 8:59am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-08-07T09:00:38-07:00">August 7th, 9:00am</time><address><a>Julian Ojeda</a>Julian Ojeda is an Orlando-based sports journalist with 3 years of professional writing under his belt, specializing in both NBA and NFL coverage. A devoted Orlando Magic fan, he deftly balances fervent fandom with insightful reporting, possessing a keen eye for compelling narratives.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Dallas Mavericks</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/dallas-mavericks/dallas-mavericks-2025-nba-free-agency-grades-every-signing">Dallas Mavericks’ revamped roster featuring rookie forward Cooper Flagg</a>, Anthony Davis, and Kyrie Irving is not <a href="https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/45913874/cooper-flagg-forecast-mvps-nba-titles-impact-dallas" rel="noopener">generating strong postseason confidence</a> from ESPN.</p><p>In ESPN’s latest forecast for the 2025–26 NBA season, the Mavericks received a modest projection despite <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/dallas-mavericks/mavericks-news-cooper-flagg-dominates-rookie-year-hype">selecting Flagg with the No. 1 overall pick in June</a>. ESPN’s Tim MacMahon suggested that while Flagg will have an immediate role, expectations should remain tempered during his first year.</p><p>“Flagg is projected to be an instant starter,” MacMahon wrote. “But he won’t be expected to carry the team as a rookie surrounded by accomplished veterans, most prominently former No. 1 pick and 10-time All-Star Anthony Davis, who was the headliner in the return package for Luka Doncic.”</p><p>Davis was acquired in February in a <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-mavericks-luka-doncic-anthony-davis-trade">blockbuster trade that sent Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers</a>. Dallas missed the playoffs last season following their 2024 NBA Finals appearance.</p><p>The projection places significant weight on the uncertain status of <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/dallas-mavericks/mavericks-news-kyrie-irving-gets-up-shots-after-acl-injury">Kyrie Irving, who remains sidelined after suffering a torn left ACL</a> in March.</p><p>“The biggest factor in the Mavs’ playoff positioning, or lack thereof, could be the impact made by another former No. 1 pick and future Hall of Famer,” MacMahon continued. “When will Kyrie Irving return from his torn left ACL? If it’s this season, can he return to All-Star form for a team that needs his offensive creation?”</p><h2><b>ESPN gives Cooper Flagg, Anthony Davis, and Kyrie Irving low playoff expectations</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Mavs-Anthony-Davis.jpg"><figcaption>Jerome Miron-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>According to ESPN’s odds model, the Mavericks have a 73.1% chance of finishing in the Western Conference play-in range (seeds 7–10). They hold a 23.1% chance of securing a playoff spot outright (seeded 5 or 6), and just a 3.8% chance of missing the postseason altogether. Their odds of finishing in the top four and earning home-court advantage are listed at 0%.</p><p>ESPN also predicted how many playoff series the trio of Flagg, Davis, and Irving will win together:</p><ul><li>0 series: 7.7%</li><li>1 series: 30.8%</li><li>2 series: 26.9%</li><li>3 series: 19.2%</li><li>4 series: 3.8%</li><li>5 series: 7.7%</li><li>6 or more series: 3.8%</li></ul><p>In addition to playoff odds, ESPN projected Flagg’s long-term career trajectory, including predictions for his first All-Star selection, MVP chances, number of championships, teams played for, and his ranking among NBA players after his rookie season.</p><p>Despite the tempered outlook, Flagg enters the league as one of the most highly anticipated rookies in recent memory. The 18-year-old is expected to contribute immediately on both ends of the floor alongside Davis, who remains the team’s centerpiece. Dallas also added veteran guard D’Angelo Russell to help stabilize the backcourt while Irving remains unavailable.</p><p>The Mavericks open training camp in October with preseason play to follow. As Flagg begins his NBA career and Irving works toward a possible return, Dallas will look to outperform the early projections and push back into the playoff mix.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Cooper Flagg news

Cooper
Flagg news