How Cooper Flagg Is Giving Mavericks Fans Hope After Luka Doncic Trade

It is time to stop feeling sorry for Dallas Mavericks fans.

More importantly, it is time for Dallas Mavericks fans to stop feeling sorry for themselves.

After last season’s cruel joke at the trade deadline, Mavericks fans are starting to smile again, if not outright emote with the kind of giddy reaction that approaches quickly then bursts forth on its own.

Ha!

No, Cooper Flagg is not Luka Doncic yet. That was evident when Kyrie Irving’s absence inspired the team to introduce Flagg to the NBA by using him in Doncic’s former big-body point-guard role. The results were predictable. It was too much, too soon for the 18-year-old.

You know what they say about going through too many life changes at once: Coping skills get stretched to the limit.

Through the first seven games of the season, Flagg was averaging 13.6 points and 2.9 assists as the point guard. He was not quite playmaking to the level that was needed and he wasn’t scoring like the Mavericks hoped either.

On Nov. 5, though, with the arrival of the eighth game of the season, D’Angelo Russell started at point guard. Brandon Williams took over soon after for a nine-game run as a starter. Another rookie, Ryan Nembhard, has started at the point ever since.

Nobody ever thought replacing all of what Doncic could do was going to be easy.

But ever since returning to his familiar role at forward, Flagg is starting to find his way in the NBA. He went into Thursday’s game against the Detroit Pistons scoring 20.2 points over his last 19 games. His playmaking stills had even improved with 3.8 assists a contest.

Where he was shooting 38.8% from the floor in seven games to start the season, Flagg is shooting 50.8% ever since. His season totals through 26 games were 18.4 points, 6.3 rebounds and 3.5 assists.

Add in the fact that he is only turning 19 this weekend and the growth potential seems limitless. The Mavericks still are not playoff eligible, or even play-in tournament eligible, but they are close to the latter spot. Flagg should help them get there.

Nobody in NBA history had ever scored at least 40 points in a game while still 18 until Flagg had 42 on Monday in a road game against the Utah Jazz. Only one other Mavericks rookie had ever scored 42 points in a game: the legendary Mark Aguirre.

Kobe Bryant played a full season as an 18-year-old and did not top 24 points. LeBron James played 31 games while still 18 and topped out at 37 points.

Bryant and James never went to college. Flagg was able to get a year of experience at Duke and still enter the NBA at 18 because he reclassified to enter college a year earlier than projected.

Flagg’s arrival, of course, has been meticulous and well thought out. This is a transcendent talent with a healthy dose of self-awareness who landed in the team’s lap following an ill-advised trade that is on the way to a happy ending.

When asked about his unfortunate turn as a point guard earlier this season, Flagg acknowledged that the opportunity might have come too soon and he buckled a bit amid the pressure.

And in a promising revelation, he said he is more than willing to revisit the role down the road. In the meantime, he will initiate the offense on occasion from his forward spot to stay familiar with the responsibilities required.

So what is next for Mavericks fans?

Perhaps another mea culpa from the team would be nice, in addition to the November dismissal of general manager Nico Harrison, who orchestrated the Doncic trade to the Los Angeles Lakers.

While Doncic jerseys are still out in force at Mavericks home games, a lot more remain buried in drawers or hidden away on hangers in closets. Maybe the Mavericks can continue to help turn the page by opening a window where Doncic jerseys can be traded for one of a different Dallas player at a discount.

Good will goes a long way at this time of the year.

Another important stat to watch would be to count how many of those jerseys would be swapped for a Flagg No. 32.