The Dallas Mavericks have only had Cooper Flagg for a couple of days, but that hasn’t stopped them from looking ahead.
Over the past few months, it’s been difficult to say anything about the Mavericks without thinking about the Los Angeles Lakers. Of course, the purple and gold franchise is home to Luka Doncic after Dallas dealt him in a shocking midseason trade.
Despite the Mavericks’ shocking trade, they have still managed to have some luck on their side, landing the No. 1 pick in the draft lottery. Using that top pick to select Flagg has left many fans in Dallas with mixed feelings.
While it’s obviously great to have such a talented young star on the Mavericks, their fans know they already had that with Doncic. Still, this is a second chance of sorts for Nico Harrison’s team.
In a press conference on Monday, Dallas coach Jason Kidd had some interesting things to say about his team’s rookie star. Along with saying he wants Flagg to play point guard, there was one matchup he couldn’t wait to see.
“I’m excited about giving [Flagg] the ball against the Lakers and see what happens,” Kidd said. “Let’s get it started right off the bat.”
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While the Mavericks face the Lakers to begin Vegas Summer League in July, it seems unlikely that Kidd was only talking about that matchup in a couple of weeks. If Flagg were to play point guard in the regular season, he might just be matching up against Doncic on the other side.
With Harrison’s mantra of “defense wins championships” being said constantly over the past few months, that matchup could give the Mavericks some clarity on that front.
With Flagg being a great defender coming into the league and Doncic often being criticized on that end, it’d be a great chance for Dallas to show the world it was right, or maybe for the Mavericks’ former superstar to prove a point when he gets another chance to play his former team.
