Cooper Flagg - NBA Mock Draft Roundup 2.0

Mavs GM Nico Harrison made one of the wildest trades in NBA history earlier this year. Four months later, Harrison will have one of the easiest decisions of his career to make on who to select with the No. 1 pick. Drafting Flagg — who can be Dallas' homegrown star for the next decade — will never erase trading away Luka to the Lakers, but it's a consolation prize to a fan base that's been through the ringer the last four months. The Mavs have impressive frontcourt depth, but drafting anyone other than Flagg would be a stunner.

After pulling off a miracle on Monday, the Mavericks will almost certainly select Flagg with the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft. He entered his freshman campaign with high expectations as the consensus top recruit and lived up to the hype after becoming the face of the sport this past season.

The 18-year-old has drawn comparisons to former Duke legend and Hall of Famer Grant Hill because of his size, athleticism and ability to affect games in various ways. He also measured in with a 7-foot wingspan at the combine, giving the Mavericks yet another reason to love him as a prospect.

The organization struck tremendous luck on Monday after the debacle of trading away cornerstone Luke Dončić. The group now has another potential generational player it can build around, while also giving Anthony Davis and Kyrie Irving help. Dallas is now in a great position moving forward.

Flagg was going to go No. 1 regardless of who got the pick. He was the national player of the year in college basketball this season at just 18 years old after reclassifying into the 2024 recruiting class. He posted ridiculous numbers, averaging 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.4 blocks per game, but it got even better after January. In his final 25 games, including the Georgia Tech game in which he rolled an ankle after 15 minutes in the ACC tournament, Flagg posted 20.5 points, seven rebounds and 4.6 assists on 51.1 percent shooting from the field, 45.1 percent from 3 and 88 percent from the line. Duke went 23-2 in that run before falling in the Final Four to Houston in staggering fashion (despite Flagg's 27, seven and four with two steals and three blocks in that game).

Flagg isn't quite at the Victor Wembanyama level of prospect over the last 20 years, but he belongs in the Anthony Davis tier. And now, he'll get to play with Davis. Barring injury, Flagg is about as can't-miss as it gets because of his skill level, athleticism, shot-creation ability and mentality. He is about as competitive as you'll find on the court and will bring a serious degree of work ethic into whatever situation he arrives. He wants to be great. There's no red flag in terms of entitlement here.

It will be interesting to see how the Mavericks attack this process. Flagg can play small forward effectively but probably fits better at the power forward spot in how he creates chaos defensively off the ball. But that would mean Davis shifting back to the center spot and reducing two good players in Dereck Lively II and Daniel Gafford to the bench. My guess currently is that Dallas just plays Flagg at the three, but it will be interesting to see if this outcome results in Mavericks' ownership seeing this as a get-out-of-jail-free card. Will they try to pivot in a different direction long-term, or will they double down on their roster build?

Pro Comparisons: Jalen Johnson, Kevin Garnett

There won't be much of a predraft process for Cooper Flagg. Aside from mandatory drilling and testing at the NBA combine, the No. 1 overall pick will likely only meet with the Dallas Mavericks.

Flagg should provide an instant rookie impact with his frontcourt athleticism, high-IQ passing and defensive activity, but his ball-handling, creation and shotmaking are improving at rapid rates. While two-way versatility should help Flagg adapt to any situation or fit, the on-ball development we saw at Duke suggests it won't be long before offense is running through him.

Team Fit: The Luka Dončić deal obviously left Dallas without a long-term centerpiece, and Flagg is a perfect fit to fill that void. More immediately, though, his play-finishing will shine alongside Kyrie Irving, once Irving returns from his March ACL tear, and the Mavs' defense will be all kinds of disruptive with Flagg, Anthony Davis and Dereck Lively II all filling the frontcourt—provided there's enough shooting to throw out the jumbo look as a change-of-pace option. —Zach Buckley, NBA Analyst

Scouting report: Flagg's spot as the consensus No. 1 pick was well-earned over the course of a stellar freshman season that ranks among the best in the one-and-done era. He compares favorably with the best college wings of this era from a statistical perspective, bolstered by his consistency and ability to lead Duke's young team.

Some NBA scouts project Flagg as a bona fide franchise player, while others wonder if he might be more of an elite second star. But that grand level of conjecture supports his case as the top player in this class. His rapid improvement, versatile two-way impact, unusual focus and competitive wiring at 18 years old make him a special prospect. -- Woo

NBA intel and fit: Winning the lottery with just 1.8% odds is a seismic, improbable victory for the Mavericks, who will have an easy decision to make with the addition of Flagg. Dallas has been intent on maximizing its current window as Anthony Davis and Kyrie Irving approach their mid-30s, and Flagg's readiness and versatility alongside them should immediately bolster the Mavericks' lineup.

With Irving recovering from an ACL injury, Flagg might enter the league with significant shot-creation duties handling the ball, giving him a terrific opportunity to stretch himself as a playmaker and potentially blossom into an offensive star. This outcome significantly changes the fate of the Mavericks, who were staring down limbo after trading away superstar Luka Doncic and seemingly shortening their window to compete for titles. -- Woo

Flagg was considered a generational prospect coming into Duke after just three years of high school ball, and he lived up to the hype during a freshman season for the ages. Flagg carried Duke to the Final Four and became just the fourth freshman to win the Wooden Award since 1977 recognizing the nation's most outstanding player. Flagg's dominant production against older competition despite not turning 18 years old until the end of the Dec. is the best indicator for his future stardom, and he also has so many great tools to work with. Flagg has an elite combination of positional size (6'9 with a 7-foot wingspan), athletic explosiveness, motor, and feel for the game. He's a true two-way forward who can impact the game without the ball, but he also flashed some incredible upside on the ball as the engine of Duke's offense. His three-point shot was automatic (44.7 percent) after he turned 18, and his passing reads were damn impressive for a player this big and this young. This is a shocking result after the Mavs traded Luka Doncic midway through this season. Dallas has a new franchise star, and he can take them to same heights Luka reached — maybe even higher.

You're going to have to give me a minute, because I still ... I still just ... what just happened? I just tried to touch a mirror like Neo to confirm that we aren't actually in a simulation. But what fucking simulation would choose this? Even the machines would know this is too insane to believe! Here's something even crazier: Flagg fits everywhere, but he really fits what the Mavs are doing by prioritizing size and defense. They might not immediately take off, as an older Kyrie Irving tries to climb a steep mountain in his recovery from a torn ACL, but Flagg throwing lobs to Anthony Davis and swallowing up defensive space in the same lineup is just not something anyone considered to be possible.

Nico Harrison has insisted time and again that defense wins championships. He'll have a chance to put that theory to the test in adding Flagg, the most dynamic defender and best overall player in the class. Flagg is coming off a Player of the Year campaign at Duke as a freshman and is second only to Victor Wembanyama among prospects since I began evaluating players in 2016.

I genuinely can't believe it actually happened. This result will not help the "NBA is rigged" accusations (and/or it works in favor of simulation theory) just months after the Mavericks traded Luka Dončić. But a big congratulations to the Mavericks and their remaining fans. So, now what will Nico Harrison do? He says defense wins championships, so Cooper Flagg makes some sense. But could the first pick have appeal to the Bucks for Giannis Antetokounmpo? The Mavericks will at least make that call. If they keep the pick, then Flagg fits as a do-it-all forward who hustles like a madman, makes his teammates better as a passer, and has dialed in a knockdown jumper. He's both the best offensive and defensive prospect in this draft class, making him the safest No. 1 pick in ages. As long as his jumper falls, he could play as a small forward next to Anthony Davis and another big. It's his growth as a shot creator that will decide if he reaches his All-Star floor or soars to his Hall of Fame ceiling.