Cooper Flagg and Paige Bueckers Set to Make Basketball History in Dallas

Paige Bueckers and Cooper Flagg will become first pair of 1st overall picks in basketball history to go to the same city.

Cooper Flagg and Paige Bueckers Set to Make Basketball History in Dallas

Dallas will get both No. 1 overall picks from NBA and WNBA this year (Image via FirstSportz)

The Dallas Mavericks winning the 2025 NBA Draft Lottery has shocked everyone who knows anything about the NBA. The fact that they will be able to draft Duke standout Cooper Flagg despite having just a 1.8% chance of doing so was either a stroke of luck, or something else.

Fans and some associated with the NBA in some capacity do not believe it has anything to do with luck. Rather, they believe this is the 1st round pick the Mavericks were to receive after trading away franchise cornerstone Luka Doncic ahead of the trade deadline.

The conspiracy theories aside, this lottery win has helped the city of Dallas enter the history books. Unless they trade the pick away for a war chest of assets, the Mavericks will use the No. 1 overall pick to draft Cooper Flagg.

If that happens, the city of Dallas will be the first city ever in basketball history to select No. 1 overall draft picks both in the NBA as well as the WNBA in the same year. The Dallas Wings do not have any links to the Mavericks, but basketball fans in the city of Dallas will have something to look forward to after the Doncic heartache.

Both Cooper Flagg and Paige Bueckers are billed as franchise cornerstone players. Both will be the players Dallas fans will hope to bring them championships in the next decade. As long as their respective teams stay healthy, that hope should not be a distant dream.

Paige Bueckers and Cooper Flagg can help Dallas teams start winning immediately

Paige Buckers joined a retooled Wings side this WNBA season. The team has been heavily retooled with the vision of competing for the next few years. They do not have aging veterans or players with health risks.

That means, once they work on their chemistry, they can start to hit their stride as early as this season. Bueckers has a penchant for leading teams to play better than what analysts predict. Therefore, she might be the rookie leader who can bring the squad together and surprise many.

Cooper Flagg, on the other hand, will join a playoff-ready team. Having Anthony Davis, Klay Thompson, PJ Washington, Derek Lively, and Daniel Gafford on that team screams serious playoff contender when healthy.

Health has not been a positive point this season with Kyrie Irving the worst hit. The usual timeline to return from an ACL tear is ten to twelve months. If the rest of the Dallas Mavericks can stay healthy, they should be in a decent playoff position towards the end of the 2025-26 season.

Then, if Irving returns, he could slot in and help the team make a serious push for an NBA title. Even if that does not happen, basketball fans in Dallas should be able to find the joy in watching winning basketball return to their city.

Team USA scrimmage experience will help Flagg adjust faster

Gone are the days when top draft picks come into a team and immediately start to dominate. But for Cooper Flagg, his 2024 summer experience playing scout team basketball with Team USA will help him adjust to life in the NBA.

Cooper Flagg stood out at Team USA scrimmage ahead of Paris Olympics
Cooper Flagg stood out at Team USA scrimmage ahead of Paris Olympics (Image via Open Source/X)

He has already experienced practicing against Anthony Davis and the NBA Avengers super squad. Every Paris Olympics gold medalist had nothing but high praise for the soon-to-be rookie. That should confirm the opinion that the Maine native is a generational talent.

Not everyone gets the chance to play against some of the best players in the world as a teenager. Flagg received that opportunity and stood out in a crowd of NBA stars. After he signs his rookie contract with the Dallas Mavericks, he might have to wait to start.

But considering how prodigious a talent he is, he might force his way to the front of the pack. They could have him play the point guard role, something he has done with Duke. That is, until Kyrie Irving is back. After that, a battle for starter minutes could ensue, with Flagg holding the key, considering he is the future of that franchise.

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