Stephen A. Smith Claims Cooper Flagg Makes Mavs No. 1 Threat to OKC’s Crown

Dallas Mavericks did not hesitate to select Duke standout Cooper Flagg with their No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft.

Stephen A. Smith Claims Cooper Flagg Makes Mavs No. 1 Threat to OKC’s Crown

Cooper Flagg can help Mavs topple OKC (Image via FirstSportz)

Cooper Flagg was the de facto No. 1 prospect of this year’s NBA Draft. Once the Dallas Mavericks won the lottery, it dawned on everyone that he was going into a championship-ready team. All that he needed to do was to adjust to the physicality of the league and develop.

If he develops enough to become a core member of the team, the Mavs could become serious contenders to win it all. However, after the franchise won the lottery under questionable circumstances, there were rumors that they could trade away the 1st overall pick.

The logic was that the Duke standout was not too keen on Dallas. Even though he denied it, there was a possibility that the team could welcome a trade if it was of that magnitude. Soon enough, those rumors wilted away when the Dallas Mavericks clarified that they were not trading away the pick.

Tonight, they confirmed their intentions by drafting Cooper Flagg with the 1st overall pick. This means he will be joining fellow Duke 1st overall pick Kyrie Irving, and another 1st overall pick in Kentucky’s Anthony Davis. More importantly, as Stephen A. Smith put it, this was a championship-winning team in the making.

I think he (Cooper Flagg) potentially makes them (the Dallas Mavericks) the No. 1 threat to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Stephen A. Smith said

The ESPN analyst pointed out that, other than Luka Doncic, the rest of the Dallas Mavericks made it to the 2024 NBA Finals. Add a healthy Davis and Klay Thompson, and the team was expected to be better. Cooper Flagg’s addition elevates them to be the best team in the West to unseat the newest NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder.

Cooper Flagg might not start immediately

The Dallas Mavericks have a stellar starting lineup when healthy. With Kyrie Irving out for at least until the end of the year, someone else will take the point guard spot. The franchise has a mid-level exception they will look to use to bring in a backup point guard to man the spot for the time being.

Cooper Flagg with Adam Silver
Cooper Flagg with Adam Silver (Image via Complex Sports/X)

Then they have Klay Thompson at the 2, PJ Washington at the 3, Anthony Davis at the 4, and either of Dereck Lively or Daniel Gafford at the 5. This leaves no room for Cooper Flagg to be a starter from day one.

The Duke star will most probably be eased into the rotation. He will be one of the 1st names off the bench, and unless he ends up being more productive than Washington, he would not be playing more than 15-20 minutes a game.

Even then, the Mavericks will hope he contributes to their game as they look to restrict minutes to handle injuries better than they did last season. Flagg is the future for this team, but if he develops in the way many think he will, he could end up taking someone’s spot.

Cooper Flagg to wear No. 32

Cooper Flagg wore No. 2 with the Duke Blue Devils. That is the number Dereck Lively wears. Thus, he has to adopt a different number. The next closest numbers, 0, 1, and 3, are all taken. As per veteran NBA journalist Marc Stein, the newest member of the Dallas Mavericks has ended up selecting No. 32.

This is the same number he wore when he was with Montverde Academy. The number sums up to make it 5, but more importantly, is the reverse of the No. 23, his favorite player of all-time, Michael Jordan, wore for much of his basketball career.

Flagg’s jerseys with the No. 32 are already available on the Mavericks’ online store as well as their in-house store at American Airlines Center. Considering his hype, most of the $125 jerseys are already sold out.

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