NEW YORK — The Dallas Mavericks selected Duke freshman forward Cooper Flagg with the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft on Wednesday night, capping off a chaotic year filled with injuries, underachievement, and a mind-boggling trade that shook the league.
Dallas got in the position to select Flagg after the draft lottery on May 12, when the Mavericks, with a 1.8% chance of winning the lottery, jumped up 10 spots and had the opportunity to change their fortunes in a matter of months.
In Flagg, the Mavericks are getting an 18-year-old, 6-foot-7, 220-pound player who can score at all three levels and led the nation in box plus-minus, which is used as an estimate of a player’s contribution to the team. He can start for Dallas from the minute he arrives and will complement Anthony Davis and Kyrie Irving, whenever he gets back from his knee injury.
Will this selection make the Mavericks fan base forget and forgive general manager Nico Harrison for trading a franchise player in Luka Doncic? It depends on what day you ask and how Flagg performs the first half of next season. Maybe, just maybe, some of those disgruntled fans and thousands who canceled their season tickets will come back into the fold.
‘My mindset has always been to be a winner, so I’m going to try to win as hard as I can everywhere I go. I’m looking forward to being successful and winning a lot of games, for sure,’ Flagg said after being drafted.
Flagg, who is from Newport, Maine, says he is getting support from the entire state. Newport has a population of almost 3,200 people.
‘I know how many people showed up today and supported me at some of the draft parties back home,’ Flagg said. ‘It feels amazing knowing I can inspire younger kids. I was in their shoes really not that long ago, so just to know I can give those kids those feelings and have the whole state behind me, it means a lot.’
What Cooper Flagg brings to the table
Flagg has been on the NBA radar since his freshman year in high school, and once he got to Duke, he did not disappoint, leading the Blue Devils to the Final Four while winning every individual national player of the year award out there. Flagg’s offensive game translates well to the NBA; he can finish at the rim with ease and his outside shot is better than most as he hit 38.5% of his attempts from 3-point range while averaging 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4.2 assists, leading Duke in those three categories as well as being the team leader in steals and blocks.
Flagg will be called upon to handle a significant scoring load until Irving is healthy, as well as be a force on the defensive end, since Harrison cited that as one of the reasons for shipping Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers.
How he handles other threes and fours on both ends of the floor will be key, and as someone who has a refined offensive game, Flagg has the potential to be an All-Star early in his career and should thrive immediately. Whether that’s enough to carry the win-now, championship-minded Mavericks to where they want to be is a different story.
“I think positionless is a great way to put it,” Flagg said, describing his skill set. “I’ll do whatever coach wants me to do, I’ll play any role. For me, it’s just doing a ton of different things on the court – just being an impact player – impacting both sides of the ball at a high level and impact winning at a high level.”
Flagg, who doesn’t turn 19 until Dec. 21, is the second-youngest No. 1 overall pick in an NBA draft behind only LeBron James.
Flagg is the sixth Duke player to go No. 1 overall, joining Art Heyman (1963), Elton Brand (1999), Kyrie Irving (2011), Zion Williamson (2019) and Paolo Banchero (2022). The Blue Devils have had more No. 1 picks than any other school in the common draft era (1966-present).
He also breaks a two-year streak of international-based players going No. 1 overall – France’s Zaccharie Risacher in 2024 and France’s Victor Wembanyama in 2023. Before that, players who attended U.S. colleges were selected No. 1 overall in 16 consecutive drafts.