Dallas, United States – The Dallas Mavericks, as expected, selected forward Cooper Flagg with the first pick of the 2025 NBA draft on Wednesday night.
The Mavericks won the draft lottery despite having only a 1.8% chance, which allowed them to pick Flagg, considered the top prospect in this class as soon as he reclassified to graduate from high school and enter college a year early.
Flagg, who is 6-foot-8 and 221 pounds, and who won’t turn 19 until December 21, arrived at Duke with high expectations and met them. He was a consensus All-American and won multiple national player of the year awards, including the Wooden Award and the Naismith Award, averaging 19.4 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.4 blocks and 1.4 steals per game, while leading the Blue Devils to a 35-4 record and a Final Four appearance.
The arrival of Flagg in Dallas comes less than five months after the shocking trade of Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers, a deal that angered the fans of a franchise that advanced to the NBA Finals the previous season. The addition of Flagg is expected to mitigate the significant trade concerns faced by the franchise following the Doncic deal.
Flagg joins a Dallas team that aims to compete immediately in the Western Conference, following an injury-plagued campaign with a 39-43 record that ended with elimination in the last play-in game. He is expected to start immediately in a power forward rotation that includes Anthony Davis, Dereck Lively II, Daniel Gafford, P.J. Washington, Naji Marshall, and Caleb Martin.
