Cooper Flagg drafted No. 1 overall by Mavericks: How Duke star will fit in Dallas’ starting lineup

The Dallas Mavericks officially drafted Cooper Flagg with the No. 1 overall pick to kick off the 2025 NBA Draft on Wednesday night. The pick was no surprise, but now the real work begins for Dallas. The Mavericks appear to be planning to use a two-timeline approach in the Flagg Era, not because it’s the right idea, but because they really have no choice with Kyrie Irving and Anthony Davis on the team. And assuming there’s no surprise Davis trade, the plan moving forward is to blend a little of the old and new, and hope Dallas can thread the needle enough to put a winning product on the floor.

But where does Flagg fit into all of this? Out of the gate, he’s projected to be a starter, there’s no question about that. But with a roster that was built to harness the strengths of Luka Dončič before his shocking trade in February, how do the Mavericks pivot to account for the addition of the 6-foot-8 Flagg? There aren’t fit concerns per se, but there are a lot of variables to consider as Dallas enters this new era.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at some of the biggest questions facing the Mavericks now that they’ve officially drafted Flagg.

What does the starting lineup look like with Flagg?

The Mavericks suddenly have an unbalanced roster, one with a few too many forwards and not enough guards. That will certainly get addressed before the season starts, because with Irving out until at least January as he rehabs from a torn ACL, Dallas will need to find a replacement point guard until he returns. But unless that fix comes in a trade where one of these forwards is shipped out, the Mavericks will need to make some difficult decisions with their starting lineup.

Fortunately, it’s a good problem to have if you’re Dallas. Having a surplus of wings is a problem a lot of teams would like, but figuring out which combination of players works the best will be Jason Kidd’s primary task. The lineup we could see at the start of the season is this:

There’s a lot to like about this lineup, primarily the potential connection between Flagg and Lively. At Duke, Flagg excelled having the 7-foot-2 Khaman Maluach on the floor with him, running pick-and-rolls with the big man, dumping the ball off to him when the defense collapsed on Flagg, and hitting him with lobs to finish off dunks. Those are all things Lively is supremely skilled at, as is Daniel Gafford, who recently signed a three-year, $54 million contract extension with the Mavericks. 

Flagg’s development as a facilitator and creator will also benefit Thompson, who despite not being in his prime is still one of the best shooters in NBA history. Flagg also has history playing with a premier shooter, after playing alongside Kon Knueppel at Duke. Knueppel played a Thompson-esque role in getting fed the ball from Flagg while flying around off-ball screens, popping out to the perimeter and spreading the floor in transition for a spot-up 3-pointer. So the connection with Thompson should be natural.

One concern with this lineup, or any lineup featuring Lively or Gafford at the center position, is the lack of spacing it provides. Flagg developed greatly as a jump shooter at Duke, but he thrives in getting into the paint and attacking the rim. Neither of Lively or Gafford can spread the floor to create the kind of space needed to allow Flagg the room to get to the rim, and having A.D. out there, who can shoot 3s, but will primarily be stationed in the post, will create a nightmare situation for Dallas offensively.

Having multiple guys on the floor at the same time who cannot spread the floor offensively isn’t ideal in today’s NBA. So the Mavericks may find very quickly that it might make more sense to not have either Lively or Gafford in the starting lineup, but instead push Flagg to power forward and bring PJ Washington in as the small forward. That may mean Davis could be slid down to the center spot, which leads to the next question.

Will Davis play center again?

Davis has made it known publicly on multiple occasions that he prefers to play power forward. He doesn’t enjoy the physical toll it takes to defend and fight for rebounds that comes with being a center, and when the Mavericks initially traded for A.D., it was the perfect solution with two bigs in Lively and Gafford to pair with him in the frontcourt. But things have suddenly changed for the Mavericks after drafting Flagg. Davis may not like playing center, but on this current iteration of the Mavericks, it may make the most sense for him to play the 5 while Flagg fills the other frontcourt spot at power forward.

It seems silly to talk about specific positions in today’s game when everything is far more fluid than it was 25 years ago. In reality, Flagg is so interchangeable in playing either forward spots that it may not matter. Just as Davis is interchangeable as a forward-center. But where it will matter is on defense. Flagg would be far more useful defending other power forwards, while Davis is backing him up defensively, than having him opposite a faster small forward out on the perimeter. Flagg’s rim protection and weak side defense, paired with Davis down low would cause headaches for opposing teams.

A lineup featuring Davis at center could look like this:

• PG: TBD/Kyrie Irving (when healthy)
• SG: Klay Thompson
• SF: PJ Washington
• PF: Cooper Flagg
• C: Anthony Davis

That lineup has far more versatility on both sides of the ball than any lineup that features Lively or Gafford. From a spacing perspective, having Davis at center allows Dallas to still have Washington in the starting lineup. Washington is a consistent enough 3-point threat that will require the defense to respect him on the perimeter. That opens up the floor for both Davis and Flagg to operate in the paint, and create opportunities for Washington and Thompson on the perimeter. 

This lineup also wouldn’t see the Mavs compromising on size or rim protection a ton. In positions 3-5, you’d have the 6-foot-7 Washington, Flagg and Davis who stands at 6-foot-10. That’s an insane amount of size, and even better, that is a far more versatile defensive trio to have on the floor, as Washington can guard down to the 5 position, while Flagg could guard at least three different positions.

The issue here, though is that employing this lineup would require some buy-in from Davis who has been resistant to playing center in the past. It also may not even be a reality now that Dallas signed Gafford to an extension, ensuring — at least for right now — that Davis’ time at center will be very limited. If Davis is more open to playing center, or if Dallas clears some of the logjam they have in the frontcourt, this may be the best option for the Mavericks as they run this two-timeline approach. 

There’s of course the option of trading someone like Washington to get a point guard and perhaps a cheaper small forward to bring in off the bench to appease Davis’ wants of playing power forward. But at some point, the Mavericks have to make decisions that are best suited for Flagg, who will be the face of this franchise for at least the next decade, even if that means ruffling Davis’ feathers a bit.

Could Flagg start in the backcourt?

OK, Flagg is a lot of things, but he’s not a guard, I know. But, is it crazy to think that perhaps the Mavericks could test this out a bit next season? Let’s say they run this lineup out there:

• PG: TBD/Kyrie Irving (when healthy)
• SG: Cooper Flagg
• SF: PJ Washington
• PF: Anthony Davis
• C: Dereck Lively II

This combination of players feels like a Jason Kidd (and Nico Harrison) fever dream: All defense, all the time. Bringing Thompson off the bench instead of Washington wouldn’t be as tough of a pill to swallow, though it does handicap the spacing on this team. Defensively though, Thompson isn’t the player he once was, and if Washington is going to still be on the Mavericks it just feels like he should be starting because his defense is too important.

This also appeases Davis’ need want to play power forward. From Flagg’s perspective though, it would be pretty wonky. He initiated a lot of the offense for Duke last season, but he’s not a natural shooting guard, even if he did develop greatly as a 3-point shooter. But imagine the mismatch opportunities this would create for just about everyone on the floor. Flagg would either be able to bully smaller defenders on his way to the rim, or dump it off to Davis or Lively who might have a mismatch of their own. Opponents would have to really think about the defensive assignments with this lineup, because the amount of size everywhere, there will always be a weakness the Mavericks can exploit.

And defensively, the only weak spot to exploit would be Irving when he returns, but since joining the Mavericks he’s been more committed on that end of the floor. He’s not locking anyone up, but even if a quick guard gets past Irving, you then would have to deal with the endless length of Flagg, Washington, Davis and Lively

This is a harebrained idea, but going with a jumbo lineup is something Kidd has already thought about with Flagg.

“I see a young man who is only 18 years old who can do a lot of things,” Kidd said of Flagg during an appearance on the DLLS Mavericks podcast in May after the Mavericks landed the No. 1 pick in the draft lottery. “He won’t be 19 until December, which is really surprising, but I think when you talk about being able to play 2 through 4, and in today’s game, you might be able to sneak him around the five, if we’re going to label him as a position player. Maybe there’s still some growth, only being 18, he could still grow. But I think you can play him at the two, his ability to shoot the ball, to be able to put on the floor. Again, as I talked about, we can have a big group out there that could start.”

The point is, Flagg gives the Mavericks a ton of options. It may take awhile before the perfect combination of players reveals itself, but Dallas is certainly in a better position with Flagg on the roster than it was just a few months ago when they were the laughing stock of the league for trading Doncic.

Drafting Flagg was the easy part. Now the Mavericks have to figure out how to surround him with the best combination of players who will elevate his strengths, even if that means making some other players on the team uncomfortable.