Cooper Flagg summer league takeaways: Mavericks’ No. 1 pick flashes point guard skills, defense in short stint

Cooper Flagg’s stint in the NBA Las Vegas Summer League is over now that the Dallas Mavericks plan on shutting down the No. 1 overall pick from last month’s draft after just two games. Flagg logged nearly 63 minutes against the Los Angeles Lakers and San Antonio Spurs, with his best performance coming in his final game in Sin City.

The former Duke product scored 31 points against the Spurs less than 48 hours after having a lackluster shooting night against the Lakers in his summer league debut. Flagg shot 5 for 21 against Los Angeles and didn’t record a field goal after halftime. However, Flagg did make a winning play in the clutch by blocking a shot during the final two minutes of regulation, which led to a go-ahead 3-pointer by his teammate and fellow rookie Ryan Nembhard.

Cooper Flagg scores nearly half of Mavericks’ points in summer league showdown with No. 2 pick Dylan Harper

Colin Ward-Henninger

Flagg’s play as a point-forward was a talking point heading into summer league, and Mavericks coach Jason Kidd mentioned during his post-draft press conference that it would be a point of emphasis. Flagg got plenty of reps as the primary ball handler and initiator of the offense, a role that could stretch into the regular season with star point guard Kyrie Irving out for at least the start of the 2025-26 campaign as he rehabs back from a torn ACL.

With Flagg’s summer in the books and the next glimpse of him playing in a competitive basketball game not coming until this fall, here are our biggest takeaways and observations from his two games. 

Point Flagg was real

Kidd wasn’t joking when he said that Flagg would get some of the point guard duties during summer league. Kidd explicitly mentioned he wanted Flagg to be ‘uncomfortable’ by playing point guard, with the end goal of seeing how he would react. Per Synergy, Flagg served as the pick-and-roll ball handler on 15 possessions in two games. Flagg scored 11 total points on those possessions. He finished with one assist against San Antonio and four in the win over the Lakers.

There were a handful of possessions that stood out in which Flagg made the right read as the primary ball handler. With 8:55 remaining in the second quarter against San Antonio, Flagg called for a screen, dribbled right and then went back to his left before pulling up for a 3-pointer at the top of the key. What stood out is that the primary defender guarding Flagg was San Antonio rookie Carter Bryant, who is considered one of the best point-of-attack defenders in the class. 

Flagg successfully recognized Carter going under the screen, which allowed him space to get off a jumper uncontested.

Another positive development: Flagg committed only three turnovers in those two games. Flagg was an underrated playmaker at Duke and should receive ample opportunities to create for others in the NBA. There is a clear vision for Flagg, and getting him reps at point guard in a low-stakes environment like summer league should do wonders for his long-term development. 

His shot diet was similar to what we saw at Duke

If you didn’t watch Flagg’s first game in the summer league and just checked the box score, it would be natural to be alarmed. However, his shot diet was similar to his time at Duke, where he improved significantly throughout the season on that end of the floor — particularly in the post, where he frequently backed down smaller defenders to either get to the rim or shoot a mid-range jumper.

In total, 26 of Flagg’s 42 total field goal attempts in summer league were on jumpers, per Synergy.

Within seconds of winning the opening tip and receiving the ball against Los Angeles, the Lakers sent a blitz at Flagg. On that first possession, Flagg drove left and attempted (and missed) a mid-range jumper. Six minutes later, Flagg contested a jumper on the defensive end, grabbed the rebound and hit a mid-range fadeaway jumper over Dalton Knecht. It was one of his best plays of the entire event.

Flashes of elite defense

Coming into the 2024-25 college season, Flagg was heralded as an elite defensive prospect; the question marks revolved mostly around his offensive game. Those concerns were put to rest throughout the season when Flagg made significant strides as a creator on the offensive end. Even if Flagg isn’t averaging 20 points per game in the NBA, he’s going to make an impact on the defensive end as a rim protector and POA defender.

Despite Flagg’s lackluster shooting performance against the Lakers, he made the play of the game with a clutch block at the rim. Flagg contested the shot, blocked it with his left hand, and then made the right read in transition to kick it out to Nembhard for the go-ahead bucket.

Flagg recorded three steals total (all of which came in the first game) during the summer league. His first steal led to his first bucket — a powerful one-handed dunk in transition — which he took coast to coast. Flagg also made an impressive play that led to his second steal by successfully navigating a screen.

Flagg’s upside as an All-NBA defender is evident. Again, it might not happen in his rookie season, but it would be shocking if he isn’t on the All-Defensive Team within the next three seasons. His basketball IQ is off the charts, and he’s going to make an impact immediately as a wing-stopper. The Mavericks organization and their fans should be satisfied with what they saw from Flagg, even though his summer league stint was short.