The Dallas Mavericks officially have their next face of the franchise, or so they hope. They took Cooper Flagg with the first overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, who has drawn comparisons to Scottie Pippen, Jayson Tatum, and Kawhi Leonard.

Cooper Flagg and his Duke men’s basketball teammates were hanging out on a Saturday night in February, celebrating a home win over rival North Carolina, when freshman guard Darren Harris checked his phone and read aloud the news in disbelief: The Dallas Mavericks had traded Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Dallas Mavericks, in the eyes of many, already had their franchise cornerstone in Luka Doncic. Fast forward five months, and Dallas has now selected its next potential franchise centerpiece in Cooper Flagg out of Duke,