Dallas Is Already Seeing Benefits With Cooper Flagg On Board

His presence is already influencing roster decisions

As TheSmokingCuban.com notes, Cooper Flagg’s versatility is already paying dividends for the Mavericks.

As you probably know, fellow one-and-done-Dukie Kyrie Irving is rehabbing from an ACL injury and on a recent livestream, he said he wasn’t sure how long it would take him to get back:

“Don’t hold your breath on that, you know what I’m saying? It doesn’t mean I won’t be back. It’s just, I don’t want to make any predictions on when I’m going to be back. I just want to be back 150,000% better. I’m taking my time right now to really get healthy, I’m taking my time to really get my body right, other parts of my body right and really just enjoy this recovery process, man. It’s not pretty. Yes, it is a beautiful struggle, but I go through the mental rollercoaster ride every day. Just want to be back out there.”

And Dallas wants him back too, having just signed him to a three year, $119 million dollar contract.

But no one knows for sure when he’ll actually be back, so Dallas had to make some decisions: should they trade for a point guard? Pick one up in free agency?

As it turns out, Flagg’s versatility allowed them to sign D’Angelo Russell rather than trading away good players.

Mavs coach Jason Kidd has said he plans to run Flagg at point in Summer League play, and he also plans to use him at point some during the season.

So that explains why he’s already paying dividends for Dallas. And that also makes life easier for GM Nico Harrison. Dallas fans have not forgiven him for trading away Luka Doncic, but having Flagg mollifies them.