Mavs Reportedly Won't Trade No. 1 NBA Draft Pick, Plan to Select Cooper Flagg

Cooper Flagg can start looking for apartments in Dallas.

According to ESPN's Tim MacMahon, the Mavs "plan to select Duke forward Cooper Flagg and will not entertain the possibility of trading away the pick for a proven superstar."

While that always seemed like the most likely—and smartest—outcome, the Mavericks would have had easily the most valuable asset to dangle in trade talks should Giannis Antetokounmpo decided to seek a trade away from the Milwaukee Bucks this summer. There were questions about whether adding a veteran dynamo like that might have enticed Nico Harrison to trade the pick.

But pairing Flagg with Anthony Davis and Kyrie Irving not only improves the Mavericks in the short term—the Duke superstar's two-way impact and playmaking ability basically ensures he'll be an instant boon to any team—but also gives the organization a player to build around for the next decade or more.

As MacMahon noted, "Sources told ESPN that Patrick Dumont, who just finished his first year as the Mavs' governor, considers the opportunity to be in position to draft a generational talent like Flagg a 'gift.' While Dumont has given Harrison great leeway to run basketball operations, the governor has final decision on all personnel matters."

The Mavericks had a generational talent in the 26-year-old Luka Dončić, of course, but shockingly chose to trade him to the Los Angeles Lakers in February for a package centered around AD. But the basketball gods saw fit to bless them with the 18-year-old Flagg, who was absolutely dominant in his one season at Duke and impacts the game in basically every possible way (19.2 PPG, 7.5 RPG, 4.2 APG, 1.4 BPG, 1.4 SPG, 38.5 3P%).

All the Mavericks have to do with the gift offered to them is accept it. It sounds as though they plan to do so.