NBA Insider Says Cooper Flagg Will 'Play A Lot of PG' for Mavs During Rookie Season

The Dallas Mavericks aren't going to be shy about letting rookie forward Cooper Flagg run the offense this season.

"There's no easing in, there's no dipping his toe in the water," ESPN's Tim MacMahon said during Tuesday's NBA Today. "He's going to play a lot of point guard, probably start at point guard. He's going to have the ball in his hands. They want him to, and believe that he will impact the game in a lot of different ways. Scoring, facilitating, rebounding and especially as a disruptive, dominant type of defensive player. There are no kid gloves with Cooper Flagg."

The Mavs are leaning into it, listing him as a point guard:

Flagg is a natural playmaker, averaging 4.2 assists per game in his lone college season with Duke, but handling NBA point-guard duties right from the jump is a big ask. It's somewhat of a necessity for these Mavs, however, with Kyrie Irving sidelined to start the season as he recovers from a torn ACL.

The Mavericks are expected to roll with Flagg, Klay Thompson, P.J. Washington, Anthony Davis and Dereck Lively II as their starting five, which will allow them to bring D'Angelo Russell off the bench as the backup point guard. That starting group will present opposing teams with a lot of length and athleticism and should be a very strong defensive unit.

Russell isn't a strong defender, meanwhile, so bringing him off the bench would probably be more ideal for the identity Jason Kidd seemingly wants to create for the 2025-26 Mavericks.

"We're always looking to label something, and an identity is in search right now," he told reporters over the weekend. "I think understanding goals and things that we're talking about being the best defensive teams in the league or one of the best, understanding what that takes. Hopefully here in the next couple of weeks we can start identifying who we are as a team."

That potential lineup only works, however, if Flagg can handle the playmaking duties on the offensive end.

"I think there's a combination of the things that I did see at Duke, things that you can see that are going to take place with the roster with some guys out, understanding some more playmaking on the floor, it gives you a chance to compete at a high level," Kidd told reporters. "I thought he could do those things. I've been around different players in this league at different coaching spots that I gave the ball to because I felt that they could be successful with it, so I felt the same about Cooper and he's done an incredible job. He hadn't done this a lot at Duke, but in the half court you could see that he can play-make and he can run a pick-and-roll, so I thought in this league we can expand that and he's done a great job with it."

Time will tell. His first test comes on Wednesday night against Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs.