The Dallas Mavericks have seen enough.
No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg was pulled from 2025 NBA Summer League motion this weekend, not attributable to injury, but as a strategic move by the Mavs, who’ve apparently seen what they desired to see.
Flagg scored just 10 points in his debut against the Lakers on only 5-of-21 shooting before exploding for 31 points in his second outing when facing the Spurs, going 10-of-21 from the sector and grabbing 4 rebounds in 31 minutes.
“I believe it’s a brand new environment, latest setting,” Flagg said after Saturday’s loss against the Spurs, during which he had his best game of the summer. “They need to see me be aggressive and do this sort of stuff.
“I believe I did that so much higher today, just attending to the road, getting fouled, and that helped me to get comfortable and get settled in early. Still missed a bunch of free throws. I do know my mom probably wasn’t very completely happy with that,” Flagg added.
Despite the 76-69 loss to San Antonio, it appeared as if Flagg had done enough to warrant holding him out until training camp this fall.
His dominant performance included multiple highlight-reel dunks and a wide range of scoring prowess shown from different parts of the ground.
ESPN confirmed that Dallas officially shut Flagg down from further summer league play to guard their prized rookie and preserve him for the regular season, first reported by Marc Stein.
Flagg, who was born on December 21, 2006 and continues to be just 18, reclassified academically and enrolled at Duke for the 2024–25 season, making him one in every of the youngest players in his NBA draft class.
At Duke, he averaged 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 4.2 assists per game, earning a litany of awards, including ACC Player of the 12 months and Freshman of the 12 months honors while leading the Blue Devils to the Final 4.
Nationally, he won the Wood and Naismith Awards for Player of the 12 months, and he was also a consensus All-American.
The Mavericks secured Flagg via the 2025 NBA Draft lottery months after stunningly trading away Luka Doncic before February’s trade deadline.
