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Cooper Flagg NBA Summer League: How Duke star performed with Mavericks vs. Spurs

IMG_0985by: Griffin McVeigh07/12/25griffin_mcveigh
Cooper Flagg Mavericks
© Candice Ward-Imagn Images

Cooper Flagg made a splash in his NBA Summer League debut on Thursday. While the self-assessment was not too kind, Flagg impressed everyone out there after being the No. 1 overall pick. And he was back on the court Saturday afternoon as the Dallas Mavericks faced the San Antonio Spurs.

This allowed Flagg to go up against the No. 2 pick, Dylan Harper. The Dallas rookie performed incredibly well, finishing with 31 points, four rebounds, and one assist. Most impressive of them all, Flagg shot 50% from the field on 20 shot attempts. Eight of his points came from the free-throw line as well.

Everyone inside the Mavericks organization has to continue to feel like a special player is on the horizon. You can check out one of his three makes from behind the three-point line here.

Dallas is letting Flagg do something he is not accustomed to — shoot with a good amount of volume. His 20 shot attempts are just one short of the 21 he took on Thursday against the Los Angeles Lakers. For reference, Flagg’s shot attempt season high last season at Duke was 22. Only twice did he surpass 20 over 37 games played.

If Flagg is going to churn out 31 points on 20 attempts, the Mavericks will certainly take it. An early positive sign, even if it’s incredibly early in his career.

Two games remain for the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Summer League. Monday and Wednesday will see Flagg out there once again, hopefully balling out. The 31-point performance was one of the best we have seen in Las Vegas thus far. After all, Flagg was taken with the No. 1 overall pick for a reason.

More on Cooper Flagg, being drafted by Dallas Mavericks

The Mavericks were not considered one of the teams favored to land Flagg. In fact, they entered the lottery with just a 1.8% chance of winning. As it turned out, Dallas won the No. 1 overall pick and wound up making the obvious selection in Flagg.

Given the current situation, gaining one of the top prospects in a while was something the organization desperately needed — both on and off the court. Flagg should be a nice positive ejection.

Head coach Jason Kidd has even revealed positional plans moving forward. The Mavericks want to try out Flagg at point guard to start. Dallas needing one certainly helps the decision but Kidd is confident Flagg will be able to “run the show.”