Report: Cooper Flagg will land four-year, $62.7 million contract once drafted by Dallas Mavericks

Wednesday is the 2025 NBA Draft and Duke forward Cooper Flagg will most certainly be the first name off the board. When the Dallas Mavericks make Flagg the No. 1 overall selection, he will secure a four-year, $62.7 million contract. Flagg will make $13.8 million in 2025-26, per Spotrac.

Dallas has been zeroed in on Flagg since, surprisingly, winning the NBA Draft Lottery last month. The Mavericks (39-43) missed the playoffs this past season and had just a 1.8% chance of winning the lottery. But the ping-pong balls aligned just right for Dallas and now, Flagg is set to be a Maverick.

The Mavericks traded All-Star guard Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers on Feb. 1. Now, they have the opportunity to add another franchise cornerstone next to guard Kyrie Irving and forward Anthony Davis.

“I wouldn’t look at anything as pressure,” Flagg said of following Doncic. “I think me going into whatever situation I go into, I’m just going to try to be myself all the time and I’m going push myself to be better and better every single day and make the most out of every day. I’m not worried about living up to certain players’ expectations or things like that.”

Cooper Flagg set to go No. 1 in 2025 NBA Draft

Flagg won the Wooden Award, along with being a Consensus All-American, ACC Player of the Year, and making the All-NCAA Tournament team in his lone season with the Blue Devils. He averaged 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4.2 assists in 37 games. Flagg shot just over 48% from the field and 38.5% from three.

From Grant Hill to Jayson Tatum and Zion Williamson, among others, Duke has had some talented freshmen come through the program. ESPN‘s Jay Bilas believes Flagg is the “best freshman player that Duke has ever had.”

“To your question about Cooper Flagg? You know, I happen to think he’s the best freshman player that Duke has ever had,” Bilas said. “That might not mean he’s the most talented. Grant Hill and Kyrie Irving were incredibly talented players when they came out of Duke. Grant came out as a senior and Kyrie left after his freshman year after being injured for most of the season.

“But no other freshman produced, as an 18-year-old, like Cooper Flagg did across the board. Not only in success of the team but in individual success. As an 18-year-old, to be as complete a player as he is right now, and as competitive as he is as an 18-year-old, is really hard to fathom. … What he accomplished at 18 is really staggering.”