NBA Insider believes Nico Harrison built 'the best front line' with Cooper Flagg

The Dallas Mavericks made their expected pick of Duke’s Cooper Flagg at No. 1 overall last night to start off the 2025 NBA Draft. That should have the franchise back in a much better place than it was coming out of last season.

ESPN’s Shams Charania assessed the state of the Mavericks after drafting Flagg on ‘Get Up’ this morning. With Flagg joining the roster, Charania believes Dallas now has one of the very best frontcourts in the league with names like Anthony Davis, Dereck Lively, Daniel Gafford, and PJ Washington.

“Whatever you want to say about the Luka Doncic trade, Nico Harrison has built arguably the best front line in the NBA,” Charania said. “You think about Anthony Davis, now Cooper Flagg, Dereck Lively II, they just extended Daniel Gafford on a new three-year, almost $60 million deal.”

Davis came over midseason from the Los Angeles Lakers as part of the trade for Luka Doncic. He played nine games for the team, in which he averaged 20 points (46.1% FG), 10.1 rebounds, 4.4 assists, and 2.2 blocks. He joined Lively (8.7 ppg. (70.2% FG), 7.5 rpg., 1.6 bpg.), Gafford (12.3 ppg. (70.2% FG), 6.8 rpg., 1.8 bpg.), and Washington (14.7 ppg. (45.3% FG, 38.1% 3PT on 1.6 makes), 7.8 rpg.) as the strength of the Mavericks roster. That’s without mentioning Dwight Powell or Olivier-Maxence Prosper either.

However, as far as what they’ll actually be as a team next season, Charania says that comes down to the health of Kyrie Irving. Irving tore his ACL in March after being an All-Star again in his second full season with the team, posting 24.7 ppg. (47.3% FG, 40.1% 3PT on 2.9 makes), 4.6 apg. and 1.3 spg. Now, with him out until the turn of the calendar, if not fully for next season, Dallas will have to do something in its backcourt if it wants to further compete next season in the Western Conference.

“The biggest key, though, of this season is going to be Kyrie Irving, the return to health that he’s going to have. If he was healthy right now, we’d probably be talking about this team with the Thunder, competing for a championship – 1,000%. But that uncertainty on him? And I’m told the Mavericks aren’t going to be rushing him back. He personally is hopeful and targeting that January, February period,” Charania said. “That extension that he signed – three years, $119 (million)? What it does is gives Dallas the ability to use their taxpayer mid-level exception of just over five million dollars and they’re going to use that to go find a stop-gap-type of point guard. D’Angelo Russell, Chris Paul, Malcolm Brogdon – those are the three names I’m told that are in play there, potentially, that they’re going to have interest in. Who’s that player going to be? What’s the impact?”

“(Irving) is the linchpin of everything that they do there. He is so big for them on the court as a scorer, as a leader. I spoke to him the other night…and he really believes, when he’s back in the lineup, that this team can compete for a championship.”

Drafting Flagg immediately resets things in Dallas, coming off the Doncic trade. How well the Mavericks end up next season, though, even with him being part of that frontcourt, comes down to what they do in the backcourt further on in the draft or in free agency next month.