{"id":252342,"date":"2025-10-31T13:10:10","date_gmt":"2025-10-31T13:10:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/252342\/"},"modified":"2025-10-31T13:10:10","modified_gmt":"2025-10-31T13:10:10","slug":"the-mavs-are-turning-from-doncic-to-flagg-with-the-help-of-veteran-stars-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/252342\/","title":{"rendered":"The Mavs are turning from Doncic to Flagg with the help of veteran stars"},"content":{"rendered":"

KYRIE IRVING\u2019S FACE beamed with a big smile as he approached Cooper Flagg<\/a> near the Dallas Mavericks<\/a>\u2019 bench, a stark contrast to the American Airlines Center scoreboard at that moment.<\/p>\n

It was midway through the third quarter of the season opener, and hardly anything had gone as hoped for Flagg at that point of his heavily anticipated NBA debut. He had more turnovers than points as Dallas trailed the San Antonio Spurs<\/a> by 15 when Flagg stepped back onto the floor after a timeout before stopping to listen as Irving approached him, the veteran clapping animatedly and offering good vibes along with words of encouragement.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust keep your head up!\u201d Irving told Flagg.<\/p>\n

Irving, like teammate Anthony Davis<\/a>, understands the glare of the spotlight that comes with being the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft. But they began their NBA careers with the Cleveland Cavaliers<\/a> and New Orleans Pelicans<\/a>, respectively, two franchises that were in the early stages of a rebuild. Flagg\u2019s situation is a far cry from that norm as he arrived in Dallas only a season removed from the Mavs making an NBA Finals appearance. He joined a veteran-heavy roster that has internal win-now expectations even with Irving still months away from returning from knee surgery.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first thing you tell him is to have fun and enjoy yourself,\u201d Irving told ESPN during the preseason. \u201cThe work is just getting started, but it is pretty unique in terms of the situation he\u2019s in. But being a No. 1 pick is still going to come with the pressure, still going to come with a lot of the inner thoughts that you want to impose on the team. You want to let everybody know who you are, and you want to earn everybody\u2019s respect. And that\u2019s what it takes to be in this league. There\u2019s no boys allowed.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, it\u2019s just making sure he doesn\u2019t get overwhelmed or it\u2019s not too much for him.\u201d<\/p>\n

The first week of Flagg\u2019s career featured mixed results as coach Jason Kidd tossed him into the deep end, starting the 18-year-old at point guard, a position the rookie had never played.<\/p>\n

There have been moments when Flagg\u2019s franchise-changing potential has popped, such as his poster dunk over Toronto\u2019s Sandro Mamukelashvili<\/a> on a fast break. That was the highlight of Flagg\u2019s first NBA victory, when he finished with 22 points and no turnovers, joining Kobe Bryant as the only players in NBA history with a 20-point, zero-turnover outing before turning 19.<\/p>\n

There have also been stretches when Flagg has faded into the background. He was scoreless in the first half of his debut and didn\u2019t record an assist in the game, a blowout loss to the Spurs, when reigning Rookie of the Year Stephon Castle<\/a>\u2019s pressure defense made initiating the offense difficult. Flagg sat out in crunch time, save for a couple of late defensive possessions, and finished with only two points and no assists again in a loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder<\/a> the night after his terrific performance against Toronto.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s 18 years old,\u201d Kidd said. \u201cHe\u2019s going to look good; he\u2019s going to make some mistakes. He\u2019s going to learn from winning and losing, but being in this seat early on in your career will only make him better as we go forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

The challenges for Flagg aren\u2019t just on the floor. His lone season at Duke, where he was perhaps the most hyped recruit in the prestigious program\u2019s history, prepared Flagg as well as possible for the expectations and demands on a No. 1 pick widely billed as a generational prospect. But he has the added pressure of joining a franchise that is still reeling from the most controversial trade in NBA history as he navigates fame and playoff expectations.<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, it\u2019s a lot mentally,\u201d Flagg said after his first win. \u201cIt\u2019s a lot. I\u2019ve been through a lot over the last couple months. It\u2019s been a whirlwind, so just trying to take time to adjust and adapt.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t always go perfect right away. So just figuring it out day by day, game by game, minute by minute how I can help my team in the best ways. I think I\u2019m starting to get more comfortable for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"KYRIE IRVING\u2019S FACE beamed with a big smile as he approached Cooper Flagg near the Dallas Mavericks\u2019 bench,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":252343,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[434],"tags":[49,48,117726,459,82],"class_list":["post-252342","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-dallas-mavericks-sports-basketball-team-team-statscom-6","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252342","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=252342"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252342\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/252343"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=252342"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=252342"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=252342"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}