Cooper Flagg is exposing Luka Doncic's biggest weakness Mavericks fans ignored

Cooper Flagg's defense is making Mavericks fans realize what they missed on that end with Luka Doncic.

Jared A’Latorre

Los Angeles Lakers, Luka Doncic / Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Luka Doncic is a once-in-a-generation player, and it doesn't take a village to think that. Dallas Mavericks fans will go above and beyond to defend Doncic. He was their rock. The face of Dallas was Doncic, but as long as Cooper Flagg is in the mix, the 19-year-old sensation is making fans realize what they missed when Doncic was on the court.

The comparison of a superstar and a future superstar is always tough to do. They both have their own unique strengths, but one of Doncic's weaknesses was getting back on defense and sticking with his man altogether. He might've gotten the short end of a lot of calls, but at times, he wouldn't get back because of picking arguments with the officials. On top of that, his effort was extremely inconsistent.

Mavs fans will say they don't really care that Doncic would drink a beer now and then, but the reasoning for the trade started to clear the smoke. His habits eventually caught up to him on the court, according to Nico Harrison. But Flagg has the body and the build to be that next great Mavericks player. It works out even better that Harrison is out of the picture, far away from the future Mavs superstar.

Cooper Flagg could end up being a better player than Luka Doncic

ESPN's Brian Windhorst made it clear that he's only seen two teenagers as complete players. You guessed it. Flagg is on that list with LeBron James as the only teenagers he's ever seen covering the game for more than two decades.

"Cooper Flagg could end up being a better player and a better franchise leader than Luka Dončić," Windhorst said. "Cooper Flagg is an exciting young player as we've seen in this league in 25 years. What he can do at both ends of the court elevates his entire team."

This is the best praise someone could ever get, as the 23-year-veteran James is among the greatest players the NBA has ever seen. Flagg's records are always compared to some of the best that have ever played the game. Flagg has also dealt with some of the most pressure that any rookie has ever seen. He skipped a year of high school to be a 17-year-old at Duke, and an 18-year-old in the NBA. It's rare to see, but he's already passed every test.

Flagg is making chase-down blocks like James. He's making shots in the clutch like James. He's everything that James was at 18 years old, and he's only going to get better. The defense and mobility may be the only differences between the two. Doncic did undergo a massive transformation that he wanted everybody to know about, so we can imagine there's still some fire under him for the way he was forced out of Dallas.

Sure, Doncic had his moments where he didn't get back on defense and gave no effort. But don't forget, he was still one of the best NBA players at the time he was painfully traded. Mavs fans will always miss Doncic. Maybe one day, there will be a reunion between Doncic and Kyrie Irving if Irving is still around.

Jared A’Latorre

Jared is the Site Expert of Sport DFW, and oversees Dallas sports all the time. He also spent time as a Senior Contributor to The Smoking Cuban, The Landry Hat and Gig Em' Gazette. His work has been featured on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, Yahoo Sports and MSN. He also covered various sports at Oklahoma State and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Sports Media from Oklahoma State. He's done play-by-play radio broadcasting in North Central Oklahoma and currently does play-by-play radio broadcasting for high school football in North Texas. Jared is also a co-host for Grizzlies Digest, covering the Memphis Grizzlies. In his free time, Jared loves watching sports, spending time with family and friends and watching anything Billy Bob Thornton related.