Cooper Flagg gives Mavericks a priceless weapon Luka Doncic never could

As unfortunate as the Luka Doncic departure was from the Dallas Mavericks, one of the realizations that Los Angeles Lakers fans are running into is that they will need to build a very specific roster around the Slovenian superstar if they want any shot at winning a championship.

In the modern NBA, being a pure one-sided ball wizard can only get you so far, and with Doncic being the offensive guru he is, Los Angeles will be forced to push defense and shooting to make up for his absences: this is one problem the Dallas Mavericks don't have anymore.

Since the emergence of Cooper Flagg, it's clear that he has what it takes to become a top defensive player in the NBA, but also the potential to carry the offensive bulk for the Mavericks with the right names around him as well. This was always one thing that anchored Dallas down when Doncic was on the roster, and now they can build around a versatile two-way star.

Building around Cooper Flagg will be far easier than Luka Doncic

The NBA is in a confusing time of roster building.

On one hand, the Oklahoma City Thunder win through their incredible depth, draft capital, and youth. On the other hand, teams have won through pure 3-point shooting and defense. Dallas now has the opportunity to do both through Flagg.

Drafting an athletic two-way player with as much star potential as Flagg was a blessing the moment the Mavericks won the draft lottery and secured the first overall pick. Having just traded Anthony Davis, the Mavericks finally have future flexibility and the opportunity to build a championship-level roster, however they see fit around their 19-year-old savior.

One of Doncic's flaws throughout his NBA career has been his lack of defensive effort, which has always brought the team down when he is on the floor. While a majority of the time, his incredible playmaking can outweigh his defensive mishaps, the world saw firsthand just how handicapped the Mavericks would be when they lost to the Boston Celtics in five games, and Doncic was a near no-show defensively.

It could be easy to write that example off as a one-time thing, but Doncic's track record has already gotten some Lakers fans nervous for what the future may hold. There's no doubt that Doncic is a top-five NBA player at any given moment, but when you have the opportunity to draft a generational two-way star, you take it.

The Mavericks are closer to contention than anyone realizes

With Flagg being better than anyone could have ever realized in his rookie season, the Mavericks are only a few roster tweaks away from being a decent team. For starters, the franchise will need to get lucky once again in the draft lottery process after moving into the sixth-best odds, but surrounding Flagg with more shooting is already one way the Mavs could get more wins.

With Doncic on the roster, the Lakers will be hard-pressed to build a very specific roster around their Slovenian star, but with Flagg, the Mavericks will have much more flexibility if he stays healthy and continues to progress rapidly.