Cooper Flagg has a real shot to top Luka Doncic's rookie year in one legendary way

A new era of Dallas Mavericks basketball is only a few months away, as Cooper Flagg is set to make his Mavs preseason debut at some point in October (assuming he plays during the preseason). Mavericks fans are ecstatic about what Flagg can add to an already loaded roster, and while he may not be the same player that Luka Doncic is, he has an opportunity to do something that even Doncic couldn't do during his rookie year.

Doncic had a phenomenal rookie year during the 2018-19 season, as he ended up winning Rookie of the Year and averaged 21.2 points, 7.8 rebounds, 6.0 assists, and 1.1 steals per game while shooting 42.7 percent from the field, but he wasn't an All-Star. He didn't make his first All-Star Game until his second season in the NBA, and Flagg has the chance to be the first rookie All-Star since Blake Griffin in 2011.

This may seem like a steep task for Flagg, as there have been hundreds of rookies over the last 15 years who have failed to make an All-Star Game as a rookie, but he quietly has an incredible chance to pull off this legendary feat.

Don't rule out Cooper Flagg making the All-Star Game as a rookie

Flagg is joining a team that was in the NBA Finals just over a year ago, and with all of the national media attention that has been on the Mavericks over the last six months due to the Doncic trade and them winning the draft lottery despite only having a 1.8 percent chance of doing so, he is going to be in a great spot to become a fan favorite if he performs well. He is truly one of the best prospects that this league has seen in some time, and he is going to have a great shot to become a global superstar due to the worldwide fan base that he has already built.

Mavericks fans are eager to attach themselves to a new face of the franchise, as most fans still haven't (and maybe never will) get over the Doncic trade. Flagg has a shot to be another homegrown talent for Dallas, as he is the only star player on the roster that the Mavericks drafted, and the city seems to love him already.

On top of his stardom, he is going to be an incredible player right out of the gates. With Kyrie Irving set to miss multiple months at the beginning of the season due to his ACL tear, Flagg is going to be the focal point of the squad to begin the season alongside Anthony Davis. Flagg will join the starting five, likely alongside Davis, D'Angelo Russell, Dereck Lively II, and Klay Thompson, and despite Russell being the "point guard" of this group, Flagg will end up handling the ball a ton.

Jason Kidd has already made it clear that he thinks of Flagg as a playmaker, and fans should expect him to play some point forward early and often. We saw plenty of that in Summer League, as he was the team's point guard during the two games he played, and even though his handle will need to grow to adequately counter opposing defenses, he showed plenty of promise that he can grow into a solid ball handler one day.

Flagg isn't an ordinary rookie. He is NBA-ready in every form and fashion, and Mavericks fans should be excited about his potential during the 2025-26 season.

All eyes are going to be on Flagg and the Mavericks, and if he lives up to the hype, he could beat out Doncic's stellar rookie year and become a teenage All-Star.