Cooper Flagg’s honest admission makes Mavericks’ next move obvious

It's no secret that Kyrie Irving will mitigate a ton of the Dallas Mavericks' issues next season, including the lack of guard play and a dynamic playmaker alongside Cooper Flagg. But Irving is 34 years old and won't be around for the entirety of Flagg's career. Dallas has to find their guard of the future to go alongside Flagg soon, before it's too late.

While Flagg can certainly be a primary initiator on occasion, he's struggled when being tasked as the starting point guard this season. In a recent interview with ESPN's Malika Andrews, Flagg discussed how challenging playing point guard has been for him at times, as it's clear he projects more as a secondary-creating wing compared to a true point guard.

"I had never been in a situation like that," Flagg told Andrews in regard to starting at point guard for the first few games of the regular season. "To be handling the ball, bringing it up every single time, and I learned how tiring it can be, and I gained a lot of respect for point guards because those first couple of games were the most tired I've ever been on a basketball court."

Cooper Flagg needs a long-term starting point guard

Flagg is in great condition for a 19-year-old, but point guards tend to be the most conditioned players on the court in the NBA, as they have to be able to run all over the court on both sides of the ball to compensate for their lack of size. Flagg may get to this level one day, but with how much effort he already exerts on the defensive end, as well as how hard it is to develop the mental acuity to run an NBA offense, it's practically an impossible task to ask him to be a full-time point guard as a 19-year-old.

As aforementioned, Irving will mitigate a lot of these responsibilities next season, and Ryan Nembhard and Brandon Williams have helped Flagg in this department this year. Despite this, Williams may not have the playmaking chops or outside shooting ability to ever become a full-time starter, while Nembhard's lack of size could hinder him from being the type of starting point guard Flagg eventually will need.

How Dallas can address this problem

The Mavericks could easily try to address this issue by selecting a point guard like Darius Acuff Jr. or Keaton Wagler with their lottery pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, as these are the type of high-end guards that could grow alongside Flagg for the long run, and project to be good enough to take the mantle from Irving once he retires or moves on with his career.

This isn't to say Flagg shouldn't continue to practice his guard skills and work on his ball-handling as his career evolves, but he's best optimized as a secondary creator who can get set up by a primary creator in other actions.

Whether it's Williams, Nembhard, someone Dallas drafts in the lottery this year, or someone else, the Mavericks have to make sure Flagg has a bona fide starting point guard alongside him once Irving is no longer in Dallas, and this process must start now.