Cooper Flagg is already forcing Mavericks to make a massive change

After the Dallas Mavericks drafted Cooper Flagg over the summer, Jason Kidd made it clear that he was going to play plenty of point guard as a rookie, as they wanted to make him "uncomfortable" and challenge him, and this has been his role over the last two games. Flagg was Dallas' starting point guard in the final two games of the preseason, with him most notably running the show in their last preseason game against the Los Angeles Lakers last night, which Kidd deemed as a "dress rehearsal."

Flagg finished the night with 13 points, two rebounds, and three assists while shooting 5-11 from the field, and his all-around skill has already forced the Mavericks to make the major change of potentially making him the starting point guard entering the regular season.

A lot can change over the next six days, as Dallas kicks off their season next Wednesday against the San Antonio Spurs, but it's definitely a possibility that he runs some point guard early on, regardless of whether he starts there or on the wing.

Cooper Flagg's point guard duties may not end in the preseason

The NBA continuously shifts to being more positionally by the season, but Flagg's guard skills are at least intriguing enough for Kidd to try out this lineup, and the fact that a 6-foot-9 wing could be the one leading the offense on opening night is a significant shift from anything that Mavericks fans have seen over the years.

Fans were blessed to see Luka Doncic control the offense for nearly his entire tenure in Dallas, but just because he is a taller guard doesn't put him in the same class as Flagg. Doncic was an offensive engine, and at this point, Flagg isn't there yet. He may never be an offensive engine in the NBA, but he has shown promising signs that he is going to be extremely comfortable with the ball in his hands, regardless of who brings the ball up the floor.

Flagg's skill was off the charts during the preseason, as he seemingly always made the right read, and his passing was precise in every game (outside of Dallas' game against Charlotte, in which he turned the ball over a couple of times with some behind-the-back passes). His ball handling in space, as well as the half-court, took major strides from what we saw from him in Summer League, and he handled the on-ball pressure much better than before.

Seemingly every time that Flagg steps onto the floor, he gets better and more comfortable, and this comfort level was clear in his jump shot as well. Most of the shots that he hit during the preseason were off the dribble, as he is comfortable letting it fly from downtown when the defense goes under a screen or shaking his man in an isolation situation to get to his mid-range pull-up jumper.

These types of plays are what got Mavericks fans hyped up about his offensive ceiling, and he'll clearly thrive on and off the ball in Dallas.

Fans shouldn't get too caught up with what position Flagg is playing, as the team didn't strictly play through him when he was the "point guard" of whatever unit that was on the floor, and the Mavericks look like they'll be playing much faster than we've seen in some time. Almost any player on the roster can push the ball in transition after pulling a defensive rebound, and having this luxury, with Flagg being one of the leaders in this department, is something that Mavericks fans will love.