Cooper Flagg just reignited fierce Mavericks-Spurs rivalry and it's here to stay

The Dallas Mavericks getting the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft just opened up some problems for the rest of the NBA.

With Cooper Flagg being the undisputed best player in the draft, the Mavericks have just opened a new door for their future. An 18-year-old Flagg will grow quickly to one of the NBA's elite players, as he's already had some practice time with the Team USA gold medal group from the 2024 Summer Olympics.

One of the best rivalries of the 2000s is back in the NBA. The San Antonio Spurs-Dallas Mavericks rivalry was remembered for some fierce playoff battles. With Flagg about to be a member of the Mavs, this brings back some bone to the classic Texas rivalry that fans of both sides have been wanting since the Tim Duncan and Dirk Nowitzki era.

Flagg and Wembanyama will turn Mavericks-Spurs into must-see TV

With Victor Wembanyama entering his third season and Cooper Flagg about to enter his rookie season, this makes for a key star rivalry that will last for a long time. Assuming the wild conspiracy theories of Nico Harrison trading away Flagg won't happen, this rivalry will make for plenty of classic moments for years to come.

With the Spurs having De'Aaron Fox and Stephon Castle, and possibly Dylan Harper to team up with Wembanyama, this will make for one of the more star-powered rivalries in the NBA, with the Spurs facing Cooper Flagg, Anthony Davis, and Kyrie Irving eventually.

A lot of fans expected Chet Holmgren and Wembanyama to be the new rivalry, with two elite young big men set for multiple accolades, that will still be a phenomenal individual matchup, but the soon-to-be faces of the NBA will battle for Southwestern division supremacy, and Flagg and Wembanyama will make for some box office television.

Even Dereck Lively II has a bit of an individual rivalry with the Spurs, as he outplayed Wembanyama in the opening game of their rookie seasons and has guarded him particularly well on multiple occasions, and both bigs will be anchoring the paint for their respective teams into the distant future.

With the NBA's growing concerns about ratings this season, this almost seems too good not to work out for the league's numbers. Flagg and Wembanyama are like Nowitzki and Duncan all over again. The last Spurs-Mavs playoff series took place in 2014, where the Spurs beat the Mavs in seven games, and the Spurs rolled over the Miami Heat for their fifth NBA Championship after that. Playoff battles will soon be a thing again with these two teams, with Flagg and Wembanyama leading the way.

It's about time we had a comeback to the rivalry. With the Spurs in rebuilding mode for the last six years and the Mavericks going through a rebuilding stage with Nowitzki and then with Doncic, the two teams have been on different tracks. It won't be long until they're on similar tracks and battling for the top spots in the West.