Mavericks already handed Cooper Flagg the ultimate cheat code to fit perfectly

The Dallas Mavericks pulled off the unthinkable by winning the NBA Draft Lottery and selecting Cooper Flagg with the No. 1 overall pick, and fans got a sneak peek into his dominance during Summer League. Dallas shut down Flagg after his second game against the San Antonio Spurs, as he dropped 31 points and showed the world why he should be one of the most feared rookies the league has seen in some time.

Flagg displayed all aspects of his game in Las Vegas, including his athleticism, dunking, and defense, and his passing and creation also stood out. Dallas forced Flagg to play plenty of point guard, and while there were some growing pains, his playmaking is going to be special on day one.

He was hitting his teammates for open jumpers in both games played, and while his assist numbers weren't extravagant since his teammates weren't always finishing the plays he was creating, he showcased that he can make the right reads and perform well under pressure.

Cooper Flagg can help turn Dallas into lob city

Flagg played with two 7-footers during Summer League, Jamarion Sharp and Moussa Cisse, and even though they didn't connect on lobs while in Las Vegas, that wasn't the case before Summer League began back in Dallas. He threw a lob to Cisse during practice that drew some buzz, and it sounds like he is going to love playing for the Mavs with some of the best lob threats in the NBA (Daniel Gafford and Dereck Lively II).

Flagg has already made it clear that throwing alley-oops is one of his favorite things to do on the court, and he just happens to be walking into a situation where he can do that all the time.

Mavs Summer League head coach Josh Broghamer said that he believes Flagg playing next to Sharp and Cisse prepared to mesh with Dereck Lively II and Daniel Gafford during the regular season, and that's the exact thing he needed ahead of his rookie year.

"Cooper threw a lob today that almost touched the top of the backboard, and Moussa dunked it, and he was like ‘oh this is gonna be kind of fun,'" Broghamer said before Summer League began.

While Broghamer said that Flagg still needs to work on his alley-oop passing, he knows that he is going to throw plenty of lobs in the 2025-26 season. After Dallas traded Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers, their alley-oops naturally decreased, and they are poised to get back on the right track next season.

Last season at Duke, Flagg connected on countless lobs with Khaman Maluach, which naturally prepared him for what he's walking into for the Mavs. He found Maluach for open slams in transition, in the pick and roll, and more, and his touch on these passes is already impressive despite being a 6-foot-8 wing.

You don't find many forwards as skilled as him, and if he's already at this level as an 18 year old, the sky is the limit.

Since Kyrie Irving is set to miss a large chunk of next season with an ACL tear, Flagg is going to be tasked with creation duties right away, and Mavericks fans should be ecstatic about this. Jason Kidd's plan to put him in tough situations and allow him to play point forward will help him develop into the two-way star that he has the potential to be, and going through this until Irving returns will help form him into an excellent third star next to Anthony Davis and Irving.

Mavericks fans are going to be thrilled to watch Flagg play alongside Davis, Lively II, and Gafford, and Dallas could go back to being lob city in no time. He has the passing touch, feel, and IQ to make the Mavs bigs' lives as easy as possible, and Flagg isn't just going to be the one dunking lobs.

He's going to be throwing them too.