Mavericks rumor reveals bold next move coming right after Cooper Flagg pick

Cooper Flagg
Cooper Flagg | Jared C. Tilton/GettyImages

Ever since Monday night, just before 6:30 PM in Dallas, the talk of the town has been how the Dallas Mavericks won the NBA Draft Lottery and will have the chance to select Cooper Flagg with the No. 1 overall pick. Dallas only had a 1.8 percent chance of this happening, and the impossible happened as they'll earn the right to draft one of the greatest prospects this game has ever seen.

It has already been reported that the Mavericks don't plan on trading this pick. They are going to draft Flagg, and a new sense of energy is going to be pumped into the city of Dallas. Fans' fear of the team trading the pick was removed less than 24 hours after the Mavs won the lottery, and the Flagg era will begin in Dallas later this year.

While Flagg is expected to be an "excellent fit" as someone within the Mavericks organization revealed to The Smoking Cuban (if they do end up drafting him), that doesn't mean that they aren't going to have to make moves around the edges to strengthen their core and give them the best shot at winning a championship.

With Flagg now in the mix, their frontcourt is extremely crowded, and an NBA insider recently reported what Dallas' first step will be after drafting Flagg to bolster their roster.

Mavericks' summer focus will be adding guard help

According to NBA insider Shams Charania of ESPN, the Mavericks' "big priority" of the summer will be signing or trading for a point guard. Dallas' guard depth, especially with Kyrie Irving set to miss multiple months, is not great, and they need to sign or trade for a guard who can help hold down the fort until Irving returns while also complementing his game when they share the floor together.

This is seemingly their only hole on the roster, and whoever the Mavericks decide to sign or trade for to fill this spot could make or break their title chances. They have to address this need as soon as they can, and it's a breath of fresh air for fans that they are going to prioritize this need.

Whether it's through free agency or the trade market, the Mavericks are poised to have a new point guard running the show to begin next season while Irving recovers from his ACL tear (assuming they re-sign him if he opts out, as all signs are pointing to Irving remaining in Dallas).

A fan-favorite trade target for years for Mavericks fans has been Coby White of the Chicago Bulls, and while his fit makes sense due to his three-level scoring, quickness, and growth as a defender, the Bulls' asking price may end up being too steep for the Mavs to feel good about as they'd likely have to ship off significant draft capital. Another player fans have wanted the team to trade for is Anfernee Simons from the Portland Trail Blazers, and he'd be a great fit to play alongside Irving or to run the show when needed. They could even consider pursuing Austin Reaves of the Los Angeles Lakers, as he would truly change everything for them.

When it comes to free agents, it's pretty unpredictable when predicting who the Mavs will pursue, but someone like Tyus Jones or Dennis Schroder would make sense. When chatting with a former Maverick on the following day after Dallas won the lottery, he suggested that the Mavs should pursue Schroder to "guide the team with a steady hand while (Brandon) Williams still gets minutes to keep learning as we wait for Kyrie to heal."

Signing Schroder may be the most low-risk, high-reward move the Mavs could make, as his tenacity, defense, quickness, and scoring would help him be a key piece in Dallas. He competes as hard as anyone on the defensive end, and that would fit right into Nico Harrison's defense-first vision for the team. Schroder doesn't have the best size to play next to Irving all the time, as he is only 6-foot-1, but his ferocious defense would more than make up for it.

Schroder doesn't back down from anyone, and considering that he and Irving would have Flagg, Anthony Davis, and Dereck Lively II as his back-line help defenders whenever they do share the floor together, they'd be just fine.

It's overwhelmingly clear that the Mavs need guard help, and with this report from Charania officially confirming this will be a big focus for them this summer, fans' minds are going to be spinning when thinking about who the team will sign or trade for.