Mavs' refusal to make coveted trade says everything you need to know about Flagg era

The Dallas Mavericks have had quite the offseason, from winning the NBA's Draft Lottery to selecting Cooper Flagg with the first overall selection in the draft and changing the course of franchise history forever. While the past few months for the Mavericks have been an up-and-down roller coaster after trading away Luka Doncic, the Mavericks finally appear to have a footing on their future with Flagg at the helm.

There's no doubt that the Mavericks will need to make a few more moves before the season can officially begin, one of which is extending P.J. Washington on August 29, but fans are also awaiting who will be traded or waived to clear up roster space for a rumored Dante Exum reunion.

Although the Mavericks are still a few moves away from completing their roster before the beginning of training camp, Dallas has sent a clear message to the league that they are ready to build around Flagg and his future. It may be too early for some fans to admit that Flagg is the future of the franchise, but after Nico Harrison and the Mavs' front office failed to take any gambles on a potential guard upgrade this season, it's clear the Mavericks are fully prepared to make Flagg their guy.

Mavericks appear to be fully locked in on Cooper Flagg's future

Entering the offseason, the Mavericks fully understood that one of their biggest roster holes was their lack of guard depth after Kyrie Irving went down with a torn ACL. It would have been easy for Nico Harrison and the Mavs to load up on unproven guard talent around the league and call their situation good; however, the Mavs signed D'Angelo Russell to a two-year team-friendly contract and also signed Ryan Nembhard to a two-way contract after the draft.

While these two names alone won't wow any fans and aren't expected to win the Mavericks any more games than they did last season, the Mavericks appear to be fully on board with making Flagg a focal point of the offense with the ball in his hands. With this in mind, the Mavericks are taking a gamble on Flagg's future development by not pairing him with other, more proven names around the league who can handle the offense.

For a team looking to win games and make it back to the playoffs this season, this could easily go down as a mistake in the short term, but it's already clear that the Mavericks are ready to focus on Flagg's future by not trading for another creator. They are not only giving Flagg a better opportunity to develop with the ball in his hands, but the Mavericks refused to give up any valuable assets this summer, which proves they are ready to build around Flagg.

As currently constructed, the Mavericks are at a lack of draft capital and young assets, so not sending out any valuable assets this summer in an attempt to acquire another backcourt partner is already a step in the right direction. Harrison has had a history of pulling the trigger on win-now trades no matter the cost, but the tide may finally be shifting in Dallas.

Keeping the team competitive is, without a doubt, important for Harrison's future, but it should be taken as a good sign that he wasn't willing to trade anything valuable in the attempt to get better in the short term. With Irving sidelined for the foreseeable future, the Mavericks would be fighting an uphill battle as is to win a championship, so pulling the trigger on a short-term trade to make the team better would make no sense to begin with.

The Mavericks already understand they have the potential future face of the NBA on their roster, and now it's time to start shifting their focus to the future of building a juggernaut around Flagg.