Dirk Nowitzki validates Cooper Flagg's potential with bold prediction for next season

Dirk Nowitzki recently took to the "DLLS Mavs" podcast for an interview with NBA insider Marc Stein. Besides Nowitzki revealing he's been in touch with Dallas' new front office regarding getting re-integrated with the organization in some capacity, perhaps the most exciting takeaway from the interview was Nowitzki's praise of Cooper Flagg.

"All-Star's obviously high expectations," Nowitzki said. "But I think he's got that standard for himself, he's got that work ethic, and I don't think anybody would be super surprised [if it happens]."

Dirk Nowitzki's praise for Cooper Flagg means a lot

Nowitzki is obviously a legend in his own right, so the fact that someone like him thinks Flagg can be an All-Star next season holds more significance than it would coming out of almost anyone else's mouth. Many Mavericks fans and media members are of this opinion as well, as Flagg's rookie season put him in rare air.

Flagg averaged 21.0 points, 6.7 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 1.2 steals, and 0.9 blocks per game, with shooting splits of 46.8/29.5/82.7. As talented as the Western Conference is, Flagg's rookie season was already close to an All-Star level statistically speaking, and there's almost no doubt he's going to show some improvement next season, as he's a known gym rat.

Nowitzki also talked in the episode about how Flagg's improvement as a 3-point shooter is one of the biggest strides he can make in his all-around game, as it will help open up driving lanes for him and give him more space to play-make for others. It's clear Nowitzki sees that Flagg already has the total package, and he knows Flagg can be in the same category as some of the greats if he can fine-tune small aspects of his game.

Nowitzki knows Flagg is in rare air already

Nowitzki also brought up how Flagg will have to learn to play with new teammates such as Kyrie Irving next season, but this shouldn't be a hard transition theoretically. Flagg is the type of player who gets accentuated with other great shot creators in the lineup next season, and he works best as a small forward, which bodes well for how he and Irving will play together.

The influx of shooting and spacing Dallas brought in this offseason should help Flagg out as well, so it wouldn't be surprising for him to take a leap in multiple areas of his game next season, even though he doesn't turn 20 years old till December.

Of course, there are no guarantees in the NBA, and the game has as much talent as it ever has, but there's no doubt Flagg has the potential to be one of the best players in the league. Whatever Mavericks bias he has aside, Nowitzki fully validated how good he thinks Flagg can be with his take, and provided solid analysis as to why he thinks Flagg can achieve All-Star status in his second season.

It's great to see Dallas' best player in franchise history have such high praise for the future of Dallas in Flagg, and while Mavericks fans hoped Nowitzki would pass the torch to Luka Doncic in terms of him being the next great Maverick to bring a championship to Big D, fans now hope this will take place with Flagg instead.

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