ESPN just crushed the Mavericks' Cooper Flagg dreams before season even begins

The Dallas Mavericks added the best player they possibly could this summer as they selected Cooper Flagg with the No. 1 overall pick, and Mavs fans' expectations are through the roof.

With Dallas missing the NBA Playoffs last season, fans are hoping that Flagg, Anthony Davis, and Kyrie Irving (if he returns next season) can lead the Mavericks back to the playoffs and ultimately make a deep run. Last season, Dallas squeezed into the Play-In Tournament before getting bounced by the Memphis Grizzlies in the second play-in game, and it sounds like ESPN believes the Mavs will be in the same position in the 2025-26 season.

In a poll by ESPN that includes writers, reporters, editors, and analysts, the majority believe that the Mavericks will be a play-in team again. 73.1 percent of the pool believed that Dallas would be in the play-in, while only 23.1 percent believed that they would be a five or six seed.

ESPN's playoff prediction for Mavericks is an early slap in the face

To make things worse, not a single person believed that Dallas would be a top-four seed in the West, and 3.8 percent of voters picked that the Mavs would miss the playoffs entirely. The Mavericks doubters are already lining up before the season even begins, and no one seems to believe that Flagg and company can make some serious noise in the playoffs during his rookie year.

Flagg, Davis, and Irving making a deep playoff run in their first season together would excite every Mavs fan, and even though they have the chance to build something special as a trio over the next few years, ESPN's doubt doesn't stop at the 2025-26 season.

84.6 percent of voters think that the Mavericks will win three or fewer playoff series with the trio of Flagg, Davis, and Irving. Three playoff series in the same year would earn the Mavericks an NBA Finals appearance, but this prediction is for Flagg's entire career alongside the Mavs' current core of Davis and Irving.

No one seems to think that the trio of Flagg, Irving, and Davis can win on the biggest stage, and Nico Harrison, Jason Kidd, and the rest of the organization will be doing whatever they can to prove ESPN wrong. Dallas hasn't missed the playoffs in back-to-back seasons since 2019, and it would be a major shock if they miss the playoffs entirely in the 2025-26 season.

The Mavericks missing the playoffs last season was understandable, as they were hit with one of the more bizarre injury and illness spells the franchise has ever seen, but the pressure is on for them to bounce back and be in the hunt to win the Larry O'Brien Trophy this time around. Flagg is the overwhelming favorite to win Rookie of the Year, and fans will be hoping that the rest of the team can follow suit.

Mavericks fans better hope that ESPN's projections about Dallas being a play-in team are wrong, as a seven or eight seed has never won the NBA Finals. The Mavs would have to make history to somehow win the Finals after being in the Play-In Tournament, and even if they're a five or six seed, the odds would be stacked against Dallas to win it all.

The only five or six seed to ever win the NBA Finals was in 1995 when the six-seeded Houston Rockets took down the Orlando Magic in four games, and if the Mavs want to win a title during Flagg's rookie year, they need to grab home-court advantage to give them the best chance of doing so.

It's not going to be easy for the Mavericks, as Irving is set to miss a majority of the season and Flagg is only 18 years old, but they're going to be ready for whatever the league throws at them. Flagg is a born winner, and with him joining a team filled with seasoned veterans and plenty of young talent, he'll be poised to shatter these grim predictions from ESPN one season at a time.