ESPN says the quiet part out loud about Cooper Flagg's rookie season

The hype for Cooper Flagg is as big as ever for Dallas Mavericks fans ahead of the 2025-26 season. In his first preseason game against the Oklahoma City Thunder, he made his presence immediately known on the defensive side, blocking shots and making perfect passes to his teammates. On offense, he made a nice stretch of shots. It didn't even take long for ESPN to call him the best passer on the team.

On an episode of Brian Windhorst and the Hoops Collective with Tim Bontemps and Tim MacMahon, MacMahon complimented his early block on Isaiah Joe, and also thinks Flagg can be a stud without just being a scoring magnet. MacMahon thinks he can be an all-around star in all phases of the game.

"I don't know if Cooper Flagg is ever going to be an offensive superstar, I'm not saying he can't be," MacMahon said. "I'm just saying I think he can be a superstar without being like a 25, 30 point per game scorer, but if he's going to become a 25, 30 point per game scorer, knocking down the three and operating off the pick and roll, he's going to be a huge part of that."

Flagg doesn't need to be an elite scorer to become a superstar

It's no secret. Flagg can impact the game in a lot of ways. His passing opens up D'Angelo Russell and Klay Thompson to hit threes. His playmaking ability against OKC made it possible for him to easily dish it out to open teammates for some terrific looks. His skill already looks similar to a Swiss Army Knife.

The bigs are going to be a huge part of Flagg handling the ball on offense, and if all holds together, he can develop a deadly duo with Anthony Davis that the entire league should fear. The chemistry that Luka Doncic had with Dereck Lively II and Daniel Gafford in the pick and roll could look similar to what Flagg develops with Davis.

Against the Thunder, Flagg looked in elite shape and, most importantly, NBA-ready. Just like he did in his Summer League debut, he started out a bit slow, but quickly made an impact and didn't take him long to get into rhythm.

A lot of this confidence came from his days of practicing with Team USA around the time of the 2024 Summer Olympics. He was already playing with Davis, and not only that, he was also torching NBA guys as a 17-year-old. The kind of talent and confidence that Flagg possesses is extremely rare. Mavs fans should be extremely lucky that they are getting one of the best prospects in decades at 18 years of age.

This little glimpse against the Thunder should make us wonder what more Flagg can do when he plays more than 30 minutes each night. He's already made a high impact in just one half of basketball, and we can only think of what he can do when the game is on the line.

Flagg is truly a generational player, and it's good for ESPN to recognize the all-around scary talent that Flagg possesses.