Jason Kidd's bold plan will turn Cooper Flagg into the next Mavericks superstar

Barring a brief stretch this offseason where Dallas Mavericks fans thought head coach Jason Kidd may get poached away by the New York Knicks, Kidd has been fully committed to winning in Dallas and developing new No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg. With Kidd having played the point guard position at an elite level over the course of an illustrious career, Mavericks fans have long known that he is great at developing primary initiators, even if they don't necessarily have the most polished ball-handling and playmaking repertoire upon coming into the league

Obviously, Luka Doncic was already practically in his prime once Kidd started coaching him, but it's irrefutable to say Kidd didn't help Doncic polish his skillset a little bit, and many of Dallas' other guards, such as Brandon Williams, have vastly outplayed expectations, which can also be partially attributed to Kidd's coaching.

Kidd hasn't just specialized in molding guards into high-level creators, but he's done so with bigger-bodied wings such as Giannis Antetokounmpo as well, so this should give Mavericks fans a great level of confidence that Kidd can replicate this magic when it comes to Flagg, as he is an extremely similar archetype to Antetokounmpo.

Kidd can mold Flagg into a superstar just like he did with Antetokounmpo

Back in 2018, when Kidd was fired from the Milwaukee Bucks, Antetokounmpo went as far as to call Kidd before he was fired to inform him about what management was about to do, even pleading to Kidd that he could try and negotiate with the owners to let him stay. Antetokounmpo has described Kidd as a genius before, and this story highlights the strong bond Kidd formed with Antetokounmpo, which is something that can be replicated with Flagg in Dallas.

Despite scrutiny over his in-game adjustments and rotational style (which he's improved in recent seasons), Kidd has long been lauded as a player's coach, and he's not naive to recognize Flagg's potential as a lead ball handler, given the flashes of perimeter shot creation ability Flagg showcased in Summer League with Dallas and in college at Duke University.

Kidd has already talked about putting the ball in Flagg's hands more than he is comfortable with since Dallas drafted Flagg, and even though the Mavericks are dialed on playing winning basketball this season, Kidd has proven to be a fairly patient coach when it comes to allowing mistakes for talented young players, and he'll likely be even more forgiving with Flagg considering how much of a hard worker Flagg is.

Flagg is bound to have some bumps in the road, just like Antetokounmpo did when he had a slim-built frame during the first part of Kidd's tenure in Milwaukee, but Kidd will let Flagg work through some of these mistakes in real time, even if he won't have unlimited leeway to run the show every possession, given how talented Dallas' roster is.

Don't expect Flagg to become Dallas' primary point guard from the jump, nor will that likely ever be his primary position given his defensive skillset, but Mavericks fans should be excited from the standpoint that Kidd is the perfect person to get Flagg to the level of some of the grade-A creators from the wing position in the league such as Jayson Tatum, Kawhi Leonard, or Antetokounmpo.