Kidd holds hidden blueprint to morph Cooper Flagg into Mavericks' next monster

The Dallas Mavericks are practically counting down the days till the 2025 NBA Draft on June 25, as the Mavericks won the draft lottery and the ability to select consensus No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg. While fans' first inclination was to think that GM Nico Harrison and company may trade this pick, the organization recognizes how much of a lifeline Flagg is after trading away their previous franchise cornerstone in Luka Doncic nearly four months ago, and they've vehemently stated they plan on keeping the pick and selecting Flagg.

Flagg immediately inserts himself into a lineup that lacks a primary shot creator on a consistent basis due to Kyrie Irving's torn ACL, and this will consequently force the Mavericks to try and pick up Irving's shot creation by committee, like fans saw at the end of last season. However, the Mavericks getting another starting-level creator via trade this offseason could drastically help to fill Irving's void, and so could the likes of Dallas' wings such as P.J. Washington and Flagg.

Brandon Williams, Naji Marshall, and whatever other guard help Dallas accrues in the offseason should be a solid enough formula to hold down the fort from a perimeter shot creation perspective until Irving gets back in the lineup, but the wings will have to be a little more self sufficient until Irving gets back as aforementioned. While this may cause some untimely turnovers and ill-advised shots from the wing spot occasionally, letting Flagg handle the ball semi-consistently early on his career could be quintessential for his development, and it wouldn't be the first time head coach Jason Kidd gave a young point forward the keys to an offense early in his career.

Kidd giving Flagg the keys early as a ball handler will make unstoppable

It was roughly just a decade ago when Kidd let Giannis Antetokounmpo get minutes at point guard for the first time, which ended up being instrumental in the superstar's development. Kidd could 100 percent do the same thing with Flagg in Dallas, which could expedite his ball-handling development and turn him into a three-level scoring monster sooner rather than later.

Given how talented Dallas' roster already is, Flagg won't be thrust into a primary initiating type of role anytime soon, but it would be very intriguing to see him take on some secondary ball-handling responsibilities from the wing, as him working from outside gives the Mavericks the ability to play some colossal lineups.

While not an astounding number, Flagg led a talented Duke Blue Devils team in assists last season at 4.2 per game, as he's a very savvy passer in the short roll and has a very solid drive and dish game toward the dunker spot. Flagg may not be a 1A playmaker right off the bat, as deciphering and manipulating defensive coverages in the NBA takes time for young superstars to develop, but it should be noted that he had the ball in his hands more than any other Blue Devil this past season, which will serve him well coming to the Mavericks.

At 6-foot-9 and 220 pounds, the dynamism Flagg could reach in his offensive game is truly unfathomable, as he's already an extremely hard worker and has a very expansive repertoire of moves he can use to make plays at all three levels and transition, even if some of these skills will take some polishing and fine-tuning at the NBA level.

Kidd has the opportunity to develop Flagg into one of the best two-way players in the entire league as Flagg gets more comfortable with the ball in his hands at the NBA level, and while Flagg may not get the same usage rate that a rising Antetokounmpo did on a losing Milwaukee Bucks team in 2015, Kidd will still definitely run plenty of actions this season designed to showcase and develop Flagg offensively.