Kyrie Irving’s return will help Cooper Flagg’s defense flourish even more

Cooper Flagg turned heads with his offensive game for the Dallas Mavericks last season, but compared to his college and high school days, his defensive playmaking wasn't quite as impactful at the NBA level.

However, with Kyrie Irving returning to the lineup, this will allow Flagg to delegate more of his energy to the defensive side of the ball, which will only lead to an increase in athletic blocks and steals, leading to transition opportunities.

Irving's return will allow Flagg's energy on defense to take a step up

Irving is one of the best shot creators the game has ever seen, and while Flagg will still get plenty of on-ball reps as the main option, he isn't going to have to stomach nearly as big a workload offensively this upcoming season. Irving will be able to alleviate a lot of the ball-handling duties, as well as bringing the ball up the floor, and Dallas will be able to run more options with Flagg as a play finisher.

Flagg had a usage rate of 26.9 percent last season, which ranked 21st in the NBA, and he easily had the highest usage rate on the Mavericks by a wide margin. As promising as Flagg's offensive game is, he doesn't profile as a true point guard yet, and he spoke openly multiple times about how big of an adjustment it was from a conditioning perspective to have to play point guard and bring the ball up as much as he did under Jason Kidd.

Flagg plays balls-to-the-wall at all times, and Mavericks fans know about his insane work ethic already, but a human being can only exert so much energy on a basketball court, which is probably part of the reason Flagg wasn't an elite defender last season.

Cooper Flagg is poised to be a true two-way monster next season

Don't get it twisted, Flagg was still an above-average defender, and there were plenty of moments where his weak-side shot blocking came through for the Mavericks, but he didn't always have the energy to be able to lock down quicker wings and guards at the point of attack.

Flagg averaged 0.9 steals and 1.2 blocks per game as a rookie, and it really wouldn't be surprising to see both of those numbers take a leap next season. His defensive game was his calling card in high school before he joined the Duke Blue Devils, and more talented shot creation in the lineup with Irving coming back will allow him to reach his full capabilities as a two-way monster.

As far as what Mavericks fans should have on their bingo card for next season, Flagg entering the next echelon as a defender should be one of them. He had to put a terrible offense on his back for large chunks of last season, and this simply won't be the case next year, so long as Irving stays healthy.

He's also already had a year to get adjusted to the speed, strength, timing, and conditioning needed to be an elite defender, and while he may not get to an All-NBA level defensively, it would be shocking if he doesn't take a solid leap on that end of the floor.

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