Mavericks predicted to reunite Cooper Flagg with the sharpshooter Dallas needs

The Dallas Mavericks desperately need more 3-point shooting after being one of the worst shooting teams in the NBA last season, and The Athletic just predicted them to land one of the best shooters in the draft in their most recent mock draft. Sam Vecenie predicted Dallas would draft Duke's Isaiah Evans with the No. 30 overall pick, and this would be a dream come true for the Mavericks.

Isaiah Evans would be a dream Maverick

The 6-foot-6 wing averaged 15.0 points per game as a sophomore at Duke while shooting 36.1 percent from three on 7.4 attempts per game. His 15.0 points per game ranked second on the team behind only Cameron Boozer, and he went from a flamethrower off the bench to an integral piece of Jon Scheyer's offense.

As a freshman, he shot 41.6 percent from three, but his game was mostly limited to shooting.

His growth over the last two years as a Blue Devil is impossible to ignore if you're the Mavericks, and if Dallas takes him, he'd have the chance to reunite with Cooper Flagg. Evans and Flagg were freshmen together in Durham, and now is the perfect time to reunite them.

Evans falling to the 30th pick would be an absolute steal, and his potential fit in Dallas is easy to see.

Flagg can't be himself without more shooting around him

With Kyrie Irving out for all of last season, Flagg did not have enough floor spacing around him during his rookie year in Dallas. Scheyer helped turn Flagg into a monster at Duke by surrounding him with knockdown shooting and other playmakers, but the Mavs didn't have this same luxury last season.

The only two players on the 15-man roster who averaged at least 1.5 made threes per game were Max Christie and Klay Thompson, and Dallas only made 11.0 threes per game. This ranked 29th in the NBA, with only the Sacramento Kings shooting fewer.

Dallas clearly has to surround Flagg with more shooting if they want to get the best out of him, and drafting a player on the same timeline as him through the 2026 NBA Draft is the best way to do this. Evans already has a deep understanding of how to play alongside Flagg, and he even mentioned this during media availability at the NBA Draft Combine in Chicago last month.

Evans has already laid out why he'd be great in Dallas

"I know where I can help him at, what spots I need to be at," Evans said. "He's a really good player, so I'd love to be able to complement him and help him on his journey."

If you're Mike Schmitz and Masai Ujiri, this is the exact answer that you'd like to hear out of a player who's projected to be drafted at the end of the first round. Evans wasn't telling reporters that he's ready to be a star. Rather, when asked about the potential of playing for the Mavs, he talked about how he can help bring the most out of their new franchise cornerstone.

These are the types of players that you're looking for at the end of the first round, and Evans has what the Mavericks are missing.

His shooting off the catch, fast release, off-ball movement, and limitless range would make him a dream fit next to Flagg (again), and it would make Flagg's life so much easier.

Evans would fix a major Mavericks problem

Defenses sold out on stopping Flagg due to the limited shooting that was around him, and even if Flagg made the right read to kick the ball out to an open shooter on the perimeter, it often didn't lead to a made three. This has to change to keep defenses honest while optimizing Flagg's skillset as a secondary playmaker, and Evans is the type of player who would help them do this.

Opposing defenses can't afford to leave him open, and his off-ball gravity would help Dallas' offense significantly. It also helps that he has strong positional size for a shooting guard at 6-foot-6 with a 6-foot-8.75 wingspan.

The Mavericks would be striking gold if Sam Vecenie's prediction of them selecting Isaiah Evans comes true, and he's the solution that their 3-point shooting needs.

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