NBA finally puts the most ridiculous Cooper Flagg rookie narrative to rest

When Cooper Flagg started the season playing point guard for the Dallas Mavericks, there were some obvious growing pains with him not playing his natural position, but he's taken off ever since Dallas inserted a point guard into the lineup alongside him, and the NBA is finally recognizing this. Fellow Duke teammate Kon Knueppel had been ranked as the No. 1 rookie in NBA.com's Rookie Ladder since early in the season, but now Flagg has claimed the top spot in the rankings.

Flagg still has a long way to go in terms of reaching his full potential as a ball handler and three-level scorer, but shifting to playing the three or four has proved to be extremely beneficial for his playstyle, as it's put him in a much better position in terms of getting to his spots in the mid-range and at the rim.

Most Mavericks fans watching Flagg over the last few weeks knew he was going to take the reins in the NBA Rookie of the Year race, but it's great that the NBA and national media are starting to develop this consensus as well. Knueppel is undoubtedly a polished prospect and great three-level scorer, but he hasn't come close to making the same two-way impact that Flagg has recently, especially with Flagg blossoming as one of the best clutch scorers in the league.

Cooper Flagg finally tops the NBA rookie rankings

Mavericks fans are getting to see Flagg develop counters upon counters in real time, as the 18-year-old seems to add something to his bag offensively every week. For the season, Flagg is averaging 17.3 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 3.3 assists off 47.5/25.3/82.2 shooting splits. Considering he has shot well below league average from outside and is still closing in on Kneuppel's average of 18 points per game, it is clear Flagg has made more overall impact compared to Kneuppel at this point.

Knueppel isn't in the same ballpark as Flagg as a defender, as Flagg's switchability and athleticism have already proved to translate well in terms of being a weak-side rim protector and one-on-one defender, and he gives relentless effort on that end nearly every possession. Flagg is extremely competitive, as fans know by this point, so he's not going to want his former college roommate to override him for the NBA Rookie of the Year award, even if he never says it publicly.

Knueppel, along with Flagg's former Montverde Academy teammate Derik Queen, have both had excellent rookie seasons up to this point, so this isn't taking anything away from them being in the top-three of the rookie ladder at this juncture, but it's clear Flagg will run away with this award if he continues to ascend as he has recently.

Of course, Flagg could still hit the rookie wall or suffer some sort of injury that derails him from winning the award at the end of the season, but unless his season gets altered by injury, there's a good chance he already hit his rookie wall when having to play point guard to begin the season.

Even though Flagg playing point guard didn't translate to wins for Dallas necessarily, this decision from Jason Kidd may have expedited Flagg's ball skills quicker than expected, as he's growing before Mavericks fans' eyes in terms of his offensive development.