The real answer to Mavericks' Cooper Flagg problem is already clear

Through five games, the Dallas Mavericks find themselves in a two wins and three losses hole early into the 2025-26 NBA season. Not only would the Mavericks go on to lose the majority of their games during a five-game homestand, but Dallas' offense has hit historic lows as they are still searching for a primary ball handler.

There's no doubt that Jason Kidd and the Mavericks have explored options when it comes to maximizing their offensive output, but one thing fans have been begging for is No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg to get more involved in the offense. To no fault of his own, Flagg has started out of the gates slower than expected with his offensive output as he is averaging 13.4 points per game and 6.2 rebounds per contest on 41 percent shooting from the field.

Kidd has continued to search for offensive life in other players like D'Angelo Russell and Brandon Williams after a recent 20-point outburst, but the fact remains that the Mavericks need to get Flagg more involved. It may include more sets with Flagg's name at the forefront or simply getting him moving more off the ball, but the biggest priority for the Mavericks' coaching staff should be getting Flagg to shoot the ball more.

Flagg's increased involvement in offense starts with getting more shots

Through five career NBA games, Flagg has totaled 61 shots taken from the field, including a career-low of nine attempts against the Oklahoma City Thunder. While 61 may not sound like a low number considering the Mavericks have only played five games, Flagg has continued to look inconsistent in the shots he does take and hesitant when the ball finds his hands with one defender to beat.

It's unclear if it is a confidence thing for Flagg as he searches for his identity with the ball in his hands, but after a rocky start to the season, Flagg's shot-taking has only become more and more scarce over the last couple of games. For Kidd, his biggest priority should never be about getting Flagg truly uncomfortable, but to get the 18-year-old in a rhythm on offense and let him build his confidence up one shot at a time.

To make matters worse, after the win against the Toronto Raptors, Flagg's 3-point shooting output took a complete dip, which suggests that he may have been told something, or his confidence truly did take a hit. With this in mind, the Mavericks must do everything possible to get Flagg more open looks and more opportunities to score with the ball in his hands around the perimeter.

One scheme that could really help Flagg's offensive output and only raise his presence on the NBA floor is getting him going more downhill with speed rather than horizontally, waiting for other teammates to get open off-ball looks. Flagg has already proven that he has the speed and athleticism to be one of Dallas' most terrifying players in transition, which is why getting Flagg going north and south quickly could result in easy slashing attempts to the rim or pull-up mid-range shots, which have already proven to be a reliable weapon in Flagg's bag.

The Mavericks still have plenty of work cut out for them as their offensive output ranks dead last in the entire NBA, but one thing that could spark some life for the team is getting Flagg in a shooting rhythm early in the season.