MAVS NEWS:

[Chicagojk]

well that is something....


Mavs Film Room ??
@MavsFilmRoom
Dan Patrick asked Brian Scalabrine, who people say discovered Flagg in Maine, for a “non white guy comp for Cooper Flagg.”

Scal: “I think it’s LeBron James, but without being 260 pounds and a freight train. Cooper Flagg is a super computer.”

[Winter]

It's weird just reading weeks of hype and he hasn't put on a uniform yet.

[SleepingHero]

@KevinGraySports
Cooper Flagg, additionally, was said to be “having fun” on his visit today with the Mavericks, according to a league source.

Flagg’s on-court component will take place tomorrow

[SleepingHero]

@TheSteinLine
Cooper Flagg update: Next week's No. 1 overall pick is indeed in Dallas as scheduled, had dinner tonight with a contingent of team officials ... with his visit scheduled to include what one source termed a "light on-court component."
More on the NBA draft

[FireNicoHarrison]

Yes injuries are a concern and both Kyrie (when he returns) and AD needs to be watched closely in the regular season.  No more playing Luka for a full half type of things.   I think they need to be around 30 minutes when healthy.  That is why I think a deep team will be important.  We will see if this is transferable to the playoffs when stars play bigger minutes.

I also agree that Kyrie is more of a scoring guard than a point guard.  Although, I think Nico/Kidd don't want one guy to lead an offense.   I think they envision having mulitple guys do this.   The Mavs aren't really set up for this now because Klay isn't great at it and Max is still developing.    I am not sure, but I believe Nico wants a deep team.  A tall, long and physical team (besides Kyrie).   And one who doesn't rely on one player creating offense.  I think we will be able to get a good glimpse if Cooper can eventually be a number 2 creator.  If he can, it opens up a ton of options.

Luka saved Kidd faces multiple times, the pelado can't coach offense.

[Mavs2021]

@MavsFilmRoom
Marc Stein on the DLLS Mavs Podcast says that “rumbles” are that Cooper Flagg is excited that he’s being drafted to a team that isn’t a bottom feeder and is one that can be competitive.

Well a lot will depend on the guard situation. We all know Washington, Marshall, Thompson and Hardy do not have great handles under pressure. So now you rely on Dinwiddie to bring the ball up the floor, which he will interpret as a licence to shoot or on Williams, who has played about 1 1/2 meaningful NBA games in his life. Nobody knows how he´ll react, when teams with their starters actually scout for his weaknesses. 

Not likely the team will be bad, since I think you can still be good-ish with crap guards, if you have arguably the best frontcourt in the whole league with Flagg/Marshall/Thompson/AD/Washington/Gafford/Lively.

My guess is that they´ll just get one veteran like a Westbrook and then just take a wait and see approach. Does AD get hurt again? How good is Flagg right away? How is Irving progressing? Where are they at the trade deadline record-wise? Better strategy to tank and trade AD or better to acquire an additional guard and compete for the title. That´s probably how I´d play it. 

Nevertheless I´d still try to get a pick mid/late 1st and draft Denim or Traore, if they fall. The Traore one is so weird. He owned the 2024 Adidas EuroCamp, top scorer and 5th in assists. Played very well in the Nike Hoops Summit. Now he´s behind all the PGs from that tournament like Denim and Jakucionis, cause they went through the easier college route, instead of playing PG against adults at age 18. What are these scouts even doing? Presti is probably all giddey already sitting there with his 15th pick.

[F Gump]

Well a lot will depend on the guard situation. We all know Washington, Marshall, Thompson and Hardy do not have great handles under pressure. So now you rely on Dinwiddie to bring the ball up the floor, which he will interpret as a licence to shoot or on Williams, who has played about 1 1/2 meaningful NBA games in his life. Nobody knows how he´ll react, when teams with their starters actually scout for his weaknesses. 

Not likely the team will be bad, since I think you can still be good-ish with crap guards, if you have arguably the best frontcourt in the whole league with Flagg/Marshall/Thompson/AD/Washington/Gafford/Lively.

My guess is that they´ll just get one veteran like a Westbrook and then just take a wait and see approach. Does AD get hurt again? How good is Flagg right away? How is Irving progressing? Where are they at the trade deadline record-wise? Better strategy to tank and trade AD or better to acquire an additional guard and compete for the title. That´s probably how I´d play it. 

Nevertheless I´d still try to get a pick mid/late 1st and draft Denim or Traore, if they fall. The Traore one is so weird. He owned the 2024 Adidas EuroCamp, top scorer and 5th in assists. Played very well in the Nike Hoops Summit. Now he´s behind all the PGs from that tournament like Denim and Jakucionis, cause they went through the easier college route, instead of playing PG against adults at age 18. What are these scouts even doing? Presti is probably all giddey already sitting there with his 15th pick.

"So now you rely on Dinwiddie to bring the ball up the floor, which he will ..." -- You make the assumption that SD will be back. I do not.

In fact, on my theoretical Mavs "roster list" for next season, I have him in the 20s of who is likely to fill up those 15 slots, where a whole lot has to go wrong in their roster-building (of course, Nico's on the job, so there's THAT to consider) PLUS they will have to clear out lots of roster room, before they ever get to him. IMO of course.

Then if not SD, who will bring the ball up the floor? I think the primary one will be Exum or Williams or a 3rd PG we don't have well-defined yet (fwiw I have far more confidence in BW and his skills than you seem to, based on what we saw from him this past season). But I also think at times we will see PJW, Flagg, AD, and others bring the ball up the floor, because I'm not expecting the Mavs to have an offense that is limited to one player always dominating the ball, but the opposite. I also think they will emphasize grab the ball and go, trying to push tempo, which means the ball moves from one end to the other by passing rather than just by slow plodding dribbles.

As for who else, I still think there is a fairly decent chance we'll see an addition like Ball, Paul, Ty Jones, etc. I also see the potential for the signing of a two-way player who is a ball-handling PG who we don't know yet, but will come to know.

[FireNicoHarrison]

Micic is a good low cost target PG, for sure better than Dinwiddie, Hardy and all those mediomen.

[Smitty]

REPORT - according to the Stein line substack and League sources there is no scenario where Kyrie Irving does not end up with the Mavericks.

"He is not trying to play The Leverage game this time around, I think he wants to play ball with the Mavericks"

If you remember two years ago Kyrie Irving did try to play The Leverage game with the Lakers and the Phoenix Suns. He's grown to embrace this fan base and feels at home here.

The Bobby marks 3 years for 113 seems to be getting more likely, although I expect it to be a little higher than that. We should get an official report from Shams in the next week I think.

[SleepingHero]

@MavsFilmRoom
Cooper Flagg dined with Nico Harrison, Jason Kidd, Michael Finley, & Rick Welts last night at Bob's Steak & Chop House in Dallas, @TheSteinLine reports.

Earlier today, he had an “impressive” on-court workout that he insisted on doing.

[DanSchwartzgan]

I listened to Kevin O’Connor’s podcast today.  Don’t recall the guest.  He had an interesting theory regarding why Dallas was slow on shutting down the Kidd to NY talk (and why it is still being talked about in NY).  If there was going to be a rebuild around Flagg, Dallas might not mind getting an asset from NY and might not mind getting a younger coach to grow the next generation of the team built around Flagg.

This would mean trading AD, who they thought would bring a haul.  Many of the teams mentioned for KD and Giannis might also have an interest in AD.  They pointed out that Indy’s trade getting a 2026 pick means they can now trade four firsts if they wanted to swing for the fences.  They really liked the AD fit in Indy with Dallas presumably getting Turner and stuff and picks.

No matter how much sense it might make to sell off AD and Klay (I wouldn’t sell Kyrie just yet), I’m dubious it would happen.  I do like Lively and Turner (and getting additional assets in a Gafford deal).  I’d also like to add Mathurin to the Flagg/Lively youth movement.  Turner would be a S&T which would hard cap us at the first apron, but that should be manageable depending on what Turner and Kyrie get in terms of salary.  It is kind of fun to think through this stuff even if an exercise in futility.

[F Gump]

AD to Indy for Turner-Mathurin-picks-stuff is incredibly appealing, although it can't be real because it's nowhere close to a trade match, and the resulting payroll would be way too big for Indy. I would love to see AD traded for a FAIR deal, but he would be a tough player to move while also getting reasonably fair value in return because of the size of his massive contract.

[RasheedsBigWhiteSpot]

A version of the trade:

Mavs get Turner (S/T $27.6 per/4 years), Mathurin, Toppin, Knect, #27, 2027 1st (top 3 protected) and 2029 1st (top 3 protected), swaps with Lakers in 2026, 2028 and an unprotected 2031 1st
Pacers get AD
Lakers get Lively
Nets get Jarace Walker and Jaden Hardy

The 2027 Pacers pick will likely be in the mid 20s, but 2029 could be something

*This trade cuts $12 mil off payroll

The Mavs would be flush movable contracts with future picks to get whoever they want (Stepien rule considered)
Mavs/Lakers 2026
Pacers 2027
Mavs/Lakers 2028
Pacers 2029, Lakers 2029
Mavs 2030, post swap
Mavs 2031, Lakers 2031

[michaeltex]

Emotionally, I'm OK with trading AD. He's a phenomenal talent but he hasn't played enough games to become one of "our" guys. I'd still like to see what happens with everybody healthy, but understand if he can bring back a boatload of assets. FWIW, none of the players listed are the equivalent of AD, although they might meet some other needs. Plus, there is only one slot available after drafting Flagg.

Lively is another matter. DAL wandered in the no center wilderness for sooooo many years, post-Chandler. When we finally acquired someone with the skills to legitimize the 5 spot, who was young and would only get better, it was like sunshine after the storm. Getting Gafford to share the load only made them collectively better.

[cow]

A version of the trade:

Mavs get Turner (S/T $27.6 per/4 years), Mathurin, Toppin, Knect, #27, 2027 1st (top 3 protected) and 2029 1st (top 3 protected), swaps with Lakers in 2026, 2028 and an unprotected 2031 1st
Pacers get AD
Lakers get Lively
Nets get Jarace Walker and Jaden Hardy

The 2027 Pacers pick will likely be in the mid 20s, but 2029 could be something

*This trade cuts $12 mil off payroll

The Mavs would be flush movable contracts with future picks to get whoever they want (Stepien rule considered)
Mavs/Lakers 2026
Pacers 2027
Mavs/Lakers 2028
Pacers 2029, Lakers 2029
Mavs 2030, post swap
Mavs 2031, Lakers 2031

I like the framework.  Not sure they get that big of haul (for example the Lakers 3031 pick would almost certainly come with protections) as both of the outgoing Mavs pieces have injury concerns.

[SleepingHero]

@TheSteinLine
Last word on Cooper Flagg's visit to Mavsland: After Tuesday's dinner with team officials at Bob's Steak & Chop House, he grabbed one more meal Wednesday night at Nick & Sam's with some of his future Mavs teammates ... completing quite a Dallas steakhouse double.

[RasheedsBigWhiteSpot]

Emotionally, I'm OK with trading AD. He's a phenomenal talent but he hasn't played enough games to become one of "our" guys. I'd still like to see what happens with everybody healthy, but understand if he can bring back a boatload of assets. FWIW, none of the players listed are the equivalent of AD, although they might meet some other needs. Plus, there is only one slot available after drafting Flagg.

Lively is another matter. DAL wandered in the no center wilderness for sooooo many years, post-Chandler. When we finally acquired someone with the skills to legitimize the 5 spot, who was young and would only get better, it was like sunshine after the storm. Getting Gafford to share the load only made them collectively better.

My reasoning on trading Lively vs Gafford is that, while both are due for extentions soon, only one would be content to being a backup to Turner, and that's Gafford. Plus, the Lively extention could get pricey and, not to mention, his injury concerns. I think the Lakers would overpay for him because of his history with Luka.

[SleepingHero]

@MavsFilmRoom
“Shot looks pretty damn good from what they’re saying on the streets.”

Marc Stein on the DLLS Mavs Podcast, during a Cooper Flagg visit discussion

[SleepingHero]

@All_Things_Mavs
Stein points out that Cooper Flagg attended dinner with Mavs officials on his own.

Typically, you would expect agents to join players, but it's impressive and notable that he chose to attend by himself.

[SleepingHero]

@noahweber00
I'm told that Cooper Flagg was "unreal" in his workout with the Dallas Mavericks yesterday.

A league source indicated that he "shot the ball insanely well" and called him a "complete beast."

"He was even better than I expected him to be."