Cooper Flagg is official in what is becoming quite the Duke plan for the Mavericks

By SCHUYLER DIXON, Associated Press

DALLAS — The Duke plan is coming together nicely for the Mavericks.

As expected, Dallas took Cooper Flagg with the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA draft on Wednesday night. The sudden fortune of winning the lottery with a 1.8% chance officially paid off about 24 hours after the Mavs agreed on a new contract with Kyrie Irving. The nine-time All-Star guard was the top pick out of Duke 14 years ago.

Once Irving returns from a torn ACL, probably two or three months into next season, a healthy Dallas starting lineup is likely to include three one-and-done Blue Devils. The Mavs got center Dereck Lively II with the 12th overall pick in 2023.

Dallas won the lottery May 12, a little more than three months after the seismic trade of young superstar Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis, a move that enraged most of the fan base.

Irving’s injury March 3 against Sacramento actually played a role in Dallas ending up with Flagg. It all but ended any realistic playoff hopes for the Mavs, with Davis already sidelined by a groin injury sustained in his Dallas debut a little less than a month before Irving went down.

Davis returned, and the Mavericks secured the last spot in the play-in tournament as the 10th seed in the Western Conference a year after losing to Boston in five games in the NBA Finals.

Dallas won at Sacramento before losing at Memphis with the No. 8 seed in the playoffs at stake. A win there would have kept the Mavs out of the lottery.

There was never much question that Irving would return, and the move was expected when he declined his $43 million player option for 2025-26 and agreed to a $119 million, three-year deal with a player option in the final season.

Irving also signed a three-year deal with a player option the offseason after he joined the Mavs in a trade with Brooklyn. The idea was to pair him with Doncic for deep playoff runs, but Dallas missed the postseason in 2023 before reaching the finals for the first time since 2011 last year.

Davis and Irving both have player options in 2027-28, when Flagg will be entering the third year of his rookie deal.

Flagg is the second No. 1 overall pick in Dallas franchise history. The Mavericks took Mark Aguirre out of DePaul in 1981. Flagg’s coach, Jason Kidd, was the second overall pick by the Mavs in 1994.

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