Cooper Flagg Showed Out In NBA Summer League, So Mavericks Shut Him Down
The #1 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft dropped 31 points and now he's done until the regular season
If you had hoped to catch a glimpse of Cooper Flagg, the #1 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, during the NBA Summer League, hopefully you went to one of the Dallas Mavericks' first two games. If not, you're out of luck.
Flagg made his much-anticipated Summer League debut against the Los Angeles Lakers and Bronny James, and scored 10 points. He had a highlight-reel dunk, but otherwise it was a ho-hum start to his career.
However, that was just the beginning. On Saturday, Flagg scored 31 points (on 10-21 FG and 8-13 from the free-throw line) and added four rebounds and a block. The Mavericks lost, 76-69, to the San Antonio Spurs, meaning Flagg accounted for 45% of the team's points. The #2 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, Dylan Harper, scored 16 points in the Spurs' victory.
Apparently, the Dallas Mavericks have seen enough from their new superstar. According to NBA reporter Marc Stein, the team has decided to shut Flagg down for the rest of the summer so he can prepare for his first NBA season.
This makes perfect sense from the Mavericks' perspective. Flagg is considered a "day one starter" in the NBA, and he has nothing to prove in the NBA Summer League. Continuing to play him would only increase the chance of injury, something Dallas definitely doesn't want to risk with their new star. The league doesn't want that, either. Flagg figures to draw a ton of viewers for the NBA starting this season, something the league desperately needs after struggling to draw an audience for the recently-concluded NBA Finals.
Dallas Mavericks rookie Cooper Flagg, the #1 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, dropped 31 points in his second Summer League game and he won't play again until the regular season.
(Candice Ward/Imagn Images)
The NBA plans to release the regular season schedule in August, so we don't know exactly when or where Cooper Flagg will begin his career just yet. The NBA season begins on October 21, and it wouldn't be a surprise to see the league put the Dallas Mavericks in primetime on opening night to drum up interest for the league right out of the gate.
Until then, though, we'll just have to enjoy the highlights from Flagg's two Summer League games, since he's not going to hit the court again – in an official capacity – for at least three months.