The Dallas Mavericks Terrifying Plan For Cooper Flagg

The Dallas Mavericks Terrifying Plan For Cooper Flagg

does that change the balance of power in the West when you look at the additions of the Mavericks and who they have when they’re healthy got to remember the Dallas Mavericks last year only had about three players that played 60 games or more cooper Flag is the real deal make no mistake about it if you’re a Dallas Mavericks fan this past year has been an absolute roller coaster for you guys going from making the 2024 NBA Finals to being the number one free agent destination in last year’s free agency to trading away a generational superstar causing an extreme fan revolt conspiracy theories about a rigged draft lottery and now somehow they have Cooper flag but it doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re a top contender in the West as a matter of fact the Dallas Mavericks are in some hot water and I’m going to explain to you how in this video now before we get to the content if you want to get the latest updates on the NBA offseason make sure you’re subscribed and have our notifications on and now that we got all that out of the way cue the intro [Music] [Music] mic check 1212 what’s going on everybody let me set the scene for you just 10 months ago the Dallas Mavericks were in the NBA finals luca Donuch was the golden boy the next Dirk Noitzky leading Dallas to their first NBA Finals appearance since 2011 the 2024 to25 Dallas Mavericks season represents one of the most dramatic franchise collapses in NBA history fans were dreaming of championships jerseys were flying off the shelves and everything seemed perfect in Maverick Land but here’s where things get absolutely insane and trust me this is just the beginning of one of the wildest stories in sports what happened next would make even the most dramatic soap opera look boring by comparison on February 2nd 2025 everything went to hell for Dallas Mavericks fans the Dallas Mavericks executed what many called the most damaging and indefensible trade in NBA history trading Luca Donuch their 25-year-old Golden Boy who had just carried them to the NBA Finals the deal sent Luca Donic Maxi Kibba and Marke Morris to the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for Anthony Davis Max Christie and a 2029 firstround pick but wait it gets even worse the trade was conducted in complete secrecy even head coach Jason Kid wasn’t informed until the final hour and players discovered the news through social media and if you don’t believe that you could just take a look at the way Jason Kid was looking at Nico Harrison as he gave a press conference to defend his actions all right I’ll open it up um thanks for everybody for coming jay is it normally this crowd is preame speeches no they don’t want to hear about everybody who’s out no on a serious note uh at just 25 years old Luca Donic was averaging 28.6 points per game for his career this is the highest average for any traded player since Kareem Abdul Jabbar in 1975 and you don’t trade generational talent you just don’t but Eco Harrison had his reasons and boy when you hear them you’ll understand why fans were ready to storm the front office harrison’s justification centered on defense and conditioning concerns stating “I believe that defense wins championships and wanting an alldefensive center and an allNBA player with a defensive mindset.” Internal sources revealed significant frustration within the organization about Luca’s lack of discipline regarding his diet and conditioning with reports suggesting that his weight had ballooned to the high 260s early in the season the reaction was immediate and absolutely devastating luca reportedly shattered his cell phone upon learning of the trade and later told reporters “I felt like my heart was broken.” Even Mark Cuban who had just sold the team was reportedly texting former players expressing his confusion about the move now here’s where the story goes from shocking to absolutely unhinged the fan reaction wasn’t just angry tweets or disappointed comments we’re talking about a full-scale revolt that had the NBA world talking for months within hours of the trade over 1,000 fans gathered at Durk’s statue creating a memorial with signs reading “Rip Mavs time of date 11:23 p.m on February 1st 2025.” Think about that for a second fans literally held a funeral for their own team threats were made against Nico Harrison’s life which led to increased security and multiple fans were ejected from games for protesting one fan even went viral for mouthing Fire Nico during a karaoke segment on the Jumbotron the organization had to increase security because things were getting that intense and Mark Cuban’s fall from grace added another layer of drama despite expecting to maintain basketball operations control after selling the team for $3.5 billion Cuban was stripped of decision-making power and ended up engaging in heated exchanges with fans and telling protesters to shut the up and just when you thought that this story couldn’t get any more dramatic Basketball Karma decided to strike again remember Kyrie Irving the guy who they brought in to pair with Luca Donuch well here’s the gut punch that made everything 10 times worse on March 3rd 2025 against the Sacramento Kings Kyrie Irving suffered a torn ACL and in a moment that reminded everyone of the late great Kobe Bryant Irving shot his free throws with tears in his eyes before leaving the game he underwent surgery on March 26th and isn’t expected to return until January 2026 here’s how bad it got dallas went 28 and 22 with Irving but just 11 and 21 without him the team completely fell apart they traded their best player their second best player got hurt and suddenly they went from NBA Finals contenders to lottery team faster than you could say fire Nico Harrison but here’s the plot twist that nobody saw coming despite the injury Kyrie Irving would sign a three-year $119 million extension just a few days ago before his injury Kyrie was averaging 24.7 points 4.8 8 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game while shooting an elite 47.3% from the field and 40.1% from three but the Mavericks got 119 million tied up in a guy who won’t play until 2026 now let’s talk about what Dallas got in return for trading away their franchise player Anthony Davis one of the biggest mismatches in the NBA and one of the most respected players in the league the man has a resume longer than a CVS receipt but an injury history just as extensive while Davis posted solid numbers last year he suffered a non-cont adductor strain in his debut game and dealt with injuries through his brief Dallas Mavericks tenure so they traded a 25-year-old generational talent for a 32-year-old who immediately got hurt davis’s injury history earned him a little sympathy from fans still reeling from the Luca trade every time he missed games social media exploded with fans asking what they had done to deserve this nightmare season but this is where things started to look up for the Dallas Mavericks on May 12th 2025 Dallas experienced what some called basketball karma when they won the NBA draft lottery with just 1.8% odds tying for the biggest lottery jump in NBA history since the format change in 2019 and guess who is sitting there at number one cooper Flag quite possibly the second greatest NBA prospect that we’ve ever seen in the past decade i say Cooper Flag was way better than Zion Williamson as a prospect but obviously worse than Victor Webbyama as a prospect but on top of that he is the youngest number one pick since LeBron James in 2003 flag’s college numbers were absolutely ridiculous 19.2 points 7.5 rebounds and 4.2 32 assists per game while shooting 48.1% from the field and 38.5% from three-point range at 6’9 with a 7 foot wingspan Flag won every major national player of the year award and posted the third highest defensive bay and performance rating in college basketball the lottery win had immediate business impact dallas sold $8 million in new season tickets within 3 days and achieved a surprising 75 to 80% season ticket renewal rate despite the fan outrage over the trade and when you consider the fact that they actually boosted ticket prices prior to this happening you wonder if some foul play was done by the NBA conspiracy theories immediately emerged about the convenient timing of Dallas winning the top pick just months after trading their superstar people were calling it rigged saying the NBA rewarded Dallas for sending Luca to a major market and whether you believe that or not the timing was absolutely perfect for a franchise in chaos but this is where things get interesting because immediately Maverick fans thought that they were saved after all you have Kyrie Irving Anthony Davis Klay Thompson Cooper Flag Daniel Gaffford Derek Lively PJ Washington i mean this seems like a team that could without a doubt contend in the Western Conference but here’s the problem and this is where things get really interesting for the Dallas Maverick’s future with Kyrie Irving hurt and Anthony Davis injuryprone Dallas had to scramble to find help and their first target was pretty obvious the Maverick’s pursuit of Drew Holiday failed when Boston traded him to Portland a few days ago for Anthony Simons and picks dallas had explored feasible trade pathways but their second apron status made absorbing Holiday’s $32.4 million salary nearly impossible so who’s the Dallas Maverick’s main target now well it seems like Chris Paul is going to be their primary target for the 2025 to 26 season yeah you heard that right a 40-year-old Chris Paul the veteran point guard is an unrestricted free agent after playing all 82 games for San Antonio averaging 8.8 points and 7.4 assists dallas is exploring ways to convince Chris Paul to sign likely for the veteran minimum or taxpayer mid-level exception but knowing Chris Paul historically he’s always been in rumors to sign with a contending team on a veteran minimum contract and then he ends up signing with the team that offers him the most money other realistic targets include Lonzo Ball via a trade because he has 2 years and $20 million remaining but Lonzo is also extremely injury-prone as well they could also pursue Malcolm Brogden in free agency who also has an extensive injury history and Tyus Jones as a backup but here’s the killer the Dallas Mavericks financial situation is absolutely brutal they face severe salary cap constraints for the 2025 to 26 season they’ve committed $193.6 million to 12 players and the salary cap is projected to be at $154.6 million which means they’re currently $46.6 million over the cap they’re basically broke and can’t make any major moves so you might be wondering how this is even possible because a huge reason why they traded Luca to begin with is because they didn’t want to pay him a supermax contract while Anthony Davis alone is eating up $54.1 million next season and that goes up to 58.4 million the following year and nearly $62.8 million in the 2027 to 28 season so you’ve got almost a third of your entire salary cap tied up in one injury-prone 32-year-old who got hurt in his very first game with the Mavericks then you’ve got Kyrie Irving’s massive new extension three years $119 million and he can’t even play until January of 2026 because of his torn ACL klay Thompson is making $16.7 million next season on his three-year $50 million deal and he’s clearly not the shooter he used to be daniel Gaffer just got extended for 3 years $54 million so that’s another $18 million per year tied up into a backup center then they have PJ Washington making $14.2 $2 million in the 2025 to26 season and then Cooper Flag’s rookie contract coming on top of all of this so let’s do the math here when you pay Anthony Davis Kyrie Irving Klay Thompson Daniel Gaffford and PJ Washington that’s already $142.7 million for just five players they still need to fill out an entire roster with basically nothing left and the luxury tax penalties are going to be crushing and while they’re not in the second apron they’re still way over the salary cap with limited flexibility now the good news is the Dallas Mavericks have a lot of options here because they’re not in the second apron you could trade PJ Washington and that would give you some relief because his $14.2 million salary could be moved for expiring contracts or even a cheaper point guard but here’s the problem washington has actually been really good for the Mavericks he’s averaging a career-high eight rebounds per game making 37.4% 24% of his three-point shots and providing solid versatile defense teams like the Phoenix Suns and Los Angeles Lakers might be interested in PJ Washington primarily because he fits the mold of a modern NBA big man he’s versatile on defense and he could shoot the three the other option is moving Klay Thompson $16.7 million but his value is questionable given his age and his declining performance teams might not want to take on that contract especially with how Klay’s looked lately the one bright spot is that Kyrie Irving’s new contract structure actually allows Dallas to use their $5.7 million taxpayer mid-level exception which they could use to target players like Dennis Shruder D’Angelo Russell Chris Paul or Malcolm Brogden to fill their massive point guard hole and this decision is going to be huge in determining how the Dallas Mavericks season goes because I’m going to be real there’s no bigger wild card this year than the Dallas Mavericks now depending on who they get as their point guard I believe during the first 50 games of the season the Mavericks are going to win about 20 to 25 games while they wait for Kyrie Irving to return cooper Flag is one of the most NBA ready prospects we’ve seen in years but even he should have some growing pains because he’s just 18 years old but at the same time he’s going to have moments that remind you why he was the number one overall pick ad is definitely going to miss about 15 to 20 games because that’s just what Anthony Davis does klay Thompson’s going to have some vintage performances that remind you why he’s a Hall of Famer mixed with games where you’re wondering if he’s washed and the abundance of big man with Davis Gaffford Lively and Flag is going to create some interesting lineup combinations but also some headaches about minutes distribution the real test comes when Kyrie Irving returns in January if he’s healthy and looks like his old self then the Mavericks can make a serious playoff push they’ve got enough talent that if everything clicks and that’s a big if they could be dangerous in the playoffs cooper flag by playoff time will have 60 plus games under his belt hopefully Anthony Davis and Kyrie Irving will be healthy as well and they’ll have had time to figure out their rotations my prediction personally is the Mavericks finish anywhere between 45 and 50 wins which might be enough for a 6 to8 seed in what looks like a much weaker Western Conference their championship odds improved from plus 8,500 to plus 2500 after winning the lottery and honestly that might be right the Dallas Mavericks are not title favorites but if everything breaks right stranger things have happened i mean who expected the Indiana Pacers to make it to the NBA finals this year the wild card is Cooper Flag if he’s as good as advertised and adapts to the NBA quickly then this team could surprise people but if he struggles with the adjustment and their injury problems continue then they could miss the playoffs entirely and that’s the reality when you’re banking on an 18-year-old rookie and two injuryprone stars to carry your franchise at the end of the day if you’re a Dallas Mavericks fan I think you should be very happy about where this team is they would not have nearly as much hope as they have currently if they didn’t get the number one pick in the NBA draft they definitely need to shuffle their roster a little bit maybe trade one of their centers in order to get some guard help because if they do that then this could potentially be a team that’s a top four seed they just need to make sure that that point guard position is steady until Kyrie Irving comes back they’re not guaranteed to make it to the NBA finals but I have to admit there’s some exciting times coming for Dallas but do you know what NBA fans are also devastated the Boston Celtics they’re currently gutting out their entire roster because they have no choice but to do it i made a video on both of their trades of Chrisaps Porzingis and Drew Holiday i’m going to leave it in the end screen to meet you guys there i’m your boy Mike and I’m dropping our mic until our next upload [Music]

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