ESPN Embarrasses Itself With Cooper Flagg NBA Draft Grade on Mavs originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
DALLAS – Can we not find a happy medium around here?
It is very much in the selfish interests of the Dallas Mavericks and general manager Nico Harrison to tout Duke superstar Cooper Flagg – the Dallas-bound No. 1 overall pick – as “a generational talent” and “a once-in-a-lifetime chance.”
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Why? Nico’s trying to save his butt after the uproariously bad trade away to the Lakers of Luka Doncic.
But Flagg is clearly special as has all the tools, no doubt, as an athletic, 6-9, 205-pound forward who averaged 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game for Duke as a freshman while also bringing a notably high level of defensively intensity and overall intellect.
Is he the “face of the franchise” to line up alongside established stars in the rehabbing Kyrie Irving, former Splash Brother Klay Thompson and Anthony Davis? Not yet.
Let’s be smart and call him “the possible future face of the franchise.”
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Or, if we’re ESPN, let’s come up with a Mavs draft grade that swings the pendulum the other way due to its nonsensical nature.
The good people of Bristol are giving their ESPN grade to Dallas … and it is a “B.”
How? Why? What more could the Mavs have possibly done to succeed more greatly here? How many Cooper Flaggs did they need to draft to get an “A” grade?
The ESPN article mentioned the Mavericks “don’t get credit for winning the lottery, only for not screwing it up.”
But a “B” means they aren’t getting credit for anything.
The Mavs had a tiny 1.8-percent chance to win the NBA Draft lottery. But it happened. That cannot be twisted into a negative … no matter how desperate, for reasons (clickbait?) unknown, ESPN tries.
Related: Paige Bueckers Sends Message to Dallas Mavericks’ Cooper Flagg
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 27, 2025, where it first appeared.