The Dallas Mavericks’ much-heralded rookie and No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NBA draft, Cooper Flagg, has gotten off to a good start to his professional career, despite his team’s struggles.

Flagg is averaging 17.3 points, 6.3 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game, while playing 34 minutes per game. The Mavs are 10-16, but Flagg has been an instrumental part of key wins like his career high 35 points in the team’s win over the Clippers.

On Saturday morning, ESPN published a list of the 25 best players under the age of 25 and Flagg was featured prominently. See where the Mavs’ talented rookie landed below and what ESPN’s NBA insiders had to say about him.

8. Cooper Flagg, F, Dallas Mavericks

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“After some early-season handwringing about Flagg’s initial performances — he was playing out of position at point guard on a team with hardly any shooting around him and with plenty of drama — things have looked far different once Flagg switched back to his combo forward role. He’s putting up stat lines that are only comparable to LeBron James among 18 year olds in NBA history. Dallas is going to be just fine as the Flagg era takes hold in the Metroplex,” said ESPN’s Tim Bontemps.

Flagg landed just above the likes of Oklahoma City’s Chet Holmgren at No. 9, and just below Cleveland’s Evan Mobley at No. 7.

To see ESPN’s full list, click here.

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