MAVS would recruit Flagg, they won’t change Pick No. 1: Sources

The Mavericks will use Pick No. 1 to select Cooper Flagg, according to Fuentes.

After making the greatest jump in the history of the NBA draft lottery to get the first general selection, the Dallas Mavericks They plan to select the forward Duke, Cooper Flaggand they will not consider the possibility of exchanging the selection for a proven superstar, sources told AM850.

The MAVs had only a 1.8% chance of winning the lottery after being eliminated in the last play-in game of the West Conference to end a tumultuous season and full of injuries.

The improbable victory occurred a few months after the general manager of Dallas, Nico Harrison, surprised the NBA and outraged the fans of the Mavericks by exchanging the five times selected for the first NBA lottery team, Luka Doncicto Los Angeles Lakers For a package headed by the pivot 10 times all-star, Anthony Davis.

Sources told AM850 that Patrick Dumont, who has just finished his first year as governor of the MAVs, considers the opportunity to be in a position to recruit a generational talent as Flagg as a “gift.” While Dumont has given Harrison great freedom to direct basketball operations, the governor has the final decision on all personnel matters.

The consequences of Doncic exchange generated significant commercial concerns for the MAVs, in addition to changing the long -term perspectives for a franchise that renounced its capital of the first round draft, either directly or through exchange rights, from 2027 to 2030 while built the support cast of the Dallas team for the NBA finals of 2024. The arrival of Flagg would mitigate both concerns.

Flagg, 6 feet 9 inches high, has been considered the favorite to be the first election of the Draft since August 2023when he announced his decision to graduate from the preparatory school a year earlier and register at a university at age 17.

Being one of the most anticipated first year students to enter the university game in several years, Flagg exceeded expectations by winning almost all the main awards to the national player of the year, with an average of 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4.2 assists, and leading the Blue Devils (35-4) despite an appearance in the Final Four.

“I don’t know who we are going to choose from, but we should choose it, I think his curriculum is quite solid,” said the CEO of the MAVs, Rick Welts. “Every time they put it in a situation in which everyone wondered if it could succeed, he succeeded and much more.”

Michael C. Wright and Jonathan Givony of AM850 contributed to this report.