Cooper Flagg's peak timeline, guard help sans Kyrie Irving and more: Mavericks mailbag

New York Times

3 days ago

Kyrie Irving understood the odds.
At last month's NBA Draft Lottery, the Dallas Mavericks had the 11th-best chance of walking away with the No. 1 pick. Improbably, the ping-pong balls bounced the Mavericks' way, and they leaped 10 spots to win the top selection.
The next morning, Irving sent out a brief message to his 4.7 million followers on X.
1.8% 🤣🤣
— Kyrie🤞🏾 (@KyrieIrving) May 13, 2025
In late June, Irving is expected to officially become teammates with Cooper Flagg, the one-and-done forward from Duke who is widely considered the best player in this year's draft class. Flagg, 18, will join a veteran-laden roster that has hopes of making a deep playoff run next season.
Ahead of what figures to be an eventful few weeks for the Mavericks, you guys submitted plenty of thoughtful questions for a solid mailbag. Thank you for your submissions. Let's get into it.
(Editor's note: The following has been edited for clarity and brevity.)
Do you agree that the title-contending window on Flagg's peak timeline (several years from now) will be compromised because of the short-term thinking this regime has now? I don't think we are good enough to win it all anyway in the next 3-4 years with AD and Kyrie, so I'm worried Flagg won't have enough young pieces to grow/compete with when they are gone. (Also have no confidence in anything Nico/ownership does in the future.) — Marty K.
By the time the playoffs start next season, Anthony Davis will be 33 and Irving will be 34. There's precedent in Dallas for a player approaching his mid-30s being the best player on a championship team. Dirk Nowitzki was 33 when the Mavericks won it all in 2011. The obvious counterpoint to that is Nowitzki was a) better than Irving and Davis, and b) not as injury-prone as either of them.
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I think it's conceivable Dallas could be a contending team next season, but I need to see what moves the front office makes to address the lack of creation and ballhandling on the roster first. Irving, who's recovering from a torn ACL in his left knee, won't be back until 2026. The Mavericks need a capable hand at lead guard who would still make sense on this team once Irving returns.
Looking past next season, I understand anxiety about Flagg's best years potentially being compromised. The Mavericks owe their 2027 first-round pick to the Charlotte Hornets (top-two protected). In 2028, 2029 and 2030, three Dallas rivals — the Oklahoma City Thunder, Houston Rockets and San Antonio Spurs — have first-round swap rights with the Mavericks.
If next season goes well and the Mavericks do look like contenders, then wonderful. If it goes poorly, ownership can punt on the two-timeline approach. Nico Harrison, Irving and Davis are intertwined. Move on from all of them and reset around Flagg.
Who is/are your ideal solution(s) at the guard spot for next year until Irving's return? — Michael S.
NBA insider Marc Stein reported the Mavericks are 'expected to explore whether there are any feasible pathways' to trade for Jrue Holiday and that they maintain interest in a more 'reasonable' option: Lonzo Ball.
Holiday proved in stops with Milwaukee and Boston that he is a finishing piece for a team that wants to contend. He could play with or without Irving, and he has a good relationship with Davis dating to their New Orleans days. He's also coming off a down season (11.1 points per game on a 56.5 true-shooting percentage) and is locked into a contract that might not age well. He has a $37.2 million player option in 2027-28, which will be his 19th season.
Ball doesn't have as much juice as Holiday as a half-court creator, but he's an excellent passer and a smart defender, and he has made himself into a solid 3-point shooter. The problem with the No. 2 pick of the 2017 draft is that he rarely plays. Ball had a meniscus and cartilage transplant in his left knee in March 2023. Over the past four years, he's appeared in just 70 games. Depending on another injury-prone player seems unwise.
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If I'm the Mavericks, I'd be more interested in Ball's Chicago Bulls teammate. Coby White plays with great pace and opens up the floor with his ability to make pull-up 3s. White made 215 3s last season, the same amount as Klay Thompson. I think the Mavericks need another floor-stretcher on their roster if they're going to try to play so many bigs simultaneously.
I am also a fan of adding Chris Paul. The 40-year-old played in all 82 regular-season games for the San Antonio Spurs last season. He had a 4.69 assist-to-turnover ratio. He remains an elite decision maker.
The Spurs got outscored by 0.8 points per 100 possessions with Paul on the floor; when he sat, they got outscored by 5.8 points per 100 possessions. The numbers suggest he still makes a positive impact. I like the idea of Paul setting up Flagg and Davis for easy looks. When Irving returns, the Mavericks could move him to the bench.
Many have commented on why the Mavs wanted Caleb Martin, however he fits or not fits with the Mavs. Less clear to me is why teams keep moving on from a young, apparently promising player in Quentin Grimes. What is it that makes teams trade him away for older players? Is he not a great locker room guy? Does he not follow coaching instructions? — Anonymous U.
I can only speak to what I observed in Dallas. Grimes was well-liked in the locker room, and he showed he had plenty of ability. I think the Mavericks' decision to trade him came down to a few things. I'm not sure that Mavericks coach Jason Kidd had great trust in him. Dallas' loss to the Detroit Pistons on Jan. 31 was a revealing game. Kidd played Dante Exum 14 minutes and Grimes 10 minutes, even though it was Exum's first game of the season. Exum missed the first three months of the season with a right wrist injury, but still got more burn in his first game back than Grimes did.
I also think Grimes' looming restricted free agency had a lot to do with the decision to move him. Martin is on a cost-controlled deal. He'll make $9.6 million next season and $10 million the following season. Grimes, who had multiple 40-point games with Philadelphia during the home stretch of the season, is going to want — and get — more than that.
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When healthy, where do you think the Mavs stack up in the West next year? — Cameron W.
It's too early to place the Western Conference teams in tiers. There is expected to be plenty of player movement this summer. I think we need to see what happens with Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kevin Durant and others before we start playing this game.
Here's what I can say after watching the playoffs up to this point: the Thunder belong in a tier by themselves. Going into the NBA Finals, they are 80-18 this season. Two of their best players — Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren — will still be on their rookie deals next season.
The Thunder are one of the greatest defensive teams in NBA history. One of the many reasons I didn't like the Luka Dončić trade for Dallas was that it put too much of a burden on Irving in a potential matchup against Oklahoma City. If the Mavericks had faced the Thunder in the playoffs this past spring, Oklahoma City could have thrown a combination of Luguentz Dort, Alex Caruso and Cason Wallace at Irving for 48 minutes. Irving didn't have a great playoff series against the Thunder in 2024 as the Mavericks' secondary option. Would he have fared better with more offensive responsibility?
The Mavericks beat the Thunder in 2024, and the Denver Nuggets pushed them to seven games in May. What do those teams have in common? Dončić and Nikola Jokić are big, burly creators, which helps against Oklahoma City's ultra-physical defense. Irving is a brilliant offensive player, but he's a welterweight fighter — not a heavyweight.
If the Mavs begin the season with both P.J. and Gafford on the roster, how agreeable are they to come off the bench if the front office promises a good-faith effort to get them traded to a place where they can start before the trade deadline? — Jonathan D.
The addition of Flagg means even fewer minutes to spread around to what was an already-talented group of frontcourt players. P.J. Washington and Daniel Gafford both have one year left on their contracts. Of the two, I think it's more likely that Washington signs an extension and sticks around in Dallas for a while. Gafford is a good player and a great teammate, but he only plays one position: center.
Washington is more versatile. The Mavericks can put him at small forward, power forward and small-ball center. I wouldn't be surprised if the Mavericks try to play Flagg, Washington, Davis and Dereck Lively II together next season in stretches. We know how much Mavericks management values defense. That foursome is light on outside shooting, but would absolutely get after it on the defensive end.
(Top photo of Cooper Flagg: Jeff Haynes / NBAE via Getty Images)