I will start by prefacing that whatever freaky fantasy Jason Kidd has with turning multi-faceted forwards into point guards has got to stop. Right now. I had hoped it would, given Kidd's fascination with the idea before, but didn't work with Giannis, and based on the way Flagg is playing, it's not going to work with him either. You can operate as an offensive hub without being its initiator, and clearly Flagg is currently the most comfortable as a secondary creator.
On a related note, what a disappointing start from the Dallas Mavericks, huh? Opening up the season to a Spurs team that was hyped up to consist of Wemby and a medium french fry should have been Dallas' golden chance to finally double down on GM Nico Harrison's infamous co-opting of the 'defense wins championships' mantra. Instead, the generational rookie you stumbled backwards into was held scoreless in the first half, and you let your division and state rival to beat you by 30.
Now, the Mavs have gotten better defensively. Yippee? The fifth-best defensive rating in the NBA means little when you also have its second-worst offense. Yes, they're 2-3 now. And? Those two wins combined for a 12-point margin over the Toronto Raptors and an Indiana Pacers team missing their second-best scorer and their best athlete.
Also, the defensive centerpiece Harrison acquired for Dončić — Anthony Davis — is once again injured, possibly for a good long time. Who could have seen this coming besides ... you know ... everyone?
But what's the most disappointing for fans is that the Mavericks' hopes for this season — and consequently, Nico Harrison's job as well — all revolved around their shiny new rookie. And while Cooper Flagg certainly looks the part of a true NBA starter, he is certainly not playing like the far-and-away ROY winner he was supposed to be.
The unfair pressure on Cooper Flagg
Flagg did not sign up for whatever mess the Mavs are in, and he has truly performed admirably given the circumstances (13 points, 5.3 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1 steal per game). With Kyrie Irving out at least until the New Year (and likely longer), Flagg has to carry the torch of an entire city while also playing far outside his natural position.
And he could very well still grow. Getting the painful reps out of the way would be an important step in his development. But as if the basketball gods heard Dallas' plans about Flagg, they added another freak element to the list of pressures on his psyche:
Edgecombe wasn't supposed to be this good, this fast. But he has been just so, to the point where there are legitimate voices calling for the Philadelphia 76ers to move on from the Joel Embiid era early. That is the type of hope that Flagg was drafted to bring in.
Edgecombe's rapid rise to stardom (yes, he's there) is no fluke, and the record-setting 34-point debut he had against Boston has given way to 22.3 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 5.5 assists per game on solid 3-point shooting. He is for real, as are his 4-0 76ers, who, if you'd checked on them as late as June 2025, looked like they were on the verge of imploding. And to pile on, the Spurs are also undefeated, and No. 2 pick Dylan Harper is also putting up numbers for them despite many questioning his functionality alongside 2025 ROY Stephon Castle and, eventually, De'Aaron Fox.
All that to say, Cooper Flagg will develop in time. But even if (when) he does, I doubt that Nico Harrison will be in the building to see him do it. Because Harrison didn't need Flagg just to be the franchise's savior -- he needed him to be good enough, fast enough to save his job.
And while the Mavs are floundering trying to tread water until Kyrie Irving returns to the court, it might just be time to clean house.