Flagg was going to go No. 1 regardless of who got the pick. He was the national player of the year in college basketball this season at just 18 years old after reclassifying into the 2024 recruiting class. He posted ridiculous numbers, averaging 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.4 blocks per game, but it got even better after January. In his final 25 games, including the Georgia Tech game in which he rolled an ankle after 15 minutes in the ACC tournament, Flagg posted 20.5 points, seven rebounds and 4.6 assists on 51.1 percent shooting from the field, 45.1 percent from 3 and 88 percent from the line. Duke went 23-2 in that run before falling in the Final Four to Houston in staggering fashion (despite Flagg’s 27, seven and four with two steals and three blocks in that game).
Flagg isn’t quite at the Victor Wembanyama level of prospect over the last 20 years, but he belongs in the Anthony Davis tier. And now, he’ll get to play with Davis. Barring injury, Flagg is about as can’t-miss as it gets because of his skill level, athleticism, shot-creation ability and mentality. He is about as competitive as you’ll find on the court and will bring a serious degree of work ethic into whatever situation he arrives. He wants to be great. There’s no red flag in terms of entitlement here.
It will be interesting to see how the Mavericks attack this process. Flagg can play small forward effectively but probably fits better at the power forward spot in how he creates chaos defensively off the ball. But that would mean Davis shifting back to the center spot and reducing two good players in Dereck Lively II and Daniel Gafford to the bench. My guess currently is that Dallas just plays Flagg at the three, but it will be interesting to see if this outcome results in Mavericks’ ownership seeing this as a get-out-of-jail-free card. Will they try to pivot in a different direction long-term, or will they double down on their roster build?