Hey there, Last Night In Basketballers — I am, as I do every year, re-appropriating the Three Things I Noticed on League Pass format to preview the upcoming season. Instead of three things I noticed, it’ll be something more along the lines of three things I’m looking forward to, interested in, or want to see. Some of them might be narrative-based, some might be stats, and some might include video. But they'll all be focused on the 2026-27 campaign.
The schedule for those posts will be as follows (podcasts previewing each division with Mo Dakhil are in parentheses):
- Atlantic Division (BOS, BKN, NYK, PHI, TOR) (Podcast)
- Central Division (CHI, CLE, DET, IND, MIL) (Podcast)
- Southeast Division (ATL, CHA, MIA, ORL, WAS) (Podcast)
- Pacific Division (GSW, LAC, LAL, PHX, SAC) (Podcast)
- Northwest Division (DEN, MIN, OKC, POR, UTA) (Podcast)
- Southwest Division (DAL, HOU, MEM, NOP, SAS) (Podcast)
So without further ado, let's get to the Dallas Mavericks, who should look quite different under a new coach and with some key new players.
Cooper Flagg, to the next step
Last season, Flagg became one of just eight rookies in NBA history to average at least 20 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists per game. The others are Elgin Baylor, Oscar Robertson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Sidney Wicks, Larry Bird, Michael Jordan, and Luka Doncic. You might notice notice that all of those guys are either in or will be in the Hall of Fame except for Wicks, and even he was a four-time All-Star before falling off. Pretty impressive company to keep!
Flagg will be put in better position this season than he was for much of last year, too. It's easy to forget that he essentially played point guard to start the season, and that it didn't go particularly well. (Full disclosure: I kind of liked the idea of having him work as a lead ball-handler early in his career, hoping it would develop the skills needed to do that in the future. I was wrong. He was far better once that experiment ended.)
He got off to a really slow start to the season, averaging 15.5 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 3.1 assists per game while shooting 45% from the field and 29% from three in his first 15 games. He was at 22.5 points, 6.7 rebounds, 4.9 assists, 47% from the field and 30% from three the rest of the way. He also got to the line more often (5.4 trips per game compared with 3.1) and collected more stocks during the latter stretch of the year.
He is a demon in transition. You can't stop him from going downhill and getting to the basket. His athleticism plays up in a big way when you get him into the open floor, and his size and physicality do as well. He's always going to get free points just from getting out on the break consistently. He finished last season as one of only 13 players to average at least 3.5 fast-break points per game, per NBA Advanced Stats, and from December on he was at 3.9 per game — tied for seventh in the league.
I expect him to shoot better from three than he did as a rookie. His free-throw shooting was strong both at Duke and last year, and he showed significant improvement from three from the first half of his college season to the second. He should be able to do the same in the pros. If he even gets to something like 34% this season, that is going to make a massive difference. If he gets into the average or better range (35-37%), look out. And if he works his way into being a truly positive shooter, I mean, my god, the possibilities are endless offensively.
He was already a pretty good defender last year (and not just for a rookie), and he should only get better on that end, too. He has the size, length, strength, agility, and IQ to defend anybody on the perimeter, and perhaps to defend up a positional slot or two as well as he matures into his body. The sky is the limit for this guy, and I have a feeling he might start touching the sky as soon as this year.