The Dallas Mavericks have seen enough.
No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg was pulled from 2025 NBA Summer League action this weekend, not due to injury, but as a strategic move by the Mavs, who have apparently seen what they wanted to see.
Flagg scored just 10 points in his debut against the Lakers on only 5-of-21 shooting before exploding for 31 points in his second outing when facing the Spurs, going 10-of-21 from the field and grabbing four rebounds in 31 minutes.
“I think it’s a new environment, new setting,” Flagg said after Saturday’s loss against the Spurs, in which he had his best game of the summer. “They want to see me be aggressive and do that type of stuff.
“I think I did that a lot better today, just getting to the line, getting fouled, and that helped me to get comfortable and get settled in early. Still missed a bunch of free throws. I know my mom probably wasn’t very happy with that,” Flagg added.
Despite the 76-69 loss to San Antonio, it appeared as if Flagg had done enough to warrant holding him out until training camp this fall.
His dominant performance included multiple highlight-reel dunks and a variety of scoring prowess shown from different parts of the floor.
ESPN confirmed that Dallas officially shut Flagg down from further summer league play to protect their prized rookie and preserve him for the regular season, first reported by Marc Stein.
Flagg, who was born on December 21, 2006 and is still just 18, reclassified academically and enrolled at Duke for the 2024–25 season, making him one of the youngest players in his NBA draft class.
At Duke, he averaged 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 4.2 assists per game, earning a litany of awards, including ACC Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year honors while leading the Blue Devils to the Final Four.
Nationally, he won the Wooden and Naismith Awards for Player of the Year, and he was also a consensus All-American.
The Mavericks secured Flagg via the 2025 NBA Draft lottery months after stunningly trading away Luka Doncic before February’s trade deadline.