Bucks, Jazz part of dormant trade talks for Mavs’ No. 1 pick, Duke Blue Devils basketball phenom Cooper Flagg

The Dallas Mavericks have been confirmed to be keeping the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NBA draft, Duke Blue Devils basketball legend Cooper Flagg. But there will still be talks about what Nico Harrison might be scheming after his blockbuster Luka Doncic-Anthony Davis swap in February.

NBC Sports’ Kurt Helin mentioned two teams, the Milwaukee Bucks and Utah Jazz, as potential trade partners with the Mavs.

Helin then promptly shut down their chances of landing Flagg.

“Would the Mavericks trade the No. 1 pick and the rights to draft Cooper Flagg? What about sending it to the Milwaukee Bucks as the core of a deal for Giannis Antetokounmpo? What about a team (maybe Utah) that could throw a flood of future picks at them?” Helin asked.

“No, no, and no.”

The Jazz offering future assets for Flagg doesn’t make sense. To continue Helin’s line of questioning, why would Dallas give up one of the surest future bets the NBA has ever seen, one who just led his team to a Final Four berth?

As for the Bucks, Milwaukee is reportedly hoping the Mavs offer up Flagg for Giannis Antetokounmpo – a surefire goner this offseason from “The Cream City” after three consecutive first-round exits in the NBA Playoffs.

“While plenty of teams could make a compelling package to Milwaukee, it's hard to imagine anything being more enticing than adding Flagg, the 19-year-old coming off a season in which he won the AP Player of the Year award, the Naismith Award and the Wooden Award at Duke,” Newsweek’s Noah Camras wrote.

“A package centered around Flagg and contracts to make the money work would almost certainly get Milwaukee's attention. On the flip side, Dallas would yet again be trading a young superstar to get one of the best bigs (and defenders) in the league.

“Antetokounmpo, a nine-time All-Star, five time All-Defensive Teamer and the 2019-20 Defensive Player of the Year certainly fits the type of player Harrison and the Mavericks have said they coveted.”

As Antetokounmpo trade talks rage on, perhaps the focus will shift to a three-team trade that finds a third team for Anthony Davis and/or Kyrie Irving’s contracts and teams up the “Greek Freak” with Flagg in the Metroplex.

That’s more likely than a deal involving the No. 1 overall pick.