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The Dallas Mavericks are now going all-in on Cooper Flagg's development as a superstar in the league. They traded away Anthony Davis in a three-team blockbuster trade that involved the Washington Wizards and Charlotte Hornets. This means that Coach Jason Kidd will have to rely more on the rookie's scoring in games. Flagg got real about that burden after their 138-125 loss to the San Antonio Spurs.
Dallas rookie wants to be competitive, no matter what
It was not a particularly good game for the Mavericks on some facets. The hole in the middle was evident which meant that the Victor Wembanyama-led Spurs took advantage of it throughout the whole 48 minutes. Furthermore, Flagg was not the most efficient scorer out there but Coach Kidd decided to have his star rookie on the court for 26 minutes. The Mavericks rookie had to take a lot of shots if they wanted to get back into the game but the burden might have been much
Despite this, Flagg outlined that he still wants to keep winning regardless of the situations after the Davis trade, via Mike Curtis of The Dallas Morning News.
"Honestly, it doesn’t really change much. I’m just going to go out there every night and try to be consistent and try to be the best version of myself. Whatever that looks like, whoever is out there with me, I hope we just compete at a very high level. It’s been different than what I expected. Just doing the best I can. It was tough at first. Obviously, that much losing. ... It still is. I’m a competitor, but I think for me, it’s about learning from the losses as much as I can and trying to take positives away," the Mavericks rookie said.
Flagg only managed to get 14 points while knocking down five of his 12 shots from the field and all four of his free throws. He also got his teammates involved in actions which helped Marvin Bagley III notch a decent debut with 16 points, 12 rebounds, and four assists. The Mavericks rookie notched four assists because of his floor general work against the Spurs.
The Mavericks have now lost seven-straight games and only the Sacramento Kings' 12-game losing streak is worse. Hopefully, Coach Kidd finds the proper rotations for Flagg to develop despite the odds of a postseason berth slowly slipping away from their fingers.
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