Former Lakers NBA Champion forward predicted to ditch Mavericks' Cooper Flagg after NBA Draft

Unsurprisingly, the Dallas Mavericks selected Cooper Flagg with the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA Draft. 

While Flagg is likely looking forward to teaming with a former Los Angeles Lakers superstar forward, he may be disappointed during the 2025-26 NBA season. 

“Anthony Davis will finish 2025-26 on a different team," Bleacher Report’s Dan Favale wrote Sunday. "Anthony Davis fits the ‘Defense over everything’ ideology revered by Dallas Mavericks president of basketball operations Nico Harrison. He no longer fits the long-term direction of the organization. Winning the Cooper Flagg sweepstakes materially changes the Mavs' arc.”

“He isn't some add-on you attempt to integrate. He is the cornerstone around whom you build out everything and everyone else. Plopping him into Dallas' (admittedly talented and deep) rotation and expecting him to develop while the team pursues fringe contention is unrealistic.”

“It is even more unrealistic knowing Kyrie Irving (player option) is recovering from late-March surgery on his left ACL and that the offense has no primary initiator until he returns. 

"The Mavs may not care to admit it just yet, but Flagg and their surrounding circumstances have thrust them into a different timeline—one that no longer jibes with the 32-year-old Davis' own.“If the trade rumors don't start buzzing over the summer, they will begin in earnest prior to February's deadline.” 

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Davis was impactful with the Lakers for 5.5 seasons. Los Angeles acquired Davis in a blockbuster 2019 deal with the New Orleans Pelicans and received instant high-level production from the Kentucky product. 

Davis averaged 26.1 points, 9.3 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks per game during the 2019-20 season, shooting 50.3% from the field on a Lakers team that secured a title in the bubble. 

Davis signed a five-year, $190 million contract extension with the Lakers after his first season with the Lakers. Unfortunately, Davis’ following 4.5 campaigns with Los Angeles were riddled with injuries.

An MCL sprain, calf injury, and groin injury are all setbacks that affected the 10-time All-Star’s availability in Los Angeles. 

Four days before this past season’s Feb. 6 trade deadline, the Lakers traded Davis, Max Christie, and a 2029 first-round pick to the Mavericks for Luka Doncic, Maxi Kleber, and Markieff Morris in the most shocking deal in NBA history. 

If Favale’s recent hunch is correct, Davis and Flagg’s partnership in Dallas won’t last long.

More NBA: Celtics' NBA champion guard could leave for Lakers to help Luka Doncic win first title