Cooper Flagg the new Maine man for
the Mavericks as the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft
[June 26, 2025]
By BRIAN MAHONEY
NEW YORK (AP) — Cooper Flagg is the new Maine man in Dallas.
The Mavericks took the Duke forward with the No. 1 pick in the NBA
draft Wednesday night, hoping they have found their next franchise
superstar less than five months after trading one away.
Mavericks fans were furious when Dallas traded Luka Doncic to the
Los Angeles Lakers on Feb. 1, some immediately threatening to end
their support of the team.
But the ones who stuck around may quickly love Flagg, the college
player of the year who averaged 19.2 points and 7.5 rebounds while
leading Duke to the Final Four. The Mavericks quickly announced that
Flagg would wear No. 32 in Dallas, where fellow Duke products Kyrie
Irving and Dereck Lively II are on the roster.
“I’m really excited. I think I keep saying I’m excited to be a
sponge, to get down there and just learn, be surrounded by Hall of
Fame-caliber guys and just to be able to learn from them,” Flagg
said. “It’s going to be an incredible experience.”
His selection — considered likely ever since Flagg showed off his
considerable game last summer after being invited to the U.S.
Olympic team's training camp — was a daylong celebration in his home
state for the 18-year-old forward from Newport, Maine.
“It means a lot to me to have the support of the whole state. I know
how many people showed up today and supported me at some of the
draft parties back home,” Flagg said. “It feels amazing knowing I
can inspire younger kids. I was in their shoes really not that long
ago, so just to know I can give those kids those feelings and have
the whole state behind me, it means a lot.”
He joined Elton Brand, Irving, Zion Williamson and Paolo Banchero as
Duke players drafted No. 1 since 1999, and he returned the draft to
its longtime start with a one-and-done college player.
That’s the way the draft began every year from 2010 until Banchero’s
selection in 2022, but the last two No. 1 picks, Victor Wembanyama
and Zaccherie Risacher, are both from France.
Rutgers freshman Dylan Harper was taken by the Spurs with the No. 2
pick and will try to follow Wembanyama and Stephon Castle and give
San Antonio a third straight NBA Rookie of the Year.
“It’s definitely a goal of mine to make it three in a row,” said
Harper, the son of former NBA guard Ron Harper. “I think the
coaching staff and the players are going to make it easy for me to
go out there and showcase my talent, so definitely.”
The 76ers then took Baylor's VJ Edgecombe, getting the first
sustained burst of loud cheers of the draft from what seemed to be a
number of Philadelphia fans who made the trip to Barclays Center in
Brooklyn. The first two picks had long been expected, but the No. 3
spot was the first one where there was intrigue.
Kon Knueppel made it two Duke players in the first four picks when
the Charlotte Hornets took him at No. 4. When big man Khaman Maluach
went at No. 10 — a pick made by the Houston Rockets but headed to
Phoenix as part of the trade for Kevin Durant that can’t become
official until next month — it gave the Blue Devils three top-10
picks and 50 in the first round since 1989, moving past Kentucky
(48) for most by any school.
[to top of second column] |
Cooper Flagg, right, poses for a photo with NBA commissioner Adam
Silver after being selected first overall by the Dallas Mavericks In
the first round of the NBA basketball draft, Wednesday, June 25,
2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)
“It was so emotional getting to see my teammates,
my fellow freshmen getting drafted,” Maluach said. “I was so happy
for them because they deserve everything they have. They worked hard
for it, for that moment, too.”
Ace Bailey, Harper's teammate with the Scarlet Knights who could
have been in the mix to go third but declined to work out for the
76ers, ended up going at No. 5 to Utah to end a draft process in
which he was criticized for how his camp handled it.
“I’m glad it’s over,” Bailey said. “I’m ready to play some
basketball now.”
Then it was Tre Johnson of Texas to the Washington Wizards at No. 6
and Oklahoma's Jeremiah Fears to New Orleans at No. 7, before the
host Nets took BYU's Egor Demin at No. 8, Brooklyn's first of
potentially five selections in the first round. Toronto took South
Carolina's Collin Murray-Boyles at No. 9.
The Nets would later add French guard Nolan Traore at No. 19, North
Carolina's Drake Powell at No. 22 (once a three-way trade with
Boston and Atlanta is complete), Ben Saraf of Israel at No. 26 and
Michigan center Danny Wolf at No. 27.
The NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder took Georgetown center Thomas
Sorber at No. 15, their first of two picks in the first round. The
Thunder also had the No. 24 pick but traded the rights to Nique
Clifford to Sacramento for a future first-round pick.
The first night of the two-night draft, a format the NBA went to
last season, had some mid-round trades involving some of college
basketball's top players. New Orleans acquired the rights to
Maryland forward Derik Queen, the No. 13 pick, from Atlanta for the
rights to the No. 23 pick, Asa Newell of Georgia, and a future
first-round pick.
Walter Clayton Jr., the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four
after leading Florida to the national championship, was drafted by
Washington at No. 18 but his rights were dealt to Utah for the
rights to Illinois' Will Riley, who went 21st.
The draft will resume at Barclays Center on Thursday night. All of
the players invited to the green room were taken in Round 1, with
UConn's Liam McNeeley the last at No. 19, with Phoenix sending his
rights to Charlotte.
All contents © copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved |
