If you’ve been locked in for the Dallas Mavericks’ first six games of the 2026-27 season, you already know. The proof is in the dominance-flavored pudding.
And ESPN reporter Tim MacMahon has been. So he knows.
That’s why MacMahon had no reservations when he declared flatly on Monday’s episode of the Hoop Collective podcast that Cooper Flagg has already arrived. He’s not going to be one of the best in the league. He is one of the best in the league. Right now. Today.
This is no longer something opposing
teams can put off until some future point in Flagg’s development. He will wreck your shit tomorrow. The Houston Rockets found out about it in Friday’s first and fourth quarter s of the Mavericks’ 116-111 win at the AAC to improve their record to 4-2.
“This is going to get aggregated, and I’m okay with it,” MacMahon said while discussing the Mavericks with podcast host Brian Windhorst, who himself banged a loud drum for Flagg before the start of the season. “I would not trade Cooper Flagg for Luka [Doncic], just considering age, contract, all that kind of stuff. Cooper Flagg I believe right now is a top-10 player.”
Then he said it once more, with vigor.
“I think he’s a top-10 player. … There’s only one guy in the league I’d trade him for.”
I don’t know why there’s a need to commingle this discussion with who one would or wouldn’t trade for Flagg, because the Mavericks ain’t trading Flagg, just as much as the San Antonio Spurs ain’t trading Victor Wembanyama any time soon. Irrelevant.
What’s relevant is that Flagg’s development has curved toward the exponential in the tail end of what are still his teen years, which should be a horrifying proposition for the rest of the league, and the Mavericks’ roster is showing signs that the same may be true of the team surrounding the young superstar.
Flagg and Kyrie Irving went off for 35 and 33, respectively, in Friday’s upset of the Rockets, who were admittedly playing without Alperen Sengun. MacMahon also stressed on the podcast that it is becoming less and less likely that the team trades Irving this season as the team’s fortunes seem to be turning this year.
“Cooper being this good at bringing the ball up and initiating the offense takes a lot of pressure off him and takes a lot of strain off him. Kyrie, I think, is very, very happy and comfortable with his situation in Dallas,” MacMahon said. “My educated guess is that this is probably a situation that plays out this summer, but we’ll see.”
Irving has a player option for 2027-28 at just north of $42 million before he becomes an unrestricted free agent after next season.
Irving and Flagg work well on the court for the same reason that Irving and Doncic worked, and for the same reason that Irving and LeBron James worked during the Cleveland Cavaliers’ championship season in 2015-16. Having a running partner who can also bring the ball up and initiate offense gives Irving the freedom to play both on and off the ball, maximizing his ability to play-make and get into advantageous matchups for isos.
