Cooper Flagg’s season came to an end a month ago, but the Dallas Mavericks young star has had a positive offseason by way of Rookie of the Year honors. On Wednesday, he followed that up by being a unanimous selection to All-Rookie First Team.
A panel of 100 sportswriters and broadcasters from around the world all cast votes for the honor, and each and every one had Flagg on First Team. Flagg averaged 21 points, 6.7 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game across 70 games. His rookie numbers astoundingly
resulted in him leading the Mavs in total points, rebounds, assists and steals, putting in him rarified air with only Michael Jordan as the only rookies to ever accomplish the feat of leading their team in those categories.
Flagg joins 11 other Maverick players who have earned either First Team or Second Team rookie honors. Familiar faces like Luka Doncic, Roy Tarpley, Sam Perkins, Jay Vincent and former head coach Jason Kidd all took First Team honors in the past, with others such as Dereck Lively, Josh Howard and Marquis Daniels taking Second Team honors.
Flagg also joins 12 other teenagers to garner the honor, and is second youngest (LeBron James) to ever do it at 19 years and 112 days old at the time of the award. Flagg arguably outperformed high expectations coming into the league and is poised to be the focal point of the team for years to come. Masai Ujiri said as much in a press conference Wednesday morning, as the team continues to overhaul in advance of the draft in June. It is unknown what is yet to come, but we do know the Mavs will be conducting a search for a new head coach, drafting another young player to pair with Flagg, and possibly overturning their roster to meet Ujiri’s vision. One thing that is for sure, is that Dallas has their key piece to build around, in Cooper Flagg.
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