DALLAS — Cooper Flagg named ball handling, shot creation, and shooting as the three things he worked on during his first NBA offseason. The Dallas Mavericks forward made the comments in a video the NBA posted Monday.
Flagg started all 70 games he played last season and averaged 21.0 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 4.5 assists in 33.5 minutes. He took 17.1 field-goal attempts a game and shot 46.8% from the field. From 3-point range, Flagg made 1.0 of 3.5 attempts per game and shot 29.5%. He shot 82.7% at the free-throw line.
Dallas ran its offense through Flagg for most of the season. He finished with 316 assists and 161 turnovers, and his usage rate was 26.9%.
“Obviously my ball handling, shot creation, obviously shooting is up there too,” Flagg said.
Mike Schmitz said Friday on 105.3 The Fan that Flagg has been in the Mavericks’ gym throughout the summer and has been working on the 3-point shot. Schmitz took over as general manager on May 8.
Cooper Flagg’s Rookie Season In Dallas
Flagg led the Mavericks in points, rebounds, assists, and steals. Michael Jordan is the only other rookie to do that since steals became an official statistic in 1973-74. He finished with 1,473 points, 466 rebounds, 316 assists, and 84 steals in 2,344 minutes.
Flagg scored 51 points against the Orlando Magic on April 3. No player younger has reached 50 in an NBA game. He was also the first rookie with four or more 40-point games since Allen Iverson in 1996-97.
Dallas went 26-56 and finished 12th in the Western Conference. The Mavericks ranked 27th of 30 teams in offensive rating at 110.3 and shot 34.4% from 3-point range as a team.
Cooper Flagg Won Rookie Of The Year In April
Flagg won the award on April 27 with 56 of 100 first-place votes and 412 total points. Kon Knueppel, his Duke roommate, took the other 44 first-place votes and finished with 386. The 26-point margin was the second smallest since the current voting format began in 2002-03. Flagg also became the second-youngest winner of the award, behind LeBron James.
Jason Kidd in 1995 and Luka Dončić in 2019 are the other two Mavericks to win it. Flagg was a unanimous selection to the All-Rookie First Team on May 20. Masai Ujiri took over basketball operations in the spring. Kidd and the Mavericks parted ways May 19, and Dallas hired Dusty May as head coach on June 22.
Flagg is due $14,517,480 in 2026-27, the second season of a four-year rookie contract worth $62,730,226. He turns 20 on Dec. 21.
Dallas opens the regular season against the Houston Rockets on Oct. 21. Tip-off in Houston is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. CT.
