It will take some time for Cooper Flagg to reach his ceiling as a pro, but it’s already looking scary for the rest of the NBA.
The Denver Nuggets can attest to that after the Dallas Mavericks rookie forward put on a show Tuesday night to lead his team to a 131-130 victory at American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.
Flagg torched Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets for 33 points on a 14-for-21 shooting to go with 9 assists and 9 rebounds. The former Duke Blue Devils star was consistently making buckets from all over the court, including several from behind the arc. He finished with a career-high four 3-pointers.
Flagg’s 3-point shooting has improved of late, and while the sample size is still small, the Mavericks must feel good about where he’s going with his scoring abilities from way out in the perimeter.
Here’s a great observation from Kevin O’Connor of Yahoo Sports about Flagg’s developing outside shooting:
“Cooper Flagg with 33/9/9 and a season-high 4 made 3s. Now 5/7 from 3 since turning 19. He was 23.4% prior despite an amazing start. At Duke he made only 24.4% before he turned 18 on Dec 21. Then 44.7% after that. If his rookie year follows that trend he’s about to be a monster.”
NBA teams will be forced to adjust their defenses against Flagg if he continues to be an efficient shooter from long distance, but he also doesn’t have to force it. He has the size and length, not to mention the passing ability, to make things happen on offense without relying so heavily on the deep ball.
After snapping a two-game losing skid, the 12-19 Mavericks will take on the Golden State Warriors on Thursday at Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif.
