Cooper Flagg has already checked one major box, and now the bar gets a lot higher.
After winning Rookie of the Year, Flagg is being priced as a real threat to land on an All-NBA team in his second season - a feat that would put him in rare company. FanDuel lists him at +500, or about a 17 percent implied chance, to make one of the three All-NBA teams this season.
That number jumps off the page when you look at the names around him. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Nikola Jokic, Luka Doncic and Giannis Antetokounmpo are the heavy favorites at the top of the market, with Victor Wembanyama, Jalen Brunson and Anthony Edwards next in line.
Flagg sits at +500 alongside Pascal Siakam, just behind Evan Mobley at +470 and Jalen Duren at +420, and just ahead of Stephon Castle and Deni Avdija at +550. He is also ahead of established stars like Joel Embiid at +600, LaMelo Ball and Paolo Banchero at +650 and LeBron James at +750.
For a second-year player, that kind of placement is unusual. All-NBA is not built for young players; it goes to the 15 best players in the league, and those spots usually belong to veterans in their prime years.
Since 1989, only 15 players have made an All-NBA team in their sophomore season. Just seven of them did it after also winning Rookie of the Year.
That group includes David Robinson, Tim Duncan, LeBron James, Brandon Roy, Blake Griffin, Damian Lillard and Luka Doncic. Flagg is trying to become the first to do it since Doncic in 2019-20.
His rookie season gave him a legitimate case. Flagg put up 21.0 points, 6.7 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.2 steals while carrying a huge offensive load on a Mavericks team without Kyrie Irving. He also became the first teenager in league history to score 50 points in a game.
The numbers matter because this wasn’t some empty production padded by circumstance. Those were the kind of stats that look more like a two-way star than a rookie.
Still, the path to All-NBA is crowded. The 15 spots go fast, and voters tend to lean toward players on winning teams. Dallas is projected by most outlets to finish outside the playoff picture, which could make Flagg’s case a tough sell.
That may be the biggest hurdle of all. Big individual seasons usually need team success to back them up, and Irving’s return could matter just as much for Flagg’s award chase as it does for the Mavericks’ record.
A First Team All-NBA spot would be a different mountain entirely. FanDuel has Flagg at +8000 for that, a number that signals a true MVP-level leap would be required. But for now, simply making All-NBA in any form is the goal worth watching - and at +500, it’s a race that clearly has his name in it.
In Other News...
Mavericks Can't Afford To Rush These Trade Decisions
The Mavericks are spending this part of the season weighing more than just wins and losses. With the roster built around youth and upside, every trade rumor carries extra meaning, especially when it involves names like Kyrie Irving and Daniel Gafford. Dallas also has practical needs to consider, particularly in the backcourt, where a smaller move could help stabilize guard depth without forcing the front office into a bigger swing than it needs to make right now.
For a team trying to balance present-day competitiveness with long-term flexibility, patience matters. No deal is confirmed, and the picture could change as the season goes on, but the Mavericks do not have much margin for error if they rush into the wrong decision. The real challenge is finding the right timing, because the answers they need may look different later than they do today. [Read more 🡒]
Mavericks Avoided A Kawhi Leonard Risk At The Perfect Time
Earlier this summer, the Mavericks at least kicked around the idea of chasing Kawhi Leonard, a name that still carries obvious star power but also comes with plenty of baggage. In the end, Dallas moved away from that path and kept its attention on a different kind of roster build, one aimed at adding younger, longer-term pieces rather than betting on an older veteran whose fit would have been far more complicated over time.
Leonards situation has only made that decision look more prudent. With the NBA handing down penalties tied to the Clippers salary-cap violations involving Leonard, the risk around him feels even more pronounced, and Dallas avoided getting tangled up in it. The Mavericks have instead continued leaning into a younger core and the sort of prospects that can grow with the team, which is the kind of patience that can matter just as much as any big-name swing. [Read more 🡒]
Mavericks Just Sent A Clear Message With This Long-Awaited Arrival
Several NBA teams have spent the 2026 offseason finally bringing over draft-and-stash players who had been developing overseas for years, and the Mavericks are among the clubs making that kind of move count. Tarik Biberovic, a player Dallas had been holding onto since the draft, has now arrived as part of a broader wave of teams adding young talent without completely giving up flexibility, a familiar balancing act in todays cap-driven league.
For Dallas, the timing matters as much as the player. The Mavericks have been patient while Biberovic stayed overseas, but his long-awaited arrival also says something about where the organization sees its next layer of depth coming from. In a summer full of teams cashing in on old draft rights, Dallas is clearly signaling that this is the time to turn that planning into a real roster piece, even if the bigger question is how much more comes with it. [Read more 🡒]