The Dallas Mavs moved to lock in their most important building block on Saturday, exercising the third-year rookie scale option on Cooper Flagg.
It’s a straightforward piece of business, but an important one. The option covers the 2027-28 season and will pay Flagg $15,208,680. Dallas acted two weeks before the Oct. 31 deadline.
The team also made a pair of roster cuts, waiving guards John Poulakidas and Seth Lundy. Poulakidas had been on a two-way contract with Dallas since February, while Lundy signed a training camp deal on Sept.
- There’s still a chance both could be part of later roster shuffling, with NBA teams needing to finalize their regular-season rosters by Monday.
Clubs can carry 15 players on standard contracts and three on two-way deals.
What’s clear is that Dallas is building around Flagg, who is already the face of the franchise’s next chapter at 19. He was named the 2025-26 NBA Rookie of the Year in April after starting all 70 of his appearances. The No. 1 overall pick in last year’s NBA Draft and a Duke product, Flagg averaged 21.0 points, 6.7 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 1.2 steals, and 0.9 blocks in 33.5 minutes per game.
He was also the only player in the NBA to lead his team in all four of those categories, and Michael Jordan is the only other rookie in league history to do it.
Dallas signed Flagg to his four-year rookie scale contract on July 2, 2025. The deal is worth $62,730,226 overall, with $28,343,400 guaranteed at signing. Flagg earned $13,825,920 as a rookie and is set to make $14,517,480 this season.
The contract’s fourth-year option is valued at $19,178,146 for the 2028-29 season, and Dallas has until Oct. 31, 2027, to pick it up. Flagg is scheduled to become a restricted free agent in 2029, a place that obviously the Mavs have no intention of ever allowing him to arrive at.
The move comes as Dallas tries to bounce back from a 26-win season, with Flagg beginning his second year in town under first-year Mavericks coach Dusty May.
The Mavs open the 2026-27 season on Wednesday, Oct. 21, at the Houston Rockets, with tipoff set for 7:30 p.m. CT at Toyota Center.
Their home opener comes Oct. 24 at 7 p.m. CT against Victor Wembanyama and the defending Western Conference champion San Antonio Spurs.
In Other News...
Mavericks Got Key Players Back But One Concern Still Looks Serious
Kyrie Irving and Cooper Flagg were back in the lineup for Dallas preseason finale against Atlanta, and the Mavericks at least got a look at some of the offensive upside they hope will matter when the games count. The return of those key pieces gave the night a different feel, even if the result did not, as Dallas fell to the Hawks in a game that served more as a final tune-up than a true measuring stick.
The bigger concern came on the other end, where the defense never really found its footing and left Dusty May with plenty to sort through before the regular season opener. For a team trying to build around its talent and get the rotation settled, the offensive promise is encouraging, but the sluggish defensive showing was a reminder that the Mavericks still have work to do before opening night. [Read more 🡒]
Mavericks Just Set Up Their Toughest End Of Roster Decisions
The Mavericks have started trimming the edges of their roster, waiving guards John Poulakidas and Seth Lundy as camp nears its final stretch. Poulakidas had been on a two-way contract, while Lundy came in on a training camp deal, and both departures signal that Dallas is getting closer to sorting out the last few spots on the board.
What remains is the trickier part. The front office still has roster decisions to make involving Dwight Powell, and there is also the question of whether Moussa Cisse needs to be moved to clear room. Those calls will determine how the Mavericks finish shaping the back end of the roster, and they are the ones worth watching now. [Read more 🡒]
Mavericks Look More Justified As Klays Fresh Start Gets Off Track
Klay Thompsons move to Miami was supposed to give him a cleaner runway after Dallas bought him out in the wake of the Luka Doncic trade and the Mavericks broader roster reset. From the Mavericks side, the split made sense as their direction no longer lined up with Thompsons goals, and his final season in Dallas offered little argument for keeping the partnership intact.
Early returns in Miami, though, have been uneven enough to make Dallas decision look even more reasonable in hindsight. Thompson has struggled to find a rhythm in preseason, and the rough start has only added weight to a final year in Dallas that already ended with career lows in scoring and shooting efficiency. [Read more 🡒]