Four practices into his second training camp, Cooper Flagg said Wednesday that the Dallas Mavericks are rebuilding their culture before anything else.
He enters the season as the reigning Rookie of the Year. Flagg averaged 21.0 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 4.5 assists in 70 games for a team that finished 26-56.
Masai Ujiri took over as the Mavericks’ president of basketball operations May 4. Mavericks coach Dusty May came from Michigan in June after winning the national championship there. Kyrie Irving opened camp without restrictions, 18 months after he tore the ACL in his left knee. He and Flagg have never played a regular-season game together.
Cooper Flagg on the Mavericks’ New Culture
Flagg has one previous training camp to measure this one against. The energy has been at a high level, he said Wednesday, and the culture under the new staff has been different.
“Just the culture,” Flagg said. “Masai came in and he set out with one goal: to just change the culture back to winning, competing. And that’s really what we’ve tried to do so far through this summer and the start of training camp, is just really building that culture first and building a foundation.
“And we have to build up from there,” Flagg continued. “We can’t skip steps. We can’t jump past things. We just have to start at the bottom and build our way up.”
Dallas reached the 2024 NBA Finals and has missed the playoffs in both seasons since. At media day, Ujiri defined a successful season as bringing joy back to basketball in the city. He said that would take winning.
Offensive rebounding, playing fast, and being in really good shape are the emphases under May, along with “trusting the pass and trusting each other,” Flagg said. May said Wednesday that the pace work has been more frantic than he anticipated, which he called normal for this time of year. He also said he cannot see Dallas settling on a starting five anytime soon.
Cooper Flagg’s Rookie of the Year Season
Flagg won Rookie of the Year with 56 of 100 first-place votes. Charlotte Hornets’ Kon Knueppel, his former Duke teammate, received the other 44. The 412-386 margin in voting points was the second-smallest since the current format began in 2002-03, according to the NBA.
He joined Jason Kidd (1994-95) and Luka Dončić (2018-19) as the only Mavericks to win the award. Flagg was 19 years, 112 days old at the end of the regular season, the second-youngest winner in NBA history. LeBron James won it at 19 years, 106 days.
Flagg started all 70 of his games. He became the third rookie in the last 45 years to average at least 20.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 4.0 assists, joining Michael Jordan and Dončić. He was also the only player in the NBA to lead his team in total points (1,473), rebounds (466), assists (316), and steals (84). Jordan is the only other rookie to do it since steals were first recorded in 1973-74.
On April 3, Flagg scored 51 against the Orlando Magic. At 19 years, 103 days, he became the youngest player in NBA history to score 50, breaking his own record for points by a teenager, set with 49 against Charlotte on Jan. 29. Two days later, he scored 45 against the Los Angeles Lakers. Wilt Chamberlain is the only other rookie to total 96 or more points over a two-game span.
After the All-Star break, Flagg averaged 22.6 points, 6.9 rebounds, 5.4 assists, 1.2 steals, and 1.2 blocks. No other player in the league averaged at least 20 points, six rebounds, five assists, one steal, and one block after the break.
Cooper Flagg’s Development Entering Year Two
Flagg went 72-of-244 from 3-point range as a rookie, or 29.5% on 3.5 attempts per game. A year earlier, he shot 38.5% from three in his lone season at Duke. May called the dip “a simple aberration” on the first day of camp and said Dallas wants Flagg shooting it.
“I’m not sure exactly,” Flagg explained at media day. “I mean, obviously there’s a lot of different factors when going from the college line to the NBA line. It’s a little farther back, the game’s a different pace, but I just felt like I was indecisive, I think, a lot of the year. And I wasn’t confident shooting shots that I normally should.
“So I think a lot of it comes out of my preparation, which I’ve worked a lot on this offseason, the preparation, the confidence, and the mindset,” Flagg continued. “And I think when those three things align for me and I’m prepared, I’m ready to shoot, I’m confident just shooting my shots that I’m gonna be a lot higher percentage. So it’s something I worked a lot on and I’m confident going into this year.”
May said Sunday that Flagg’s running in transition and his work on the offensive glass should create more finishes at the rim, along with after-timeout plays that get him into space to drive. Flagg spent the summer on his handle and his finishing as well as his shot, he said at media day.
“Just comfortable, I think,” Flagg said Wednesday. “Just the comfortability. Familiarity of just being out there and knowing my spots and where I want to get to. I think a lot comes with having a year of experience of playing 70 games, but going through an 82-game schedule and knowing what comes with that. So I think it’s a lot of that comfortability and confidence that comes with that.”
Flagg opened camp at 225 pounds. The Mavericks listed him at 220 pounds when he won Rookie of the Year.
“I think it just helps to be well-rounded,” Flagg said. “Adding on strength obviously can help create space, get to spots defensively. I don’t think there’s any areas that adding strength can really hurt you. I’m excited. Like I said, just the comfortability, confidence, feel prepared.”
His 1.2 steals per game ranked second among rookies. His 0.91 blocks per game ranked fifth. May said Monday that he expects the blocks to go up because Flagg is a quick jumper who anticipates well.
Behind the scenes with Cooper ahead of Year ✌️
We’re ready for an encore from the reigning Kia NBA Rookie of the Year @Cooper_Flagg 🤩 pic.twitter.com/eXRFcP3eOl
— NBA (@NBA) September 25, 2026
Kyrie Irving’s Return Alongside Cooper Flagg
Irving is 34 and entering his 16th season. Before the injury, he averaged 24.7 points in 50 games and shot 40.1% from three. Dallas ruled him out for all of 2025-26 in February, and he watched Flagg’s rookie season from the bench. At media day, Irving called the year a lesson in patience with a roster full of young players, Flagg among them, who needed guidance he tried to give from the sideline.
“It was quite interesting coming into practice and not being able to raise the level of the intensity or just a competitive drive,” Irving said. “I feel like whenever I walk into a gym not only do I feel like I’m one of the best to be out there but I also feel like I can raise the level of play and just bring out the best in people if I’m playing with kids or if I’m playing with adults. It’s just a joy, right? And sometimes that can look like aggression or competitive drive.
“So the coaching came naturally to me this year, or last year, just being able to be on the sidelines,” Irving continued, “coming to games a little bit later rather than coming to games four and a half hours or three and a half hours early, see it from different vantage points, get an appreciation for guys’ intangibles in their skill sets, and learn how to bring out the best in them.”
On the first day of camp, Irving said he likes to play both on and off the ball, and that Dallas added that to its offense with Flagg handling the ball as often as he did last season. P.J. Washington said at media day that he can’t wait to see how much attention the two draw.
Zaccharie Risacher and the Spacing Around Flagg
Klay Thompson is no longer on the roster after Dallas bought out his contract Aug. 21. Thompson spent two seasons with the Mavericks. Flagg wants to learn how to use his own gravity to get teammates open looks, he said Wednesday.
“A guy like Klay, obviously just having somebody like that out there that can space the floor,” Flagg said, “just knowing how valuable that is and how much gravity that he was able to command and the way he used it. He commanded a lot of gravity when he was coming off screens and opened up the rest of the floor.”
Zaccharie Risacher, the first overall pick in 2024, came from the Atlanta Hawks in a three-team trade July 19. He finished second in Rookie of the Year voting in 2024-25 and joins Flagg and Irving as the third former first overall pick on the roster. The shooting Dallas added this summer clears lanes and gets everybody open, Flagg said.
“He’s great,” Flagg said of Risacher. “I mean, he’s come in with an incredible attitude. I mean, he’s super athletic, even more than I realized. He’s looked really springy, really in shape, and he just looks ready. He looks really prepared and ready for the season.
“And he’s knocking down shots, creating, getting to the rim,” Flagg continued. “I would say he’s probably our most in-shape guy right now, just running the floor every possession, crashing the glass. So it’s been fun to play with him.”
Expectations Around Cooper Flagg and the Mavericks
May would not give a win total at media day. He said he does not know the league well enough and that Dallas would work to chase a championship and “hang a banner.” The next day, Irving said the team has high expectations for itself, but he did not want to put expectations too high publicly. Ujiri, who visited Flagg’s camp in Maine, called him a “generational talent” and said he wants Flagg playing with nothing on his shoulders but basketball and winning.
Naji Marshall signed a multi-year extension Aug. 2 after averaging a career-high 15.2 points. Marshall worked out with Flagg and Irving this summer, and at media day he said Flagg is still flourishing at a young age.
“I think it’s gonna be a little bit better than last year, simply because I think Coop knows how to adjust to the game, which a lot of people don’t,” Marshall said. “And I think now that he’s got a whole year under his belt, he kinda probably knows the spots he wanna get to and how he wants to dominate the game.”
John Poulakidas, a two-way player out of Yale, averaged 8.8 points in 13 games after Dallas signed him March 1. He went undrafted in 2025, the same year Flagg went first. Poulakidas wants to keep growing with this group off the court before the games start, he said.
“Cooper is an incredible player, and he’s an even better person,” Poulakidas said. “Just the way that he carries himself, the way that he works, it’s no surprise that he’s doing the things that he does on the court. I think for me, like you said, he’s so young, and to see him have to carry the things that he has to carry at his young age, I think back to when I was 18, 19 years old, and I couldn’t even imagine myself being in his shoes.”
The Macao Trip Kicks Off Year Two
Dallas and Houston opened camp ahead of the league-wide Sept. 29 start because both play in the NBA China Games. The Mavericks face the Houston Rockets on Oct. 9 at The Venetian Arena in Macao, with tip-off at 8 a.m. ET, and the teams meet there again Oct. 11. It is the franchise’s first trip to China since 2018, when Dallas played the Philadelphia 76ers in Shanghai and Shenzhen.
Flagg has never been to China. Basketball has taken him around the world before, he said, but never to that part of it, and Macao runs 13 hours ahead of Dallas.
“I’m looking at the time change, 13-something hours, so I don’t know how often they’re able to watch the games, if at all,” Flagg said. “So I think it’ll just be really cool to play in front of a new environment, new crowd, new fans.”
“Obviously it’s a good opportunity for all of us individually to build our brands,” Flagg continued. “There’s an incredible market over there. But as a team, too, make the Mavericks popular around the world. And that’s a goal that we can do.”
The first game in Macao will be Irving’s first against another NBA team since March 3, 2025, and his first alongside Flagg.
“So it is a year later of me having a traumatic injury, but I feel like I got better as a person, and that was the foundation, and everything else followed, and I feel great out there, man,” Irving explained at media day. “I think you guys have seen a few videos that won’t really do it justice until I’m out there playing in Macao or playing in front of the fans here, which I know that I’m excited or just as excited as the fans are.”
A trip outside the team’s normal environment gives players a chance to sit at a different table and get to know a teammate or staff member, May said Wednesday.
“First and foremost, to see where we are against a team like Houston,” May said. “It’s different to play against. It’s elite defensively. It has some unique parts. Just more lessons that we can refer back to, and also, more than anything else, just continue to learn more about our team.”
After Macao, Dallas closes the preseason at home against the New Orleans Pelicans on Oct. 14 and the Atlanta Hawks on Oct. 16. The regular season opens Oct. 21 at Houston, and the Mavericks host the San Antonio Spurs on Oct. 24.
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