On the heels of the greatest misfortune in the semi-sordid, 45-year history of the franchise, the Mavs finally got lucky.
And Nico Harrison couldn’t have deserved it less.
Barring another disastrous decision, the Mavs, with a 1.8% shot at the No. 1 pick going into Monday’s lottery selection, won the right to draft Cooper Flagg, thus accelerating their return to relevancy locally while simultaneously fitting Nico’s win-now window and giving an aging roster a superstar for the next decade, filling the vacuum left by Luka Doncic’s exit.
Who gets all that in one package after the worst trade in Dallas sports history and one of the NBA’s worst ever?
Flagg’s so good, he just might save Nico’s job.
Sorry if that ruined the moment.
Will Nico’s tremendous stroke of luck — enabled by the mojo of former Mavs star Rolando Blackman in Chicago — earn him some goodwill?
No chance, but it’ll give him a better shot at winning than anything else he could have done this off-season. Probably for the foreseeable future, too.
Flagg, the consensus No. 1 pick, isn’t the only player in this draft who could step in immediately and make a difference on a roster that won’t see Kyrie Irving until January, at the earliest, but he’s the best option. A 6-9, two-way dynamo just coming into his own as a skilled offensive player, he won’t fill Kyrie’s minutes. But he’s everything Nico and Jason Kidd could have dreamed for a roster built on defense.
Nico shouldn’t have any problems with a rookie whose motor never, uh, flags and can guard anyone on the floor. The knock on him going into his freshman year at Duke was his 3-point shot. Then he made 38.5% in his only collegiate season.
The Mavs’ great fortune could allow Kidd to slide Klay Thompson back to shooting guard with a front court of Flagg, Anthony Davis and Dereck Lively II, which would rank as one of the most imposing walls in the league. But that’s hardly Kidd’s only option. Flagg’s versatility gives him several.
The possibilities for the Mavs, who seemed so bereft just three months ago, are suddenly, incredibly, endless again. As long as Nico doesn’t screw this up, too. If he’s taught us a lesson this year, it’s never assume anything wonderful.
Twitter/X: @KSherringtonDMN