Before Wednesday’s expected windfall, only once in their semi-sordid history had the Mavs enjoyed the prospects of first dibs in the draft. Even then it was no sure thing. Only when Isiah Thomas made it clear in team interviews that he had no interest in running point for a franchise in only its second year did the Mavs lock on Mark Aguirre, the low-post monster from DePaul.
No disrespect to Aguirre, a three-time All-Star who averaged 20 points a game in 13 seasons, but he wasn’t the prospect coming out that Cooper Flagg is now.
Not only is Flagg by far the best player in a good field, he’s the one guy who might make Mavs fans whole in their most anticipated draft ever.
No malpractice, no finagling, no good luck necessary.
Even Nico Harrison couldn’t screw this up.
Over the last four-plus decades, the Mavs’ first-round fortunes have never been this certain. Certainly not in 1980, when Kiki Vandeweghe, kicking off an age of uncertainty for the new franchise in town, said no, thanks after the Mavs took him with the 11th pick.
Sifting through drafts to find players the Mavs took over the stars they missed out on in the first round — Dale Ellis and Derek Harper instead of Clyde Drexler in ‘83, say, or Detlef Schrempf ahead of Karl Malone in ’85 or Randy White and Doug Smith in front of anybody ever — is fun but hardly fair. Most organizations make mistakes in the draft every year. It’s not science.
Still, it’s one thing to make a bad evaluation or to suffer bad luck, and it’s another when it feels like the gods are working against you.
Take 1992, when only Orlando had more ping pong balls in the hopper than the Mavs. The consensus prize for the first pick: LSU’s Shaquille O’Neal. Even if they didn’t get lucky, the Mavs stood a good shot at the consensus runner-up, Georgetown’s Alonzo Mourning.
But the Mavs didn’t get the second pick. Or the third. They dropped to fourth and ended up with Jim Jackson, who wasn’t Shaquille O’Neal, to say the least.
Chances are Flagg won’t make the impact Shaq did, either, but he’s about as much of a guarantee as you could want in this draft. Or any other. ESPN’s Jay Bilas, as trusted an analyst of college talent as you’ll find in the mainstream media, says few players he’s evaluated over the last 30 years check as many boxes as Flagg. He believes the kid has All-NBA potential. Cites Flagg’s size, skills, competitiveness and maturity for someone who won’t turn 19 until just before Christmas.
“As long as he stays healthy,” Bilas wrote, “he will not fail in the NBA.
“He is just different.”
Different is good.
Even great.
Especially for fans still hurting from the Feb. 1 trade that left a hole in their hearts. Nothing will fix that for many. Not as long as Luka Doncic practices his magic on a nightly basis. Some wounds never heal.
Even so, Flagg, eight years younger than Luka, stands a better chance than anyone to restore the future that fans figured they’d lost while still affording them a chance to win it all now.
Maybe even a better chance than the one they had with Luka. Nico thought he’d made the roster better after the trade. Disagree if you will, and you’ll get no argument here.
But Anthony Davis and Cooper Flagg to go with Kyrie Irving, Dereck Lively II, P.J. Washington, Daniel Gafford et al.?
The Mavs’ future — both short term and long — is as bright as the glare on my bald head.
Not even the drafts that produced their greatest players — Dirk Nowitzki and Luka — promised so much, so soon. The Mavs were one of the few teams sold on Dirk, even if Donnie Nelson had to remind his dad of their commitment once Kansas’ Paul Pierce started dropping. But even Donnie couldn’t have imagined what Dirk could become. Same with Luka. He seemed like the best player to me in 2018, but at least one respected member of the local basketball cognoscenti told me he’d prefer DeAndre Ayton, who, indeed, went first to Phoenix. Even after the Mavs worked a draft-night deal sending Trae Young and a first to the Hawks for Luka, the merits of the trade were debated.
And, for all Donnie’s confirmed faith, the Mavs had no idea Luka would be as good as he is.
As noted earlier, talent evaluation is dangerous sport. Especially for sportswriters. Even the best of them. Back in ’84, Randy Galloway, acting on inside information from Dick Motta, who told him the Mavs needed a big man instead of another guard, wrote that they should take North Carolina’s Sam Perkins or Kentucky’s Mel “Dinner Bell” Turpin with the fourth pick.
Fortunately for the Mavs’ legacy, if not credibility as a franchise, Chicago selected Michael Jordan with the third pick, making a potentially disastrous decision moot.
On the other hand, the stain on Galloway’s considerable record remains. Even to this day, happily retired in Parker County, he hears from doubters and disciples alike.
“I’ve been able to joke about it over the years,” he told me Monday, “but do you wish you hadn’t written it? Hell, yeah.”
All he asks now is that the Mavs get it right Wednesday, a new day for the locals.
Flagg Day.
“If you hear they’re not gonna take him,” Galloway said, “call me.
“Warn me. Please.”
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