Whereas most high picks enter the league with little assist and sky-high expectations, 18-year-old Cooper Flagg finds himself in a uncommon spot: becoming a member of a roster stuffed with veterans with championship resumes, together with Anthony Davis, Kyrie Irving, and Klay Thompson.
“Lots of people on this place or this example aren’t granted this chance,” Flagg mentioned throughout his introductory press convention. “So I simply really feel actually blessed and grateful for the scenario I’ve been given. I’m simply trying ahead to being a sponge. Simply getting down right here, I’m excited to simply study, soak all of it in and study from the fellows which can be older and have been by means of all of it earlier than.”
The Mavericks snagged the No. 1 decide regardless of holding only a 1.8 p.c probability within the lottery, following a season derailed by accidents to Davis and Irving. T
hat lottery win got here only a yr after a Finals run led by Luka Doncic, who was traded to the Lakers this previous season in a blockbuster deal that introduced Davis to Dallas.
Even with Irving nonetheless recovering from a torn ACL, and Doncic gone, the core round Flagg stays robust.
“These guys have a lot data,” Flagg mentioned of his veteran teammates. “They’ve been by means of a lot, they usually have a lot expertise that it’s simply going to be an unbelievable alternative for me to study and develop beneath them.”
Flagg isn’t shying away from expectations, although appears to be taking a grounded method.
“I’m coming in simply making an attempt to study and making an attempt to get higher each single day,” Flagg mentioned. “If I can do this to the most effective of my skill, I feel expectations and pressures that different individuals will placed on me and our group, that can type of work itself out. So I’m simply making an attempt to return in and be the most effective that I could be and simply win on the highest stage.”
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