NEW YORK (AP) — Cooper Flagg is headed to the Dallas Mavericks, who may have found their next franchise superstar less than five months after trading one away.
The Mavericks took the Duke forward with the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft Wednesday night, selecting the 18-year-old from Maine who was the college player of the year in his lone season.
Mavericks fans were furious when Dallas traded Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers on Feb. 1, some immediately threatening to end their support of the team.
But the ones who stuck around may quickly love Flagg, who averaged 19.2 points and 7.5 rebounds while leading Duke to the Final Four. The Mavericks quickly announced that Flagg would wear No. 32 in Dallas.
He joined Elton Brand, Kyrie Irving — who now becomes his teammate — Zion Williamson and Paolo Banchero as Duke players drafted No. 1 since 1999, and he returned the draft to its longtime start with a one-and-done college player.
That’s the way the draft began every year from 2010 until Banchero’s selection in 2022, but the last two No. 1 picks, Victor Wembanyama and Zaccherie Risacher, are both from France.
Rutgers freshman Dylan Harper was taken by the Spurs with the No. 2 pick and will try to follow Wembanyama and Stephon Castle and give San Antonio a third straight NBA Rookie of the Year.
The 76ers then took Baylor's VJ Edgecombe, getting the first sustained burst of loud cheers of the draft from what seemed to be a number of Philadelphia fans who made the trip to Barclays Center in Brooklyn. The first two picks had long been expected, but the No. 3 spot was the first one where there was intrigue.
Kon Knueppel made it two Duke players in the first four picks when the Charlotte Hornets took him at No. 4. Ace Bailey, who could have been in the mix to go third but declined to work out for the 76ers, ended up going at No. 5 to Utah.
Then it was Tre Johnson of Texas to the Washington Wizards at No. 6 and Oklahoma's Jeremiah Fears to New Orleans at No. 7, before the host Nets took BYU's Egor Demin at No. 8, Brooklyn's first of potentially five selections in the first round.
Toronto took South Carolina's Collin Murray-Boyles at No. 9 before Duke big man Khaman Maluach finished up the top 10, a pick made by the Houston Rockets but headed to Phoenix as part of the trade for Kevin Durant that can't become official until next month.
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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA
Brian Mahoney, The Associated Press
