Las Vegas, NV – Dallas Mavericks rookie Cooper Flagg acknowledged a less-than-ideal performance in his NBA Summer League debut, a 87-85 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday at the Thomas & Mack Center. Despite contributing 10 points, six rebounds, four assists, three steals and one blocked shot across 31 minutes, Flagg admitted the outing didn’t meet his expectations.
“Not up to my standard,” Flagg stated following the game to ESPN’s Katie George. “I’m going to regroup. I’m going to be all right. It is a new feeling, new environment (and) new teammates, but the guys held it down. Miles (Kelly) and Ryan were amazing tonight; Max (Lewis). They were great tonight. They had my back.”
Flagg’s scoring came primarily in the first half, where he scored all 10 of his points. He punctuated the game with a decisive one-handed slam dunk following a forced turnover and later hit an 18-foot turnaround jump shot over Bronny James. The Mavericks rotation ultimately culminated in a go-ahead 3-pointer by Ryan Nembhard with 1 minute, 2 seconds remaining, sealing the victory.
Mavericks coach Jason Kidd echoed Flagg’s sentiment, stating, “I think Cooper has done an incredible job with all of the minutes. He has handled the ball. He has gotten wide-open shots for teammates. He has finished.”
The Mavericks coaching staff, led by Josh Broghamer, indicated that they would continue to evaluate Flagg’s performance throughout the 11-day Summer League competition, taking a day-by-day approach to his game availability.
Flagg and the Mavericks are scheduled to return to action on Saturday at 4 p.m. EDT against the San Antonio Spurs, who are hoping to have No. 2 pick Dylan Harper available (groin).