NBA GMs provide rave review of Mavericks' Cooper Flagg

The NBA general managers are sent a series of questions every year in a survey, which gives NBA fans a lot of reason to battle with each other. They do ask a handful of questions about the current rookie class, and the NBA seems very high on Dallas Mavericks rookie Cooper Flagg.

The one thing with NBA GM surveys is that GMs can't vote for their own players, so Nico Harrison can't say that he thinks Cooper Flagg is the best rookie, which would be a fun way to spin it, especially when every other GM had nothing but praise for Flagg, but we won't do that here.

Oct 6, 2025; Fort Worth, Texas, USA; Dallas Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg (32) brings the ball up court during the game between the Dallas Mavericks and the Oklahoma City Thunder at Dickie's Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Cooper Flagg Heavy Favorite to Take Home Rookie of the Year

One question asked to all 30 general managers was "Who will win the 2025-26 Rookie of the Year?" To no one's surprise, Flagg took home every possible vote, with Nico Harrison voting for Philadelphia's VJ Edgecombe, which is a little interesting. The Mavs reportedly didn't even consider taking Dylan Harper, who went second overall to the San Antonio Spurs, which makes you wonder if not working him out plus this result might mean they had a lower grade on him than most.

But it's worth noting that the favorite in these surveys doesn't always win. Reed Sheppard was the favorite last year, garnerning 50% of the votes, and he hardly even played.

GMs were also asked who will be the best player from the 2025 draft class, and Flagg still received 28 of a possible 30 votes. One of the votes (likely Harrison) gave it to Edgecombe again, while someone else gave a vote to Dylan Harper.

The only other rookie question was about the biggest steal compared to where they were drafted, and because the Mavs only had the one draft pick and it was first overall, it's hard to call it a steal. Some draft analysts called undrafted free agent Ryan Nembhard a steal, he didn't count for this survey since it only included drafted prospects.

Other Mavericks Notes in GM Survery

GMs were also asked to predict the finishing order for the Western Conference, and they had the Mavericks finishing 8th behind the OKC Thunder, Denver Nuggets, Houston Rockets, Minnesota Timberwolves, Golden State Warriors, LA Clippers, and Los Angeles Lakers.

The Mavericks did receive a vote saying they'll finish second place, which seems highly ambitious, as well as a vote for fourth.

Anthony Davis didn't receive any votes for the best power forward, which is a little interesting, but 28 votes went to Giannis Antetokounmpo, but two votes did go to Evan Mobley. That may be more interesting than anything (one of those had to be the Milwaukee GM, but it's still interesting).

The Mavericks received two votes for the "Toughest Team to Predict" this season, but the Philadelphia 76ers ran away for that vote (as they should). Klay Thompson received two votes for the best pure shooter in the NBA.

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