Former Maverick Considers Jason Kidd's Controversial Plan for Cooper Flagg 'Genius'

The Dallas Mavericks are no longer playing basketball after an abysmal 26-56 record. It was a disaster from the start, as they lost to the Washington Wizards in just the second game of the year. That immediately let fans know what kind of season it was going to be, as the Wizards went on to have the worst record in the NBA.

Part of the reason for the sleepy start was Jason Kidd's idea to start Cooper Flagg at point guard. He knew it would be good for his development, but it did not do anything for the team. They went 2-5 in the games he first started, and things turned around a little once he started playing with natural guards.

Kidd was heavily criticized for the decision, as Flagg was struggling to adjust and the team was playing poorly. Flagg eventually picked it up for the rest of the season. The same can't be said for every other Maverick. Playing Flagg as the point guard had its ups and downs, but it eventually worked for his development more than anything.

Is it worth giving Kidd credit for it, though? Former Dallas Maverick Devin Harris, who also does work for their local broadcasts, recently appeared on FanDuel's "Run It Back," where he called Kidd a genius for it.

"When I first heard it, I was like, 'What are we doing?' I couldn't see the vision early on, especially with him struggling the way he did. In retrospect, it was really genius," Harris said. "It really got Cooper to buy in and do things a little bit quicker, because he started reading everything a lot faster, but it was a lot of flak here in Dallas. 'What is going on? Why are we doing this?' I think towards the middle part of the season, we started to see how important that was, and we saw his development really speed up."

Devin Harris on Jason Kidd playing Cooper Flagg at point guard:

"In retrospect, it was really genius."

🧠@Dev34Harris | @MichelleDBeadle | @ChandlerParsons | @TeamLou23 pic.twitter.com/ctd4mfu47v
— Run It Back (@RunItBackFDTV) April 22, 2026

Cooper Flagg Will Be a Better Player, But Will it Help the Mavericks?

Jason Kidd will be judged on this decision based on what happens in the 2026-27 season. If the Mavericks are still bad, Kidd will be blamed for not taking more pride in developing the rest of the roster.

Kyrie Irving coming back means Flagg won't need the ball in his hands as much next season, but they still need a lot more three-point shooting around the rest of the roster. If that doesn't change, the Mavericks may be a middling team once again.

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