Luka Doncic's Injury May Help Mavericks' Cooper Flagg Win Rookie of the Year

The season is already over for the Dallas Mavericks. They were eliminated from postseason contention weeks before their season-finale win over the Chicago Bulls on April 12th, which was the last we saw of star rookie Cooper Flagg. He only played 10 minutes in that game after rolling his ankle in the second quarter.

Flagg's early exit put his Rookie of the Year campaign in jeopardy. He's been in a tight race with Kon Knueppel of the Charlotte Hornets for the last few months, and the last time we saw Flagg on the floor, he was leaving the game early. So, even though he had a historic season, averaging 21.0 PPG, 6.7 RPG, and 4.5 APG, last impressions can mean everything to voters.

Generally, the ballots for NBA awards are distributed between the end of the regular season and the start of the Play-In Tournament. However, that changed this year because of former Maverick and current Los Angeles Laker Luka Doncic.

Doncic suffered a hamstring injury in his 64th game of the season on April 2nd. To be eligible for postseason awards, such as MVP and All-NBA teams, players must have played in 65 games, outside of extraordinary circumstances. Doncic may have a case for those extraordinary circumstances, as he missed two games in December to fly to Slovenia for the birth of his second daughter.

Because of that, Doncic and his team have filed for an appeal to have that considered so he can still be eligible for awards. Why does that matter for Cooper Flagg's chances at Rookie of the Year? Kon Knueppel is still playing basketball games. While people aren't supposed to consider postseason performances when voting for awards, it would be hard to ignore his performance in the first Play-In Tournament game.

On Tuesday night, in an overtime win against the Miami Heat, Kon Knueppel finished with just 6 points on 2/12 shooting, including 0/6 from three, and was benched down the stretch, including for the entirety of overtime. He was also a team worst -20 in a one-point win.

Jan 29, 2026; Dallas, Texas, USA; Charlotte Hornets guard Kon Knueppel (7) stands with Dallas Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg (32) during the second half at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images | Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

Rookie of the Year Should've Been Cooper Flagg's All Along

A lot of the chatter around Knueppel's Rookie of the Year campaign was his ability to impact winning, but in the biggest game of the season, the Hornets decided not playing him at all gave them a better chance to win. The Hornets have made massive strides this season, but a lot of that is because of the availability of LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller. Ball played in 72 games this season after playing just 47 last year, while Brandon Miller played 65 games this year after seeing action in just 27 the season prior.

The Rookie of the Year award has also never been impacted by winning. It has always been who the best rookie is, and there's no doubt it's been Cooper Flagg this year. He led his team in points, rebounds, assists, and steals, becoming the only rookie besides Michael Jordan since the early 1970s to do so. He also joined Jordan, Larry Bird, Oscar Robertson, and Luka Doncic as the only rookies to average 21.0+ PPG, 6.5+ RPG, and 4.5+ APG.

This should've never been a debate to begin with, but Doncic's injury may have helped Flagg's case. Betting odds closed for Rookie of the Year early in the week, but media members still have to submit their votes.

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