Mavericks' Cooper Flagg's first game against Lakers, Luka Doncic, is 'another game'

The Dallas Mavericks are coming off yet another clutch loss to the Miami Heat on Monday night, pushing them to 4-11 in clutch performances. It's been a theme of the season, one that already has them with a 5-14 record a month into the year.

They have a few days off before they continue their road trip against the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday night in LA. It will be part of NBA Cup action, and it's unlikely that the Mavericks will make the next round, as they have a 1-2 record with a -11 point differential. It would take a miracle for the Mavs to advance.

But it'll also be the first matchup between the Lakers and Mavs since Dallas fired Nico Harrison as the general manager about two weeks ago, who was the orchestrator of the infamous Luka Doncic-Anthony Davis trade.

Star rookie Cooper Flagg about Friday's game against the Lakers, and he says it's just another game, as he should.

"I would say to me, it's another game," Flagg said. "I know there's gonna be a lot of other things that go into that game and through a lot of these guys' mindsets and whatnot. For me, it's just another game. I'm trying to survive day by day, take everything one day at a time, one game at a time. Right now, we're just trying to find ways to win."

There's no reason for this to be anything other than just another game for Cooper Flagg. He wasn't on the Mavs when the team traded Doncic, and he can't control the team that won the lottery and selected him first overall.

Nov 24, 2025; Miami, Florida, USA; Dallas Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg (32) warms-up before the game against the Miami Heat at Kaseya Center. Mandatory Credit: Jim Rassol-Imagn Images | Jim Rassol-Imagn Images

Time Has Already Told Who Won the Luka Doncic-Anthony Davis Trade

"Time will tell if I'm right," Nico Harrison said the day after making the Luka Doncic trade.

Nine months later, Harrison is out of a job, Anthony Davis has only played in 14 of a possible 52 games, the Mavericks fell out of the postseason last year and are 5-14 this year, Luka Doncic looks like an MVP candidate, and the Lakers are third in the West with a 12-4 record. And the Mavericks are going to have to beg that a team is dumb enough to give up a draft pick or two in the next trade for Davis.

That trade saved the Lakers from possibly falling into irrelevance after LeBron James retires. Anthony Davis is only going to get older and probably more injured, and there was no guarantee that Austin Reaves would break out in the way he has this year.

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