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Mavs’ Jason Kidd Shares His Simple Expectations for Projected No. 1 Pick Cooper Flagg

The Mavericks coach briefly spoke about why Dallas was a good fit for the Duke star.

Kristen Wong

Screengrab on Twitter/ @NBATV
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All eyes are undoubtedly on projected No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg on Wednesday night, as he's expected to hear his name called out by Adam Silver to kick off the first round of the 2025 NBA Draft.

Flagg is coming off a one-and-done season at Duke where he was the consensus best player in the country and helped lead the Blue Devils (35-4) to a Final Four appearance last March. He's been the consensus No. 1 selection for years now, and his NBA fate was practically sealed after the Dallas Mavericks won the draft lottery and therefore the rights to take him first overall.

Mavs coach Jason Kidd joined a pre-NBA draft coverage show early Wednesday evening to discuss the team's draft plans and laid out a very simple list of expectations for the No. 1 pick:

"For our pick, his job is just to learn the system, have fun and be the player or be the person that he is. That's what we expect from the No. 1 pick," Kidd said.

Kidd went on to explain why he thought the Mavericks were an ideal destination for Flagg:

"I believe he's gonna have a big impact. I know you talked about [our team's] future Hall-of-Famers, but when you talk about a young player coming into our league, you couldn't ask for a better situation," Kidd said. "How to be a pro, how to get a routine, how to be prepared for practice, how to be prepared for big games, understanding making certain mistakes and how to correct them. When you talk about AD, Ky and Klay, you have great mentors who have been in this situation. When you talk about being drafted No. 1 or No. 2, you have quite a few guys on this team that have been in that situation."

Months after the shocking Luka Doncic trade went down, it's somehow still a very exciting time to be a Mavs fan. Let the Cooper Flagg era begin.

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Kristen Wong
KRISTEN WONG

Kristen Wong is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. She has been a sports journalist since 2020. Before joining SI in November 2023, Wong covered four NFL teams as an associate editor with the FanSided NFL Network and worked as a staff writer for the brand’s flagship site. Outside of work, she has dreams of running her own sporty dive bar.

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