We know the Dallas Mavericks have said they plan to select Duke forward Cooper Flagg in the 2025 NBA draft on June 25 and will not entertain the possibility of trading away the No. 1 pick for a proven superstar.
But what if a trade offer landed on the desks of Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison and team governor Patrick Dumont that at least forced the organization to briefly consider the option ... before saying no?
With less than a month before the two-day draft (both nights at 8 ET on ABC and ESPN), we are examining some of the possibilities for Flagg's future in the pros.
Before landing the draft's top spot in the lottery, Dallas was already labeled as a team that could contend in the Western Conference next season but only if it had a healthy roster. The addition of the No. 1 pick -- a first-year talent who has been the uncontested top choice for the past year -- has only heightened that.
Flagg would join a Mavericks team that has 13 players under contract from this past season's roster, including Anthony Davis and Kyrie Irving, who has a player option. Irving is probably going to sit out an extended period of time as he recovers from a torn left ACL sustained in March.
Dallas has flexibility to make a trade -- if one materializes. Besides the top pick in June ...
-- The Mavericks have the Los Angeles Lakers' unprotected first in 2029 and the ability to trade their own first in either 2031 or 2032. They also have 10 players earning between $2 million and $16 million, including Klay Thompson, P.J. Washington and Daniel Gafford.
-- Flagg could be entering as a star on a Mavericks roster that's brimming with talented wings, but a franchise that is $17 million over the luxury tax and over both aprons. The Mavericks also have three tradeable first-round picks and two seconds.
-- There is the question of whether ownership would approve trading a No. 1 pick such as Flagg for Milwaukee's Giannis Antetokounmpo and the two years left on his contract.
We asked our NBA insiders (Bobby Marks, Zach Kram, Kevin Pelton and Andre Snellings) to come up with potential Flagg trades for the Mavericks' top pick, and the right to draft Flagg. Let's dig into the deals, including starting with how the situation in Dallas is looking before the draft.
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How keeping No. 1 pick plays into Mavs' future
On May 12, minutes after the Mavericks won the right to select Flagg, there was speculation from team executives ESPN spoke to on whether the pick would be in play if a trade materialized.
Why wouldn't it considering Harrison's aggressive nature in business pursuits?
Since taking over basketball operations in June 2021, Harrison has made 16 trades and continually searched for the right combination of players to win a championship. None more evident than swapping out Luka Doncic for Davis this past February. The trade has the Mavericks in a win-now mode considering Davis has three years left on his contract.
But as sources confirmed to ESPN, the Mavericks plan to select Flagg and will not entertain the possibility of trading away the pick for a proven superstar.
While there is a temptation, especially if a player such as Antetokounmpo were available in a trade, the approach by Dallas is smart from a roster-building standpoint.
Financially, Flagg's four-year rookie contract is comparable to a free agent signing the non-tax midlevel exception. His $13.8 million salary in Year 1 is below the average player salary.
With Davis and Irving on the roster next season, swapping out Flagg's salary for a player earning more than $50 million makes little sense.
And then there is the realization that first-round picks do not change teams after their original contract expires. The Mavericks could have Flagg under contract for the next four seasons and an additional five. -- Marks
