Cooper Flagg Is Newest Dallas Star to Have Their Award Toyed With

Apr 5, 2026; Dallas, Texas, USA; Dallas Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg (32) reacts after scoring against the Los Angeles Lakers during the second half at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

When Luka Doncic resided in Dallas, there were several years where it felt he didn’t have enough noise to charge for any awards. The 2023-24 season in particular comes to mind — a 33/9/9 season ending without a top-three finish in MVP voting is shocking, to say the least.

A year out from his unexpected departure, it seems to be happening again. Rookie Cooper Flagg is tearing it up, breaking rookie record after rookie record, and yet voters don’t seem to care. He’s only just now become the odds-on favorite for Rookie of the Year. There’s no certainty that he’ll even win the award, given what media members had to say:

History may be repeating itself in Dallas.

Planting The Flagg

Usually superstars have to rise to stardom, but as many have learned, not much is usual about Cooper Flagg. The Duke sensation was in that circle from the day he became a Maverick. Seen as a gift from the basketball gods to Dallas, heaps of expectations were put upon him. Flagg’s met the majority of them brilliantly.

He’s averaging 21.1 PPG, which leads all rookies. His 4.6 assists per game are only second to his teammate, Ryan Nembhard. Combining that with his 6.6 rebounds per game, he is one of eight players to put up at least 20/6/4 in their rookie year. Of the other seven, five are already in the Hall of Fame. The aforementioned Doncic is also featured on the list—he will likely be number six. Of the rookies highest scoring games, Flagg is seven of the top 10, including the highest four.

He’s leading his team in PPG and SPG. He also leads Dallas in total rebounds and assists. The label for “youngest player to score 40” and “youngest player to score 50” now both belong to him.

To top it all off, he’s doing all of this at the age of 19 years and three months old—younger than even the youngest prodigies in sports, like current F1 leader Kimi Antonelli (19 years, 7 months old). Simply put, a player this young has never produced the way Cooper Flagg is producing this year.

Yet, it might not matter.

A Flawed Koncept Of Thinking

Yes, Hornets rookie Kon Knueppel is having a fantastic season. He’s set the rookie record for most threes, and he’s a big part of the Hornets surge towards the playoffs. However, within the last part of that last statement lies the issue.

The main argument is that Knueppel has been impacting winning—more so than Flagg. While it’s true that Knueppel helped turned one of the worst teams in the league into a playoff contender, it’s also true that his team hasn’t been massacred by the injury bug. Not the case for Flagg, as notably both Dereck Lively and Kyrie Irving—the Mavs two best players outside of Flagg—have missed significant time, the entire season in the case of Irving, with major injuries.

It’s hard for any player to impact winning when the best players around them don’t play. Awards—ROTY, the MVP, MIP—should not solely be based on team success. Every situation is different, and individual brilliance should matter to a good degree.

Flagg has Knueppel beat there too.

Flagg’s got more PPG/RPG/APG (21.1/6.6/4.6 to 18.7/5.3/3.4). He averages more steals and blocks a night, at 1.2 and 0.9 respectively (Knueppel averages 0.7 and 0.2). Their FG% are about the same—48.1% for Kon, 47.3% for Cooper. Flagg’s Player Efficiency Rating sits at exactly 18, and Knueppel’s is slightly behind at 17.5. Finally, Flagg’s Defensive Win Shares and Defensive +/- both surpass Knueppel’s.

To put a bow on it all, add in that Flagg is now third in the league in 45+ point games behind SGA and Luka.

Yet, not only is it not a done deal, but Flagg could still straight up lose ROTY. It’s flawed, inconsistently applied logic that Dallas fans are all too familiar with.

Luckily, for those on Flagg’s side of the fight, there’s precedence that favors the man from Maine.

We’ve Been Here Before—We Were Just Here, Actually

This year, the NBA ROTY race has four distinct identifiers:

• Two elite players from a prestigious basketball school
• One is the No.1 overall pick, the other is top five
• One is viewed as a generational prospect, the other as a ridiculously good shooter
• One is the most outstanding player on a bad team, the other helps their team push for a playoff spot

A lot of people have used the ROTY race from 2003 as a direct comparison, with Flagg serving as the Lebron James and Knueppel serving as the Carmelo Anthony of this story. However, there’s another example that’s more recent and feels more comparable, at least play-style and circumstance wise.

In 2024, the WNBA welcomed two great talents: Paige Bueckers and Sonia Citron. Just like Flagg, Bueckers was the consensus No. 1 pick in her class—she even went to the Wings, the WNBA’s Dallas team. Citron, an elite shooter with great defensive capabilities, went to the Mystics, a bad team with young talent. Sounds a lot like Knueppel’s deal, doesn’t it?

Their colleges, by the way? UConn and Notre Dame, two of the most prestigious basketball colleges, especially on the women’s side.

Bueckers spent her rookie year as the best player on a Wings team that was bottom of the league. Citron and the Mystics rose and made a run towards the postseason. The rhetoric surrounding this duel eerily mimicked the stuff fans are hearing right now:

• “Citron is putting it up for debate”
• “Could Sonia make things interesting?”

In the end, Bueckers ran away with the award, which will be music to the ears of Flagg fans everywhere. The Flagg of this story got her award and recognition.

Now it remains to be seen if The Maine Event has the same happy ending.

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