Number one overall pick Cooper Flagg has been one of the premiere draws of the 2025 NBA Summer League, currently taking place in Las Vegas. But after a dominant performance on Saturday night, the Dallas Mavericks have chosen to shut him down for the remainder of the event.
Cooper Flagg Won’t Play For The Rest Of NBA Summer League
Surrounded by the hype of being the far-and-away top prospect in this year’s draft class, Flagg was somewhat disappointing in Dallas’ first game of Summer League. Playing against Bronny James and the Los Angeles Lakers, the 18-year-old Flagg made just 5 of his 21 shots from the floor, and finished with just 10 points. He made up for his shooting shortcomings by notching 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals, and a block, but the performance certainly wasn’t up to his own standards.
Mavericks are shutting down Cooper Flagg for the rest of Summer League, per @TheSteinLine
Flagg dropped 31 PTS in his last Summer League appearance 🔥 pic.twitter.com/cI3a3jYORX
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) July 13, 2025
That changed on Saturday. While playing against the San Antonio Spurs, Flagg had a monster performance in the scoring department. The rookie made 10 of his 21 shots, which included 3 three-pointers, and sunk 8 free throws on his way to racking up 31 total points. He was the obvious focal point for the Mavericks and their offense, as no one else on the team finished with more than 11 points.
Apparently, that solid performance was all that the team needed to see from Cooper Flagg. An announcement on Sunday that was reported by Marc Stein says that Dallas will be shutting Flagg down for the remainder of Summer League. That means that the next time we see him will be during the NBA preseason, which will be happening in early October.
No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg dropped 31 points… and was a HIGHLIGHT REEL in his 2nd game of Vegas action 🔥💥📽️ pic.twitter.com/wafUeM1lxx
— NBA (@NBA) July 12, 2025
Flagg joins a Mavericks team that has undergone some serious change in the past six months. Their trade of Luka Doncic rocked the NBA landscape, and fans of the franchise became gloomy and borderline despondent. It didn’t help that the player that they traded for continued with his injury issues, or that point guard Kyrie Irving has a long road to recover from his torn ACL.
But landing the top overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft has helped restore some life into the team and its fan base. They are hoping that Flagg can become the phenom that he has been widely projected to be, and that the roster moves this offseason will help in both the near and long term futures.
