The whispers around the American Airlines Center are true: Cooper Flagg is taller.
The Mavericks listed the forward at 6-foot-9 last season, but Flagg said he has been remeasured and is now 6-foot-10 barefoot. That’s notable because Flagg measured 6-foot-7 ¾ barefoot at the 2025 NBA scouting combine.
“I’m 6-foot-10, with no shoes,” Flagg said at Media Day on Friday. “I was like 6-foot-9 last year so definitely taller. With no shoes, maybe I’m 6-foot-11”
That more than 2-inch growth is similar to that of future Hall of Famer Giannis Antetokounmpo, who was measured at 6-foot-8½ when the Milwaukee Bucks measured him before the 2013 NBA draft. By the end of his rookie season, he had grown 2½ inches to reach 6-foot-11.
ESPN’s Brian Windhorst even compared Flagg’s rookie season to that of another future Hall of Famer, LeBron James, who plays a similar all-around role.
“In all honesty, I feel like there’s not enough hype around Cooper Flagg,” Windhorst said on ESPN. “I don’t think people realized how breathtaking Cooper Flagg’s performance was last season. He absolutely reminded me on an almost nightly basis of LeBron as a rookie.”
Antetokounmpo took a major leap during his age-22 season, averaging 22.9 points, 8.8 rebounds and 5.4 assists per game in his fourth season with the Milwaukee Bucks. It was the first season in which he received an MVP vote, earned an All-NBA selection and made the All-Defensive team.
While it took Antetokounmpo until Year 4 to make that leap, it could come earlier for Flagg.
When Antetokounmpo broke out, he was still an extremely poor jump shooter, converting just 32.3% of his jump shots. But he shot 68.2% at the rim, worth 1.36 points per shot, which ranked in the 88th percentile, according to Synergy. During the 2016-17 season, he averaged about 11.18 rim attempts per 100 possessions.
Flagg averaged 6.76 rim attempts per 100 possessions as a rookie, shooting 65.9% at the rim. But, he posted a plus-149 in drive points added, driven by 17.9 drives per 75 possessions — the most by a rookie since 2017, according to Basketball University on X.
“I’m amazed. When you look at how productive he is as a 19-year-old in this league with the the weight that was put on him last year, as far as seeing different defenses of being a focal point,” Mavericks coach Dusty May said on Media Day.
“We’re excited to help him on his journey and grow at whatever rate, whatever rate he grows at, he puts in the work. He’s very intelligent. He’s a great teammate, and all those things typically lead towards a rapid ascension and being one of the best players.”
This season, the Mavericks have added Zaccharie Risacher, Tarik Biberovic and Santi Aldama to provide spacing around Flagg. They also retained Max Christie and expect a healthy Kyrie Irving to be available for opening night.
May talked to the media at the team’s practice facility about how the team can get Flagg more shots at the rim in Year 2.
“If we surround him with better shooting and better spacing and we’re connected as a group where we’re playing off of each other,” May said. “I think it will organically happen and then obviously ATOs, he’ll have opportunities to get in space and drive space and attack.”
With added spacing and a better understanding of the pace of the NBA, Flagg should be able to attack the rim more easily in Year 2.
“We’re all great jump shooters,” Mavericks guard Max Christie said. “We all can really shoot the ball. John (Poulakidas is) a great shooter. Tarik’s a great shooter. I’m a great shooter. Everybody on this team has worked on it.”
On the defensive end, Antetokounmpo is an all-time help defender. His ability to affect passing lanes and contest shots at the rim as a young player helped him earn five All-Defensive selections and win the 2019-20 Defensive Player of the Year award.
While Flagg’s defensive upside probably isn’t as high as the Greek Freak’s, he showed flashes of defensive playmaking during his rookie season.
He ranked in the 90th percentile in block rate, defended 8.9 rim field-goal attempts per 100 possessions and held opponents 6% below their expected shooting percentage at the rim, according to Basketball University. He finished last season averaging 0.9 blocks and 1.2 steals per game while grabbing 5.4 defensive rebounds.
With his taller frame and defensive intensity, Flagg has a chance to become a major weapon for the Mavericks on defense.
