The hottest ticket on the opening day of the NBA Las Vegas Summer League proved to be worth the hefty price of admission, as the Dallas Mavericks secured an 87-85 win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday in the debut of No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg. The former Duke star finished with 10 points, six rebounds and four assists against Bronny James’ Lakers.
“It’s just a different game,” Flagg told the ESPN broadcast postgame. “Different pace, different feel, different spacing. Just a lot of adjustments, but we’ll be alright.”
Traditionally, the marquee game on the opening night of summer league features the No. 1 and No. 2 overall picks from the draft playing against each other, but not this year. The NBA scheduled a matchup with Flagg squaring off against the son of the league’s all-time leading scorer, LeBron James.
The hype for this game was real. According to TickPick, tickets for Flagg’s summer league debut were the most expensive in the event’s history, with lower bowl seats selling for $650 and courtside tickets costing $2,500. Fans in attendance started lining up at 5:45 a.m. at the Thomas & Mack Center in Sin City to secure their spot.
Flagg received his “welcome to the NBA” moment just seconds into the game. After Dallas won the opening tip, he was blitzed by two defenders when trying to initiate the offense. He then missed his first two shots before throwing down a powerful one-handed dunk in transition for his first points.
Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said Flagg would be getting reps during the summer league as the primary initiator and ball-handler. One of the biggest areas of improvement for Flagg during his lone season at Duke was his ability to create his own shot in a half-court setting. Despite shooting just 5 of 21 from the floor on Thursday and not making a field goal in the second half, Flagg routinely got to his spots.
With Flagg’s highly anticipated matchup with the younger James in the books, here are a few takeaways from the game.
Flagg will eventually find his shot
When looking at the box score, you may notice Flagg’s lackluster numbers from the floor: 5 for 21 shooting, 0 for 5 3-pointers, 0 for 1 from the free throw line. As mentioned above, a majority of those shot attempts came in the midrange area. That was a Flagg staple at Duke. He would back down smaller defenders and go to work in the post. His shot wasn’t falling on Thursday, but it shouldn’t be that much of a cause for concern going forward.
“Not up to my standard,” Flagg said on the broadcast. “New feeling, new environment, new teammates. … I didn’t have my best game, but I’m just gonna keep going, going forward.”
What Flagg did show in his summer league debut was stuff college basketball fans already knew. He was an underrated playmaker at Duke and would consistently make the right reads within the flow of the offense. This summer should be viewed as trial and error for Flagg as he develops more point guard skills.
“I think when you have someone like Cooper who can handle, who can shoot, who can pass, you want the ball in his hands. He’s a great decision-maker. He did that at Duke and also in high school.” Kidd told the ESPN broadcast. “He’s gonna have some mistakes. We all did. We all threw it into the stands once in a while. But I think just his poise as an 18-year-old is incredible.”
One positive is Flagg turned the ball over only once (in the fourth quarter) while logging 32 minutes. That’s a good sign. He also had a clutch block in the final two minutes which led to an assist on the go-ahead shot by Ryan Nembhard.
An aggressive, confident Bronny
After struggling in his last summer league game during the California Classic earlier this week, James looked like a different player. Not only was he playing with confidence, but he was also way more aggressive on both ends of the floor. James knocked down a step-back jumper over Flagg for the Lakers’ first points and hit a 3-pointer on his team’s next possession.
James was also matched up (at times) against Flagg on the defensive end and despite his much smaller frame, he didn’t back down from the challenge. James didn’t play much down the stretch, but his aggressiveness during the first half is something he can build off for the remainder of the event and into next season, whether that’s in the NBA or the G League.
James missed a deep 3-pointer with less than a second remaining that would’ve won the game for the Lakers. He finished with eight points, two rebounds and two assists in 21 minutes.
Nembhard could be a hidden gem
One of the biggest surprises during Day 2 of the draft was seeing Ryan Nembhard, the younger brother of Indiana Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard, go undrafted. It appears he landed in a perfect situation with the Mavericks, however. Dallas has a clear need for a backup point guard while Kyrie Irving recovers from a torn ACL, with offseason acquisition D’Angelo Russell as the presumptive starter.
If Nembhard plays like he did in his summer league debut, he might just put himself in contention for that spot. He was the best player on the floor, finishing with 21 points, five assists and a steal. He is the kind of player who rarely makes mistakes, and that kind of stability is exactly what Dallas needs.