Cooper Flagg

Cooper Flagg gets the ball late in close games, Mavericks analyst Devin Harris said, and he has already seen it in practice: "They're going to put the ball in his hands in clutch situations." Dallas is also hunting corner threes off Flagg's pick-and-roll.

Zaccharie Risacher's job while defences load up on Kyrie Irving and Cooper Flagg: run the floor, push the pace, chase rebounds off teammates' misses and cut behind his man. "Those backdoor cuts for easy layups are going to be huge," Mavericks analyst Devin Harris said.

Rookie Sergio de Larrea "looks like a guy that could play in the rotation," Dusty May said at Dallas Mavericks practice; teammates play better around his passing. May doesn't want only Cooper Flagg and Kyrie Irving carrying Dallas: "those guys are going to be worn down."

Tobi Lawal said the Mavericks want him as an aggressive defender beside Cooper Flagg, Kyrie Irving, P.J. Washington and Naji Marshall, "interchangeable in any spot," and getting into the offense off screens. On sitting with five fouls he hadn't noticed: "Apparently I'm a hack."