Presented By
        Presented By
        <
        >

          No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg receives warm welcome to Dallas

          play
          Cooper Flagg goes No. 1 overall to the Mavs (1:15)

          The Dallas Mavericks select Duke star Cooper Flagg with the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA draft. (1:15)

          • ESPN staffJun 26, 2025, 10:24 AM

          The Dallas Mavericks made the inevitable a reality on Wednesday by selecting Duke star Cooper Flagg with the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA draft.

          Flagg is 18 years and 186 days old, making him the second-youngest No. 1 pick in NBA draft history, behind LeBron James (18 years, 178 days old) in 2003, according to ESPN Research. He averaged 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.4 blocks in one season with the Blue Devils.

          The Mavericks are the fourth team in the modern draft era (since 1966) to select the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft within a year of reaching the NBA Finals -- they had a 1.8% chance of winning the lottery and jumped 10 spots to secure the top pick.

          Flagg joins a Dallas team that includes NBA champions Kyrie Irving, who suffered a torn ACL in March, and Anthony Davis alongside Klay Thompson, P.J. Washington and Dereck Lively II.

          He received a warm welcome to the Lone Star state as local teams praised the Mavericks' youngest star.