The Dallas Mavericks are one of the most intriguing teams in the league, but their Summer League action was underwhelming.
Entering Summer League, the NBA world was ready to get its first taste of No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg. After the Mavericks had traded away Luka Doncic in February, they seemed to have secured a second shot at building around a potentially generational player.
While the regular season will still be filled with drama and intense storylines in Dallas, Summer League gave Flagg an opportunity to show off his skillset with little pressure. Over the Mavericks’ first two games, Flagg gave fans plenty of fun moments, from a one-on-one battle against Bronny James to dueling with No. 2 pick Dylan Harper.
However, that’s where the fun ended, as the Mavericks shut down Flagg after those two contests. While it’s become common for the top prospects to be shut down early in Summer League, that doesn’t mean the NBA world loves it, with Draymond Green being a fierce critic.
“I find it very interesting that players get bashed for 'load management’ but rookies get shut down during summer league these days… fascinating eh?” Green wrote on Threads.
Although Green’s criticism wasn’t solely directed at Flagg’s situation, the four-time champion has plenty of experience with that criticism, as his Golden State Warriors have certainly used load management to their advantage as the core has gotten older. It’s not too shocking that Green would be the one to point out the hypocrisy on that angle, but as he stated in a reply, it’s often the teams making these decisions and not the players.
In any case, teams will continue to do what they think is best for their players, even if it robs the fans of a star performance.