What to expect from Cooper Flagg's second season, in points and in 9-cat

Cooper Flagg won Rookie of the Year with 21.0 points, 6.7 rebounds and 4.5 assists over 70 games, and he begins his second season as the player Dallas is built around, under a new coach. The Mavericks hired Dusty May from Michigan in June after Jason Kidd's departure in May, as NBC Sports and Fox 4 both reported, and Flagg opened the preseason with 19 points in 19 minutes against Houston in Macau on October 9, according to CBS Sports and The Smoking Cuban. We made the case for him as a top-ten finisher in three bold calls; this piece looks at where the projected improvement comes from and how it plays in each format.

As of mid-October we project 23.6 points, 7.1 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.0 blocks over 72 games, which ranks 9th on our points board under ESPN's default scoring, 10th under Yahoo's and Fantrax's, and 13th on our 9-cat board. The analysts' consensus has him 10th in both formats. Our ranks move nightly once games are played, and the projections page always shows the current figure.

Every player in this story is on the fantasy basketball rankings and the 2026-27 projections, and the NBA depth charts show where each one stands in his team’s rotation tonight.