#1/#2-I'm sure this has been proposed

[penbeast0]

If Nico hadn't just made Luka for AD, there's a terrific trade around AD for Harper somewhere. I don't see Harper in Flagg's tier though; closer to the #5 pick than the #1 in terms of value.

[ReggiesKnicks]

Spurs fans forgot about the 2023 draft already.

[Texas Chuck]

Spurs fans forgot about the 2023 draft already.

tbf its just one poster. And he's known to value all assets at a markup when they currently belong to the Spurs. Wemby for instance is in here pointing out Dallas can't consider this for a variety of reasons.

[Skybox]

Don't overthink this DAL...just make the pick

[Tim Lehrbach]

I'll fly the flag(g) for Harper anytime, but Cooper is the better prospect, and that's got to be the basis of Dallas' thinking on draft night. Get your guy.

That said, I don't think this is an insulting offer. Not compelling, but not insulting. The second pick (Harper, presumably) and that Atlanta pick are both premium assets. If Dallas was inclined to trade down, this is a haul. But they're not, so it's not.

[jayjaysee]

For fun..

AD and a 2026 swap option for Harper and any salary SAS wants to match with?

SAS gets to bet on Harper, Christie, Flagg, PJ, Lively being terrible the first year? Dallas looks hard to add a vet to help the kids stay in play-in raise until Kyrie gets back?

AD and the LAL first?

I really think Castle/AD based is the best deal for these two teams (and for AD in general)..

[Ball4life32]

I'll fly the flag(g) for Harper anytime, but Cooper is the better prospect, and that's got to be the basis of Dallas' thinking on draft night. Get your guy.

That said, I don't think this is an insulting offer. Not compelling, but not insulting. The second pick (Harper, presumably) and that Atlanta pick are both premium assets. If Dallas was inclined to trade down, this is a haul. But they're not, so it's not.

That Atlanta pick is not guaranteed premium what so ever…. #2 in this draft is a much better asset. 2025 hawks pick was supposed to be premium and ended up #14 and that’s with Jalen Johnson going down and them starting rookies/first yr starters like Risacher/Dyson/Okongwu.

[gswhoops]

yeah this is the deal maybe you take if you believe Harper is better than Flagg. It is not a deal you even consider if the Mavs see the prospects the way the NBA world as a whole currently does.

Yeah. I mean that's the fundamental issue here. This deal only works if Nico sees Harper and Flagg very differently than the rest of the NBA world.

Assuming Nico sees Flagg as the clearly superior prospect, there's no deal that SA would consider that gets them from #2 to #1.

[jbk1234]

If Dallas isn't open to moving Flagg for win-now player to pair with AD, the chances of trading him for a lesser prospect are nil.

[mademan]

I know its marketed as a 2 player draft, but it's really more of a 1+1. Harper is for sure closer to 3 than he is to Flagg, so figure out what it would take the Spurs to drop down and add to it.

[mademan]

I'll fly the flag(g) for Harper anytime, but Cooper is the better prospect, and that's got to be the basis of Dallas' thinking on draft night. Get your guy.

That said, I don't think this is an insulting offer. Not compelling, but not insulting. The second pick (Harper, presumably) and that Atlanta pick are both premium assets. If Dallas was inclined to trade down, this is a haul. But they're not, so it's not.

ATL is a year in, year out play in squad with a young team that looks to improve in a weak east. Its certainly a high variance pick, but i wouldnt call it premium. I think atm it's more likely non-lotto than it is lotto (but tough to make projections a year+ out)

[DiegoChara]

I personally don't understand why Flagg is so much more valuable than Harper. There's a decent chance Harper ends up better, even if Flagg is a 'safer' pick.

Leaving that aside, the commentary from some Mavs fans in this thread sounds out of touch with reality. One Mavs fan said they wouldn't trade him to the Spurs for anything except Wemby. That's crazy. That poster is in effect saying that the Spurs could offer the Mavs #2 and another 7 first rounders, many with high upside, and they's still say no. There just isn't that much difference between #1 & #2.

Are you ok, dude?

It makes zero sense to trade Flagg for an inferior talent and a bunch of unknows. What's the point in trading #1 for picks? Just to hope for another stroke of lucky again and find another Flagg?

If you were trading away the #1 that would be the kernel of an argument. The proposal here is to trade down, to #2, where the guy projected at 2 is also seen as a likely star. This isn't the Wemby draft, where the drop off after #1 is immense.

I think there’s your disconnect. Consensus is that there IS a big drop off between 1 and 2 in this draft.

[Bornstellar]

I would do this deal all day long which tells me that Dallas wouldn't

[BigGargamel]

Nah. The difference between Flagg and Harper is pretty monumental.

Plus, Flagg may reinvigorate a defeated Mavericks fan base.

No chance anything like this happens. Having the number one pick is huge for Dallas and its future.

[One_and_Done]

I also don't think Dallas will do this because of the optics, but the Spurs aren't going to overpay for optics. That's not their problem.

[mademan]

I also don't think Dallas will do this because of the optics, but the Spurs aren't going to overpay for optics. That's not their problem.

It's not so much about optics as Flagg being on a different tier as far as prospects go. You may feel differently, which is fine, but Flagg is a year younger and was a substantially more impactful player at the college level, is bigger, stronger, faster, as good or better offensively while being much, much better defensively. Harper is far closer to the next tier of players than he is Flagg. It would take a lot more to go from 2 to 1 than from 3 to 2

[One_and_Done]

I also don't think Dallas will do this because of the optics, but the Spurs aren't going to overpay for optics. That's not their problem.

It's not so much about optics as Flagg being on a different tier as far as prospects go. You may feel differently, which is fine, but Flagg is a year younger and was a substantially more impactful player at the college level, is bigger, stronger, faster, as good or better offensively while being much, much better defensively. Harper is far closer to the next tier of players than he is Flagg. It would take a lot more to go from 2 to 1 than from 3 to 2

I guess we'll see. I don't see the NBA role for Flagg that makes him so clearly better. His best case is what, Jason Tatum with slightly worse offense and slight better D? If Harper turns into a Harden type is he really much worse than that? The stock of Flagg is higher, he's the safer pick, but I don't see it as a gulf. This isn't like the Wemby or Duncan pick.

[mademan]

I also don't think Dallas will do this because of the optics, but the Spurs aren't going to overpay for optics. That's not their problem.

It's not so much about optics as Flagg being on a different tier as far as prospects go. You may feel differently, which is fine, but Flagg is a year younger and was a substantially more impactful player at the college level, is bigger, stronger, faster, as good or better offensively while being much, much better defensively. Harper is far closer to the next tier of players than he is Flagg. It would take a lot more to go from 2 to 1 than from 3 to 2

I guess we'll see. I don't see the NBA role for Flagg that makes him so clearly better. His best case is what, Jason Tatum with slightly worse offense and slight better D? If Harper turns into a Harden type is he really much worse than that? The stock of Flagg is higher, he's the safer pick, but I don't see it as a gulf. This isn't like the Wemby or Duncan pick.

Youre projecting a lot on Harper though. Truth is, he wasnt that much better than multiple other players that will be taken in the lotto..his talent is clear, but he has far more bust potential (and saying he might be one of the best offensive players in all time like Harden is bonkers). He's 2nd based on skill, prototype and translateable skills

Flagg is a big, big wing who was simultaneously the youngest and best player in college where all the things he does well (play with activity, defense, shooting) have no reason not to translate. It is a gulf as far as prospects go just as it was a gulf as far as on court play went at the college level. Yes, there is a big gap right now. You wanna project and say it wont last, sure, go ahead it, but you cant deny that they are clearly on different levels as prospects.

[One_and_Done]

It's not so much about optics as Flagg being on a different tier as far as prospects go. You may feel differently, which is fine, but Flagg is a year younger and was a substantially more impactful player at the college level, is bigger, stronger, faster, as good or better offensively while being much, much better defensively. Harper is far closer to the next tier of players than he is Flagg. It would take a lot more to go from 2 to 1 than from 3 to 2

I guess we'll see. I don't see the NBA role for Flagg that makes him so clearly better. His best case is what, Jason Tatum with slightly worse offense and slight better D? If Harper turns into a Harden type is he really much worse than that? The stock of Flagg is higher, he's the safer pick, but I don't see it as a gulf. This isn't like the Wemby or Duncan pick.

Youre projecting a lot on Harper though. Truth is, he wasnt that much better than multiple other players that will be taken in the lotto..his talent is clear, but he has far more bust potential (and saying he might be one of the best offensive players in all time like Harden is bonkers). He's 2nd based on skill, prototype and translateable skills

Flagg is a big, big wing who was simultaneously the youngest and best player in college where all the things he does well (play with activity, defense, shooting) have no reason not to translate. It is a gulf as far as prospects go just as it was a gulf as far as on court play went at the college level. Yes, there is a big gap right now. You wanna project and say it wont last, sure, go ahead it, but you cant deny that they are clearly on different levels as prospects.

Harper is one of the better projected #2 picks in recent times. He'd likely have gone #1 a bunch of years (e.g. 24, 22, 21, 20, 17, 16, 14, 13). His skills look to translate much more to the NBA than some of Flagg's skills do.

[mademan]

I guess we'll see. I don't see the NBA role for Flagg that makes him so clearly better. His best case is what, Jason Tatum with slightly worse offense and slight better D? If Harper turns into a Harden type is he really much worse than that? The stock of Flagg is higher, he's the safer pick, but I don't see it as a gulf. This isn't like the Wemby or Duncan pick.

Youre projecting a lot on Harper though. Truth is, he wasnt that much better than multiple other players that will be taken in the lotto..his talent is clear, but he has far more bust potential (and saying he might be one of the best offensive players in all time like Harden is bonkers). He's 2nd based on skill, prototype and translateable skills

Flagg is a big, big wing who was simultaneously the youngest and best player in college where all the things he does well (play with activity, defense, shooting) have no reason not to translate. It is a gulf as far as prospects go just as it was a gulf as far as on court play went at the college level. Yes, there is a big gap right now. You wanna project and say it wont last, sure, go ahead it, but you cant deny that they are clearly on different levels as prospects.

Harper is one of the better projected #2 picks in recent times. He'd likely have gone #1 a bunch of years (e.g. 24, 22, 21, 20, 17, 16, 14, 13). His skills look to translate much more to the NBA than some of Flagg's skills do.

I have no problem with people being high on Harper, but there's no mistaking the gap between him and Flagg as prospects. You wanna say your eye is better than most and so their projection is actually close, sure, go for it. But objectively speaking, the guy that's younger, currently better, bigger, stronger, faster, with a prettier jumpshot and real dominant 2 way ability...that guy will end up better long term far more often.

And its not clear he's going 1st in a lot of those years (22, 21, 17, 16, 14). Youre correct in not giving credit to guys who became good but weren't good prospects (like ANT), but youre somehow putting him over guys who were great prospects that had hype that ended up sucking (like Wiggins/Simmons/Faultz)