“We feel like we have a championship-caliber team… and we’re going to continue to get better.” That was Mavericks GM Nico Harrison just months ago. And now, his vision just got a major show of faith. On the eve of the NBA Draft, Kyrie Irving declined his $43 million player option to sign a new three-year, $119 million deal—a bold show of loyalty to Dallas, and to a future built around Anthony Davis and soon-to-be No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg. But while Kyrie’s commitment is a win, it also tightens the financial screws, setting up a new challenge for the Mavs front office.

But let’s be real for a minute, committing $119 million to a 33-year-old star who is recovering from a torn ACL is a massive gamble, no matter how talented he is. Irving’s decision to take a slightly smaller annual salary did provide the Mavericks with a small but crucial bit of financial breathing room, giving them access to the $5.7 million taxpayer mid-level exception (MLE). That small respite immediately opened up a list of potential targets who could stabilize the point guard position while Kyrie is out—veteran playmakers like Dennis Schröder, D’Angelo Russell, Chris Paul, and Malcolm Brogdon.

But here’s the catch. Just as that list of possibilities emerged, a new report from NBA insider Marc Stein threw a wrench in the whole plan. “The Kings are already being painted as a likely leading suitor for Detroit’s Dennis Schröder,” Stein tweeted. Adding fuel to that fire, Yahoo! Sports’ Jake Fischer retweeted Stein, adding, “One of the most consistent whispers I’ve heard from executives and agents this week has been about Sacramento’s confidence the Kings can and will acquire a first-round pick in the latter of tomorrow night’s NBA Draft.”

And that’s where the heat comes in. Schröder is expected to command a contract starting at the full mid-level exception, which is around $14.1 million. While the Mavs could have potentially cleared more space, the Kings appear to be the more aggressive suitor. For a fanbase still scarred by the memory of losing Jalen Brunson to the Knicks for nothing two years ago because they were unwilling to pay market value, watching another quality guard get scooped up by a rival is a painful echo of past mistakes. Moreover, let’s not forget, that Kyrie tore his ACL during a March game against this very Sacramento Kings. The injury caused doubts on Kyrie’s availability for all of next season.  But while the sting of losing a free-agent target is real, the Mavs’ entire offseason outlook was just changed by a stunning stroke of lottery luck.

But, while the fan base frets about Dennis Schröder, the Mavericks’ front office is preparing to welcome a player who can erase 44 years of draft-day heartbreak.

How Cooper Flagg changes everything for Dallas

By winning the NBA draft lottery despite having just a 1.8% chance, the Mavs now hold the No. 1 overall pick and the rights to Duke superstar Cooper Flagg. This is a franchise-altering event, and it brings up the ghost of the last time they were in this position.

The year was 1981. The Mavericks, holding the first pick for the only time in their history, selected DePaul forward Mark Aguirre. It was a solid pick, but with the very next selection, the Detroit Pistons took a point guard from Indiana University named Isiah Thomas. The rest, as they say, is history. Thomas became a Hall of Famer and one of the greatest point guards ever. Aguirre, after a solid run in Dallas, was eventually traded to Detroit, where he won a championship in 1989 as Thomas’s teammate. It’s a painful “what if” that has haunted the franchise for decades. They’ve had other high picks—Jason Kidd at No. 2, Jamal Mashburn at No. 4, and even Luka Dončić at No. 3—but they’ve never had a chance to draft a can’t-miss, consensus No. 1 like this.

The point now is that the arrival of a generational talent like Flagg completely reframes their needs. They no longer have to panic and overpay for a long-term solution at the guard position. Instead, they can focus on finding a steady, veteran presence to bridge the gap until Kyrie Irving returns from his ACL injury, which is projected to be around January 2026. This makes a player like Chris Paul (one of the names on that initial list of targets) an almost perfect fit. The 40-year-old is a future Hall of Famer who can run the offense, mentor a young phenom like Flagg, and then transition into a backup role once Kyrie is back.

The list of potential veteran additions doesn’t stop there. As mentioned earlier, D’Angelo Russell was also on the targets list. Russell as a target makes a lot of sense because he is one of Anthony Davis’s former Laker teammates. Russell would provide more scoring punch and already has a built-in chemistry with Davis. The key here is that the Mavs are no longer shopping for a savior; they’re shopping for a stabilizing piece. They can be patient, creative, and cost-effective, knowing that their long-term future is now in the hands of Flagg, Irving, and Davis.

This is the new reality in Dallas. The Kyrie extension wasn’t just a contract; it was the first step in a larger plan. It provided stability, leadership, and a small amount of financial flexibility. But the real respite came in the form of a few lucky lottery balls. The heat over losing out on a free agent target like Schröder is real, but it’s a short-term concern. The long-term forecast in Dallas, with Cooper Flagg on the way, has never been brighter.