Las Vegas is the place to be Thursday night in the basketball world. All eyes are on Dallas Mavericks rookie Cooper Flagg, making his NBA Summer League debut against the Los Angeles Lakers. Plenty of time has been spent talking about how special Flagg will be, and now, everyone gets a first glimpse in a Mavs uniform.

Less than a quarter in, early returns are looking pretty good. Flagg made a statement with his first bucket, throwing down a ferocious dunk after getting in transition due to a turnover. He only needed a few strides to get there too.

“Cooper Flagg, on the break,” play-by-play commentator Mark Jones said. “Punching it home. Welcome to the league, Cooper Flagg.”

Social media certainly popped off after the moment. Even Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes is tuned in, tweeting out his reaction, “Cooop!”.

Since Kansas City does not have an NBA team, Mahomes is still a fan of the hometown Mavericks. Consider him impressed of the franchise’s future early on.

https://twitter.com/PatrickMahomes/status/1943466734746575160

The Mavericks were not considered one of the teams favored to land Flagg. In fact, they entered the lottery with just a 1.8% of chance of winning. As it turned out, Dallas won the No. 1 overall pick and wound up making the obvious selection in Flagg.

Given the current situation, gaining one of the top prospects in a while was something the organization desperately needed — both on and off the court. Flagg should be a nice positive ejection.

Head coach Jason Kidd has even revealed positional plans moving forward. The Mavericks want to try out Flagg at point guard to start. Dallas needing one certainly helps the decision but Kidd is confident Flagg will be able to “run the show.”

“I want to put him at point guard,” Kidd said. “I want to make him uncomfortable and see how he reacts being able to run the show. Being able to play the two, play the three, he’s comfortable playing that. But we want to push. And I think he’s going to respond in a positive way.”

Summer League is where the beginning of Kidd’s plan comes together. But no matter what position Flagg plays, those kinds of dunks in transition will be welcomed. A special future should be ahead of the rookie as hype around his name continues to grow, reaching some of the best guys in the world of sports.