Mavericks’ Masai Ujiri Sends Powerful Message About Cooper Flagg’s Future

After several months, the Dallas Mavericks finally have a sense of direction with their front office following the hiring of Masai Ujiri as the new team president and alternate governor.

It didn’t take long for Ujiri to map out the direction of the franchise in his first press conference, which he singled out standout rookie Cooper Flagg as the centerpiece of the future.

“In Africa, we say when kings go, kings come. And a king went and we have a little prince here. Now we’re going to turn him into a king,” Ujiri said via ESPN. “I think we have to start thinking that way. Understand what we’ve gone through. But I hope we can figure out how we reset as an organization with the fans. There’s no other way to do this than winning.”

Since the trade of Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers, the Mavericks have stumbled as they search for a new path forward. Flagg is a starting point, but it will take much more than that to right the ship and find sustained success.

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Adding Ujiri to the mix to lead the front office gives them an established factor as he has a wealth of experience after spending 13 seasons in charge of basketball operations with the Toronto Raptors, which includes putting together a team that won an NBA title.

There is much work ahead, but the foundation is there, with Flagg and Kyrie Irving as the central factors in pushing the franchise forward.