Mavericks Land 9th Pick in NBA Draft. How Dallas Builds Around Cooper Flagg Just Got Clearer
The Dallas Mavericks landed the 9th pick in the 2026 NBA Draft on Sunday. The front office that took over after last season’s chaos now has a real building block decision to make.
The Mavericks are reportedly showing strong trade-up interest in Darius Acuff. The Michigan guard would be the kind of long-term backcourt running mate Dallas needs next to Cooper Flagg.
That is the entire question for this draft. Who do you put next to Flagg, and how much do you give up to get him?
The 2026 draft class is historically deep. Some NBA executives have said that if Flagg had reclassified into this class instead of last year’s, he might have gone third or fourth. The top of the board is loaded.
The headline names are Kansas guard Darryn Peterson, BYU wing AJ Dybantsa, and Duke power forward Cam Boozer. All three are potential top-three picks. Peterson is the most NBA-ready guard. Dybantsa has the highest ceiling. Boozer is the most polished frontcourt prospect.
None of them are going to fall to nine.
That is why the trade-up rumors matter. The Mavericks have to either move up to get one of the top wings, or stay at nine and take the best available, or move back to collect more assets. Each option has real merit. The decision is going to define the next decade of the franchise.
The Acuff angle is the most interesting. The Michigan guard is a 6-foot-3 combo who can shoot, defend, and play either backcourt spot. He is the kind of prospect who fits next to Flagg because he does not need the ball to be effective. Flagg is already a primary creator. The Mavericks need someone who can spot up, attack closeouts, and defend wings.
Acuff projects to go somewhere between fifth and ninth, depending on workouts. The Mavericks reportedly want him badly. The cost of moving up from nine to seven or eight is going to be at least one future first. Dallas does not have many futures to spare after the trades that brought in their current roster.
Staying at nine is also fine. Karim Lopez, the Mexican wing who put on a show at the FIBA AmeriCup, is a real talent. Some Mavericks beat writers have warned that Lopez does not fit because his game overlaps with Flagg’s. That is a fair concern. Two long, slashing wings without a knockdown shooter is not a championship blueprint.
The other option is the high-upside center. The Mavericks have not had a real frontcourt anchor since Dereck Lively II’s injury issues started piling up. Drafting a long-term big at nine is not glamorous, but it is the kind of move that often wins out three years later.
The bigger problem is the coaching search. Dallas still does not have a head coach. The front office is hiring around the search, but ultimately the player development picture depends on who is running practices. A young roster led by Cooper Flagg is exactly the kind of project that needs a coach with a player development background, not a recycled veteran name.
The Mavericks have to get all of this right. Rookie of the Year. 9th pick. Coaching search. New front office identity. That is a lot of moving pieces for one summer. The pressure is real, and the timeline is unforgiving.
Cooper Flagg is the foundation. The decision at nine is the next brick.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
