Windhorst: Why Cooper Flagg's ascension is starting to feel inevitable

MACAO, China -- A few Dallas Mavericks veterans have been keeping up the ruse that Cooper Flagg is still wearing some sort of "trainee" name tag. That the 2025 No. 1 pick is technically a rookie until he plays the first game of his second season. This played out with various menial duties for the reigning NBA Rookie of the Year -- bag-carrying and the like -- during the team's week in China for two preseason games against the Houston Rockets . "I can sometimes sneak by without them remembering that they want me to be a rookie still.