"Regardless of whether they authored the most disastrous trade of the century, or considered Jrue Holiday and Nikola Jokic to be equal talents, a general manager getting fired 11 games into the season is pretty shocking. Sure, some coaches get the ax extremely early in the season, though the causes and intended effects of those decisions are confined to the realm of what is happening on the basketball court."
"The story of Flagg's first 11 professional games is that of a rookie performing at a very high level despite an unfamiliar role and a somewhat disastrous team situation. Flagg's fit on the Mavericks was a strange one from the jump. The team Harrison built is tall, clunky, and generally incapable of dribbling the basketball, leaving coach Jason Kidd with a critical shortage of healthy, capable guards. His solution has been to start Flagg at point guard, a position he has never played before."
An NBA general manager being dismissed 11 games into a season is highly unusual, even when older missteps or controversial evaluations are involved. Some GMs have been fired after poor draft choices, but early-season terminations remain rare. Cooper Flagg produced a strong rookie performance across his first 11 professional games despite adapting to an unfamiliar role and a struggling team. The Mavericks roster is tall and clunky with a shortage of healthy, capable guards, prompting coach Jason Kidd to start Flagg at point guard despite him never having played that position. That experiment aids long-term development but leaves Flagg adjusting as a lead ballhandler. Flagg was regarded as a hypermodern forward built for read-and-react, fast, and positionless NBA schemes.
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