The Dallas Mavericks have been a disappointment so far this year, currently sitting at 13-23 ahead of Tuesday night's game against the Sacramento Kings on the road. The main silver lining for the Mavericks has been the play of rookie number one overall draft pick Cooper Flagg, who seems to be in the driver's seat for the Rookie of the Year award after a strong month of November.
In fact, Flagg has even gotten some fringe consideration for an All-Star appearance in his first year in the NBA, and recently, the second fan voting returns for that game were released, with Flagg earning the 16th-most votes in the Western Conference, ahead of players like Phoenix Suns star Devin Booker and Golden State Warriors wing Jimmy Butler.
Flagg came in at 236,182 votes, while Los Angeles Lakers star Luka Doncic led the conference and league with over 2,000,000 votes.
At this point, it wouldn't seem likely that Flagg will get enough votes to earn a spot in the Western Conference, but the fact that he's even on the board is certainly a good sign.
Overall, Flagg has been one of the only beacons of hope amid a Mavericks season that has otherwise gone by the wayside. Recently, trade rumors have started to swirl around Dallas, with some fans wondering if the team might look to trade Anthony Davis and embrace a full rebuild around Flagg.
Currently, the Mavericks are well below the playoff line in the Western Conference, and it's seeming more likely by the day that they will be sellers instead of buyers at the trade deadline. Still, the team has at least one thing to hang their hats on this season in the form of Flagg's rapid development.
In any case, the Mavericks will next take the floor on Tuesday night for a road game against the Sacramento Kings. Tipoff for that contest is set for 11:00 pm ET.
