Cooper Flagg at point guard hasn’t exactly been working. So the Dallas Mavericks are making a change.
Head coach Jason Kidd switched up his lineup for Wednesday’s game against the New Orleans Pelicans. Veteran point guard D’Angelo Russell is moving from the bench to the starting lineup. And Klay Thompson is moving to the bench.
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The lineup change should free up Flagg from the point guard duties he’s started his career with and slot back into a more natural position in the frontcourt. Thompson, who’s also been struggling to start the season will move into a sixth-man role, where the Mavericks hope he can break out of his shooting slump and provide a scoring spark off the bench.
Kidd made the move after 2-5 start that had the Mavericks in 14th place out of 15 teams in the Western Conference. The start has doused any excitement in Dallas that Flagg could join forces with Anthony Davis and Kyrie Irving to compete in the West and move on from the disastrous trade of Luka Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers.
With Davis and Irving sidelined by injury, the Mavericks announced the following starting lineup for Wednesday’s game against the Pelicans, with Flagg at small forward:
D’Angelo Russell
Max Christie
Cooper Flagg
PJ Washington
Daniel Gafford
