Masai Ujiri makes it clear there is one reason he took Mavericks job: Cooper Flagg
"The one difficult thing to find anywhere, anywhere in sports, it's a generational player, and we have one."
Dallas landing Masai Ujiri to take over basketball operations is seen by many as a coup. One of the most respected front office minds in the league, the man who built the Toronto Raptors into champions, comes to a Mavericks team in the midst of a self-inflicted rebuild (including rebuilding its reputation with its fans) after Nico Harrison made the Luka Doncic trade. Why did Ujiri choose Dallas?
Two words: Cooper Flagg. Ujiri made that abundantly clear at his press conference. ( Quotes via Abby Jones .
) "The one difficult thing to find anywhere, anywhere in sports, it's a generational player, and we have one. We've planted a Flagg here. We have one player here that can turn everything and it is so hard to find in sports.
" And... "You've got Victor Wembanyama, Luka Doncic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Anthony Edwards and Nikola Jokic all for the next 7-15 years. Okay, now you have to convince me that I have to beat all those guys.