Cooper Flagg makes his NBA debut on Wednesday night at home against Victor Wembanyama’s San Antonio Spurs.
The latest: Flagg and Wemby were first-overall draft picks in their respective years, and both are among the most promising young players in the NBA. With notable absences tonight for players like Kyrie Irving and De’Aaron Fox, look for the young guns to make some noise.
Check out these Spurs vs. Mavericks picks for the season opener on Oct. 22 in Dallas.
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Spurs vs. Mavericks picks
Best bet: Wembanyama over 24.5 points (-122)
I’m ready for the next chapter of Wembanyama’s ascendance to superstardom, and it should start immediately.
Wembanyama can truly score from anywhere, which makes him a matchup nightmare for any opposing team.
He’s tall enough to hang on the rim without jumping, but he was also comfortable attempting 8.8 threes per game last year (cashing in at a 35.2% clip).
The Mavericks have ample size and defensive skill up front with Flagg, Anthony Davis, Dereck Lively II and more. With that in mind, Wemby could decide to chuck a high volume of shots from the outside.
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I looked at his odds for over 2.5 threes (+114), and they seemed enticing. But Wemby only attempted 10 threes across five preseason games, which spooked me a bit.
Not that preseason stats should carry much weight, but on opening night, I’d rather lean on his all-around scoring talent.
Especially in the absence of Fox, who figures to be the team’s second-leading scorer this year behind Wemby. Fox (hamstring) is out on Wednesday, as is Jeremy Sochan.
Wemby averaged 24.3 PPG last season before a blood clot issue cut his season short. He was cleared to play in July and should be firing on all cylinders tonight.
Key stat: In two games last year without Fox (post-trade), Wembanyama went 2-0 vs. this line. He attempted exactly 20 shots in both games.
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Flagg NBA debut prop bet
Flagg over 4.5 assists (+123): There’s some unavoidable conjecture involved with this play since we’ve never seen Flagg in a meaningful NBA game.
But if you want to bet on him to succeed in some way tonight, this is easily my favourite way to do it.
- The Spurs allowed the eighth-most assists per game last year (28.0).
- None of the Mavericks’ returning players averaged 4.5 assists or more last year. And their new point guard, D’Angelo Russell, ranked 47th in the NBA last year at 5.1 APG.
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Without an obvious go-to facilitator, this line looks completely clearable for Flagg.
In his lone collegiate season at Duke, Flagg averaged 4.2 APG. But he was also the team’s leading scorer (19.2 PPG), so it’s not like he was maxing out in the assist department.
Between AD, Russell and Klay Thompson, there are plenty of capable scorers for Flagg to defer to (and dish to) in his debut game.
Spurs vs. Mavericks picks made at 10:16 a.m. ET on 10/22/2025.
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Jordan enjoys writing data-driven game previews and analysis articles — especially for MLB markets or NFL/NBA props. And as a proud Ohio University grad, he’ll always have a soft spot for college sports (especially if the Bobcats are involved). Previous stops include mlb.com, Sportsnet and The Athletic.