The Toronto Raptors get their first look at Cooper Flagg and the Dallas Mavericks.
The latest: The No. 1 overall draft pick hasn’t had the best start to his career, but his production and efficiency should continue to get better with every game. For Toronto, take the value on Scottie Barnes’ assists prop.
Check out these Raptors vs. Mavericks picks for the season opener on Oct. 26 in Dallas.
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Raptors vs. Mavericks picks
Best bet: Barnes over 4.5 assists (-134)
This feels like Barnes’ floor as a playmaker.
- The power forward has averaged 5.8 assists or better for three straight seasons.
- Barnes averaged 6.0 assists on 9.0 potential assists through the first two games.
So why are we getting such good value?
Well, there seems to be recency bias involved in this line, as Barnes fell under this mark in his recent matchup vs. the Milwaukee Bucks with three assists.
But one poor performance doesn’t sway me from a number that’s well below Barnes’ 2024-25 assist average (6.0).
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The Mavericks are allowing 25.5 assists per game in the early going, and I think it’s fair to assume Barnes can record a handful of those.
Only Immanuel Quickley has more potential assists through two games.
Barnes has the potential to stuff the statsheet on Sunday, and it starts with his ability to find open teammates.
Dallas is 0-2 in the early goings, struggling to find chemistry. The squad is coming off a 117-111 loss to the Washington Wizards.
Key stat: Barnes averaged 8.5 assists in two meetings with the Mavs last season.
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Flagg prop bet
Flagg over 27.5 points/rebounds/assists (-109): Flagg has cleared this mark in one of two NBA games to start his career.
He struggled in his first game, recording 10 points on 4-of-13 shooting to go along with 10 rebounds.
Flagg bounced back nicely in his second contest, scoring 18 points while adding five rebounds and six assists (29 PRA).
That second game is what I expect to be his floor moving forward.
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At 6-foot-9, he can do it all. He averaged 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4.2 assists in his one College season with Duke.
Flagg will continue to get every opportunity to succeed, as he is averaging 33 minutes of playing time a night so far.
If this game stays close, the rookie has a great chance to get past this number just on volume alone. If he plays well and has a breakout performance of sorts, he would breeze past this modest line.
Raptors vs. Mavericks picks made at 10:16 a.m. ET on 10/26/2025.
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Spencer is a true sports junkie. A graduate of the Sports Journalism program at Centennial College, he first joined NorthStar Gaming as an intern in 2023. He is now a contributing writer. He loves finding the edge to bet on in all sports but has a deep passion for the NBA and UFC. Previous stops include Sportsnet.