The Mavericks move Cooper Flagg to point guard, start D’Angelo Russell and move Klay Thompson to the bench

Cooper Flagg as a point guard didn’t exactly work. So the Dallas Mavericks are making a change.

Coach Jason Kidd changed 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 moves to the bench.

Announcement

The lineup change should free Flagg from the point guard duties he began his career with and return him to a more natural position in the frontcourt. Thompson, who also struggled to start the season, will move into the 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 a 2-5 start that lifted the Mavericks to 14th place out of 15 teams in the Western Conference. The start dampened any enthusiasm in Dallas that Flagg might join forces with Anthony Davis and Kyrie Irving to compete in the West and move on from the disastrous Luka Dončić trade to the Los Angeles Lakers.

With Davis and Irving out due to injury, the Mavericks announced the following starting lineup for Wednesday’s game against the Pelicans, featuring Flagg at small forward:

D’Angelo Russell
Max Christie
Cooper Flagg
PJ Washington
Daniel Gafford