Luka Dončić left Dallas over a year ago in the trade to the Los Angeles Lakers, but he's still helping the Mavericks, even if he doesn't mean to. His eligibility appeal to be considered for end-of-season awards means ballots haven't gone out yet, even though the play-in tournament has already started. The non-Cooper Flagg ROY voters might've changed their tune after Tuesday night's action.
End-of-season awards don't include what happens during the play-in/playoffs, but it's hard not to think that voters who watched Kon Knueppel's dud of a performance in the Hornets' win over the Heat are now swayed more toward Flagg, if they weren't already.
Maybe Cooper would've won ROY if ballots were collected before the play-in, as they typically are. He should win regardless, but Knueppel put up a pretty good fight.
Unfortunately, for Kon, his first taste of postseason action didn't go his way. He had six points on 2-of-12 shooting from the field and 0-of-6 from three in 34 minutes, posting a team-worst plus-minus of -20. Charles Lee subbed Coby White in for Knueppel with a couple of minutes left in the fourth quarter, and the rookie stayed on the bench for the rest of the game, including overtime.
Luka Doncic's eligibility appeal might've helped end ROY race
It must be a little bittersweet for Mavericks fans to know that their last ROY before Flagg (if he wins it) gave their new rookie phenom an added edge. You can bet Cooper wouldn't have played like that in a win-or-go-home game.
The truth is that Dallas wouldn't have Cooper if it weren't for the Luka trade, but by no means was that Nico Harrison's vision all along, no matter what he said after last year's draft lottery. Flagg's arrival made losing Dončić sting a little less, but it's a pain that will probably never fully go away.
Dončić has said that Dallas will always feel like home for him, so while his intention behind his appeal wasn't to push Flagg further forward in the ROY race, he's probably okay with that happening.
Now, hopefully, his appeal will be successful, as it would be wildly unfair if he were ineligible for end-of-season awards because he came up one game short. Luka missed two games to travel to Europe for the birth of his second daughter. No one can fault him for not missing that moment.
It's unfair that the 65-game rule is even a thing, not just because of Dončić, but also for players like Cade Cunningham, who suffered a collapsed lung. Expecting the NBA to do the right thing in this case might be too much to ask, but maybe we will be pleasantly surprised.
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