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Draymond Green Warns Jason Kidd About ‘Ben Simmons Effect’ After Cooper Flagg’s Rough Adjustment

Jake RogersNovember 9, 2025November 9, 2025no comment

Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images

Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green believes Jason Kidd should proceed with caution when developing No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg — especially when it comes to playing him out of position.

Speaking on The Draymond Green Show, the four-time NBA champion cautioned that the Dallas Mavericks’ early experiment using Flagg as a full-time point guard could have unintended consequences. Green referenced former All-Star Ben Simmons as a cautionary tale of how positional misuse and lost confidence can derail even elite talent.

“The one thing I would say about starting Cooper Flagg at point guard is you just gotta be careful,” Green said. “It’s not his real position. You ask yourself the question: if Ben Simmons was allowed to be a power forward that can handle the ball the way he handled the ball, does his career turn out differently than making him a point guard? Be careful with playing Cooper Flagg at point guard.”

The Mavericks’ early-season results haven’t done much to disprove his point. Dallas sits at 3-7 after its first 10 games — the franchise’s worst start since 2018-19 — with inconsistent lineups, recurring injuries and ongoing offensive struggles.

Draymond Green: “Confidence Is Everything”

Green said his warning comes from experience, not criticism, emphasizing the psychological toll of playing out of position.

“I understand the thinking behind it, but the last thing you want is him to lose his confidence trying to play point guard,” Green said. “Once you lose your confidence in this league it’s nearly impossible to get it back, and even if you get it back, it’s hard to get it back to the level that it once was — where it could have been or where it should be. Be very careful with playing him out of position, because if he loses his confidence it messes up everything else.”

Kidd has already begun to shift course, moving veteran D’Angelo Russell back into the starting point guard role and slotting Flagg into a more natural forward spot alongside P.J. Washington and Naji Marshall. The rookie remains a focal point of the Mavericks’ future, but the adjustment hasn’t yet led to team success.

Flagg has averaged 13.9 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 3.0 assists in 10 games this season, showing flashes of elite two-way potential but also inconsistency with turnovers and shot selection.

“Things obviously haven’t gone extremely well for us so far,” Flagg said after Saturday’s win in Washington. “It isn’t the start we’ve been looking for. All we can do is stay positive and move forward and continue to take steps in the right direction.”

Jason Kidd Clarifies Cooper Flagg’s Role

Before Friday’s game in Memphis, Kidd offered his own perspective on how the team views Flagg’s responsibilities. While the rookie began the season listed as a point guard, Kidd said the label doesn’t reflect how Dallas actually uses him within its offense.

“Continuity is key,” Kidd said. “We’ve labeled Cooper as a point guard, but if you’re paying attention — which we’re not — he doesn’t really bring the ball up. He’s just a basketball player. Klay brings it up, P.J. brings it up, Christie brings it up. We just want to get him comfortable in different spots. He’s 18, doing the best he can.”

After experimenting with Flagg as a lead initiator early in the season, Kidd has since shifted him back to a forward role. The 18-year-old has not started at point guard for the past three games after D’Angelo Russell was moved into the starting lineup, with Klay Thompson transitioning to the bench.

Jason Kidd: “He Just Took Control of the Game”

Despite the team’s struggles, Kidd praised Flagg’s performance in Saturday’s 111-105 win over the Wizards — particularly his physicality and poise in the fourth quarter.

“I thought he was great,” Kidd said. “Attacked the rim — I thought he got fouled on a few. We’ll go back and look at the tape. But I thought he was aggressive. For a second, he just took control of the game with the pass and the tempo. He found teammates and did it at a high level when we needed it. He really wanted that lob to B-Will — he was frustrated he didn’t give him a better pass — but his physicality and attacking were big for us.”

Kidd has repeatedly emphasized that the organization wants Flagg to grow through versatility, not rigid positional expectations. His comments came just one day after Green’s podcast aired, underscoring the ongoing debate about how best to handle the 18-year-old’s development.

“We’ll live with the turnovers if the intent is right,” Kidd said. “He’s trying to make the right play for teammates at 18 years old. The process will make him better as time goes forward.”

Green, meanwhile, framed his warning as a matter of long-term confidence.

Lessons from Ben Simmons

Green compared Flagg’s development to the trajectory of Simmons, who was once an All-NBA selection and Defensive Player of the Year runner-up but whose career has been hindered by injuries, role uncertainty and fading confidence.

Now 29, Simmons remains unsigned nearly three weeks into the 2025-26 season after being bought out by the Brooklyn Nets last year and finishing the season with the Los Angeles Clippers.

“You can have all the talent in the world,” Green said. “But if you don’t have the confidence to play your game — or if a team forces you to be something you’re not — it’s hard to recover from that. I just don’t want that to happen to Cooper.”

Under new CBA restrictions, Simmons’ options are limited, with teams over the first salary-cap apron — including the Celtics, Mavericks, Warriors, Knicks and Timberwolves — barred from signing buyout players who earned more than the mid-level exception on their previous contracts. That leaves few potential landing spots, most notably Utah and Brooklyn.

Jason Kidd’s Balancing Act

Kidd has acknowledged that the Mavericks’ growing pains have been compounded by injuries and experimentation. Anthony Davis and Daniel Gafford have both missed time with lower-body injuries, forcing lineup shuffles and increased minutes for young players like Flagg.

While Flagg has shown promise as a secondary ball-handler and defensive playmaker, his confidence and rhythm have fluctuated in a turbulent first month of the season.

“You have to use physicality,” Flagg said. “Everybody’s gonna be physical with you. Watching P.J. and Naji, they use their bodies so well getting to the rim. I’m learning a lot from them.”

The Mavericks’ decision to shift Flagg off the ball is less about abandoning the experiment and more about protecting his long-term growth — a distinction that echoes Green’s warning.

Looking Ahead

Dallas hosts the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday, opening a four-game homestand with the goal of stabilizing its rotation. Flagg remains a central piece of the franchise’s future, but Green’s comments serve as a reminder that even the most gifted young players can be set back by the wrong developmental path.

“Be very careful with playing him out of position,” Green said. “Because if he loses his confidence, it messes up everything else.”

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Draymond Green Warns Jason Kidd About ‘Ben Simmons Effect’ After Cooper Flagg’s Rough Adjustment