NEW YORK — Cooper Flagg is the new Maine man in Dallas.

The Mavericks took the Duke forward with the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft Wednesday night, hoping they have found their next franchise superstar less than five months after trading one away.

Mavericks fans were furious when Dallas traded Luka Doncic to the Lakers on Feb. 1, some immediately threatening to end their support of the team.

But the ones who stuck around may quickly love Flagg, the college player of the year who averaged 19.2 points and 7.5 rebounds while leading Duke to the Final Four. In Dallas, he’ll join fellow Duke products Kyrie Irving and Dereck Lively II.

“I’m really excited. I think I keep saying I’m excited to be a sponge, to get down there and just learn, be surrounded by Hall of Fame-caliber guys and just to be able to learn from them,” Flagg said. “It’s going to be an incredible experience.”

His selection — considered likely ever since Flagg showed off his considerable game last summer after being invited to the U.S. Olympic team’s training camp — was a daylong celebration in his home state for the 18-year-old forward from Newport, Maine.

“It means a lot to me to have the support of the whole state,” Flagg said.

He joined Elton Brand, Irving, Zion Williamson and Paolo Banchero as Duke players drafted No. 1 since 1999.

Rutgers freshman Dylan Harper was taken by the Spurs with the No. 2 pick and will try to follow Wembanyama and Stephon Castle and give San Antonio a third straight NBA Rookie of the Year.

“It’s definitely a goal of mine to make it three in a row,” said Harper, the son of former NBA guard Ron Harper, who played for the Clippers and Lakers.

The 76ers then took Baylor’s VJ Edgecombe, getting the first sustained burst of loud cheers of the draft from what seemed to be a number of Philadelphia fans who made the trip to Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

Kon Knueppel made it two Duke players in the first four picks when the Charlotte Hornets took him at No. 4. When big man Khaman Maluach went at No. 10 — a pick made by Houston but headed to Phoenix as part of the trade for Kevin Durant — it gave the Blue Devils three top-10 picks and 50 in the first round since 1989, moving past Kentucky (48) for most by any school.

Ace Bailey, Harper’s teammate with the Scarlet Knights who could have been in the mix to go third but declined to work out for the 76ers, ended up going at No. 5 to Utah.

The first night of the two-night draft, a format the NBA went to last season, had some mid-round trades involving some of college basketball’s top players.

New Orleans acquired the rights to Maryland forward Derik Queen, the No. 13 pick, from Atlanta for the rights to the No. 23 pick, Asa Newell of Georgia, and a future first-round pick.

Walter Clayton Jr., the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four after leading Florida to the national championship, was drafted by Washington at No. 18 but his rights were dealt to Utah for the rights to Illinois’ Will Riley, who went 21st.

The NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder took Georgetown center Thomas Sorber at No. 15, their first of two picks in the first round. The Thunder also had the No. 24 pick but traded the rights to Nique Clifford to Sacramento for a future first-round pick.

Flagg, Queen, Newell and Liam McNeeley became the second quartet from Montverde Academy to be taken in the first round of the NBA draft.

McNeeley, from UConn, was the last one taken, going 29th to the Phoenix Suns and his rights were traded to Charlotte.

The group played together on the 2024 Montverde team that’s based in Florida and went 33-0, dominated its competition winning by an average of 34 points, including 30 games by double-digits. They won the school’s eighth national championship and finished as the No. 1 team in the country.