No one could’ve foreseen that outcome of the Draft Lottery, the Mavericks included.
Dallas, the final team to get eliminated from the Play-In, has been blessed — and that is no exaggeration — with the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft.
They had the lowest possible odds to get said pick — 1.8% to be exact. Just a few months ago, the Mavericks front office concocted one of the most jaw-dropping trades in the sport’s history. This time last year, Dallas was demolishing the Timberwolves on the way to the NBA Finals. Now they’re picking first.
The city just had the right to pick the most touted women’s CBB player in Paige Bueckers; the Wings’ male counterparts will now get to do the same thing.
What ramifications does this gift have for the Mavericks, from the top to the bottom of the organization?
A Second Life
The Draft Lottery gave Mavericks GM Nico Harrison the NBA equivalent of a ‘totem of undying’ with this one-in-a-million development. As the ringleader for essentially every event that led to the trading of generational star Luka Dončić, Harrison’s stock as GM plummeted from the mountaintop. Once it reached the abyss, it was destined to stay there for years and years on end, given how unforgivable the Dončić trade was.
Then the draft lottery happened. The basketball Gods graced Harrison and the Dallas front office with a life raft.
They’ll get to somewhat rectify their dastardly decision to run Dončić out of town by building up another generational talent in Duke F Cooper Flagg. That will undoubtedly bolster Dallas’ roster and strengthen their defensive identity, which will help the Mavs stay afloat as they wait for Kyrie Irving to return.
That is, of course, if they pick Flagg at No. 1.
Exploring Alternative Worlds
Now, given that the public knows how unpredictable Harrison and the Dallas front office can be, the most likely outcome is still Cooper Flagg goes No. 1 and becomes a Dallas Maverick. However, sports media personalities across various platforms have discussed alternate scenarios which explore different pathways the Mavericks can go if Flagg somehow isn’t enticing enough.
One avenue pundits and fans alike have explored is trading the pick for a blockbuster player — a Giannis Antetokounmpo, for example. While this does make a bit of sense on paper, it’s hard to foresee teams trading their All-NBA caliber stars for the No. 1 pick alone.
https://twitter.com/TheDunkCentral/status/1922288947327029330
No player that Dallas could get for just the first pick would turn them into a contender, even Cooper Flagg. Dallas would have to attach more assets.
There’s also the possibility Dallas could draft someone besides Flagg with the No. 1 pick. That would ignore the fact, however, that Flagg is generational, much like Dončić was. The Mavericks need his already-NBA-ready presence in the short term.
Rutgers G/F Ace Bailey is a weapon and would make the Mavs better, but not like Flagg would. G Dylan Harper would fill a PG need, but Dallas can patch that hole through NBA-tested players in free agency.
As interesting as it sounds to stray from picking the Duke phenom, it would undoubtedly be another massive misstep by the Mavericks.
At The End Of The Day….
The Mavericks possess the first overall pick, and the world is their oyster. They have a chance to right their wrongs and start fresh post-Luka.
It’s entirely up to them, and them alone, to determine how the next 5-10 years go in Dallas.
Drafting Cooper Flagg makes for a pretty good starting point.
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