CHICAGO — Cooper Flagg may have been the most invested in learning who will pick first in next month’s NBA Draft, but he was just as shocked as the rest of the country to learn that the Dallas Mavericks won the lottery Monday night.
He sat in a conference room at the McCormick Place West Convention Center and watched as the teams rattled off the board. When NBA deputy commissioner Mark Tatum announced that the Mavericks had won, well, he didn’t seem to expect it either.
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“I was surprised, like a lot of people,” Flagg said Wednesday. “It was kind of a crazy draft lottery.”
That’s an understatement. The Mavericks won the lottery despite coming into the night with a 1.8 percent chance of doing so — the second-longest of any lottery winner. It capped off a chaotic last four months.
The Mavs were only in position to do so because they traded Luka Dončić in February and then saw their season spiral out of control. Still, they nearly made the playoffs, and landed the 11th slot in the lottery because they lost a Play-In Tournament game to the Memphis Grizzlies and then won a coin flip with the Chicago Bulls for the lottery position.
Now, Flagg will likely join a team that won 39 games this season and fit in alongside Anthony Davis, Dereck Lively II and Kyrie Irving once Irving recovers from the torn ACL in his left knee. The Mavericks are expected to keep the No. 1 pick, according to league sources.
Flagg didn’t offer much commentary on his possible place with the Mavericks but seemed optimistic about how he would fit in.
“They got a lot of really good pieces,” he said, adding, “I think it’ll be a really cool opportunity.”
Even Flagg’s draft classmates understood the significance of how the lottery played out.
“It was crazy,” said Maryland center Derik Queen, a projected top-10 pick. “Dallas getting No. 1 is crazy. If Dallas didn’t have their injuries, they would probably still be in the playoffs right now. We all know Cooper is going to go No. 1. Adding Cooper to those pieces, it’s going to be fun to watch.”
This year’s draft has centered on Flagg since last summer, when he impressed on the Select Team during training camp for Team USA. Flagg, a dynamic two-way forward who won’t turn 19 until December, is the consensus top player in this draft class.
He did not disappoint in his few months at Duke. Flagg was the Naismith Men’s College Player of the Year as a freshman and helped the Blue Devils reach the Final Four. That performance only heightened his draft appeal.
That meant every team in the lottery understood the stakes before the drawing began, knowing that it was relying on four ping pong balls for the chance to draft Flagg. But Flagg said he put little thought into his NBA destination ahead of Monday night.
“I didn’t really think about where I was gonna land beforehand at all,” he said. “I knew it was out of my control. I went into the whole process with an open mind and knowing that I couldn’t control it, so just went into it with a happy face and I’m just excited for this opportunity.”
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It was a quick introduction to the unpredictable nature of the league. Flagg will now have to wait until June 25 for the Mavericks to make it official, but he is likely to face a unique landing spot for a No. 1 pick.
He will be seen as the franchise’s new foundational player, a position held just a few months ago by Dončić. That is not different for most No. 1 picks, but he will also join a franchise that not only has playoff hopes next season but championship aspirations in the near future. General manager Nico Harrison said as much when he explained why he traded away Dončić. A title seems unlikely in Flagg’s rookie season as Irving recovers, but the window in Dallas is immediate.
Flagg will receive the leeway of easing into the league without needing to take on the Mavericks’ primary offensive burden. Davis can handle that. But he should help the Mavericks’ defense, which is a priority for Harrison. Flagg measured in during the combine at 6-foot-7.75 without shoes and has a 7-foot wingspan and an 8-foot-10.5 standing reach.
But the meaning of the No. 1 pick and of Flagg’s impending arrival is immense in Dallas. It buoys a city that saw a future Hall-of-Famer traded away unexpectedly and it helps a franchise that, because of its own decision, was suddenly thrown into shambles. The Mavericks saw boycotts and a constant drumbeat for Harrison to lose his job, even during games. Flagg represents a reprieve.
“This is just such a moment of exhilaration, a breath of fresh air for the franchise,” Mavericks president Rick Welts said Monday. “You really feel like we get a fresh start.”
(Photo: Michael Reaves / Getty Images)
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