Follow the latest on the NBA Draft lottery with The Athletic’s live blog.
After a season full of excruciating losses, the Dallas Mavericks finally got a win that matters. The Mavs won the 2025 NBA Draft Lottery on Monday night, a momentous feat — and a huge upset — that will give them the No. 1 pick in June’s draft and the right to select Duke star Cooper Flagg. The Mavericks had just a 1.8 percent chance of landing the top pick.
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Flagg is the consensus top player in the draft this year and in a tier of his own. He has been the presumed first overall pick since last summer when he turned heads at the USA Basketball camp in Las Vegas, and perhaps even before that.
He is a 6-foot-9 forward with transcendent defensive talent and an emerging offensive game. He was the national college player of the year this past season as a freshman at Duke and helped the Blue Devils get to the Final Four. He averaged 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.4 blocks. He also hit 38.5 percent of his 3s.
Flagg dominated despite being one of the youngest players in this draft class. He won’t turn 19 until a few months into his rookie season.
While the Mavericks will get to celebrate all night, several other teams are in good position after the lottery as well, even if they likely won’t get Flagg. The San Antonio Spurs landed the No. 2 pick, while the Philadelphia 76ers will pick third and the Charlotte Hornets got the No. 4 overall selection.
The top of the 2025 draft is believed to be strong, and players available high in the lottery are also seen as potential difference-makers. Rutgers point guard Dylan Harper is the presumptive No. 2 overall pick; at 6-6, the son of five-time NBA champion Ron Harper has a knack for getting to the rim and playmaking polish. Rutgers forward Ace Bailey, Baylor guard V.J. Edgecombe and Duke wing Kon Knueppel could all go in the top five.
But the lottery was always about the man at the top of this draft class.
The race to capture Flagg has been an undercurrent to this NBA season as teams scurried to get in pole position heading into Monday. The Jazz finished with the league’s worst record but Utah, Washington and Charlotte all had a 14 percent chance to win the lottery.
Now, for one team, at least, the next six weeks will be simple. The Mavericks are on the clock, and they can sit and wait until June 25, the first night of the draft.
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A win for Nico Harrison in wake of Luka trade
I’m not sure if Nico Harrison is happier about Luka Dončić getting knocked out of the first round of the playoffs or the Mavericks ending up with the No. 1 pick. But the lottery gods are shining on the Mavs with the 1.8 percent odds going their way.
Harrison has been preaching a defensive mindset ever since he shocked the world by sending Dončić to the Lakers in exchange for Anthony Davis. He’s been building a gigantic frontline of forwards and centers since the 2024 trade deadline. Adding Flagg to the mix only strengthens that belief, even if it complicates some logistics here.
Flagg can probably play some 3 for the Mavs right away. He’s quick, nimble, and his athleticism projects him to be able to defend plenty on the perimeter. So you can convince yourself of a frontline that features him, AD, and either Daniel Gafford or Dereck Lively II or PJ Washington at some point. The problem is having five of these guys in the rotation is going to be a logjam of minutes.
It’s a good problem to have since you can deal one or two of those guys away for some needed help on the perimeter and at the guard positions. That becomes even more dire if Kyrie Irving can’t immediately bounce back from the knee injury he suffered halfway through the season.
Mavs fans had justifiable reasons to be mad at the Luka giveaway, but one of them was how much older it made this team and how much shorter it made their window. This won’t make anybody forget Luka in Dallas, but it does at least balance out that timeline, while also fitting into whatever Nico has been preaching. It still won’t quiet down those “Fire Nico!” chants we were hearing. — Zach Harper, NBA writer
2025 NBA Draft lottery order
- Dallas Mavericks
- San Antonio Spurs
- Philadelphia 76ers
- Charlotte Hornets
- Utah Jazz
- Washington Wizards
- New Orleans Pelicans
- Brooklyn Nets
- Toronto Raptors
- Houston Rockets
- Portland Trail Blazers
- Chicago Bulls
- Atlanta Hawks
- San Antonio Spurs
This story will be updated.
(Photo: Patrick Smith / Getty Images)
This news was originally published on this post .
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