The Dallas Mavericks had just a 1.8 percent chance to get the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft Lottery on Monday night. They defied the odds, as the basketball gods had gifted them the chance to select Cooper Flagg for Nico Harrison's asinine move to trade their franchise player, Luka Doncic.
It's not official yet, but in a month from now, it'll become the Flagg era in Dallas, as they aren't planning on trading him. NBA stars and media members have been following Flagg from his high school days at Monteverde Academy in Florida, and now everything has come full circle, as he is on pace to become an NBA star right away.
Dallas had never moved up in the lottery before Monday, and they lucked out with odds so low and every team wanting in on the Cooper Flagg sweepstakes. When Dallas won the lottery, there were concerns about Flagg's reaction when the envelope was revealed to be Dallas's, but now it's time for Flagg to put all that false chatter to bed.
Cooper Flagg is "thrilled" with the idea of joining the Mavericks
Rumors surfacing online immediately pointed to Flagg as being shocked or concerned with the idea of playing for Dallas by his reaction to the Mavs winning the lottery. People speculated he preferred to go to the San Antonio Spurs, and that he didn't want the Mavs to get the No. 1 pick. After all the publicity around the team in what was the craziest season yet, it's not too extreme, but either way, one ESPN NBA reporter put those rumors to rest before it got out of hand.
Though Flagg initially looked shocked by the results of Monday's draft lottery, sources told ESPN that his camp realized how fortunate he is to land in Dallas," ESPN reporter Jonathan Givony writes. "Flagg is said to be thrilled by the idea of joining a playoff-caliber roster with strong veterans and a team that has a void at the small forward position."
This is a perfect fit for Flagg, as the Mavericks have needed a ball-handling wing as a main priority. He'll be inserted as a starter on day one, and of course, he fits Nico Harrison's main philosophy. With his defense not being talked about enough, Flagg attacks the glass and steals the ball at a pretty good clip. Harrison's philosophy of "defense wins championships" will be on full display with Flagg on the floor.
Flagg should be glad he wasn't picked from a team like Washington or Utah, where there's too much baggage to name for those franchises. While the Mavs had plenty of embarrassing moments this season, it's still a much better scenario in Dallas than most of the other teams that were in the lottery.
Flagg is as humble as they come. He's still not set in stone about Dallas just yet, because he wants to wait to hear his name called before he can think about teaming up with Anthony Davis, Dereck Lively II, and Kyrie Irving.
