Dallas Mavericks get franchise-changing Cooper Flagg announcement with NBA Draft Lottery results

In a year like this, with a superstar NBA Draft prospect like Cooper Flagg, it's not actually draft night where a franchise's fortunes change forever. It's lottery night that alters the course of NBA history.

The Knicks and Patrick Ewing. The Spurs and Tim Duncan (and Victor Wembanyama). The Cavs and LeBron James.

And now, the Dallas Mavericks and Cooper Flagg. They had only a 1.8 percent chance of landing the No. 1 pick.

It's officially the biggest offseason night in franchise history.

It doesn't matter what has come before. The struggles and the losing that led to this point, this lucky night that wound up with the right to pick the best 18-year old basketball player on the planet, can all be worth it now.

Flagg is a generational talent. He might not quite be Wembanyama, but he's about as close as you can get without being a freakish 7-foot-4 superhuman.

He didn't even turn 18 years old until the end of December. He's literally the youngest player in his draft class while simultaneously being the best.

MORE: Cooper Flagg's official measurements have improved significantly since Duke

Flagg already has earned praise from legends of the game, from the moment he took the court with the U.S. Select Team to scrimmage the Olympians last summer.

He led Duke in all five major statistical categories, played one of the best NCAA Tournament games ever in the Sweet 16, then should've made the national final if not for a nightmare Blue Devils collapse.

That ending is in the rearview now, and a new NBA beginning has arrived.

Flagg could be an All-Star in year one. He could be an all-time great by Year 15.

He already made perfectly clear at Duke that the burden of expectations wouldn't be too much. 

The NBA game might even allow Flagg to thrive more, on spaced-out courts with an emphasis on finesse rather than physicality.

Monday night is the night everything changed for the Mavs, who from this point on just need to avoid making a monumentally silly trade error (again) and will have a franchise-altering victory in their hands.

Flagg is theirs, and the whole NBA will soon have to contend with the game's next superstar.

MORE: Cooper Flagg can still make a wild choice