NBA Draft Lottery winners & losers 2025: Cooper Flagg's fit with Mavericks, freefalls for Wizards and Jazz

It's always good to get the top pick in the draft. This year was more important than most, though. Cooper Flagg has the potential to turn an entire franchise around. Teams were pulling out all of the stops towards the back end of the season to try and solidify their odds of landing him.

For the Mavericks, that move paid off. 

Dallas is the clear big winner of the lottery. They came in with only 1.8 percent odds of landing the Duke star, and they pulled off the miracle. They badly needed it after alienating their fan base post-Luka Doncic trade.

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There were some other smaller wins and some painful results for the other 13 teams that participated in the lottery night. Here's a summary of the night's events. 

2025 NBA Draft Lottery winners

Mavericks

Everyone knew that Victor Wembanyama was going to be a superstar. Flagg is the second-best prospect that we've seen over the past six years. 

The fit for the Mavericks is intriguing. They have great center depth with Anthony Davis, Dereck Lively II, and Daniel Gafford in tow. Flagg can play power forward alongside those big guys and create a monster defensive unit.

Nico Harrison has stated his belief that defense wins championships. He has the pieces to prove that now. 

MORE: Complete 2-round NBA Mock Draft  | Cooper Flagg NBA Mock Draft scouting report

Spurs

Welcome to San Antonio, Dylan Harper! 

Everyone wanted Flagg, but Harper isn't a bad consolation prize. He will almost assuredly go no. 2 in this draft. He's got the NBA pedigree — his dad Ron was a solid veteran with five rings, and his older brother Ron Harper Jr. has had a few cups of coffee in the NBA too. 

Dylan is going to be the best player in the family. He's a great pick-and-roll guard with high feel that shows up on both ends of the floor. He can be the lead engine for an NBA offense, and he has the size at 6-foot-6 to make every pass.

It might be a bit crowded next to De'Aaron Fox and Stephon Castle, but Harper should be a great natural fit with Victor Wembanyama. 

Rockets

The Rockets are sending out their No. 27 pick to the Nets. What makes that easier to bear is that they received the Suns' pick. 

That pick had a 17.3 percent chance of jumping into the top four of the draft. Houston didn't get quite that lucky, but they should still be thrilled at having the No. 10 pick in this draft after finishing with the fourth-best record in the league. 

That could end up being an extremely valuable trade asset. The Rockets are positioned as well as anybody to make a big swing this summer. Kevin Durant is going to get moved. Giannis Antetokounmpo might not be far behind him. The Rockets have a strong shot at landing a superstar.   

76ers

The Sixers had the most at stake out of anyone coming into the lottery. Their pick was protected for the top six selections. They had a 63.9 percent chance of keeping it, or a 36.1 percent shot of sending a great pick in the middle of the lottery to the Thunder. 

One of the best-case scenarios happened for them. Not only did they keep their pick, they jumped into the No. 3 pick in the draft. They came into the night with only a 10.6 percent shot at that outcome. 

There is a substantial dropoff in talent after the first two players in this draft, but the Sixers will still get a good player out of this. Ace Bailey, V.J. Edgecombe, Kon Knueppel, Tre Johnson, and others are all fine NBA players. 

The Sixers still have a ton of work to do. Joel Embiid and Paul George are negative value contracts that are on their books for a long time. But that pick now gives them the ammunition to go after one of the big names this summer or draft another young talent next to Tyrese Maxey and Jared McCain. 

MORE: Kon Knueppel NBA Mock Draft scouting report: Why Duke freshman is looking like a lottery pick

2025 NBA Draft Lottery losers

Jazz/Wizards

The Jazz and Wizards came into the night tied for the best odds of getting a top-four pick courtesy of the worst and second-worst records in the league. 

All of those losses weren't rewarded — the Jazz fell to the No. 5 pick in the draft, and the Wizards fell to No. 6. That was the lowest that either team could slide. It was a tough pill to swallow after losing 64 and 65 games, respectively. 

Bulls

Nobody knows exactly what the Bulls are doing. While most teams tried their hardest to avoid finishing in the middle of the pack this year, Chicago embraced it. They finished with the 12th-worst record, mostly by beating up on the other teams in the lottery towards the end of the year. Their one path to relevancy was to get lucky and jump up in the lottery. 

That didn't happen. The Bulls came in slotted at No. 12, and that's the pick they ended up with. They still can get a good player with that selection. They made a great pick last year at 11, getting Matas Buzelis. But they look destined for their fourth consecutive Play-In Tournament appearance after tonight. 

Ace Bailey

This technically happened before the draft lottery, but Bailey's measurements came out during the NBA Draft Combine, and they may hurt his draft stock. Bailey was thought to be 6-10, giving him Kevin Durant scoring comparisons.

Instead, he measured at 6-7.5 without shoes. 

Bailey should still go somewhere in the 3 to 10 range of the draft. Monday wasn't a good day for him, though.  

MORE: Height, wingspan and more measurements for 2025 NBA Draft prospects

2025 NBA Draft full order post-lottery