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Much like its NHL counterpart, the NBA draft lottery ended with a completely shocking result.
One week after the Islanders got the No. 1 pick in the NHL draft lottery with a 3.5 percent chance, the Mavericks did the same on Monday night with even smaller odds at 1.8 percent.
That means Dallas, months after sending Luka Doncic to the Lakers in a trade that completely gobsmacked the sports world, now gets the chance to take Duke superstar Cooper Flagg, who is the consensus top prospect in this year’s class.
It’s the first time ever the Mavericks have won the lottery.
It’s the second time this year a Dallas basketball club will have the No. 1 pick, as the Wings of the WNBA selected in the top spot and took UConn’s Paige Bueckers.
Unsurprisingly, fans, pundits and players were all stunned by the way the lottery turned out.
LeBron James posted a string of crying laughing emojis on X with no text minutes after the news broke that Dallas would take first.
The Post’s Stefan Bondy had a great idea for what general manager Nico Harrison should do.
“Mavericks should trade that pick for Luka,” he wrote on social media.
The Ringer’s Kirk Goldsberry had an even funnier idea: “Nico not picking Flagg would be the funniest thing in NBA history.”
Former presidential and ex-New York mayoral candidate Andrew Yang was livid with the results.
“The Mavericks getting the #1 pick is absolutely ridiculous,” he wrote.
“NICO HARRISON DOESNT DESERVE THIS PICK MAN,” wrote Kenny Beecham of Enjoy Bball.
“Nico Harrison should not be allowed to make this pick,” wrote Barstool Sports personality Big Cat. “He needs to be fired before the draft. I’m happy for Mavs fans, they deserve this, Nico does not.”
There were, as there are in most years with the NBA draft lottery, conspiracy theorists on social media who believed the draft was rigged in favor of Dallas because of the unlikely odds.
Mavericks CEO Rick Welts said the moment was “surreal.”
“I’m the only person who was in this room and the room 40 years ago,” he said, according to the Washington Post.
“I was in charge of the NBA draft lottery 40 years ago when Patrick Ewing won. I’ve been doing conspiracy theory stories ever since. This is very surreal, personally.”
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