Dallas Mavericks secure No. 1 overall pick after winning 2025 NBA draft lottery
Duke Blue Devils' Cooper Flagg playing against the Alabama Crimson Tide during the NCAA men's basketball tournament's Elite Eight in March.
By Wayne Sterling, CNN
(CNN) — The Dallas Mavericks won the 2025 NBA draft lottery on Monday in Chicago, securing the coveted top overall pick and the right to possibly select Duke University star forward Cooper Flagg next month.
Dallas had just a 1.8% chance of receiving the first pick, the fourth lowest odds since the lottery started in 1985. This is the first time the Mavericks have won the lottery.
Dallas will have the opportunity to reset the franchise by adding Flagg after trading Luka Dončić in the middle of this season, which sparked a huge amount of backlash from their fanbase.
“It’s been a rough year as you all know,” Rolando Blackman, Mavericks ambassador and four-time NBA All-Star, said in an ESPN interview after the lottery. “We’ll get a chance to move our franchise forward. … It’s really, really a great honor, and it’s an important piece of the puzzle because we want to hoop down in Dallas.”
Blackman said that Flagg “can hoop, he can play,” adding, “There’s a lot of great players in that draft class. … We will see how the guys get together and being able to make our team better which is exactly what we want to do.”
The Utah Jazz, Washington Wizards and Charlotte Hornets had the best odds at 14% of landing the No. 1 selection.
The 18-year-old Flagg cemented himself as one of the top players in college last season as a freshman.
Flagg averaged 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.4 blocks and 1.2 steals in 37 games for the Blue Devils, who lost in the men’s basketball Final Four to the University of Houston in the final minutes.
The first team All-American, who was in attendance at McCormick Place during the event, said it was an “incredible experience” and is something he has dreamed about since he was a child.
The lottery win offers a silver lining to what was a tumultuous season for the Mavericks.
Dallas stunned the NBA world when general manager Nico Harrison made the shocking decision to trade star player Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers in February. The blockbuster trade left Mavericks fans reeling after the sudden exit of their superstar.
The mood became even more bleak in Dallas after a rash of injuries hit several of the Mavs’ most important players. Most notably, Kyrie Irving was lost for the season with a torn ACL in his knee and Anthony Davis – who the Mavericks received in exchange for Dončić – missed significant time with a strained adductor.
Dallas was still able to claw their way into the NBA’s play-in tournament, but were eliminated from postseason contention by the Memphis Grizzlies.
On whether he thought he could possibly play in Dallas, Flagg said, “I didn’t try to think about it too much. I feel like it’s kind of out of my control. I’m just kind of going through the process like everybody else and just trying to enjoy every single moment because we only get to do this once.”
The San Antonio Spurs, Philadelphia 76ers, Hornets and Jazz round out the top five picks in the upcoming draft.
The two-day, two-round draft will be held at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, on June 25-26.
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This story has been updated with additional information.
