“I mean come on man 🤣🤣🤣” and “👀👀👀” were just two perfect reactions from Kevin Love and PJ Washington to highlight how the rest of the NBA fan community would have been feeling after today’s Draft Lottery. By now, everyone would have time to take in and absorb the news that the Dallas Mavericks have been selected as the team to pick the No 1 Draft Pick. Yes, THE Dallas Mavericks!

The same team that traded off its star player in February, and was holding the 10th seed by mid-April. While the fanbase would have mixed reactions over this, the team’s front office members would certainly be thrilled, as was seen by Mark Cuban’s reaction.

Dallas Morning News sports reporter Brad Townsend recently revealed that Mavs owner Patrick Dumont was at a track meet of one of his kids. Due to that, he could not watch the lottery live. His phone rang, and it was Mark Cuban at the other end. Despite having sold off his majority ownership shares (73%) back in December 2023, the ‘Shark Tank’ billionaire still owns a minority share.

So, he kept a close eye on the lottery and was the first to tell Dumont that the Mavs were in the top 4. Townsend further added that “Phone rang again and Dumont thought Cuban said Mavs got No. 1 pick, but Cuban was so busy screaming he couldn’t make out all the words”. Yikes!

The latest NBA Draft Lottery marks only the second time that the Mavericks will go on to select the No. 1 pick in the draft. The last time it occurred was when the team selected Mark Aguirre with the top pick in 1981, 3 years before even Michael Jordan was drafted into the league. As highlighted by ESPN’s Anthony Gharib, Dallas entered the lottery with just a 1.8% chance of landing the No. 1 spot. While this would have been reason enough for anyone to be excited to get the No. 1 Pick, things were special this time around. After all, basketball enthusiasts have now realized that getting to select the No. 1 Draft Pick primes the team to acquire Cooper Flagg!

The Duke Blue Devils star has been, for a long time, considered to be a top pick thanks to his on-court prowess. Standing at 6-foot-9, the versatile forward led Duke as a freshman in points (19.2 ppg), rebounds (7.5), assists (4.2), blocks (1.4), and steals (1.4), while shooting 48.1% from the floor and 38.5% from 3-point distance. He reportedly helped the Blue Devils to a 35-4 record as Duke led the nation with a 20.4-point average scoring margin. Thanks to him, the team dominated the ACC with a 19-1 regular-season record and tournament championship before entering the NCAA tournament as a No. 1 seed.

Flagg even got a chance to show some of the best modern NBA players what he is capable of after being selected and invited to join the USA Select Team. The squad practiced with the Team USA roster that eventually went on to secure the Gold Medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics. The stats and overall prowess he generated during the 3-day stint were enough to earn him praise not only from the Select Team coaching staff, but also from his NBA rivals. Devin Booker reportedly said, “He wants it. I know this experience. He’s going to take with him and move forward.” It was important to remember that by that point, Flagg had not played even a single college basketball game. Now, Luka Doncic’s former team will become his first (and probably only home) in the NBA. In light of this, Flagg simply wants to go with the flow.

“For me, I didn’t try and think about it too much. I feel like it’s just 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” said the 18-year-old after the announcement of the Dallas Mavericks’ ‘achievement’.

For many, this would be a welcoming sight. For others, however, this action has led to the rise of a new conspiracy theory: Was Luka Doncic traded because Nico Harrison knew that something like this lottery pick could happen? Nevertheless, several people, including renowned personalities, were not happy with the direction the NBA took with this decision.

An NFL Veteran Raises Accusations Against NBA After Dallas Mavericks Are Positioned to Acquire Cooper Flagg: “WHAT!?”

In the aftermath of the NBA Draft Lottery, Robert Griffin III took to his official X account. The former player went viral back in January after defending the NFL against accusations of referee bias and rigged outcomes. However, the same individual didn’t shy away from handing out some unproven claims about the NBA Draft Lottery. After all, he wrote, “Dear NBA fans, this is a safe space. Is the NBA Draft lottery rigged? Why or why not? The Dallas Mavericks made the worst trade in NBA History sending Luka Doncic to the Lakers and then got rewarded with the #1 pick in the draft lottery to potentially draft Cooper Flagg. WHAT!?”.

The fact that a team can get benefits after trading their best player was a belief earlier highlighted by LeBron James, too. In an appearance on the Pat McAfee show back in March, he recalled his own experience by stating, “During the lottery drop, Cleveland got the No. 1 pick. I just don’t think that was – what a coincidence. Let’s keep LeBron home. You know what? Patrick Ewing to the Knicks. Derrick Rose to the Bulls. I understand the assignment, guys.” Now, the fact that the player reacted to the recent news with a couple of laughing emojis on X makes it seem that him and Robert Griffin III might have a point.

LeBron James wasn’t the only one. Kevin Durant also took to X and wrote, “Tanking must be really stressful on a organization.” No evidence gives any air to these theories. However, one has to admit that Nico Harrison would not have traded the team’s star player just for Anthony Davis. Davis, who got injured in his debut game with the team and wasn’t enough to get the Mavs out of their dug ditch.

No matter what, this is a historical moment. If the Mavericks don’t trade their pick, Dallas would have the top players in both men’s and women’s college basketball, since the Dallas Wings had acquired Paige Bueckers in the 2025 WNBA Draft. With someone like Cooper Flagg on their side, the Mavericks might end up reaching the same potential as they did in the 2023-24 NBA season.