The NBA draft lottery has been a mix of numbers, tension, and almost superstitions for decades. But every so often, a franchise finds a moment that not only changes its course but also reopens old wounds and gives them a chance to take an edge over already established teams. Riding high on a stroke of outstanding draft luck, the Dallas Mavericks now find themselves in an unexpected spotlight where prior regrets and present successes clash. Celebration spread around Dallas as the Mavericks guaranteed the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft with only a 1.8% probability! Who? Yes, Cooper Flagg.

Holding the golden envelope, CEO Rick Welts was beaming; Duke’s Cooper Flagg, college basketball’s prodigy who loomed as the confident choice. But this coincidence went beyond just bouncing ping-pong balls. It brought up an intense discussion that started years ago when former team owner Mark Cuban publicly supported the very approach that just changed the team’s fate for a high $600,000 in a quite negative way.

It became famous when Cuban said on Julius Erving’s podcast in 2018 that “losing is our best option.” The NBA did not hold back and gave him a fine for saying things that were seen as bad for the league. At the time, his honesty caused more trouble than it caused praise. Moving forward to 2025, a different voice: Michelle Beadle said a similar point. On March 25, a few weeks before the lottery, she told the Mavericks they should focus on getting into the draft instead of chasing short-lived playoff dreams. It worked.

“If the Spurs were in the same situation as the Mavs and they can go to play-in or get a better pick…I’d want the draft pick.” said Michelle on Run It Back. Chandler Parsons added: “Can we not forget, like a few years ago, Mark Cuban got fined for doing the exact same thing that turned into that Derek rivalry, which actually worked out.” The panel’s point? While a top-tier draft selection can change a team, fans might cry for playoff basketball. Declared the now-viral X post alongside snippets of the prediction panel featuring Michelle Beadle, Chandler Parsons and Lou Williams.

The post got attention not only for its foresight but also for the subtle irony: Chandler articulated what Mark Cuban once held for, and his words have now aged like a prediction. With Irving out for the season because of an injury, Dallas unknowingly started to rebuild, which paid off big time.

Cooper Flagg’s confession on joining ‘controversial’ Dallas Mavericks

Questions about strategy and fairness are starting to arise even as Dallas gets ready to welcome Flagg, a 6-foot-9 baller who guided Duke to the Final Four and averaged 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 4.2 assists. Might this lottery victory be connected to Irving’s injury indirectly? Did the Mavericks deliberately downshift?

Flagg confessed on the ESPN lottery broadcast, “I didn’t try to think about it too much.” “It was out of my control.” The tale about him and Dallas, however, is far from out of control. The Mavericks’ jump to the top seems less like chance and more like the result of quiet recalibration, given San Antonio, Philadelphia, and Charlotte following behind in the draft order.

The irony is impossible to miss as Cuban observes from the sidelines, no longer responsible for of the franchise after he sold the majority of the stakes. Once $600K, a fine called him irresponsible. The same philosophy now is seen as smart.

Flagg’s arrival might change an era. But it also changes our view of timing, risk, and the formerly taboo subject of tanking that now potentially is a simple part of the game plan.