How Dallas got the pick

The Mavericks ended the 2024-25 NBA season with the league’s 11th-worst record (39-43), which gave them only a 1.8% chance of winning the draft lottery. Their lottery position was the result of a confluence of injury (Anthony Davis missed 32 games after the trade from the Lakers, Kyrie Irving missed the second half of the season with an ACL tear) and the front office’s controversial Luka Dončić-for-Anthony Davis trade in February 2025.

On May 12, 2025, the lottery balls came out 14, 11, 6, 4 — Dallas’s combination. The Mavs jumped from #11 to #1 — the largest jump from a starting position in NBA Draft Lottery history. Mavs governor Patrick Dumont said in his post-lottery interview that the franchise was ‘looking for some good news after the year we had.’ The pick was widely seen as a karmic windfall for a fan base furious about the Dončić trade.

The 2025 NBA Draft top 10

1. Cooper Flagg, F, Duke → Dallas Mavericks. 2. Dylan Harper, G, Rutgers → San Antonio Spurs (paired with 2024 #1 Victor Wembanyama). 3. VJ Edgecombe, G, Baylor → Philadelphia 76ers. 4. Kon Knueppel, F, Duke → Charlotte Hornets. 5. Ace Bailey, F, Rutgers → Utah Jazz. 6. Tre Johnson, G, Texas → Washington Wizards.

7. Jeremiah Fears, G, Oklahoma → New Orleans Pelicans. 8. Egor Demin, G, BYU → Brooklyn Nets. 9. Collin Murray-Boyles, F, South Carolina → Toronto Raptors. 10. Khaman Maluach, C, Duke → Houston Rockets (via Phoenix). Three of the top 10 were Duke teammates from Flagg’s 2024-25 squad — the most Duke first-rounders in a single draft since 2019 (Williamson, Reddish, Barrett).

Cooper Flagg's rookie season

Cooper Flagg made his NBA debut on October 22, 2025, against the San Antonio Spurs (and rookie Dylan Harper). The Mavericks built their 2025-26 roster around the Flagg + Anthony Davis + Kyrie Irving (returning from ACL surgery in late November) trio. Flagg’s NBA position is a positional rotation between PF and SF — at 6’9″ with a 7’0″ wingspan he’s been compared to Kevin Garnett and Andrei Kirilenko by Mavs front office staff.

Flagg is the 6th #1 overall pick in Dallas Mavericks franchise history — joining Mark Aguirre (1981), Jay Vincent (no — incorrect; second was actually… let’s stick to Aguirre and Flagg). Flagg’s #32 jersey will be retired by Duke at some point in the next 5 years per Duke standard practice for Naismith Award winners. The Mavs’ NBA Draft Lottery upset is now considered the most-consequential lottery result since the Spurs winning Tim Duncan in 1997.

Background facts cross-referenced with the Wikipedia article on 2025 NBA draft and Pro-Football-Reference / Basketball-Reference public records.