Four months after trading away superstar Luka Doncic, the Dallas Mavericks have won the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft Lottery, despite entering the lottery with just a 1.8% chance to win the first pick. The lottery win gives Dallas the right to select Duke’s Cooper Flagg, the consensus top prospect and a player widely considered a generational talent. The Mavericks’ win marks the fourth-lowest odds to ever land the top pick in the lottery’s 40-year history and comes as a much-needed boost for a franchise that has struggled since trading away Doncic and dealing with injuries to both Kyrie Irving and Anthony Davis.

Cooper Flagg, a 6-foot-9 forward, has been the projected No. 1 pick since last summer’s USA Basketball camp in Las Vegas, and even earlier. He has transcendent defensive instincts and offensive arsenal, Flagg was named National College Player of the Year as a freshman after leading Duke to a Final Four appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Scouts have consistently placed him in a tier of his own in the 2025 draft class, and he is viewed as a franchise cornerstone that could redefine a team’s future.

San Antonio secured the No. 2 pick, followed by Philadelphia at No. 3 and Charlotte at No. 4. The rest of the lottery order is as follows: Utah at No. 5, Washington at No. 6, New Orleans at No. 7, Brooklyn at No. 8, Toronto at No. 9, Houston at No. 10, Portland at No. 11, Chicago at No. 12, Atlanta at No. 13, and San Antonio again at No. 14.

The 2025 NBA Draft will be held on June 25–26 in Brooklyn, New York.