After one of the worst trades in NBA history, Dallas just hit the jackpot

Source : ABC NEWS

After being roundly mocked for trading away a generational talent in February, the Dallas Mavericks have beaten the odds to grab another one in June.

The Mavericks and general manager Nico Harrison were pilloried for sending Luka Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis earlier this season, just months after he led Dallas to the 2024 NBA Finals.

But, after missing the play-offs, the ping-pong balls in the NBA Draft Lottery bailed them out, gifting them the first pick in next month’s draft, with Duke sensation Cooper Flagg a lock.

And just like that, there is something to root for in Dallas again after a tumultuous few months where Dončić got traded and the Mavs missed the play-offs as Davis suited up for just nine games and the team won 12 of 30 down the stretch.

The Lakers lost 4-1 in the first round to Minnesota.

The Mavericks only had a 1.8 per cent chance of getting the top pick and were long odds (8.5 per cent) of even falling in the top four, prompting shocked reactions around the league and tears of laughter from Dončić’s Lakers teammate LeBron James.

Rolando Blackman, a four-time All Star with the Mavericks in the 80s and 90s, was representing the team as the draft order was decided and could not hide his glee when the San Antonio Spurs were read out as the number two pick.

Blackman laughed and clasped his hands together as he shook hands with NBA deputy chief executive Mark Tatum.

“I am so happy for Mavericks fans,” Dallas chief executive Rick Welts said, clutching the envelope with the number one emblazoned on it.

“I only got to Dallas January 1st this year. February 1st, we broke the internet. I am just amazed at the depth of emotion and connection that the fan base has with this team. And what happened today.

“I can’t imagine a better day for Mavs fans. It’s going to really be something special. I can’t wait to get back to Dallas.”

The Mavs lost 4-1 to the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals last season, then scorned their fans by trading away Dončić, who clearly did not want to leave as evidenced by the tears he shed when he returned to Dallas as a Laker and the team paid tribute to him.

“I didn’t try to think about it too much,” Flagg said on the broadcast of the lottery about what it’ll likely mean for his immediate future.

“It was out of my control.”

If Miami had lost in the play-in tournament, the Heat would have had the odds that the Mavericks ended up having — so if the ping-pong balls bounced the same way, they would have had the top pick.

“I mean come on man,” Heat forward Kevin Love posted on social media when the lottery winner was announced.

“There is no f***ing way.”

Dallas was so far out of the picture that when Flagg posed with four NBA teams’ caps in a promotional shoot before the lottery, it was New Orleans, Charlotte, Washington and Utah.

Charlotte will pick fourth, with the Jazz, Wizards and Pelicans following them in that order on June 26 despite those four teams having the best odds of picking first going into the lottery.

Flagg averaged 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4.2 assists while leading Duke to the Final Four in his lone college season, and he has had success against NBA players already.

Last summer, when the US Olympic team was holding its training camp in Las Vegas in advance of the Paris Games — where the Americans won gold yet again — Flagg was part of the select team brought in for scrimmages against the Olympians.

Flagg, who was 17 years old at the time, more than held his own in those workouts.

“I don’t know who we’re going to take, but should we take him, I think his resume is pretty strong,” Welts said.

“Every time he’s put in a situation that everyone wondered if he could succeed, he’s succeeded and then some.”

It is another boon for the city of Dallas, with the Wings picking college superstar Paige Bueckers with the first pick in the WNBA Draft last month.

AP/ABC