Mavs Awarded Ultimate Mulligan By Winning Cooper Flagg Sweepstakes; We (MFFL) Deserve This
The Dallas Mavericks' front office may not deserve the opportunity to draft Duke phenom Cooper Flagg after how it handled the Luka Doncic trade, but Mavs fans certainly deserve to enjoy this new joy.
After three and a half months of sports depression and misery following the Dallas Mavericks’ trade of Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers, MFFL were miraculously given new life on Monday night. With just a 1.8% chance to win the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft Lottery, the Mavs somehow defied those low odds and came away with the highly coveted top pick, allowing them the opportunity to draft Duke’s generational 18-year-old, Cooper Flagg, on June 25.
Not only did the Mavs win the lottery with just a 1.8% probability, but so much more had to happen for them even to have those odds. Dallas ended the regular season with a 39-43 record, tying them with the Chicago Bulls for the 11th-best odds. The NBA did a coin flip to determine which team would have the 11th and 12th best odds. The Mavs won that coin toss, giving them the 1.8% chance at the No. 1 pick, while the Bulls dropped to 12th with a 1.7% chance.
Even before all of that, though, none of it would’ve been possible had the Mavs beaten the Memphis Grizzlies in the second Western Conference Play-In Tournament game. After blowing out the Sacramento Kings in the first West Play-In game, the Mavs had an opportunity to go into Memphis and capture the 8-seed, which would have pinned them against the 68-14 Oklahoma City Thunder. If the Mavs had beaten the Grizzlies and made the playoffs, there would have been no chance of having the lottery luck that unfolded on Monday night.
Given how short-sighted the Doncic trade was, many people believe that Mavs general manager Nico Harrison doesn’t deserve this unbelievable gift–or mulligan, we should say–from the basketball gods. And those people are probably right, because someone who trades a 26-year-old five-time All-NBA First Team talent coming off an NBA Finals run for a 32-year-old star, a role player, and one first-round pick shouldn’t have this kind of life raft thrown their way three months later.
But you know who does deserve every bit of this good fortune? WE do. The Dallas Mavericks fan base. The die-hard MFFLs. The Mavs media. The Mavs employees who had to deal with the brunt of the aftermath of the Doncic trade. WE all deserve to have a new, young, generational talent lead this franchise for (hopefully) the next 10-15 years after what was ripped away from us on such short notice in the dead of night on Feb. 1, 2025.
There are people who will tell you that this whole situation was rigged from the start. No matter what happens, others will continue to be negative about this team until Nico Harrison is fired. But don’t let any of that steal your joy in this moment.
Enjoy this. Savor this. Cherish this.
We know all too well how quickly things can change in the blink of an eye, so let’s accept this miraculous new beginning with open minds and open hearts. A lot of us were here well before Luka Doncic and Nico Harrison, and we will remain long after both of them as well. We might not always be happy with the direction of the franchise, but we will always be here waiting for the tide to turn in those situations. Luckily for us, that tide seemingly turned in just over three months’ time.
After never once moving up in the NBA Draft Lottery in their 45-year franchise history, the Mavs finally did it in the grandest way possible. Cooper Flagg, who has been touted as the most surefire No. 1 overall pick over the last decade, is going to be drafted by the Dallas Mavericks.
Just take a moment and let that sink in. An exciting new chapter in Mavs history awaits.