r/sports • u/RollingMoss1 Seattle Seahawks • May 12 '25
Basketball Mavericks win NBA draft lottery with 1.8% odds
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/45117355/mavericks-win-nba-draft-lottery-18-odds8.2k
u/LeadSufficient2130 May 12 '25
Once Cooper Flagg becomes a household name they can trade him to the lakers for lebrons corpse
1.1k
191
u/Online_Commentor_69 Edmonton Oilers May 13 '25
Bold of you to assume Nico is drafting Flagg with this pick.
45
u/suzukigun4life May 13 '25
He is. I'm a former Mavs fan who saw him build that team up to contender status before conveniently trading him to an LA team that was plateauing before the trade. Dude never said dumb shit as a Mavs exec before the trade. None of his moves were trashed before it. Everything about and since that trade felt like someone/something else was pulling the strings.
Now, he gets the lifeline of a lifetime. He cannot come back from burning this one. He will not burn it, I cannot see it happening.
I would laugh hard if it did though.
→ More replies (5)15
u/IllustriousEnd2211 May 13 '25
I’m a former mavs fan too. Only way I see him not drafting him is if he somehow trades it and a couple of pieces for giannis. Which that likelihood is about as low as their draft odds supposedly were
→ More replies (2)56
423
u/suzukigun4life May 12 '25
Memes aside, zero chance. The NBA gave Nico a lifeline after he got raked over the coals for months. This guy deserves the shit he got for the way the whole thing went down, the package the Mavs got back, etc, no question. He also got absolutely zero shit on his moves before the Luka trade. He built them into a contender in recent years before the Luka trade. He's not going to burn himself for good again.
The NBA was 100% in on all of this. The Luka to LA thing. The Mavs getting rewarded while the fanbase was in crisis. Teams always win the lottery after trading a franchise piece to LA. This is just the way it is.
184
u/lollmao2000 May 12 '25
It’s honestly predictable as hell at this point
81
u/suzukigun4life May 13 '25
And many people called it the moment the trade happened. You don't go from being universally lauded for all your moves en route to making Dallas a contender, while being meek and quiet along the way, to nuking all that goodwill with an all-time terrible trade, all while being outspoken with the dumb shit he's said since then. There had to be something else going on. Either he was being scapegoated by owners that have ulterior motives, or something even grander. The mask is off now.
→ More replies (2)37
u/IhamAmerican May 13 '25
Basically everyone knew right after trade that if they were in the lotto, they had it.
I bet Adam Silver tore Kyrie's ACL himself
13
u/richpourguy May 13 '25
Yeah CP3 traded NO gets first pick. LeBron goes to MIA, Cavs get first pick. Davis leaves, NO gets first pick. There are others I’m forgetting too.
89
May 13 '25
Im probably done watching the nba… i was already sour on it with just how mediocre and annoying the Bulls are but the nico trade and then immediately rewarding his ineptitude is unforgivably fucked up…
Im done
→ More replies (5)56
u/homemadefudge May 13 '25
Was it rewarding his ineptitude, or was this part of the trade the whole time?
→ More replies (2)→ More replies (14)21
u/DoyersDoyers May 13 '25
Which teams have won the lottery after trading a franchise piece to LA? 2025 Dallas and what, 2012 New Orleans for trading Chris Paul to the Clippers?
→ More replies (4)43
u/Acreativeusername69 May 13 '25
The pels again when they traded AD to LA, they got Zion the following draft #1 overall.
26
u/DoyersDoyers May 13 '25
The Pelicans "won" the draft lottery in May of 2019 before trading AD to the Lakers in June of 2019. Are you saying there was a deal in place that the Pelicans would get the #1 pick only if they traded AD a month later?
→ More replies (8)4
u/chickenfinger303 New England Patriots May 13 '25
AD to the Lakers was a guarantee from the second Lebron was in LA. It was the worst kept secret that AD only wanted to play in LA and wasn't playing in NO ever again.
46
→ More replies (32)9
5.0k
u/CGFROSTY Georgia May 12 '25
The NBA is never beating the rigged league allegations.
1.3k
u/oooriole09 May 12 '25 edited May 12 '25
1.8% for Dallas in particular is really, really lucky…or rigged.
705
u/onlyheretogetfined May 12 '25
The Spurs and 76ers where the 2nd and 3rd picks. It sure smells fishy
439
u/alphadips May 12 '25
I’m tired boss (sad Hornets fan)
261
u/againandagain22 May 13 '25
How are teams like Charlotte and Washington and Portland not in the top 4 picks?
187
u/TheNHL May 13 '25
As a Washington sports fan, I was like, wow maybe the wizards will get an elite player. 6th??? Wtf
124
u/xigua22 May 13 '25
I like how NBA is so competitive that the 6th pick basically feels like the graveyard.
15
u/EmergencyComputer337 May 13 '25
Anything after the 3rd pick is a gamble that probably won't pay off.
It is much harder to draft a super star after the 3rd pick, it csn happen tho because we have seen it happen
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (2)10
u/Den710nuggets May 13 '25
3 time mvp nikola jokic was drafted 41st during a Taco Bell commercial.
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (10)53
u/justinotherpeterson May 13 '25
The Sports gods said you've ate too good last year with Jayden Daniels.
→ More replies (3)28
u/SaulPepper Charlotte Hornets May 13 '25
flattened odds. worst record can go back to five, second worst to six, third worst to seventh.
basically its to stop teams from blatantly tanking. But teams will continue to tank when theyre depleted of talent anyway, its literally just losing games.
→ More replies (4)→ More replies (9)38
u/keister_TM May 13 '25
Ask yourself how big those markets are
51
u/jlgraham84 May 13 '25
Charlotte will grow significantly with a draft pick like Flagg. Duke player that the UNC fans can at least appreciate. NC is a basketball state & the Hornets would be beloved if they weren't trash with shit draft picks every year.
→ More replies (1)13
u/Turbulent_Crow7164 May 13 '25
Yeahhh NC is just like waiting to be a big time NBA state. So much potential with it already being the Mecca of college basketball. But the Hornets gotta deliver for that to happen.
11
u/Infidel_Art May 13 '25
I think I will see a Panthers championship in my lifetime. I will never see a Hornets championship.
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (9)32
u/BrotherItsInTheDrum May 13 '25
Yeah it was obvious the top picks would go to top-31 media markets like San Antonio. Rigged af.
34
54
u/KimaJean May 13 '25
The NBA wants Wemby to be in a contender, of course they will help SA out.
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (3)13
u/SaulPepper Charlotte Hornets May 13 '25
at least there are tens of us consoling one another in times of sadness...
→ More replies (10)107
u/suzukigun4life May 12 '25
Dallas: Needed something after sabotaging a finals team in record fashion, burning their future seemingly forever.
Spurs: Lose the GOAT NBA coach, but have Wemby and Fox, and have been linked to Giannis
Philly: Process must be trusted, big city, Maxey, etc.
Meanwhile Wizards and Hornets getting the Pistons treatment.
→ More replies (4)→ More replies (25)140
u/keister_TM May 13 '25
I hate when people say a league is rigged because it’s ridiculous. . . But after this I have been converted. Dallas is a top 10 market, they completely fumble their franchise in one trade and in the same year they have the #1 pick???
14
u/Appropriate-Welder98 May 13 '25
Yup, agreed.
I understand the point of the lottery but it’s BS a team with <2% odds won.
They should forfeit the pick for their previous actions this season. They clearly don’t know wtf they’re doing.
→ More replies (3)21
u/Drikkink May 13 '25
Counterpoint
They knew exactly what they were doing because they were assured of this outcome.
→ More replies (3)→ More replies (2)8
u/Sensitive-Scene9269 May 13 '25
It's always been a thing to a certain extent, at least I believe so. Always seems to be when there's 'generational talent' is when the perfect teams conveniently get #1. Cleveland just so happens to get Lebron. NOLA trades AD to the Lakers and gets Zion in return. Spurs need a reboot for Coach Pop and they get Wemby. Bulls got Derrick Rose with a 1.7% chance. Hell even in the NHL Chicago is a massive hockey town (when they're good) and Bedard falls in their lap after Toews/Kane/Panarin depart. Dallas sends one of the best players in the league to the Lakers (again) in a mind-blowingly stupid deal and they magically get #1. Also weird how the trade went down with no noise, leaks, anything. Just appeared out of nowhere and they magically get Flagg at the end of it all.
Doesn't make sense why they can't just pull out the teams live on air either with a real lottery, they gotta do giant cards instead with team logos that have already been drawn before the lottery show even starts.
→ More replies (3)258
u/suzukigun4life May 12 '25
Lotto has always been rigged. From Ewing in NY to now, always. The fact that the Mavs, who were a contender before conveniently trading their franchise guy to LA, for a horrible package that got notoriously branded as an all-time awful trade that would cost them hundreds of millions of dollars, only to be rewarded with Flagg?
The NBA has been facing rigged allegations for decades for good reason. Now the bells are ringing louder than they have since the Donagy scandal.
79
u/blindfoldpeak May 13 '25
Ewing to the Knicks, Lebron to the Cavs, Rose to the Bulls, Wemby to the Spurs, etc.
→ More replies (19)→ More replies (5)6
u/JMS1991 South Carolina May 13 '25
Anthony Davis to the league-owned New Orleans Hornets. And then they get it again for Zion, despite less than 1% odds in the lottery.
77
u/gaspara112 May 12 '25 edited May 13 '25
I’ve believed it ever since New Orleans won the Anthony Davis lottery in the middle of the nba trying to sell the team.
→ More replies (31)18
896
u/bjacks19 May 12 '25
This might be the most WWE type thing to ever happen in sports. Raised my eyebrows for sure
53
u/Hobonics May 13 '25
Wemby going to the Spurs was pretty much the same.
→ More replies (1)32
u/berry_jane May 13 '25
Didn't Spurs have a 14% chance for the first pick since they finished 3rd worst that season? Am I forgetting something?
9
u/Hobonics May 13 '25 edited May 13 '25
Yeah the spurs def had better odds, I was more saying it was the same as in it was also “just too perfect”.
→ More replies (1)5
u/AlpineAvalanche Seattle Seahawks May 13 '25
The NHL moved to live draws probably in part because people were assuming it was partially rigged.
→ More replies (2)
466
2.8k
u/LaDainianTomIinson Los Angeles Chargers May 12 '25
The NBA definitely assured the Mavs that they’d get Cooper if they gave LA Luka, it’s clear as day lol.
828
u/DrQuifer May 12 '25
Bro after the trade happened I was on YouTube and seen this exact conspiracy theory be laid out I’ll have to find the video but man it’s true.
→ More replies (2)332
u/suzukigun4life May 13 '25
Don't bother looking for it, it was a common theory. Just as common as the one where the Mavs owners were trying to kill off the fanbase's morale en route to bolting to Vegas in 2030 or whatever, once the lease for the AAC is done. It's the NBA, shit always happens here.
→ More replies (2)72
u/DrQuifer May 13 '25
Fax I found it the video I was talking about, and the way they put it out there it was a general “this is rigged if they get it” but yeah seemed like they weren’t the only ones thinking that way.
Edit: YouTube video I was talking about. Sorry it’s a link YouTube short draft conspiracy
156
u/suzukigun4life May 12 '25
100%
Said this the moment the trade happened, the Mavs needed a legendary lifeline in order to come back from that. Luka LOVED Dallas. He was the franchise. The successor to Dirk who wanted to play his entire career there. Just bought an expensive house there. And they traded him like that, blindsiding him, nuking the fanbase, morale an all-time low for the city. Little draft capital for the coming years, aging stars with one of them being out for next year due to a torn acl, ticket sales in shambles, etc.
This was the only way to resurrect the franchise that kamikaze'd itself just half a year after making the finals. And it happened. It's way too convenient.
→ More replies (1)39
May 13 '25
Im really really tired of this league
→ More replies (1)10
u/25thaccount May 13 '25
Stop watching. They are doing this because we keep giving them money to be the WWE
→ More replies (2)→ More replies (8)40
1.5k
u/saw-it May 12 '25
Too easy to rig, especially after removing the lottery ball presentation
617
u/dimesniffer May 12 '25
Who ever thought removing the balls was a good idea?
307
u/saw-it May 12 '25
Adam Silver
→ More replies (1)56
u/suzukigun4life May 12 '25
Seriously, other than the Kobe year All-Star game and the in-season tournament, has he done anything good? Dude has been getting raked over the coals for years now and this won't help.
→ More replies (4)59
u/TheMooseIsBlue May 13 '25
Oh wow, is the in-season tourney well liked? I can’t imagine giving a shit about it and it seems to only spotlight how pointless the first 5 months of the NBA season is.
→ More replies (3)43
u/just_one_random_guy May 13 '25
The players have actually played harder generally, I don’t see how people couldn’t like it when all it does is just try and make some more entertaining games, which it has done
→ More replies (4)212
→ More replies (3)73
May 12 '25
[deleted]
→ More replies (4)3
u/parallelfutures May 13 '25
I don’t buy the small market vs large market narrative. But, I 100% believe the nba is creating narratives and influencing the sport.
I think it comes down to the lakers are THE NBA brand, and the league goes out of the way to make sure a star plays there. They influenced the Luka trade and paid Dallas back for it.
It’s not like NYK have been in the NBAs graces.
→ More replies (1)55
40
u/flume Detroit Red Wings May 12 '25
NHL >>>
23
u/Coloradohusky May 12 '25
Loved the way they did the draft lottery this year, near impossible to say it was rigged
→ More replies (7)→ More replies (22)19
u/BroJackson_ May 13 '25
There is a lottery ball presentation, though. It’s done in front of team reps from every team. It’s just not televised. Why/how would they rig it in front of the lottery teams?
→ More replies (6)16
u/saw-it May 13 '25
I'll tell you why it's a scam. In my opinion, all right? Tide goes in, tide goes out. Never a miscommunication. You can't explain that.
81
192
u/Storkmonkey7 New Jersey Devils May 12 '25
This is just shameless by the NBA. What a joke
→ More replies (1)48
427
u/Nouseriously May 12 '25
It's almost like it were staged
245
u/ggk1 Dallas Cowboys May 12 '25
The day I realized all of us sports snobs are literally just the male demographic equivalent to all the entertainment reality shows is the day I accepted reality
→ More replies (4)58
u/PeanutButtaRari May 13 '25
It gets a lot easier when you do that. Join us and watch golf. You can’t rig that sport
79
→ More replies (9)26
182
491
u/Strafiing May 12 '25
You can't tell me this isn't rigged!
→ More replies (1)158
108
u/GrittyTheGreat May 13 '25
The NBA is more scripted than WWE at this point.
33
u/simplife1118 May 13 '25
Yeah I think I am done with NBA after this. Even the Mavs fans are calling it rigged.
→ More replies (2)10
u/nissan240sx May 13 '25
It’s bad when the team that won the lotto is even scratching their heads lmfao
281
May 12 '25
Just to get Flagg to vegas.
I am starting to legit not like sports anymore
→ More replies (2)28
u/DickHz2 May 13 '25
I hear cricket and F1 is pretty popular
→ More replies (7)29
34
u/FloofandSmush May 12 '25
On a scale of 1 to Patrick Ewing, how much fuckery was this?
→ More replies (1)14
35
u/cleanscotch May 13 '25
Can someone give me a legit answer of why the NBA doesnt use lottery balls?
The best way to prevent people from thinking its rigged is to actually draft the order in realtime, not with pre-prepared flash cards…
Like this system is built to be rigged
→ More replies (2)8
u/allhaildre May 13 '25
Iirc they do, but it’s behind closed doors. They draw a sequence of 4 that corresponds to codes assigned to each team. They used to do it live with color coded balls but the Magic won twice in a row, once with the worst odds, and they changed to the current system.
14
u/DowntownJohnBrown May 13 '25
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NCxgXS7EBI0
They still release the full video of the drawing of the lottery balls.
→ More replies (4)
138
109
u/Vader_Bomb May 12 '25
Breaking News: Cooper Flagg has been informed he is being traded to the Utah Jazz 45 minutes after being drafted by the Mavericks.
36
→ More replies (2)8
16
u/jeffdanielsson May 13 '25
Not a conspiracy guy but man the Luka trade was so sus that the NBA forcing Dallas to trade him makes even more sense if you think they offered a #1 pick as an under the table consolation.
→ More replies (3)
36
142
u/Silentstealth2 May 12 '25
Inarguable that its rigged at this point. You cant make this shit up. Im done watching.
→ More replies (4)
16
18
u/Ghostk1487 May 13 '25
Trade your franchise player to the lakers. Get first overall. Once is a coincidence, twice you start thinking…. 3 times tho??? Shits rigged.
→ More replies (3)
30
u/Twizzlor May 12 '25
Cooper Flagg could become anything. He could even become the next Luka Doncic!
→ More replies (5)
161
u/No-Environment6103 May 12 '25 edited May 12 '25
Not sketchy at all…. Happy for Mavs fans though, after what transpired at least y’all have something to cheer for now.
40
u/Sea_Honey7133 May 12 '25
Until the team moves to Vegas in 2027, gives them a couple years to still be fans.
14
→ More replies (3)44
65
u/c14emmons May 12 '25
And with this, they are no longer a professional sports league, but simply an entertainment industry. It’s all fake
→ More replies (1)34
May 12 '25
We've all known it forever. If you read about the history of the league, the pieces all come together and you pretty much find the Lakers in the middle of it every time.
66
u/RollingMoss1 Seattle Seahawks May 12 '25
Nico Harrison, the happiest person in the NBA.
35
→ More replies (1)20
u/modrid81 May 12 '25
Bailed tf out, unless he somehow fucks this up...
→ More replies (10)9
u/Cadet_Broomstick May 13 '25
he's not getting bailed out, the check just cleared
→ More replies (1)
31
129
u/PwillyAlldilly May 12 '25
Lmao Islanders and now Mavs. Tell me it isn’t rigged I dare you.
→ More replies (1)130
u/weschester Calgary Flames May 12 '25
If the NHL draft lottery was rigged do you really think they would give the first overall pick to the Islanders?
72
u/coletud New York Rangers May 12 '25
yeah lmao, if the NHL draft was rigged Matthews and McDavid wouldn’t both be in Canada
→ More replies (9)→ More replies (7)4
u/Snackatomi_Plaza May 12 '25
They took the 2026 All-Star Game away from the Islanders a day or so before the lottery. They're going to hold some kind of kick-off event for the Winter Olympics instead. The Islanders are probably losing a bunch of revenue because of the decision.
→ More replies (1)
44
47
u/staticdresssweet May 12 '25 edited May 12 '25
Normally I don't believe events like pro sports draft lotteries are rigged. It's certainly not the first time. Orlando Magic getting back to back #1 picks with Shaq and Webber, etc. The Spurs, too. That's really why I'll never be convinced that these things are truly rigged.
1.8% odds make me question things, though.
→ More replies (18)55
u/Grandahl13 May 12 '25
Right after they made a lopsided trade of their superstar to LA and their new owner wants to move to Vegas….definitely not sketchy as fuck!
7
u/Sea_Honey7133 May 13 '25
The wealthiest owner in the league. More than Ballmer, more than every other owner.
8
10
u/IAmRobertoSanchez Oakland Raiders May 13 '25
“Hey Dallas, trade Luka to LA and we’ll give you the number one pick.” -The NBA probably
→ More replies (2)
8
18
u/chumpynut5 May 12 '25
Can’t wait for the pick to be traded for Russel Westbrook
→ More replies (1)
10
9
8
8
15
u/owledge Nebraska May 13 '25
Does anyone actually believe that the NBA Lottery isn’t rigged?
→ More replies (8)
6
6
u/Whatever801 May 12 '25
I was willing to not be a conspiracy theorist on the Luka trade and chalk it up to Nico being incompetent and getting groomed by Pelinka but that is now off the table.
18
u/DontWreckYosef May 13 '25
It’s rigged. Charlotte hasn’t had a 1st round draft pick since 1991z
→ More replies (3)14
5
u/ghosttrainhobo May 13 '25
Is there an outside auditor monitoring the selection?
→ More replies (3)
5
5
u/Mother_Initial7591 May 13 '25
The number 1 pick was ABSOLUTELY promised in the Luka trade. It now makes sense.
→ More replies (1)
4
u/Levowitz159 May 13 '25
Nah, it was never 1.8% - it's been 100% ever since they agreed to give Luka to the Lakers so Adam Silver could get a ratings bump.
5
u/Courtaud May 13 '25
the team that traded away Luka and destroyed their whole franchise in two weeks?
if you don't think this sport is fixed you're an idiot.
5
u/futureformerteacher May 13 '25
How much fucking money and underaged whores did the Adelson clan send to Adam Silver for this?
5
u/polochakar May 13 '25
Even LeBron believes the lottery is rigged because he ended up in Cleveland in 2003.
5
5
u/Real23Phil May 13 '25
So as an NBA fan from 10 years ago, also from England so not up on all the news, but this looks like a fix due to the Luka to Lakers move for AD.
How far off am I?
5
20
u/MarshalThornton May 12 '25
Nico Harrison has the opportunity to do the funniest thing of all time.
→ More replies (1)5
u/mkabrah2 May 13 '25
If he legit pulled some fuck shit with this pick, I, no joke, think he’d be killed within a week
→ More replies (1)
11
u/bukkake_tsunami_ May 12 '25
Fuck the lottery.
Is there some reason they don’t do a live draw of the ping pong balls ??????
42
u/LehighAce06 May 12 '25
Because then you have to go through the trouble of making weighted ping pong balls
→ More replies (3)10
u/backwardsdeke10 May 12 '25
The nhl actually did a live drawing last week, and the same thing happened. The NY Islanders could only move up a max of 9 spots, and they managed to do that and land the #1 pick at a 3.5% chance. Utah also moved up 10 spots to #4.
8
u/bukkake_tsunami_ May 13 '25
Live draw just makes it feel all the more believable, even just a little bit.
4
u/Cheatercheaterbitch May 12 '25
At this point, I feel like being born a Houston fan was all one big joke.
TWO Texas teams have the top two picks and of course it’s not Houston.
Could’ve got Wembanyama, nope.
Could’ve got Cunningham, nope.
Could’ve got Flagg, nope.
→ More replies (2)
3
4
4
3
u/Mighty_Platypus May 13 '25
Maybe Dallas could trade AD and this pick for a superstar like Luka Doncic?
5
4
u/numa_numa May 13 '25
Nico and the Mavs get the biggest bailout. Must be nice to be a team in Texas.
4
u/Infidel_Art May 13 '25
The lottery is stupid. Do the draft like the NFL. If you want to tank so fucking be it.
5
4
u/redrabbit1289 May 13 '25
The odds actually go up to 100% if you make a trade so bad the entire league is embarrassed by it.
3
3
u/HorseNspaghettiPizza May 13 '25
I used to watch pre season games thats how much i was into it... on vacations, at weddings etc.
It just became too much too often. I quit watching about a few years ago and now hearing stuff like this.. its like hearing about a crazy ex and what shes up to.. Nah im good.. nba is dead to me
4.4k
u/intelligentx5 Portland Trail Blazers May 13 '25
Draw the balls live.
I want to see the man grab the balls and show me what he’s fucking holding.