It was a lucky break for the Dallas Mavericks who won the first overall pick in the 2025 National Basketball Association draft. The team is expected to use it to draft Newport, Maine native and basketball phenom Cooper Flagg.
The number one pick in the 2025 NBA draft goes to the Dallas Mavericks.
The Mavericks, who had just a 1.8% chance to receive the first pick, had never won the draft lottery until Monday night. And they're expected to select Duke's standout player Cooper Flagg.
Flagg has remained the projected number one overall draft pick since he graduated high school as the country's top college player. At Duke, he averaged 19 points a game and was voted NCAA player of the year.
When asked how he felt about the prospect of joining the Mavericks immediately after the lottery concluded, Flagg said he was trying to stay in the moment.
"For me, I didn't try and think about it too much. I feel like it's kind of out of my control so I'm just going through the process like everybody else and trying to enjoy every single moment because we only get to do this once," said Flagg.
The league’s draft isn’t until June 25, but the lottery established the order of the first 14 picks.
The 14 teams in contention for the first-round overall pick were those with the worst records in the league last season.
