The Dallas Mavericks have had the most turbulent year of any NBA franchise. It started with trading franchise centerpiece Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers in February, shocking the basketball world and igniting anger in a fanbase that hasn’t really been seen before. The criticism of Dallas’ general manager Nico Harrison, who spearheaded the decision to jettison Doncic has been loud and often, as “Fire Nico” chants became common to hear at the American Airlines Center and at other Dallas sporting venues.
But the team’s fortune drastically changed on the night of the draft lottery when the Mavericks — who had less than a 2% chance of landing the No. 1 pick — did just that, awarding them the rights to select generational prospect Cooper Flagg.
Dallas made it official Wednesday, selecting Flagg with the top pick and officially ushering in a new era of Mavericks basketball. After the selection, Harrison spoke with media members where he was asked if he hopes the criticism of him will fade with Flagg on the roster.
“I’m hoping so,” Harrison said. “I’m assuming so, maybe.”
2025 NBA Draft: Mavericks top pick Cooper Flagg reveals player he’s most excited to face as rookie
Jordan Dajani
Having Flagg will certainly serve as a shield for Harrison to hide behind, but that doesn’t make the decision to trade Doncic any less damning. Landing Flagg also won’t fix everything for the Mavericks either, who now must address an imbalanced roster with lineup questions entering next season. But having a player like Flagg, who won’t turn 19 until December and has All-Star potential, certainly gives the Mavericks a far brighter future than the one they had after trading Doncic.
But getting Flagg had nothing to do with Harrison. It was merely a luck of a few ping pong balls falling in Dallas’ favor, and a coin flip that will probably haunt Bulls fans forever. Once Dallas’ name was called, there was no difficult decision that needed to be made.
“I was extremely surprised, all my draft prep up to that point was us being in 11th position, but things happen,” Harrison said of the Mavericks landing the No. 1 pick. “Fortune favors the bold. Exciting things fell our way.”
Drafting Flagg was the easy part. Now Harrison gets another chance at building a championship-contending team with a new star who projects to be a top player in this league. The moves Harrison makes going forward will be what he’s judged on, and given his recent track record, those moves will be under a microscope even more.
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