The Dallas Mavericks have won the NBA Draft lottery and will have the No.1 overall pick this June. The Mavericks had a 1.8% chance of capturing the top pick and jumped ten spots up the draft order, the largest move by any team in lottery history, according to ESPN. The news comes after the team traded away franchise star Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers in return for Anthony Davis on February 1. 鈥淚 am so happy for Mavericks fans. I only got to Dallas Jan. 1 this year. Feb. 1, 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,鈥 said Rick Welts, Mavericks CEO. The Mavericks are now in pole position to select draft frontrunner and Duke forward Cooper Flagg, who won the National Player of the Year award this past year. The 18-year-old averaged 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4.2 assists in his freshman year, leading the Blue Devils to the Final Four. Weltz didn鈥檛 confirm whether or not Dallas, who had the fourth lowest odds to win the lottery in NBA history, would draft Flagg; however, he noted that 鈥淚 think his r茅sum茅 is pretty strong.鈥 The San Antonio Spurs received their third straight top 5 selection and will pick second, ahead of the Philadelphia 76ers and the Charlotte Hornets, who have the third and fourth picks, respectively. The Utah Jazz and the Washington Wizards, who both came into the lottery with the best odds at getting the No.1 pick at 14%, will pick fifth and sixth. The New Orleans Pelicans will pick seventh, ahead of the Brooklyn Nets at eight, the Toronto Raptors in ninth, and the Houston Rockets at ten. The Portland Trail Blazers will have the 11th pick, with the Chicago Bulls, Atlanta Hawks and Spurs rounding out the top 14 picks.
"The fun starts now," Welts, the team's CEO, said after the Mavs won this year's NBA lottery and got the chance to draft Duke phenom Cooper Flagg next month.聽