The NBA held their 2025 Draft Lottery last night, and already there are claims that it was rigged. The Dallas Mavericks, who entered the lottery in the 11th draft slot and only a 1.8% chance of drawing the #1 pick, won the lottery and will pick 1st in the draft June 25. They will surely pick Duke player Cooper Flagg with the #1 overall pick, making the Mavericks' execs, who have been excoriated for trading Luka Dončić, now look like geniuses.
The San Antonio Spurs were picked 2nd and the Philadelphia 76ers were picked 3rd in the lottery. Both were also long shots to get top-three picks.
The 4 teams with the worst records all fell out of the top picks in the draft.
The unlikely outcome has started conspiracy theories that the lottery was rigged.
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And there are a couple other ironies that affected the Chicago Bulls and their fans. The last time such a huge longshot won the NBA Draft lottery was in 2008, when the Bulls, who had only a 1.7% chance to win the lottery, won the #1 pick and were fortunate to be able to select hometown star Derrick Rose.
And the Bulls finished the 2024-25 NBA season with a 39-43 record, the exact same record as the Draft winning Dallas Mavericks. BUt a coin flip was held last month to determine the draft order, and the Bulls lost to coin flip to the Mavericks. Thus the Mavericks got the 11th pick, and by a stroke of luck, move to #1, while the Bulls settled for the #12 pick. In a draft class that is considered by many experts as relatively weak, that likely means the Bulls will probably end up with another long-term project.
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The San Antonio Spurs were picked 2nd and the Philadelphia 76ers were picked 3rd in the lottery. Both were also long shots to get top-three picks.
The 4 teams with the worst records all fell out of the top picks in the draft.
The unlikely outcome has started conspiracy theories that the lottery was rigged.
'Rigged': NBA fans react to Mavericks winning draft lottery, Cooper Flagg
Dallas entered the lottery with a 1.8% chance at the top pick, but now have its Luka Doncic replacement.
www.nbcdfw.com
Was NBA Draft lottery rigged for Mavs to get Cooper Flagg? ‘Great day for conspiracy theory crowd’
The Dallas Mavericks won the 2025 NBA Draft lottery.
www.nj.com
NBA Draft Lottery winners and losers: Mavericks' win fuels conspiracy theories, Spurs and 76ers also move up
Meanwhile, the Wizards, Jazz and Hornets continue to lose
www.cbssports.com
And there are a couple other ironies that affected the Chicago Bulls and their fans. The last time such a huge longshot won the NBA Draft lottery was in 2008, when the Bulls, who had only a 1.7% chance to win the lottery, won the #1 pick and were fortunate to be able to select hometown star Derrick Rose.
And the Bulls finished the 2024-25 NBA season with a 39-43 record, the exact same record as the Draft winning Dallas Mavericks. BUt a coin flip was held last month to determine the draft order, and the Bulls lost to coin flip to the Mavericks. Thus the Mavericks got the 11th pick, and by a stroke of luck, move to #1, while the Bulls settled for the #12 pick. In a draft class that is considered by many experts as relatively weak, that likely means the Bulls will probably end up with another long-term project.
'This is a meat-and-potatoes draft': NFL scouts on the strengths, weaknesses and depth of the 2025 class
With only a handful of high-end prospects, the 2025 draft class has been criticized and questioned. But scouts are actually intrigued by the group's depth.