Cooper Flagg set to become the luckiest No. 1 pick in decades

Last year's No. 1 pick, Zaccharie Risacher, went to an Atlanta Hawks team that won 36 games the year before. In 2023, Victor Wembanyama joined a San Antonio Spurs team that won a combined 44 games over their previous two seasons.

This year's projected No. 1 pick, Cooper Flagg, will be going to a 39-win Mavericks team that was on pace to win over 50 games before the injuries to superstars Kyrie Irving and Anthony Davis. The Duke phenom will join a championship-level roster, bucking a trend of top picks going to bottom-feeding teams over the last few decades.

In the 21st century, no other No. 1 pick went to a winning situation. The only one who came close was Derrick Rose, whose Bulls won 45 games two years before his arrival but won 33 to win the draft lottery.

Tim Duncan, in 1997, was the last No. 1 pick to join a winning club. In 1996-97, the Spurs infamously tanked after David Robinson broke his foot six games into the season. The year before, they won 59 games and finished with a 62-20 record in the 1994-95 season. Those Spurs had an established roster full of proven vets. Sure enough, they won 56 games in Duncan's rookie year and captured the title the following season.

Much like Duncan, Flagg is walking into a situation where he isn't under pressure to carry the workload  that is typically associated with a No. 1 pick. In the same vein that Duncan could rely on "The Admiral," Sean Elliot and Co., Flagg can lean on Davis, Irving and a veteran Mavericks.

That's why LeBron James believes Flagg will avoid picking up "bad habits" because of his ideal situation, unlike other No. 1 picks in recent years who spent years in obscurity after entering the NBA. 

ESPN's Jay Bilas explained why Flagg's skill set of a Swiss-army knife is another reason he can thrive on a contender immediately, unlike other top prospects who prefer being featured as a No. 1 scoring option.

"He's not going into a game thinking 'I'm going to be the top scorer' or 'I'm going to get 25,'" Bilas said of Flagg. "He does what it takes to make the right plays right now, and he does it again the next play."

In a few decades, Flagg will probably look back on his career and feel grateful that the Mavericks won the lottery with unlikely odds of 1.8 percent. His career might unfold — or at least start — differently if he had gone to a bottom-feeder like the Jazz, Hornets or Wizards.