Mavericks Faced Unreal Odds to Win NBA Draft Lottery

The Dallas Mavericks won the NBA draft lottery for the first time in franchise history, overcoming some very long odds to do so.

The Mavericks hovered around the fringes of playoff contention throughout much of the NBA regular season, still clinging to hope even after shipping star Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers in a surprise trade. The Mavericks fell just short after losing both of their games in the NBA Play-In Tournament, sending them to the NBA draft lottery with odds of just 1.8% to win the No. 1 overall pick.

The Mavericks beat the odds, coming up with the top pick and the chance to land Duke star Cooper Flagg. 

As reporter Brad Townsend of the Dallas Morning News noted, the Mavericks overcame both some big odds this year and generationally bad franchise luck to land the top pick.

"Hell froze over. The Mavericks will jump into one of the top four selections of the draft lottery," Townsend wrote in a post on X. "This is the first time in 17 lottery appearances that the Mavericks drew a better pick than their odds dictated."

The odds grew even longer considering the Top 4 teams in the NBA draft. Following the Mavericks and their 1.8% odds came the San Antonio Spurs at 6% odds, then the Philadelphia 76ers with 10.5% odds.