NBA Draft Lottery takeaways: Mavericks stun, Spurs have options, 76ers cash in

John Fanta

College Basketball Broadcaster and Reporter

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It was as stunning as it was wild and unpredictable all rolled into one. On Monday night in Chicago, Nico Harrison and the Dallas Mavericks received an unimaginable gift from the basketball gods. A get-out-of-jail-free card. A second chance to right the ship after their decision to move on from Luka Dončić and trade him to Los Angeles for Anthony Davis, in what has already been determined an all-time swing-and-a-miss by Dallas for a variety of reasons. 

It is still surreal to say this: the Mavericks, with a 1.8% chance to come out with the No. 1 pick in the draft, won the lottery and made themselves hundreds of millions of dollars in the process because they now get to select Cooper Flagg. It marked the fourth-lowest percentage chance of reeling in the top pick since the draft lottery was implemented in 1985, when the Knicks won the No. 1 selection and Patrick Ewing. 

Everything surrounding the Mavericks organization was the definition of negativity. After Harrison made a trade that was collectively criticized, to say he “didn’t quite know” how important Doncic was to the Dallas fan base made it far worse for the brass across the franchise. Well, here’s a newsflash: the 18-year-old Flagg could mean as much as anybody to wear the Mavericks jersey. The 6-foot-9 forward can do it all on both ends of the floor, playing like a guard and impacting his teammates in a variety of ways, starting with his outstanding defensive skill set. His floor? In my mind, it’s that he’s just a very good NBA player. But the fact that Dallas won this lottery is utterly absurd. The Mavericks were staring at organizational hell and apathy from their fan base as a middling Western Conference team. Instead, the blend of Flagg with some star power gives this lineup some real possibilities: 

Before getting to four other takeaways from draft night, the Mavs winning the lottery also provides the latest example that there are really zero guarantees to tanking in the NBA, and that the league’s worst teams haven’t cashed in on lottery night. The Utah Jazz, who went 17-65, won’t even be picking in the top three of this draft. In fact, it marked the third straight year that the Association’s worst team will be selecting fifth on draft night. The Hornets and Wizards, who equaled the Jazz with a 14% chance to land the top selection, are picking fourth and sixth selectively. In this set-up, tanking is not rewarded like we see in the NFL. It certainly provides more thrills on lottery night, but for those franchises outside the top three who are starving to turn things around, it’s a difficult pill to swallow. 

Here are four more takeaways from draft lottery night. 

The draft begins at No. 2 and the San Antonio Spurs have no shortage of options at their disposal. 

Think about the state of the organization: The Spurs collected their most wins since the 2018-19 season with Victor Wembanyama averaging 24.3 points, 11.0 rebounds and 3.7 assists with an NBA-leading 3.8 blocks per game. Had he not been shut down in February, he would have claimed defensive player of the year and we would have gotten to see Wemby with 2023 All-Star guard De’Aaron Fox more often. While Wemby’s status for next season is up in the air due to blood clotting in his right shoulder, provided he is healthy, San Antonio has a great ceiling with Fox, Devin Vassell and this season’s NBA Rookie of the Year, Stephon Castle. 

When it came up that San Antonio would be picking No. 2 overall, two years after selecting Wembanyama with the No. 1 pick, it really puts the Spurs in a position to either get the second-best player in this draft class or do something that carries value in this stacked class of high-level college talent: trade the pick. Would San Antonio want to draft Rutgers guard Dylan Harper and put him in a backcourt that already has several roles defined? What about 6-foot-10 Ace Bailey, who is a tremendous shooter and carries significant upside with his length, versatility and guard skills at his size? It feels like San Antonio, which did give up four first-round picks for Fox at the deadline but possesses six firsts in the next eight years, could trade out of No. 2, get more capital and move down a couple of slots to select Khaman Maluach from Duke or Derik Queen from Maryland. 

This pick is also ammo in the event San Antonio wants to explore acquiring Giannis Antetokounmpo from Milwaukee, after it was reported Monday that the Bucks superstar is open to moving teams. The ball is in Spurs general manager Brian Wright’s court, in another critical decision for the organization’s trajectory.

There was a stroke of luck for Philadelphia sports fans on Monday night. 

The 76ers will have the third pick in the draft. With a top-six protected pick after the 2020 trade that sent Al Horford to the Thunder and brought Danny Green to Philadelphia, the Sixers are obviously a big winner from lottery night, as they get to keep the pick and it’s the No. 3 selection. This team needs that pick. When 77% of your payroll is taken up by Joel Embiid, Paul George and Tyrese Maxey, you need a pick as valuable as the third slot in the draft. 

At the end of the day, Philadelphia needs Embiid and George to be healthy for them to get back on track after their offseason championship of last year did not translate when the ball was tipped. But, finding another wing or big man for the rotation should be the way they go if they keep the pick. I would not be surprised if we see either Kon Knueppel or Maluach from Duke go in this slot.

The Jazz and Wizards are in a critical offseason for their future and will be selecting fifth and sixth in this draft. 

Utah and Washington, D.C. fans, I know you wanted to be the first pick in this draft, but this class has the talent to change your franchise. With a combined 10 first-rounders through 2032 for the Washington Wizards and multiple first-rounders for the Utah Jazz, the time is now for them to start drafting well and build this thing up.

I would expect we see Texas one-and-done star Tre Johnson on the radar here, as well as Baylor product VJ Edgecombe, Knueppel, or even Carter Bryant out of Arizona. Will we see these teams go after bucket-getters or elect for the interior? Buckle up.

To think that the Nets went 26-56 and are picking at No. 8 in the draft is nothing short of tough for Brooklyn.

They also should be active during the offseason as the only team in the NBA with over $40 million in cap space, not to mention the player movement and the drama within this sport. With the eighth pick, Brooklyn could have the likes of Jeremiah Fears from Oklahoma, Jase Richardson from Michigan State or even Knueppel from Duke. We know one thing for certain: the Nets need offense after ranking 28th in the NBA in efficiency this past season and 26th in 3-point field goal percentage. If Knueppel is around, I could see them going his route or, if not, perhaps a ball-handling guard that they really like, whether that’s Fears, Johnson or Kasparas Jakucionis.

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